Edge Of City Research Articles

Business at the margins? Business interests in edge urban politics

AbstractThe issue of the organization, role and influence of business interests in urban politics at the edge of major cities is one that is overdue for investigation. This article provides an initial and empirically oriented investigation of the organization, role and influence of business interests in edge urban politics in Europe. We present findings from five members of a European network of self‐styled ‘edge cities’. Following the now extensive debate in academic literature regarding the applicability of US concepts such as growth machines and urban regimes to the European setting, we draw attention to a diversity of business involvement in urban politics at the edge of Europe’s capital cities. This diversity does include instances that, despite the very different ‘macro‐necessities’ structuring edge urban politics in Europe, approximate to these concepts. Moreover, the diversity apparent in edge urban business politics raises several important questions for future research on urban governance. Namely, the complex connection between the local dependence of business and the organization of its interests; the ‘jumping of scales’ by locally dependent edge urban actors, and the sometimes neglected articulation of business interests with party political organization.

Spectacle, architecture and place at the Nuremberg Party Rallies: projecting a Nazi vision of past, present and future

Nuremberg, perhaps more than any other place, stands central among iconic images of Nazi Germany. The Nazi regime went to great lengths to inscribe its basic tenets into Nuremberg's urban landscape. While many are already familiar with the role Nuremberg played as the site of the annual Nazi Party Rallies, few realize that the Nazi building programme in Nuremberg placed great emphasis on redesigning the city's historical centre in addition to developing the extensive rally grounds on the city's edge. This article explores the architectural form, performative function and motivating ideologies associated with these extensive building programmes in Nuremberg and, rather than seeing them as two separate projects, highlights the intimate connections between the construction of the rally grounds on the city's edge and the concurrent redesign of the city's historical centre. Although seemingly irreconcilable in terms of style and scale, these efforts to build and rebuild in Nuremberg were actually seen as complementing elements in the regime's programme to create and project images of historical greatness, current political legitimacy and promises of future grandeur.

Factors influencing the small-scale distribution of House Sparrows Passer domesticus in a suburban environment

Capsule Suburban House Sparrows prefer gardens with native bushes but show no detectable response to garden insecticide use. Aims To identify the factors that influence House Sparrow distribution among suburban gardens. Methods Bicycle transects were used to survey House Sparrows in front gardens in suburban Oxford in the spring of 2004. A subset of 498 gardens was selected comprising all those where sparrows were found and an equal number of randomly selected sparrow-free gardens. In each of these gardens the density of bushes and the proportion of native bushes were recorded and insecticide use and house age were sampled by questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used to compare these variables with the presence or absence of House Sparrows. A larger scale analysis was also conducted comparing 25 squares, each 250 m2. The density of House Sparrows in the total area of front gardens in these squares was compared to the area of green space within the square, its distance from the city edge and encounter rates of corvids on the cycle transects. Results House Sparrows show a preference for gardens with native bushes. They also prefer gardens with a higher overall density of bushes but appear to make no distinction based on insecticide use or house age. There is no evidence that green space, distance from the city edge or density of corvids affect sparrow numbers at a larger spatial scale. Conclusion House Sparrows might benefit from planting of native bushes but not apparently from a reduction in garden insecticide use. The preference for native vegetation most likely reflects the associated abundance of insect food, which is required by the growing chicks. Further investigation of the habits of House Sparrows in the breeding season may shed light on the causes of the recent decline of the species.

Localizing Urban Design Traditions: Gated and Edge Cities in Curitiba

Gated communities and edge cities are new forms of space production and consumption that promote changes in the character of public space and citizens' participation in public life. This study unveils the phenomena of their creation as a paradoxical attempt to return to community. Curitiba's examples of gated communities and edge cities show that, despite being internationally showcased as a model of good planning and urban design, this metropolis has not been immune to the global capital pressures and urban design tendencies occurring in many urban areas throughout the world, thus signalling both the currency and trans-nationality of these issues.

