Area Of Urban Policy Research Articles

The biggest Polish cities in response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The perspective of municipal self-government administration

The aim of the article is to analyze the activities of municipal self-government administration aimed at counteracting the destructive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic during the co-called first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020–June 2020). The article focuses on Polish cities with poviat rights. It presents the results of a nationwide survey in which the representatives of 47 city offices participated. It is supplemented with the analysis of the content of documents (laws, regulations and recommendations) and the elements of a comparative analysis. The conducted research procedure does not allow to confirm the hypothesis. There is no scheme of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic which consists of “bottom-up” activities of municipal self-government carried out in the areas of urban policy which are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It turns out that most of the activities carried out are “top-down” activities that fit – as the respondents claimed – with the solutions adopted by the central government administration.

Regeneration of urban and post-industrial areas within the context of adaptation to climate change – the Polish perspective

AbstractAdaptation to climate change has become an important element of urban policy development in the member states of the European Union. These issues are dealt with in EU documents, as well as in national and local strategies and city adaptation plans. In Poland, the challenge of preparing for climate change has been presented in the Strategic Adaptation Plan for Sectors and Areas Sensitive to Climate Change in Poland within the Perspective of 2030 referring to sectors and areas sensitive to the impact of climate change. Adaptation to climate change is a key element in creating spatial policy for cities and urbanised areas at different levels. One of the most important issues of this policy is the quality of the renovated urban areas and its role in connecting-up and strengthening adaptation capacity. Among the strategic areas indicated in the above-mentioned document, there is also urban policy taking climate change into consideration. One of the selected problem areas relating to the development of urban policy is the renewal and strengthening of the development potential of towns and cities via the regeneration of degraded urban areas and post-industrial land in cities. Both local authorities, entities whose professional role is to deal with urban issues, and the inhabitants of urbanised areas face a twofold challenge. This consists of enhancing the quality of urban areas via regeneration and strengthening the city’s potential for adaptation. That is why it is extremely important to notice the interconnections and opportunities provided by urban renewal and regeneration programmes and projects in the context of adaptation to climate change. Synergy of activities in those two areas of urban policy may bring about very measurable benefits and may enable a cohesive solution to be adopted with regard to many crucial environmental, social, and economic problems.

La vivienda digna y la vivienda adecuada. Estado del debate

<p>En la búsqueda por una delimitación conceptual de la vivienda digna y de la vivienda adecuada, realizamos una revisión bibliográfica, en grandes bases de documentación académica del mundo, bajo estas dos expresiones en español, inglés y portugués, utilizando herramientas cienciométricas y de análisis de contenido. Esta búsqueda reveló asuntos y enfoques objeto de investigación actual, pero resalta un uso no diferenciado entre estas dos nociones en ámbitos diversos como la política urbana, el mercado inmobiliario o el ámbito académico; situación que consideramos importante porque presuponemos que aun cuando vivienda digna, vivienda adecuada, y demás expresiones afines pueden ser términos equivalentes, no tienen el mismo alcance conceptual. Pocos autores abordan esta delimitación, solo algunos debaten sobre la vivienda desde la perspectiva de los derechos al exponer que la dignidad puede observarse en el espacio, como perspectivas para diferenciar lo digno de lo adecuado en la vivienda.</p>

Urban Policy in Election Campaigns – The Case of the Presidents of the Biggest Cities of Lower Silesia

Abstract The main aim of the article is to present the relationship between urban policy and the marketing activity of the presidents of Wrocław, Wałbrzych, Legnica, and Jelenia Góra during the period of the 2014 local government election campaign. Analysis of the marketing activity of the presidents, conducted via chosen social media, enables presentation of the most important conditions and reasons for using urban policy in the competition for the support of citizens – potential voters. First, it will show that the marketing actions of a president during an election campaign are not the means of creating the image of a city but gaining the support of voters. Second, the analysis will prove that the election message constructed by presidents is based on the actions conducted in the various areas of urban policy.

