Article

Latent sprawl, divided Mediterranean landscapes: urban growth, swimming pools, and the socio-spatial structure of Athens, Greece

Taylor & Francis
Urban Geography
Authors:
  • Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - Autonomous University of Barcelona
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

Although Mediterranean cities have inherent differences on a local scale, together they offer a kaleidoscopic overview of distinctive morphologies and patterns of socio-spatial segregation. In this study, we explore the distribution of residential swimming pools as indicators of the use of land and water at the metropolitan scale, in relation to recent changes in the socio-spatial structure of a large Mediterranean city (Athens, Greece). Our results indicate a polarized spatial distribution of swimming pools, still considered a luxury affordable only for a minor segment of the Greek population. The analysis highlights the spatial linkages between concentration of residential pools, class segregation and low-density settlements, indicating that the socio-spatial structure of Athens remains characterized by persistent disparities between rich and poor neighborhoods. Comparison with another Mediterranean city (Barcelona) demonstrates the peculiarity of Athens’ recent development as reflected in the fragmented and polarized urban structure. The study provides an alternative reading of recent Mediterranean urban growth by considering pools as a “landmark” for urban sprawl, producing contested landscapes of localized social segregation.

No full-text available

Request Full-text Paper PDF

To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.

... Morphological dimensions were integrated in this perspective, enriching mainstream and alternative visions of regional planning and landscape ecology [78][79][80]. The specific demographic profiles that characterize European peri-urban areas, the main differences with well-known American stereotypes, or how much class segregation is observed in planned areas compared to informal ones are issues that should be better investigated in future studies [81,82]. Such approaches take account of processes of revitalization that improve commuting spaces in response to accelerated demographic dynamics in enlarged metropolitan regions. ...
... Morphological dimensions were integrated in this perspective, enriching mainstream and alternative visions of regional planning and landscape ecology [78][79][80]. The specific demographic profiles that characterize European peri-urban areas, the main differences with well-known American stereotypes, or how much class segregation is observed in planned areas compared to informal ones are issues that should be better investigated in future studies [81,82]. [68]). ...
... Some classifications of the most relevant factors underlying sprawl were more recently proposed [93], discriminating dynamics into systematic repertories of local contexts and demonstrating new cases of urban dispersion. Compared with the Anglo-Saxon experience, sprawl appeared quite late in the Mediterranean urban literature [14,33,34,69,81], revealing three synergistic features: (i) the impact of diversified urban forms, (ii) the "hesitant" role of territorial planning, and (iii) the conflicting relationship between population and urbanity. Most of the greatest Mediterranean cities had compactness as a distinctive feature of their urban landscapes [91]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Urban sprawl is a complex phenomenon that requires a comprehensive reflection on the most significant patterns and underlying processes. While the “sprawl” notion parallels hegemonic concepts such as economic competitiveness, social cohesion, and polycentric development, an integrated analysis of sprawl patterns and processes in paradigmatic socioeconomic contexts is increasingly required to reconcile different disciplinary visions, contributing to a holistic interpretation of metropolitan change. At the same time, sprawl is an increasingly evident product of local socioeconomic contexts all over the world. A comprehensive investigation of multifaceted, form–function relationships underlying sprawl—based on a quali-quantitative analysis of representative cases—is a crucial pre-requisite of both monitoring and policy actions at multiple spatial scales, from urban/regional to national/continental levels. The present contribution proposes a contextualization of the sprawl notion in Southern Europe—a socioeconomic context characterized by compact and continuous urbanization for a long time. An integrated approach based on a visual analysis of urban and peri-urban landscapes—integrated with an extended literature survey—allows for a definition of a specific sprawl model in Southern Europe, sharing some features with the United States ideal type of sprawl and showing peculiarities with respect to common models of urban dispersion typical of Northern and Western Europe. Policies aimed at containing urban dispersion may definitely benefit from a local-based definition of sprawl, considering the specificity of form–function relationships and the underlying socioeconomic context.