City making and urban governance in the Americas: Curitiba and Portland

Contents: Introduction: Local Spatiality in a Global World: Beyond the urban convergence/divergence debate: architecture and urbanism in a global urban context. Citizens and their City-States: A governance approach to urban development Urban governance and citizen participation: Definitions and models Urban governance in comparative perspective: Curitiba and Portland. Governance and the Practices of Urbanism in the Americas (1960-2003): Curitiba and Portland: The politics of urban and regional development in Curitiba The politics of urban and regional development in Portland. The Built Environment in the Era of Globalization: City making and the (re)production of social and spatial (in)equality in Curitiba and Portland Gated and edge cities: community and alienation in Curitiba Housing and growth management debates in Portland: conflicting planning views, contrasting architectural typologies Architecture and image-making: invocations of tradition vs. critical transnationalism in Curitiba Nike vis-A -vis adidas: Spatializing regional planning discourses in Portland's global corporate architecture. Epilogue: Urban governance and city-making in the Americas Bibliography Index.

A comparative study of metropolitan multi-nucleation: suburban centres and commuter flows within the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, USA, and Melbourne, Australia

The suburbanization of various functions has generated Suburban Downtowns or typical Edge Cities in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. On the other hand, Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia, has managed to control its suburban centres. The CBD in Melbourne still retains comprehensive central functions for the metropolitan area, but large scale shopping malls have also been developed in the suburbs. The regional structures of these two metropolitan areas, prima facie, seem different. However, in this paper, we would like to highlight a common feature present in both areas, based on our examination of commuter flows. This phenomenon involves an interdependent, cross-suburb flow structure, which is emerging in many urban areas in the 21st century.

A comparative study of metropolitan multi-nucleation

The suburbanization of various functions has generated Suburban Downtowns or typical Edge Cities in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. On the other hand, Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia, has managed to control its suburban centres. The CBD in Melbourne still retains comprehensive central functions for the metropolitan area, but large scale shopping malls have also been developed in the suburbs. The regional structures of these two metropolitan areas, prima facie, seem different. However, in this paper, we would like to highlight a common feature present in both areas, based on our examination of commuter flows. This phenomenon involves an interdependent, cross-suburb flow structure, which is emerging in many urban areas in the 21st century.

Spatial Structure at the Room-level of Squatter Urbanism in Metropolitan Cairo

abstractIn Metropolitan Cairo, squatter urbanism is common in superimposing building blocks and streets on agricultural land subdivisions at the city edge of rural migration phenomenon. However, the socio-economic dimension of residential spaces is undermined in the management of squatters. This study attempts to clarify the social diversity of spatial structuring that can only be conceived at the room-level of Cairo squatters in contrast to the constant image of outdoor rural-urban transformation. Buildings selected from the ′Bigam′ and ′Zinin′ squatters that absorb rural migrants are studied according to their spatial room-connection. The application of spatial measurements on the sample buildings is processed through statistical programming to view their patterns of room connection. In ′Bigam′, rural migrants from Lower Egypt structure a ′Reception′ core of global flow of choice to connect four-cornered room attachment. The spatial structure diversifies by introducing a ′Living′ space of visible connectivity with the ′Reception′ and control over the bedroom corners. In ′Zinin′, the Upper Egypt migrants structure a linear pattern of residential space. The cellular connection of rooms diversifies the coring role by the ′Reception′ to become an optional secondary choice. Nevertheless, both zones of ′Zinin′ lack ′Living′ spaces to dissolve the grouping pattern of rooms without variety of choice. Instead, ′Bedrooms′ allow visibility for socializing through the conceptual merging of living and bedroom spaces into one.

