Metropolitics

Aéroports de Paris: A Strategic Lever for the French State?

Nathalie Roseau & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-01-26T06:00:00Z

Following growing controversy surrounding the French government's plans to privatize the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) group, Nathalie Roseau looks back at the history of this organization and questions the wisdom of such a reform.
On April 11, 2019, France's lower house of parliament, the Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly) approved a law known as PACTE (Plan d'Action pour la Croissance et la Transformation des Entreprises – Action Plan for Growth and Transformation of Enterprises), paving

- Debates / climate change, Greater Paris, airport, sustainable development, Île-de-France, ADP, France, globalization, Paris region, Paris, transport, transport policy, environment, environmental protection, economic development, territorial development, privatization

Northern Mafias: the territorial spread of organised crime in Italy

Fabrizio Maccaglia & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-02-26T05:50:00Z

The presence of Mafia organisations outside the Mezzogiorno, long downplayed by the Italian public authorities, has become more visible in recent years. A collective work sheds light on the spread of Mafia activity in Italy, and in particular the mechanisms used to infiltrate local economic and political fabrics.
The presence of Mafia-type organisations in regions other than those where they have been historically rooted since the second half of the 19th century (western Sicily for Cosa

- Reviews / local governance, Italy, territorial development, corruption, Mafia

Regeneration and the Legacy of Thatcherism

Juliet Carpenter — 2014-10-15T04:55:00Z

What was Margaret Thatcher's legacy in terms of the way inner-city areas are regenerated in the UK? Juliet Carpenter shows that while the highly market-driven approach of 1980s “urban development corporations” was later officially abandoned in favour of more community-led action, certain elements of the Thatcherite philosophy survived under New Labour, resulting in the “state-led gentrification” of Britain's cities.
Much has been written about Margaret Thatcher's legacy since her death in

- Essays / urban renewal, inequalities, liberalism, deindustrialization, urban development, United Kingdom, territorial development, urban regeneration, redevelopment, Thatcher, centralism

Territorial Equality in France: A Historical Perspective

Matthew Wendeln — 2014-06-04T04:50:00Z

Once the basis of French regional planning, the goal of national balance has made a comeback in France under the banner of “territorial equality”. The postwar experience suggests that redistributive regional policies can promote growth in a period of economic turbulence.
Over the past two decades, the twin goals of competition and competitiveness have gained increasing sway in French urban and regional policies (Baudelle and Montabone 2008, p. 3). Following the Left's national victory in

- Essays / France, urban planning, decentralization, territorial development, metropolis, socio-spatial inequalities, regional planning, territorial equality, economic development, metropolitan areas, region

Slumdog Non-Millionaires

Rémi de Bercegol & Shankare Gowda — 2014-05-14T04:50:00Z

In India, the dominant theme of megacities and their development has concealed the significance of small and medium-sized towns. Though numerous, these towns have benefited only marginally from reforms introduced since the 1990s and need to be better taken into consideration if they are to escape poverty.
The poverty of the Indian megalopolises' urban slums was depicted in the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The situation in these huge cities, such as Mumbai (Patel and Masselos 2003), Delhi

- From the Field / decentralization, territorial development, poverty, medium-sized cities, India

The effects of Thatcherism in the urban North of England

Mark Bailoni & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-04-02T04:50:00Z

The economic policies of Margaret Thatcher's governments polarised not just opinion but also whole swathes of the UK. In particular, the cities of northern England – Labour heartlands in an economically divided country – represented a counterweight during the Thatcher years. Weakened by relative decline and the continued application of Thatcherite policies post-1990, these cities now appear to have converted to a form of governance tailored to territorial competitiveness.
Reactions following

- Essays / decentralization, inequalities, liberalism, deindustrialization, United Kingdom, territorial development, Thatcher, centralism, England

The sustainable metropolis: when night enlightens day

Luc Gwiazdzinski & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-03-05T05:50:00Z

The night-time, long a neglected dimension of the city, can no longer be dismissed. Luc Gwiazdzinski invites us to explore this nocturnal realm and together imagine the contours of this particular form of metropolitan urbanity, as he believes the night has a lot to tell us about the daytime and the future more generally.
The night is a wonderful space for renewal and replenishment, for invention and new projects for our changing cities, and for their inhabitants in search points of reference.

- Essays / public space, sustainable development, innovation, territorial development, metropolis, night, urban temporalities, chronotopia

Could harmonised working times spell an end to the rush hour?

Emmanuel Munch & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-02-12T05:50:00Z

Efforts to coordinate working hours across urban territories have increased in recent years. By exploring the “desynchronisation” of journeys, these experiments aim to reduce congestion at peak times at the lowest possible cost. Field trials, while promising on paper, have been confronted with a complex and changing reality, marked by increasingly individualised daily schedules.
The simultaneous nature of home-to-work mobility is the root cause of congestion in many transport networks,

- Essays / public transportation, well-being, mobility, transport, work, territorial development, businesses, time, mass transit

The metropolisation of “Roma Capitale”: the view from the Tiber delta

Aurélien Delpirou & Dominique Rivière & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-11-06T05:50:00Z

Far from the stereotype of the “sleeping beauty”, the Italian capital is the scene of an important and unique metropolisation process, the challenges of which Aurélien Delpirou and Dominique Rivière analyse here. How can urban and economic growth be reconciled with the historical legacies of the Eternal City?
On 21 December 2012, a few days before the fall of Mario Monti's administration, the Italian government gave its approval for the extension of Rome Fiumicino international airport and

- From the Field / urban planning, Rome, Italy, territorial development, metropolization, heritage

Post-industrial cities: towards a new approach

Max Rousseau & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-09-25T04:55:00Z

While anglophone urban studies have sought to critique the way capitalism has developed, the French social sciences have instead chosen to produce detailed monographs of urban spaces. However, both traditions can be combined to good advantage, as Max Rousseau shows here through a historical analysis of urban policies in (post-)industrial cities.
Translated with the support of the Institut Français Series: Urban Studies in France The Louvre-Lens, Pompidou-Metz, The Cité du Design in

- From the Field / France, governance, urban policy, deindustrialization, United Kingdom, territorial development, Marxism, crisis, Roubaix, Sheffield, monograph, postindustrialism, Nord–Pas-de-Calais, England, Lille, Northern France, Hauts-de-France