... The presence of swimming pools increases water consumption levels in the residential sector [12,[17][18][19]21,22]. This observation includes, but is not limited to, areas in which tourism has blended with demographic and urban growth to create a complex urbanization of entire coastal regions and island communities [2,12,22]. ...
... The presence of swimming pools increases water consumption levels in the residential sector [12,[17][18][19]21,22]. This observation includes, but is not limited to, areas in which tourism has blended with demographic and urban growth to create a complex urbanization of entire coastal regions and island communities [2,12,22]. A study of Barcelona (Spain) revealed that adding a pool to the home increases water consumption by 155 L per day [23]. ...
... The proliferation of swimming pools marks a transition in urban water consumption and signifies broad changes in the urban and societal appropriation of resources. Particularly in the built environments of the coastal Mediterranean, swimming pools are connected with shifts in the urban lifestyles and an increase in residential tourism [12,13,22]. Residential tourism is now a global phenomenon that comprises the occasional use of a second home for vacation and recreation, including renting it out as a holiday home [27]. ...
Article
Full-text available
The Balearic Islands are a major Mediterranean tourist destination that features one of the greatest swimming pool densities within Europe. In this paper, standard meteorological data were combined with a diachronic swimming pool inventory to estimate water evaporation from swimming pools over the Balearic archipelago. Evaporation was estimated using an empirical equation designed for open-water surfaces. Results revealed a 32% increase in swimming pools' water use by 2015. Evaporation from swimming pools added 9.6 L of water to touristic consumption per guest night and person, and represented 4.9% of the total urban water consumption. In 2015, almost 5 hm 3 (5 billion L) were lost from pools across the Balearic Islands. In several densely urbanized areas, evaporative water loss from pools exceeded four million litres per square kilometre and year. The water needed to refill the total of 62,599 swimming pools and to counteract evaporative water loss is equivalent to 1.2 pools per year. Swimming pools have rapidly proliferated across the islands. We have expounded on this development in view of much-needed responsible water management across the islands.
... Attica stands out as a prime exemplar in Europe of a mono-centric and compact city-region experiencing significant landscape shifts due to exurban development and adjustments in land cover towards polycentricism (D'Agata, Ciaschini, et al., 2024;Vinci et al., 2023). Although prior studies have examined changes in the distribution of fundamental land cover classes around Athens (Mallinis et al., 2014;Salvati, 2014bSalvati, , 2014a, the spread of informal settlements (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;Salvati, 2023aSalvati, , 2023c, and specific morphological indicators of urban sprawl (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;Tombolini et al., 2015), this study attempts to explore landscape alterations in Attica by (i) evaluating landscape rearrangements and the increasing variety in land cover at the urban-rural interface of Athens' metropolitan area, and (ii) discerning the significance of selected environmental and socioeconomic factors potentially linked to land cover changes. Findings contribute to the formulation of sustainable land management strategies aimed at conserving high-quality natural and semi-natural land at the periphery. ...
... Attica stands out as a prime exemplar in Europe of a mono-centric and compact city-region experiencing significant landscape shifts due to exurban development and adjustments in land cover towards polycentricism (D'Agata, Ciaschini, et al., 2024;Vinci et al., 2023). Although prior studies have examined changes in the distribution of fundamental land cover classes around Athens (Mallinis et al., 2014;Salvati, 2014bSalvati, , 2014a, the spread of informal settlements (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;Salvati, 2023aSalvati, , 2023c, and specific morphological indicators of urban sprawl (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;Tombolini et al., 2015), this study attempts to explore landscape alterations in Attica by (i) evaluating landscape rearrangements and the increasing variety in land cover at the urban-rural interface of Athens' metropolitan area, and (ii) discerning the significance of selected environmental and socioeconomic factors potentially linked to land cover changes. Findings contribute to the formulation of sustainable land management strategies aimed at conserving high-quality natural and semi-natural land at the periphery. ...
