Space In England Research Articles

Introduction: Towards a Political Understanding of New Ruins

AbstractThis debate section gathers together contributions from cultural historians, political geographers, urban sociologists and architectural writers on new forms of ruination in contemporary landscapes. Their case studies span examples of ruins in China, North America, Ireland and Ukraine, as well as reviewing cultural representations of ruined, remote and peripheral spaces in England and Greece. Many wider cultural representations of ruined landscapes are primarily visual; whilst these have great value in alerting wider publics to the debris of global capitalism, neoliberalism and state‐sanctioned processes of cultural imperialism, what is needed within academic contributions to the ruinology literature is a deeper understanding and articulation of the wider contexts within which ruination occurs. Therefore, several contributions supplement visual representations of ruination with ethnographic and first‐person accounts of places on the ground, whereas other contributions offer readings of ruined landscapes that are rich in political histories and policy details. Connections are made to wider contemporary debates around ‘forensic architecture’ and critical archaeologies of the present and recent past. What connects these contributions is a commitment to situating ruins within their historical, policy and social contexts, and working through ruination to open out political readings of landscape.

The Value of Urban Green Space in Britain: A Methodological Framework for Spatially Referenced Benefit Transfer

A meta-analysis of studies valuing urban greenspace in the UK is undertaken to yield spatially sensitive marginal value functions. A geographical information system (GIS) is used to apply these functions to spatial data detailing the location of such greenspace resources in five British cities. Changes in monetary values are computed for the six future scenarios used in the UK National Ecosystem Assessment for the period 2010–2060. Different degrees of substitutability between urban greenspaces are considered. These findings are then extrapolated to all major British cities to obtain per household and aggregate valuation estimates for each scenario both with and without distributional weights. While subject to a number of shortcomings in both data availability and methodology, this represents the first systematic and comprehensive attempt to value marginal changes in urban greenspace while accounting for spatial heterogeneity.

Spaces of Neoliberal Experimentation: Soft Spaces, Postpolitics, and Neoliberal Governmentality

This paper examines the proliferation of soft spaces of governance, focusing on planning. We move beyond more functional explanations to explore the politics of soft spaces, more specifically how soft space forms of governance operate as integral to processes of neoliberalisation, highlighting how such state forms facilitate neoliberalisation through their flexibility and variability. Recent state restructuring of the planning sector and emerging trends for soft spaces in England under the Coalition government proposals are discussed.

Between policy and reality: multiculturalism, the second generation, and the third space in Britain

Despite the significant level of cultural diversity that exists in contemporary Europe as a consequence of immigration and diaspora, state policies on multiculturalism in several countries have not kept pace with the complex and dynamic processes created by these pluralising social forces and realities. This has given rise to exclusionary contexts that have led to feelings of alienation by immigrant communities. In Britain, the violent street confrontations in Bradford in 2001 and the London bombings of 2005 both epitomised, as well as were outcomes of, the British nation state’s failure to foster dialogue and a sense of inclusion among these communities. Foregrounding the extent of the grievances and frustrations prevalent in British society, these social disturbances have also contributed to renewed debates on issues of national identity, belonging, and multiculturalism. More importantly, these clashes, involving mostly the second-generation British Asian Muslim community, have brought to the fore the dissonance between assumptions of belonging underlying “state multiculturalism”, which moves to fix and stabilise identities, and those that inform the complex processes of identification and constructions of the “third space” of belonging by racialised minority communities. Focusing on Britain, this paper’s central hypothesis is that official multiculturalism has failed to take into account the fluid and heterogeneous frames in and through which second-generation British Asians ground their cultural and political identities and demands. As many of the nation states in Europe are today, like Britain, multiethnic in composition with expanding Asian communities, how successfully or not Britain modifies its integration policies with respect to the presence of minorities of immigrant origin has enormous implications not only for Europe but also for Asia and Asia–Europe relations.

