Politics Of Local Development Research Articles

The Blended Landscapes of Outer London

In March 2020, a Suburban Taskforce was established by Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK. This Taskforce argued that the experiences of suburbs in England were poorly understood by policy-makers and developers, practitioners, and the general public. Over the two years of research and engagement that followed, a key consideration to emerge was the management of change and particularly in the context of growth pressures evident in Outer London. This has synergies with recent trends in suburban research that turn away from negative framings of places in extended metropolitan areas, such as 'edgeness' (not in the city) and 'in-between-ness' (neither urban nor rural activity). Instead, there is increasing focus on suburban cultural dynamics and political ecology. Drawing on these ideas, this paper looks at suburbs as landscapes with natural and built elements, as well as diverse activities, and focuses on the processes of blending. The evidence and views presented to the Taskforce are used to investigate the blended landscapes of Outer London. The paper explores the elements and development rationalities in two London Boroughs, Sutton and Waltham Forest, and the context that shapes choices. The findings suggest that, while not discounting the significance of growth pressures and limits to local control, suburban landscapes are heavily influenced by responses to local socio-economic concerns, historic urban form, and the politics of local development. The paper concludes by reflecting on the directions of change in the study areas, and the significance of dynamics of ongoing blending of the landscapes across outer parts of major cities.

Transferal From EEG to MEG

In human geography the literature on the politics of local development is a fairly recent one. It emerged in part as a critical response to earlier work in sociology and political science in the United States. Central to it has been the theme of a tension between fixity and mobility. Agents are to varying degrees locally dependent. In virtue of fixities in social relations, the continuing flow of value through them is of central importance. The ever-changing character of the wider economic geography threatens that flow, and hence those values. This is the necessary condition for the formation of local growth coalitions, aiming at securing the conditions of continuing growth. The recognition of their significance has precipitated interest in cognate topics including local governance, the politics of scale, and the ideologies of local development through which growth coalitions try to defuse opposition to their plans. There are continuing yet creative tensions in the literature between the claims of universality and particularity. Initially there were difficulties in extending essentially American frameworks to the British case. Study of the topic in other countries, however, means that these tensions will continue to be a source of innovation in thinking about it.

Young people navigating political engagement through post-war instability and mobility: A case from rural Nepal

The everyday politics of rural young people who live in post-war settings in the Global South is poorly explored. In the aftermath of a recent civil war in Nepal (1996–2006), villages have been operating without elected bodies, and poorly functioning local governance has been concentrated around party patronage networks and community development. In the lives of many young people, the aspirations and practices of educational and labour mobility have been dominant. Based on fieldwork carried out in the Panchthar District, this article discusses how ordinary young people nevertheless engage in different political dimensions. Guiding the analysis through the narratives of four young men and women, I have accentuated how the tension between socio-political situatedness and young people’s life strategies shapes the versatility of their political engagement. How do those who did not become political activists balance their daily lives, mobility and household obligations with involvement in party and local development politics? By exploring their motivations and engagement, I come to two conclusions. Firstly, young men navigate party politics by juggling the legacy of patronage and rejecting parties, as well as by involving themselves in disruptive events and seeking personal benefit from them. Secondly, young men and women negotiate their political motivations in community development politics primarily through household dynamics adjusted to their mobile lifestyle.

Community policing and the politics of local development in Tanzania

ABSTRACTThis paper explores how the concept of ‘community policing’ has been understood and implemented in Tanzania. Whilst community policing is locally considered to be a very effective means of preventing crime and improving neighbourhood safety, the extent to which it constitutes a more accountable, responsive or ‘democratic’ form of policing, as assumed by proponents, is questionable. Based on research conducted in the city of Mwanza, this paper explains these outcomes in terms of continuities between forms of popular mobilisation that developed during Tanzania's socialist one-party era, and particularly the co-optation by the ruling party ofsungusunguvigilantism, and understandings of the role of citizen participation in local development today. However, this paper suggests that as multiparty political competition becomes increasingly competitive, the sustainability of this model of community policing may be undermined, as citizens challenge the notion that they are obliged to provide resources for development directed from above.

The territorial politics of regulation under state capitalism: Regional parties and the politics of local economic development in South Korea

This paper examines the relations between the conditions for, and the diverse forms of, local development politics. It does this by addressing a specific form of local development politics encountered in South Korea: a politics of regionalism. This is conceptualised in two stages. At an abstract level, the paper theorises the politics of local economic development in terms of the territorialisation of regulatory processes. On this basis, conceptual links are provided between the conditions for, and the forms of, local development politics by focusing on how the nature of party politics can influence the ways in which the politics of regulation is territorially constructed. Empirically, this paper explores the social and institutional conditions that have facilitated the penetration of regionalist party politics into the politics of local economic development in South Korea. More specifically, it examines the political processes, through which: local economic development initiatives, organised by local actors in Daegu (a central city in south-eastern Korea), brought about tensions with local actors in Busan (another big city in the south-east) around central government policies; and, the interlocal tension between Daegu and Busan became intertwined with a territorialised party politics and conditioned the rise of political regionalism in Daegu in the mid 1990s.

Two Models of Local Development Politics

In this paper three case studies of urban development policies are outlined in order to advance two models of the diverse structuring of interaction between business and politicians. The three cases concern the Italian cities of Pavia, Parma, and Modena. For each city we describe the economic and political context and review the planning policy, focusing on specific decisionmaking processes. This sets the stage for an analysis of the interaction between political and economic actors and for an evaluation of the results of that analysis with respect to the effectiveness of the decisionmaking and implementation processes of urban policy. Those factors which account for the relative strength of business interests and elected officials and favor their engaging in the bargaining relationships are discussed, and two contrasting models of their interaction are presented.