Chapter
The current chapter explores the spatial correlation between landscape alterations and specific ecological and socioeconomic factors in a densely populated urban area like Athens, Greece, which is experiencing rapid sprawl and significant changes in land use. Over the past two decades, artificial, bare, and burned land has seen a sharp increase, adversely affecting landscape diversity and the quality of land cover. Rainfed cropland and sparsely vegetated areas experienced the highest probability of edification. Key variables influencing land use change in Attica include elevation, population density, distance from downtown Athens, and proximity to major roads. Furthermore, natural land cover categories are now associated with areas exhibiting higher climate and soil quality compared to previous conditions. Through empirical analyses, we can pinpoint the most significant drivers of land cover changes, providing valuable insights for environmental policies aimed at mitigating land consumption in expanding urban regions.
... Attica stands out as a prime exemplar in Europe of a mono-centric and compact city-region experiencing significant landscape shifts due to exurban development and adjustments in land cover towards polycentricism . Although prior studies have examined changes in the distribution of fundamental land cover classes around Athens (Mallinis et al., 2014;, the spread of informal settlements (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;Salvati, , 2023c, and specific morphological indicators of urban sprawl (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;, this study attempts to explore landscape alterations in Attica by (i) evaluating landscape rearrangements and the increasing variety in land cover at the urban-rural interface of Athens' metropolitan area, and (ii) discerning the significance of selected environmental and socioeconomic factors potentially linked to land cover changes. Findings contribute to the formulation of sustainable land management strategies aimed at conserving high-quality natural and semi-natural land at the periphery. ...
... Attica stands out as a prime exemplar in Europe of a mono-centric and compact city-region experiencing significant landscape shifts due to exurban development and adjustments in land cover towards polycentricism . Although prior studies have examined changes in the distribution of fundamental land cover classes around Athens (Mallinis et al., 2014;, the spread of informal settlements (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;Salvati, , 2023c, and specific morphological indicators of urban sprawl (Salvati, Ridolfi, et al., 2016;, this study attempts to explore landscape alterations in Attica by (i) evaluating landscape rearrangements and the increasing variety in land cover at the urban-rural interface of Athens' metropolitan area, and (ii) discerning the significance of selected environmental and socioeconomic factors potentially linked to land cover changes. Findings contribute to the formulation of sustainable land management strategies aimed at conserving high-quality natural and semi-natural land at the periphery. ...
Book
Moving from conventional narratives on urbanization and suburbanization in Europe, this book provides readers with a fresh perspective on Mediterranean sprawl, exploring apparent and latent correlations with land use patterns, climate dynamics, ecological concerns, housing paradigms, and welfare regimes, societal and demographic transformations, (local) governance structures, and deficiencies in spatial planning. From the fringes of metropolitan landscapes to the intricate mosaic of urban-rural interfaces, each chapter offers a nuanced examination of the forces driving spatial transformation. The outcome of the book aims to furnish an integrated understanding of spatial divides between cities and their surrounding territories beyond mere academic discourse.
... It should be also noted that AUA is somehow similar to Functional Urban Area (defined by OECD), but these two areas do not coincide geographically. With a continuous built-up area spanning over 412 km 2 and a population of 3,090,508 residents according to the latest census conducted by Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) referring to the year 2011, metropolitan Athens or AUA is the largest urban conglomeration in Greece and one of the most populated urban areas in Europe (Salvati et al., 2016). In general, it is considered as a large geographical region with prominent historical importance and diverse social, morphological and functional dynamics (Tzortzi and Ioannou, 2020). ...