Service Charges in Commercial Property: measuring code compliance

PurposeThe paper seeks to measure compliance by owners and their managing agents with the RICS Code of Practice Service Charges in Commercial Property, emphasising the financial reporting to tenants in multi‐let financial services buildings.Design/methodology/approachData were hand collected by examining original source documents provided to commercial leaseholders as part of the service charge management process. This removes bias from relying on secondary respondents to provide data.FindingsThe paper finds that requirements of the Code of Practice are not onerous, and whilst service charge management has improved, the majority of landlords still fail to achieve its requirements.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample represents approximately 6.2 per cent of multi‐let office space in England and Wales 1998‐2009. The content analysis method used requires some subjective interpretation by the researchers.Originality/valueData are original to this research and the paper offers an analysis on the current standards of accounting practice by service charge managers.

Planning and policy documents as transactions costs: the case of rural decision-making in England

The growth in community involvement in public domain decisions for rural spaces in England over the past 20 years has increased the overall costs of such decision-making. These transaction's costs can be grouped into four types pertaining to organisations, institutions, belief systems and knowledge and information (K&I). Within the last of these, costs can arise because of a lack of K&I, the costs of procuring K&I and K&I overload. In an empirical survey in Gloucestershire county in the south west region of England K&I transaction's costs were found to be increasing, particularly in relation to procurement and overload. The number of planning and policy documents as a subset of K&I had increased considerably in the case study area such that for the rural district of the Cotswolds 60 plans pertained simultaneously in 2007. Despite this, many of those involved in decision-making about rural spaces felt the costs involved in assimilating the information that they contained were worth paying if it allowed them to be better informed.

영국 공원녹지 정책의 최근 경향과 특성

최근 공원녹지 공간은 여가 활동의 장소로 뿐만 아니라 환경복지, 사회교육과 일자리 창출, 탄소 저감 등에도 기여하고 있다. 그래서 공원녹지는 도로, 하천, 항만, 상하수도, 배수 같은 도시기반시설로 이해하거나, 교육 및 문화, 복지 시설 등과 같은 인프라에 포함하기도 한다. 이러한 변화는 공원 및 녹지 공간 관련 정책에 반영되고 있고, 많은 국가나 지자체에서 관심을 갖고 투자하고 있다. 영국에서 근래 이루어진 정책적 쇄신은 이에 대한 좋은 예라 할 수 있다. 이에 본 연구는 2002년 이후 영국에서 이루어진 공원녹지 정책의 변화 과정과 내용, 변화된 정책의 특징과 시사점을 다루었다. 본 연구의 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 다양한 정책서를 통한 정책 참여와 실천 유도이다. 이는 추상적 문구와 일반적 유형을 나열하여 실행 효과가 미흡한 성문법보다 실천적인 방법이라고 할 수 있다. 둘째, 공원녹지공간의 정치적 행정적 위상 제고다. 일례로 공원녹지 공간 관련 정책 및 프로그램을 총괄적으로 조정할 수 있는 조직인 케이브 스페이스를 설립하였다. 셋째, 도시공원과 녹지를 위한 지원금 제도의 도입과 실행이다. 넷째, 공원녹지 공간의 질 저하 방지와 향상을 위한 단기적 장기적 정책 마련이다. 다섯째, 중앙정부, 지방정부, 커뮤니티의 역할배분과 파트너십 구축이다. 중앙정부는 지방정부와 제도적, 정보적 지원, 모니터링, 우수 사례 선발 같은 방식으로 파트너십을 유지하고 있다. 마지막으로는 정책수립과 실천에 다양한 주체들과 커뮤니티의 참여이다. 정책수립과 실천에 중앙정부조직들뿐만 아니라 제 3부문의 단체들, 민간기업 등을 포함시킴으로써 여러 정책과의 연계성 및 실천성을 높였다. 근래 우리나라에서는 공원 일몰제, 조경법, 도시숲법 등 당면 문제와 기후변화에 대한 대처, 질 높은 도시의 삶, 지속가능성 확보 등으로 인해 공원녹지 정책에 대한 재고가 요구되고 있다. 그러나 공원녹지정책에 관한 연구는 미흡한 현실이다. 이에 국가적 차원에서 공원녹지 정책을 체계적으로 다루고 있는 영국의 사례 검토는 의미 있는 일이다. Recently parks and green spaces contribute not only as a place of leisure but also for environmental welfare, social education, new jobs and <TEX>$CO_2$</TEX> Emissions Reduction. Parks and green spaces are understood as urban infrastructures like roads and rivers. They are also included in social infrastructures like education, culture, and welfare facilities. These changes are applied to policies for parks and green spaces, many governments and local authorities make investments on them. The modification of policies for parks and green spaces in England is a good example about this trend From this view point, this study now deals with the changing process of policies, results, and evaluation. Some implications have been deducted. The first is the inducement in participation in policies and implementation of practices through policy papers. They are more practical than written laws which are composed of abstract sentences and generalizations. Secondly, the status of parks and green spaces is highly raised with the establishment of CABE Space and so on. This organization controls many different policies and programs related to parks and green spaces. Third is the funding for the improvement of parks and green spaces. Fourth, are the short-term measures, such as funding and management, and the long-term measures such as pursuing building of partnership and training. Fifth, the government strives to establish its partnership with the local authorities and communities through a spectrum of support in terms of information, monitoring, and developing good practices among networks. Finally, parks and green spaces are being addressed from multiple directions through the participation of numerous agents like voluntary groups, development companies, communities and so on. Recently, in Korea, the influences of the Sunset Law for Park Site, Landscape Architecture Law, Urban Forest Law, and other related ordinances have encouraged the review on the policies on parks and green spaces needed. However, there are not many studies about them. Owing to these reasons, the cases of England will he helpful.