Analyse géopolitique de 14 ans de politique de la ville dans la communauté urbaine de Lille

Urban policy within the Lille urban community has experienced 3 main phases since the early 1980s. 1981-1988 was a period of spacial expansion of urban policy, based around the DSQ policy. 1 989-1 993, the time of the 1 0™ Plan, was a real transitional period, marked by the end of the DSQ policy and a changing scale of urban policies, which saw the introduction of the Contrat de Ville programme. 1 994-1 995 was something of a falling off period in urban policy, mainly due to the difficulties faced in the implementation of the politiques d'agglomération. The introduction of the DSQ procedure in 1982 marked a new dimension in urban policy. It was seen to be a way of stabilising urban degradation ratherthan solving problems and its limitations were the main impetus for the introduction of the Contratde Ville programme. Contrats de Ville were inbtroduced in may 1989. 13 areas were initially chosen, and the policy looked at urban problems in a new way, recognising the need to look more globally eat the problems facing urban areas. It was a contract between the State and the Ville and recognised the need for intercommunal cooperation. This section looks at the Contrat d'Agglomération as well as the Contratde Ville, with specific referencee to the Lille agglomeration. The last 1 4 years have seen problems concerning urban policies in France. The agglomertation of Lille is an extremly complex adminis¬ trative area and thus has encountered many problems in policy implementation. However, the policies have enabled the agglomeration to at least stabilise its urban problems. The future must see the co¬ operation of key figures in Lille, in orderto ensure that intercommunality is succesfully used, along with clear political definitions and applica¬ tion of policies to come. Strong commitment from economic actors in the area of urban policy is essential as is the développement of local and regional partnership facilitating regular contact between key figures in urban policy issues.

The politics of sport and symbolism in the city: a case study of the Lyon conurbation

This article reviews the nature of sports policy to emerge in the French city in the period since the introduction of decentralization legislation in the early 1980s. It reports a case study of policy in the city of Lyon, focusing in particular on five communes of varying political complexion and seeking to identify whether significant differences are evident in the sports policy programmes followed by communist, socialist, and Gaullist controlled local authorities. The study concludes that sport reflects a policy area of increasing significance for those from a variety of political backgrounds, with little variation across the political spectrum in terms of the policy approaches adopted. The wide appeal of sport as a significant area of urban policy is explained in large part by reference to sport’s rich symbolic potential in conveying meanings or images of physical locations, and of individuals and groups, in the city.

Myths and the definition of policy problems

In this paper we argue that behind widely accepted problem definitions are myths, stories which draw on tradition and taken for granted knowledge. These myths, which may or may not be true in a factual sense, are important to the definition of problems because they link public issues to widely accepted ways of understanding the world and to shared moral evaluations of conditions, events, and possible solutions to problems. Such myths perform a double-edged function in a policy or planning process. On the one hand, they can provide creative inspiration for policies, a way of translating community values into action proposals, and a powerful means to communicate to a broad public and rally support. They can mediate social and economic change by allowing new policies to carry familiar meaning. On the other hand, a myth can conceal crucial contradictions and realities, legitimize policies that benefit the powerful, and support anachronistic perceptions of policy problems. These ideas are explored in case histories of two areas of urban policy. In one we trace the support for home ownership to a transformation of the Jeffersonian myth of the independent yeoman farmer as the ideal citizen. This use of myth made home ownership the cornerstone of US housing policies and helped suppress alternatives. Though debate over home ownership occurs in the context of housing policy, the tacit purpose is to maintain a myth which is central to our identity as a nation. In the second example, public officials and analysts engaged in an explicit myth-making process to garner support for public-private partnerships as a central tool in urban redevelopment. The myths, which drew on familiar themes, made socially beneficial cooperation seem easy to achieve and legitimized new political and institutional arrangements though it also concealed implementation difficulties. Though myths complicate the effort to use rational, systematic analysis, they are an inevitable part of policy making and planning processes. Planning professionals must openly confront myths and make creative, responsible, use of them rather than allow policies and plans to be subject to their unexamined influence.

Administrative Culture and Policy Making in The Department of the Environment

The article explores the potenztialfor developing a concept of administrative culture and identifying its contribution to policy-making within central government. It takes the case of the DOE and analyses the influence offunction, clientele, resources and history on culture. It goes on to argue that this culture is functional anld that the policies of recent Conservative Governments, especially in the area of urban policy, which have cut across such norms, hlave encountered administrative opposition and a predictable implementation deficit. Examples are drawn from judicial judgements on housing and local governmenit finance. The article concludes thlat the administrative culture of the DOE impedes urbani policy but retainis some laudable features.