THE LA LUCIA-UMHLANGA RIDGE AS AN EMERGING “EDGE CITY”

ABSTRACT For the past thirty years, major metropolitan areas have been deconstructed and reconstructed as a consequence of global economic reform and the progression of capitalism. One of the key dimensions of this transition is the changing form of cities through the process of decentralization. This process initially involved communities, but recently has included commercial relocation. Garreau (1991) coined the phrase “Edge City”, which refers to this process and the recentralisation of office space in previously greenfield locations. The La Lucia-Umhlanga Ridge, north of Durban, on the east coast of South Africa, displays the characteristics of a possible “Edge City”. This paper is aimed at discovering the degree to which this transition is occurring by applying Garreau's (1991) concept of an “Edge City”. The study area is comprised of a commercial hub to which a number of national and multinational companies have relocated from the CBD, as well as a wide range of retail activities. Holistic planning has included a residential component in the form of gated communities. The location is also typical of “Edge Cities”, which locate in peripheral locations at the intersection of freeways. This and other evidence indicates that the emergence of an “Edge City” is occurring in line with global trends. However, it is contended that in the context of South Africa as a developing society in transition, the decentralisation of business/residential nodes cannot be completely aligned with processes occurring in the developed world.

Edge city formation and the resulting vacated business district

The effects of edge city formation on the structure of an existing core city are investigated. Focus is put on the phenomenon of ``vacated business district'' in the core city. It is hypothesized that some area of land in an existing business district becomes vacant due to edge city formation because of the transformation and/or adjustment costs of land. Equilibrium configuration in a metropolitan area is investigated, and various comparative static analysis is performed by numerical simulation method.

Wildland–urban interface: Challenges and opportunities

The wildland–urban interface (WUI), commonlydescribed as the area where urban areas meet andinteract with rural lands (Vince et al., 2005), includesthe edges of large cities and small communities, areaswhere homes and other structures are intermixed withforests and other land uses, and islands of undevel-oped lands within urban areas (Alavalapati, 2005;Monroe et al., 2003; SAF, 2004). The interface isparticularly characterized by areas of urban sprawlwhere development pressures are pressed againstpublic and private wildlands. Continuous transitionof land-use, primarily from agriculture and forest usesto urban land uses, in the interface raises a myriad ofsocioeconomic and environmental concerns. A deeperunderstanding of these concerns is essential toformulate effective policy solutions.While a household’s dream of home ownership andthe value placed on private property rights favor urbandevelopment (Garkovich, 2000), the moving interfaceassociated with urbanization poses a series of chal-lenges to both rural and urban communities. Theseinclude ecosystems fragmentation, increased exposureto invasive species, water and air pollution, wildfires,and loss of habitat for wildlife. These changes affectresidents of rural and urban areas, natural resourcemanagers, and business and environmental organiza-tions. For example, management of forests for eco-logical goods and services such as forest products andcleanwaterisaffectedbypeopleoccupyingtheforests.Manytypesoflandownershipsintheinterfacebringindnew neighborsT with a different set of values, life-styles,andlandethicsintotheinterface;andasaresult,conflicts and tensions arise between these dnewT anddexistingT communities and cultures. The changesimparted as the WUI develops are not only significantbutareveryrapid,muchfasterthananyotherprocessesthat impacted land use changes in recent history. Forexample, Alig et al. (2000) noted that as much as 14million acres of non-industrial forests were lost tourban use between 1952 and 1997. Multiple jurisdic-tions and scales within a region, that are typical of aWUI, can further complicate efforts to manage andconserve natural resources. Thus, the rapid urbangrowth in wildland has significant and widespreadsocial, cultural, economic, and environmental implica-tions. Addressing the problems of the WUI to sustainecologically viable and socio-economically feasiblelandscapesisacomplextaskforwhichneithereasynorperfect solutions exist (Alavalapati, 2005).Planning and managing in a WUI thus invariablyinvolvesseveraldisciplinesthatencompassthenatural,socio-economic, and cultural dimensions of the issues,