Commercial service charge management: benchmarking best practice

PurposeThe paper benchmarks compliance for 2010‐2011 with the RICS Code of Practice for Commercial Service Charges 2006.Design/methodology/approachWhether the proxy adopted is measured by floorspace or number of commercial office buildings, the sample size conforms to Kreycie and Morgan's determination for representative sample size. Data are generated directly from the original documents provided to commercial leaseholders to ensure authenticity and remove the need for third party reporting of said data. This guarantees the data are valid.FindingsThe research discovers that compliance with the RICS Code of Practice for commercial service charges is poorly, if variably, implemented. This contrasts with claims by the professional body.Research limitations/implicationsThe work only concerns 17 corporate tenants operating principally in the financial services sector and data are drawn from the clients of one property services company. Content analysis is utilised in order to interpret the data and requires some subjective judgement by the researchers. The work only refers to multi‐let office space in England and Wales.Originality/valueData are original and the paper offers a unique benchmarking test. This contrasts markedly with the anecdotal evidence offered by the profession in defending their standards of practice and whilst the paper has limitations, it is the largest and most accurate study yet carried out in the field.

Liberal intellectuals and public culture in modern Britain, 1815-1914: making words flesh

'Liberal Intellectuals and Public Culture in Modern Britain' shows how liberal values reconstructed public space in Britain after the repeal of the Test and Corporations Acts [1828] and the passage of Catholic emancipation [1829]. It traces the century-long process against subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles. It examines the emergence of the intellectual authority of the universities and the social authority of the professions. It shows how these changes gave different political and social opportunities for new families such as the Bensons, the Venns, the Stracheys and the Trevelyans. When the social moorings of the confessional state diminished new forms of association emerged to devise and promote liberal values as a distinctive form of cultural capital. This cultural capital - antique and modern letters, mathematics - filled the public sphere and provided the materials for intellectual change. The final chapters on Roman Catholicism and nationalism reveal the fragilities of this public culture. WILLIAM C. LUBENOW is Professor of History at Stockton College, New Jersey. He is the author of 'The Politics of Government Growth, Parliamentary Politics and the Home Rule Crisis', and the 'Cambridge Apostles, 1820-1914'.