Article
Full-text available
The social, historical and spatial processes that shape the centrality pattern of a city have always been at the core of urban studies that explore the interplay between network configuration, human activities and the planned/formal form of the city. However, there is far limited research dealing with historic metropolitan areas, and exploring these links under a quantitative geospatial approach. In this article, we aim to address this gap by the exploring the different centrality aspects of Metropolitan Athens and more specifically by (a) providing a reproducible methodology for identifying active and network centralities, as defined by land-use pattern and space syntax respectively, (b) exploring the geospatial signature of the planned and organic form of Metropolitan Athens as framed by its institutional spatial framework as well as its active and network centrality, respectively, (c) investigating the role of network centrality, in shaping the existing active centrality pattern. The research results highlighted that the organic patterns are similar with the planned ones, mainly in the central and western part of the study area, whereas in the rest parts considerable differences are encountered. Notably, a study, in a metropolitan area with such extent and diverse characteristics (e.g., urban morphology, land uses), is currently missing from relevant literature. Hence, this work could shed light on urban development issues, revealing meaningful insights on how similar metropolitan cities in the Mediterranean region are assembled. Last, it could function as a valuable input for future planning suggestions.
... Rather, their analogies lie in the political economic relations of uneven development within their continental contexts. In particular, they have in common a number of transformations in the field of urbanization and real-estate, as the socio-economic processes here described have been intertwined, since the 1980s, with analogous trends of spatial reorganization, made up of coexisting processes of metropolization and counter-urbanization, plus stratification, polarization and fragmentation (Lloyd, 2012;Salvati et al., 2016;. ...
Article
Full-text available
Southern urban critique has enriched our understanding of global uneven development, but often ended up constructing a dichotomous understanding of two apparently homogeneous fields: the Global North (or West) and South. This has been particularly evident in housing studies. In this article, I advocate for a relational, multi-scalar and comparative approach to southern urban critique, capable of exposing quasi-colonial relations within the urban “West”; and apply it to the exploration of housing dynamics and systems in Southern Europe and Southern USA—two regions linked to their continental “cores” by historical patterns of uneven and combined development. Despite being characterized by different urban frameworks and housing systems, these regions have in common analogous patterns of globalization and neoliberalization, with similar impacts over housing, especially in the aftermaths of the global economic crisis. By discussing how global trends intersect with regional contexts, I aim to provide conceptual and epistemological instruments for deepening the analytical grasp and political relevance of southern (urban) critique.
... The most dramatic manifestations of segregation are those that are associated with processes of social exclusion (upper-left quadrant). The increasing presence of gated communities for the affluent classes (Raposo, 2006) and more aggressive processes of gentrification in terms of their potential to expel long term residents (Annunziata and Lees, 2016), are examples of dynamics of sociospatial exclusion developed by and for the richest, as can be processes of suburbanization as well, although in a less aggressive form (Salvati et al., 2016). But in terms of this quadrant, the literature reveals, above all, a proliferation and accentuation of extreme processes of exclusion of the poor into their own neighborhoods (Blanco and Subirats, 2008). ...
... In turn, although the majority of these studies underline the growing suburbanization of ethnic residential segregation, e.g. related to the increasing importance of gentrification in Southern Europe (Arapoglou, 2006;Kandylis et al., 2012;Malheiros, 2002;Salvati, Ridolfi, Pujol, & Ruiz, 2016), there are few cases in which the proposed analysis takes into account the importance of the metropolitan scale (Hochstenbach & Musterd, 2018). Generally speaking, neither socioeconomic dynamics of foreigners in metropolitan regions nor the different segregation patterns within the same space have been extensively taken into account (Arapoglou & Sayas, 2009;Arbaci, 2008;Arbaci & Malheiros, 2010;Maloutas, 2004;Panori, Psycharis, & Ballas, 2019). ...
