Transformation of deprived urban areas and social sustainability: A comparative study of urban regeneration and urban redevelopment in Barcelona and Seoul

Abstract

Transformation of deprived urban areas and social sustainability: A comparative study of urban regeneration and urban redevelopment in Barcelona and Seoul The transformation of deprived urban areas is important for strengthening social sustainability in particular localities, and it is also instrumental in attracting new investments to cities. Speculative urban development, however, often ignores the social importance of localities and considers them mere economic assets that can be stripped of historical, social, and symbolic meaning and turned into easily marketed commodities. This article examines the somewhat contradictory role of the transformation of deprived urban areas in cities. It compares Barcelona and Seoul, two cities with different historical, cultural, and institutional contexts. The 22@ Activity District in Poblenou and Wangsimni New Town are explored as case studies to understand how urban regeneration and urban redevelopment are embedded in a particular locality and what consequences they have on social sustainability. Although the two cases differ in terms of planning approach, stakeholders, and institutional contexts, the findings suggest that the consequences for social sustainability were similar in both. The article argues that declining social cohesion and a lack of citizen participation were a consequence of speculative urban development, in which urban regeneration and urban redevelopment were instrumentalized to attract investments, strengthen economic competitiveness, and improve the city's global appeal rather than address diverse local challenges.

Deciding Together : Citizen Participation in planning the Neighbourhood Improvement in Seoul and Singapore

“…Moreover, potentially bad decisions, resulting from the long participatory process, are difficult to reverse, which may backfire on the state. In this way, the state can lose not only control over planning but also its legitimacy among citizens (Križnik, 2018a).…”

“…Citizen participation is, therefore, increasingly related to the transformation of deprived urban areas, by which cities try to maintain and improve their social and territorial cohesion (Colantonio and Dixon, 2011;Cho and Križnik, 2017;Križnik, 2018a). Residents play a more central role in planning the neighbourhood improvement, which is expected to not only improve the planning process and its outcomes but also to build organizational capacity, to advance skills, and to improve the confidence of the residents to take part in planning and decision making.…”

“…In this sense, this project was not different from the past (Križnik, 2018a Contrary to Seoul, the state played a crucial role in tackling the rampant housing shortages and deprived residential areas in Singapore since the early 1960s. This resulted in a top-down approach in the planning of the HDB estates, giving rise to orderly and tractable neighbourhood improvement within public apartment complexes (Hee and Heng, 2004;Hee, 2009).…”

Community engagement in developing urban design guidance for heritage sites: The case of Bursa, Turkey

“…Elnokaly and Elseragy (2013) explain that, sustainable urban conservation requires maintaining the typical urban tissue and essential qualities of the historic sites and the life of the communities residing there while adapting the physical structures and activities to some contemporary requirements. Križnik (2018) also emphasizes the need for citizen participation to ensure social cohesion for sustainable urban regeneration and urban redevelopment of deprived urban areas.…”

Untitled

“…2017). Križnik, B. (2018): Transformation of deprived urban areas and social sustainability: A comparative study of urban regeneration and urban redevelopment in Barcelona and Seoul.…”