Edge Cities, European-style: Examples from Paris and the Randstad

Across the developed world, metropolitan regions have become increasingly polycentric. One of the new centre types emerging in the metropolitan periphery in North America in particular is the Edge City. These are recently formed, large multifunctional concentrations of offices, retail, leisure and housing areas at a considerable distance of the ‘historic’ central city. This paper discusses the extent to which Edge Cities are a typically North-American phenomenon, or something we might also expect in Europe. A review of American and European literature and four case studies in the metropolitan regions of Paris and the Randstad demonstrate that recent development tendencies in European metropolitan regions bear resemblance to Edge City development in several respects. However, because some clear differences can also be found, we argue that the European Edge Cities are not mere copies of their American counterparts, but rather a ‘typically European’ variation of the original Edge City model.

Greenways: multiplying and diversifying in the 21st century

Building on the legacy of historic greenway planning in the U.S., several new initiatives have been taking shape and gaining recognition in the past decade. One is ‘Green Infrastructure’ planning which is a ‘must have’ inter-connected system of green spaces. Another is ‘Smart Conservation’—the counterpoint of another planning initiative that preceded it known as ‘Smart Growth’. This is the establishment of critical green corridors that should be preserved and maintained for predominantly ecological functions, in advance of or in conjunction with new development. ‘New Urbanism’ has focused on bringing order and coherence to escalating ‘Edge Cities’ on the urban fringe, based on walkable, mixed-use towns, villages and neighborhoods with integrated open-space systems. Transit-Oriented Developments (TODs) are transportation plans for accommodating regional growth around clustered ‘pedestrian pockets’ linked by transit systems. Both New Urbanism and TODs have applied similar principles to ‘brown sites’ and declining city neighborhoods. All these initiatives are different aspects of the greenway movement, expressing its many possibilities, enriching its original concepts, enlarging its credibility—if need be—and emphasizing its importance for and relevance to current issues of sustainability and ‘green’ planning and design. The author, a teacher/practitioner, discusses recent U.S. greenway examples at site, metropolitan and regional scales for which he has been the principal planner/designer or a consultant, and compares New Urbanism and TOD methodologies and approaches to established greenway-planning practices and the premises of Smart Conservation.

Religious faith in the exurban community

In this case‐study of Milton Keynes in the UK, Christopher Baker looks at how new urban forms and phenomena have affected the ability of the Christian Church to engage with the community. Drawing on North American concepts such as Joel Garreau’s ‘Edge City’ and Ed Soja’s ‘Exopolis’, he uses the term ‘exurban communities’ as ‘a generic description of those urban spaces that have developed over recent years as a result of continuous urban decentralization’. These postmodern spaces are characterized by consumerism and privatization. The Church, held back by a ‘quasi‐rural and romanticized’ image of itself in which it operates as the heart of the community, has been unable to adjust to these newly decentralized urban forms. To become relevant once more Baker concludes that it must reconceive urban community as a ‘process of flows’ rather than a geographical place. Building on previous work in CITY linking theology and urbanism (see Andrew Davey’s ‘Theology, theory and urban praxis’, in CITY 7(3), pp. 419–422, for example), this paper develops a useful contribution to the current debate in the UK about the future role of the church. At the same time the author provides a critique of the neoliberal city, linking to the themed material in this issue, arguing against the ‘postmodern gospel of salvation’, driven by a belief in happiness through technology and material comfort, and of ‘…the current notion of individualism which is expressed in terms of the right and freedom to consume whatever is required, regardless of the cost to others’.

Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton

Children, Youth and Environments 15(2), 2005 Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton Bob Yates Yates, Thorn & Associates Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Citation: Yates, Bob. (2005). “Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton.” Children, Youth and Environments 15(2): 371-377. . Comment on This Article Abstract Few Canadian cities have taken their commitments to children and young people more seriously than the City of Edmonton. The City has recognized that the local government agency in Edmonton must take the lead in promoting the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The firm of Yates, Thorn & Associates, a Victoria, British Columbia-based social planning consultancy, was hired by the City of Edmonton to help develop specific aspects of its Children’s Services Framework. This report describes the development of a Child Impact Assessment Tool. Keywords: Child-friendly cities, child impact assessment tool, Canada© 2005 Children, Youth and Environments Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton 372 Background The demands on local governments in Canada and elsewhere to provide effective services for children and youth are increasing along many dimensions: • The expectations of parents and others regarding the range and quality of services are expanding. • More children are living in poverty now than at any time in the past. Their need for services is even greater than that of those children who have the ability to pay. • Federal and provincial governments are downloading services onto local governments, and providing funding for new services such as childcare. At the same time, they frequently adopt legal (such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)) or promotional (such as Alberta’s Promise) frameworks which local governments are required to follow. • Multiple agencies are increasingly involved as partners in the delivery of services. This is positive, but also demanding of time and resources. • The value of all services is constantly being evaluated and in some cases questioned by a tax-conscious public. • Communities are focusing more on outputs than inputs. The question is no longer “how many hockey practices did you attend?” but rather “did you win the game?” or at the very least “how well did you play?” When all this is put together with the inherent vulnerability and lack of political power of children and youth, it requires local governments to include frameworks and processes in their policy making that consistently and continually prompt the question, “What will be the impact on children and youth?” The City of Edmonton recognized that this question must be addressed as part of the implementation of its Children's Services Framework. Consequently, the City of Edmonton Community Services Department requested Yates, Thorn & Associates1 to develop a Child Impact Assessment Tool: a “lens” through which the impact of programs, policies and initiatives on children and youth could be examined. Early discussion made it clear that the Child Impact Assessment process must be: • Practical - it must be simple to use, providing a set of functional tools for city administrators and elected officials. • Visible - it must act to reinforce the need for a broad range of services for children and youth. • Visionary - it must be far-sighted in its vision of services for children, with the goal of putting Edmonton at the leading edge of child-friendly cities. Building a Child Impact Assessment Tool for the City of Edmonton 373 To meet these objectives, it must be designed to: • Educate various groups about children’s services. These groups include internal department and city staff, councilors, external agency staff and volunteers, as well as the general public. • Advocate for a child-friendly Edmonton. This implies a more proactive approach focused not just on “means” but also on “ends.” • Integrate child-focused efforts into the business planning processes of the City. The Child Impact Assessment will only be effective in the long term if it is a part of the machinery of government. • Focus on the key issues of importance to the children and youth of Edmonton, which had been identified through consultation with children and adults during the development of the Children’s Services Framework. Moving Edmonton towards Being a “Child...

Sustainable new economic centres in European metropolitan regions: A stakeholders' perspective

In many European metropolitan regions, new economic centres have emerged at the edge of large cities or in their (post-)suburban areas. This paper explores the possible contribution of these new centres to a more sustainable regional development of European metropolitan regions. The realization of sustainable business parks is even more complicated at 'greenfield' sites than at 'brownfield' sites. With the absence of space scarcity or congestion problems, the temptation to choose easier, less sustainable solutions is hard to resist. Nevertheless, in the Dutch Randstad region, some edge-city and suburban business locations try to meet high sustainability standards. Two case studies in Hoofddorp and Almere illustrate the tough road towards truly sustainable business parks, focusing on the role of the various stakeholders that either encourage or discourage the realization of sustainability potentials.

The Tomb of Sayyidnā ‘Alī in Arṣūf: the Story of a Holy Place

South of Arṣūf-Apollonia, on the western edge of the modern city of Herzliya (Israel), at the top of a limestone hill overlooking the sea, stands a rectangular fortress-like building (Fig. 1), commonly known as Mashhad Sayyidnā ‘Alī – a name derived from that of ‘Alī b. ‘Alīm, who lies buried there. The story of Sayyidnā ‘Alī, which I would like to set forth in this article, combines three intertwined aspects that shed light on Muslim Palestine and Syria (bilād al-shām) in the Middle Ages.