Article
Studies on residential segregation of foreign population in Southern Europe usually focus on capital cities, omitting the metropolitan dimension and paying less attention to use of comparable analysis’ spatial scales. These issues, together with the dominant use of two-group segregation indexes, prevent identification and classification of metropolitan patterns of residential segregation in such contexts. To overcome these key issues, the spatial segregation of foreign population in 16 Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) was investigated in Italy and Spain using global and local multi-group segregation indexes based on a regular geometry (100 m grid) and confronted with socioeconomic indicators profiling the local context. Results of this study reveal the absence of common metropolitan patterns of residential segregation in both countries. In turn, a greater level of residential segregation is correlated with a lower presence of immigrant population and depressed socioeconomic conditions of each FUA, suggesting the existence of a downward spiral toward social vulnerability in the most disadvantaged cities. These results finally indicate the increasing difficulties faced by foreigners in order to access the real estate market in Southern European cities.
... The type 'water' can be further differentiated into the subsequent types 'standing water body' and 'body of flowing water' through its size, form, and the mobile objects that may be found within such an area. One may argue that (swimming) pools [57][58][59] or lakes are not considered as a proper urban structure type. Pools may vary in depth, water-level, function (recreational or aesthetic purposes) and accessibility. ...
Article
Full-text available
This paper presents a proposal for a generic urban structure type (UST) scheme. Initially developed in the context of urban ecology, the UST approach is increasingly popular in the remote sensing community. However, there is no consistent and standardized UST framework. Until now, the terms land use and certain USTs are often used and described synonymously, or components of structure and use are intermingled. We suggest a generic nomenclature and a respective UST scheme that can be applied worldwide by stakeholders of different disciplines. Based on the insights of a rigorous literature analysis, we formulate a generic structural- and object-based typology, allowing for the generation of hierarchically and terminologically consistent USTs. The developed terminology exclusively focuses on morphology, urban structures and the general exterior appearance of buildings. It builds on the delimitation of spatial objects at several scales and leaves out all social aspects and land use aspects of an urban area. These underlying objects or urban artefacts and their structure- and object-related features, such as texture, patterns, shape, etc. are the core of the hierarchically structured UST scheme. Finally, the authors present a generic framework for the implementation of a remote sensing-based UST classification along with the requirements regarding sensors, data and data types.
Article
The sudden increase of residential swimming pools in fringe landscapes is reflective of urban sprawl and depends on intricate processes of social stratification and economic diversification. They are considered a dominant feature of low-density settlements expanding into rural areas. To achieve a better understanding of the spatial distribution of swimming pools in the context of varying mechanisms of wealth accumulation and income polarizations, a comparative analysis was conducted in three metropolitan regions of Southern Europe, specifically Barcelona (Spain), Rome (Italy), and Athens (Greece). The unique characteristics of the local context in each city were Data Availability Statement included at the end of the article. intended as a multivariate predictor of urban diversity and regional heterogeneity in the socio-spatial evolution of human settlements. To achieve this, a Canonical Correlation Analysis was run on five dependent variables (left set) that illustrate the spatial distribution of swimming pools and 50 indicators (right set) that characterize the socioeconomic context and the conditions leading to sustainable (local) development. The empirical results of this analysis delineate a consistent association between swimming pools and urban sprawl, regardless of the specific region/country under investigation. The spatial distribution and density of swimming pools also reflect the distinct local dynamics that underlie recent metropolitan growth, with implications for sustainable development on a broader scale. Due to the spatially varying economic foundations and socio-demographic circumstances, the distribution of swimming pools in Southern Europe reflects unique patterns of suburbanization. These patterns imply different forms of social diversification and economic polarization which, in turn, shape fringe landscapes, ranging from the micro-geography of neighbourhoods to the macro-scale of metropolitan regions.
Book
Full-text available
Departing from conventional narratives centered on economic stagnation and social secularism, this book offers a fresh perspective on Mediterranean urbanities. It posits their correlation with housing and welfare regimes, societal transformations, local governance structures, and deficiencies in spatial planning. The analysis within delves into the neglected potential for mitigating regional disparities, conducting a meticulous examination of environmental disparities, economic imbalances, and overarching social inequalities in Southern European regions. The outcome aims to furnish an integrated, and potentially holistic, understanding of spatial divisions between cities and their surrounding territories.