THE STRATEGIC RATIONALE FOR BRITAIN IN SPACE

Not only will space become an even more important domain of military capability in the future, it will be an increasingly crowded arena. Britain's space strategy has lagged behind those of its allies, with the UK reliant on foreign capability for mission-critical tasks such as satellite imagery and positioning. Despite the era of budget austerity, John B Sheldon argues that the time has come for a thorough rethink of British priorities in space.

‘The Dining Room Should Be the Man's Paradise, as the Drawing Room Is the Woman's’: Gender and Middle-Class Domestic Space in England, 1850-1910

In the middle-class home in late nineteenth-century England, drawing rooms, morning rooms and boudoirs became increasingly associated with women, while dining rooms, studies and smoking rooms were viewed as male spaces. Historians have linked this to the exclusion of women from social power and a male ‘flight from domesticity’. This article questions these interpretations and explores gendered space through advice manuals, inventories and sale catalogues, and autobiographies. While the notion that domestic space should be divided between men and women had considerable cultural purchase, the ways in which this should occur were subject to dispute and limited by the practical contingencies of everyday living. In homes where gendered material culture was present, it exerted a powerful influence on childhood experience and the formation of adult identities.

Women and the making of built space in England, 1870–1950

Women and the making of built space in England, 1870–1950

Elizabeth Darling and Lesley Whitworth (eds.), Women and the Making of Built Space in England, 1870–1950. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. xi + 220pp. 19 illustrations. Bibliography. £55.00.

Elizabeth Darling and Lesley Whitworth (eds.), Women and the Making of Built Space in England, 1870–1950. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007. xi + 220pp. 19 illustrations. Bibliography. £55.00. - Volume 36 Issue 1

National policy brokering and the construction of the European Education Space in England, Sweden, Finland and Scotland

This paper draws on a comparative study of the growth of data and the changing governance of education in Europe. It looks at data and the ‘making’ of a European Education Policy Space, with a focus on ‘policy brokers’ in translating and mediating demands for data from the European Commission. It considers the ways in which such brokers use data production pressures from the Commission to justify policy directions in their national systems. The systems under consideration are Finland, Sweden, and England and Scotland. The paper focuses on the rise of Quality Assurance and Evaluation mechanisms and processes as providing the overarching rationale for data demands, both for accountability and performance improvement purposes. The theoretical resources that are drawn on to enable interpretation of the data are those that suggest a move from governing to governance and the use of comparison as a form of governance.

Women and the Making of Built Space in England, 1870–1950, edited by Elizabeth Darling and Lesley Whitworth

<i>Women and the Making of Built Space in England, 1870–1950</i>, edited by Elizabeth Darling and Lesley Whitworth

Office Space Supply Restrictions in Britain: The Political Economy of Market Revenge

Office space in Britain is the most expensive in the world and regulatory constraints are the obvious explanation. We estimate the ‘regulatory tax’ for 14 British office locations from 1961 to 2005. These are orders of magnitude greater than estimates for Manhattan condominiums or office space in continental Europe. Exploiting the panel data, we provide strong support for our hypothesis that the regulatory tax varies according to whether an area is controlled by business interests or residents. Our results imply that the cost of the 1990 change converting commercial property taxes from a local to a national basis – transparently removing any fiscal incentive to permit local development – exceeded any plausible rise in local property taxes.