Autópályák és a városi fejlődés

Az autópályák és a városok szerkezete közötti kapcsolat több összefüggésben is vizsgálható. Tanulmányozhatók egyrészt azok a városok, amelyek alapszerkezetét a közúti közlekedés folyamatai határozták meg, másrészt pedig az utóbbi évtizedek szuburbanizációs folyamatai, melyek a regionális különbségek mellett az egész világon jellemzőek. A szuburbanizációnak több káros hatása van, melyeket sokan az autópályák létével kapcsolnak össze. Vannak olyan elképzelések, amelyek segítségével e hatások mérsékelhetők. Cikkünk e kérdésekről igyekszik rövid áttekintést nyújtani.

Variability of particulate matter concentrations along roads and motorways determined by a moving measurement unit

The spatial variability of aerosol number and mass along roads was determined in different regions (urban, rural and coastal-marine) of the Netherlands. A condensation particle counter (CPC) and an optical aerosol spectrometer (LASX) were installedin a van along with a global positioning system (GPS). Concentrations were measuredwith high-time resolutions while driving allowing investigations not possible with stationary equipment. In particular, this approach proves to be useful to identify those locations where numbers and mass attain high levels (‘hot spots’). In general, concentrations of number andmass of particulate matter increase along with the degree of urbanisation, with number concentration being the more sensitive indicator. The lowest particle numbers and PM1-concentrations are encountered in a coastal andrural area: o5000 cm 3 and6 m gm 3 , respectively. The presence of sea-salt material along the NorthSea coast enhances PM>1-concentrations comparedto inlandlevels. High-particle numbers are encounteredon motorways correlating with traffic intensity; the largest average number concentration is measuredon the ring motorway aroundAmsterd am: about 160 000 cm 3 (traffic intensity 100 000 veh day 1 ). Peak values occur in tunnels where numbers exceed10 6 cm 3 . EnhancedPM 1 levels (i.e. larger than 9m gm 3 ) exist on motorways, major traffic roads and in tunnels. The concentrations of PM>1 appear rather uniformly distributed (below 6m gm 3 for most observations). On the urban scale, (large) spatial variations in concentration can be explainedby varying intensities of traffic andd riving patterns. The highest particle numbers are measuredwhile being in traffic congestions or when behind a heavy diesel-driven vehicle (up to 600 10 3 cm 3 ). Relatively high numbers are observedduring the passages of crossings and, at a decreasing rate, on main roads with much traffic, quiet streets and residential areas with limited traffic. The number concentration exhibits a larger variability than mass: the mass concentration on city roads with much traffic is 12% higher than in a residential area at the edge of the same city while the number of particles changes by a factor of two (due to the presence of the ultrafine particles (aerodynamic diameter o100 nm). It is further indicated that people residing at some 100 m downwind a major traffic source are exposed to (still) 40% more particles than those living in the urban backgroundareas. r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Normalization and the South African City

A common view among students of South Africa, policymakers, and academics alike is that since the ending of apartheid South Africa has been somehow “normalized.” This normalization is seen as a tendency towards the production of urban forms common in North America and Western Europe as well as a means of situating South Africa's major cities within the context of an increasingly global system. The first aim of this paper is, then, to address the extent to which the South African city has been normalized. In this regard, the Sandton phenomenon to the north of Johannesburg is emblematic of the Western notion of “edge city” and Johannesburg itself as a world city. The specificity of the South African case, however, suggests caution in this interpretation. Here, the second aim of the paper is to examine the value of the normalization framework's contribution to the analysis of urban and/or social forms. Focusing on the Johannesburg metropolitan area, and considering that Sandton is not just an edge city but a new central business district (CBD), suggests that something rather different might be materializing in the South African city. Likewise, in the same metropolitan areas there appears to be an emergent and distinct racialization of the spatial division of labor. Drawing on the evidence presented by the Johannesburg metropolitan area, this paper attempts to examine the normalization thesis and provide an alternative approach based on the distinctions to be made for the case of South Africa.