The Racial Construction of Urban Spaces in Britain and Pakistan

This paper details the articulations of a sample of South Asian Muslims from Lancashire, UK, and Karachi, Pakistan, in relation to their construction of the urban space in which they reside. In particular, theories of how urban spaces are ‘racially constructed’ and the impact of this on our understanding of racial and politically motivated violence are examined. The findings are part of a broader study which provided a comparative evaluation of the experiences of crime amongst two Muslim communities in the UK and Pakistan (Quraishi, Muslims and crime: A comparative study. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005). The theoretical inspiration for this paper originates from the writings of Chicago School scholars such as Park, but more specifically from the works of Webster, Hesse et al. and Keith, who each explore the dynamic relationships between urban space, racial identity and victimization (Park, The nature of race relations. Chapter 7 in L. Back, J. Solomos (Eds.), Theories of race and Racism. London: Routledge, 1950; Webster, Youth crime, victimization and harassment. The Keighley crime survey. A paper in community studies no.7. centre Research. Department of Applied and community studies, Bradford and Ilkley Community College, 1994; Webster, Local heroes: Racial violence among asian and young people. Leicester: Leicester University, 1997; Hesse,et al Beneath the surface: Racial harassment. Avebury: Aldershot, 1992; Keith, Identity and the spaces of authenticity. Chapter 35 in L. Back, J. Solomos (Eds), Theories of race and racism. London: Routledge, 2004) The paper evaluates the construction of certain ‘no-go’ zones in the UK and Pakistan as perceived by Muslims. The comparative dimension enables an exploration of the divergence and convergence of processes accountable for a racially constructed interpretation of urban environments (Alexander, The asian gang: Ethnicity, Identity. Masculinity. Oxford: Berg, 2000; Desai, Spaces of identity, cultures of conflict: The development of new asian identities, Ph.D. dissertation, Goldsmiths’ college, University of London. In B. Bowling, C. Philips (2000) Racism, crime & theoutsiders. London: Longman/Pearson, 1998). Such processes are contextualized against the broader experiences of social exclusion, victimization and racism experienced by Muslim youth in everyday life (Quraishi, Muslims and crime: A comparative study. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005; Spalek, Islam, crime and criminal justice. London: Willan, 2002; Spalek, Muslims in the UK and the criminal justice system. Chapter 4 in open society institute (Eds.), Muslims in the UK: Policies for Engaged citizens.OSI/EU Monitoring & Advocacy Programme. Hungary, Budapest & New York, 2005).

Office Space Supply Restrictions in Britain: The Political Economy of Market Revenge

Office space in Britain is the most expensive in the world and regulatory constraints are the obvious explanation. We estimate the 'regulatory tax' for 14 British office locations from 1961 to 2005. These are orders of magnitude greater than estimates for Manhattan condominiums or office space in continental Europe. Exploiting the panel data, we provide strong support for our hypothesis that the regulatory tax varies according to whether an area is controlled by business interests or residents. Our results imply that the cost of the 1990 change converting commercial property taxes from a local to a national basis - transparently removing any fiscal incentive to permit local development - exceeded any plausible rise in local property taxes.

Resistance and identity: homeless women’s use of public spaces

This paper explores women’s geographies of homelessness with a particular focus on homeless women’s use of public spaces in England. It demonstrates that homeless women’s spatial boundaries are not confined to the institutional spaces of homelessness, as much literature and research would suggest, but frequently extend into public spaces and buildings. The paper also argues that homeless women’s use of public spaces can be conceptualised in terms of resistance: by occupying these spaces homeless women are challenging the rules governing public places which render them unwelcome there; and they are resisting a shift of identity arising from their homeless status.

‘Burying the dead’: making Muslim space in Britain

Astract This article explores how far, and to what extent, burial has contributed to the establishment of a Muslim presence in Britain over the past 200 years. By discussing various ways in which Muslims have buried their dead over this period, and some of the problems that they have encountered, it addresses the significance of ritual and place-making in relation to notions of belonging and the construction of identity. In many ways, burial grounds for Muslims in Britain have operated as symbolic devices for community narratives and shared values, which in turn have nurtured forms of identification with place and community. As this article argues, they have helped to create space that demonstrates the changing nature of Muslim ‘rootedness’ within the British environment.