Article
Full-text available
Initially considered a ‘luxury’ good and now becoming a more popular and diffused landmark, the spatial distribution of residential swimming pools reflects the socio-spatial structure in Mediterranean cities, offering a kaleidoscopic overview of class segregation and economic disparities. The present study hypothesizes that economic downturns, resulting in alternative phases of social polarization and mixing, affect the spatial distribution of pools. To verify this assumption, the spatial distribution of pools in Athens, Greece—a city with evident social disparities and largely affected by the great recession—was analysed during the most recent expansion and recession. Results shed light on the spatial linkage between pool density, class segregation and dispersed urban expansion in a context of rising income disparities. The spatial distribution of swimming pools became increasingly polarized in the Athens’ metropolitan region. The spread of residential pools in wealthier districts suggests how recession has consolidated disparities between rich and poor neighbourhoods. Based on the empirical findings of this study, pools can be considered a proxy of increased socio-spatial disparities reflecting class segregation and economic polarization at the local scale.
Article
Full-text available
This paper analyses built‐up area expansion and socioeconomic segregation within the Greater Paramaribo Region, Suriname. Built‐up expansion between 1987 and 2015 was assessed via time‐series analysis of Landsat images. By identifying visible spatial residential characteristics in Google Earth© images, the residential built‐up area was differentiated into rich, middle, middle to low, and poor residences, signifying different socioeconomic groups. Results show that the built‐up expansion of the region is primarily controlled by the distance to the previously built‐up area, city centre, and roads, as well as land price. The observed expansion mainly consisted of middle and middle to low residences. Dissimilarity indices demonstrate an increasing socioeconomic segregation, especially between rich and poor. A business‐as‐usual model simulation for 2030 indicates that this segregation is likely to remain.
Article
Full-text available
Exploring the structure, function, and dynamics of regional sustainability system (as ecosystem) can help providing insights into the importance of how environmental management answers to socioeconomic and environmental changes for transitioning to sustainable development. The connectivity (structure) and stability (function) of regional sustainability system are investigated through making regional radiation capability model and spatial coordination index model, which is relied on how keystone province influences the other provinces from society, economy and environment dimensions. The brand new models are then applied to the two largest urban agglomerations in China during period 2001–2014. The results show that the connectivity and stability in BHR are distinctly weaker than in YRD, and reveal the essential characteristics and underlying drivers of regional sustainability system. To be specific, initially, it reflects that on the whole BHR harbors larger difference and lower radiation capability than YRD. Additionally, the regional sustainability system of YRD has much higher stability and better interactive function than of BHR. Thirdly, although the sustainable development level of both BHR and YRD increases at a certain speed year by year, the disparity among various provinces shows an apparent decline and the contribution mainly comes from intra-BHR. Finally, it also provides that how the key province and the surrounding province interact and what the main contributors to the dynamics of regional sustainability system are. Overall, taking regional sustainability system as ecosystem can well reveal this complex system and can provide references to any other urban agglomerations in worldwide.
Article
Swimming pools are together an exemplificative outcome of urban sprawl and an indicator of socio-spatial polarizations in metropolitan regions. A comparative analysis of the spatial distribution of pools in three Mediterranean cities (Barcelona, Rome and Athens) provides an alternative reading of recent urbanization in southern Europe, questioning the supposed homogeneity in socioeconomic patterns and processes across the region. In the present study, the socio-spatial structure underlying dispersed urban expansion in these three cities was studied using 53 background indicators at the spatial scale of municipalities. Four indicators were proposed to study variability in the spatial distribution of pools. Relevant differences between cities were observed in the density of pools, reflecting heterogeneous patterns of dispersed urbanization and class segregation: socioeconomic polarization in Athens, settlement scattering and social mix in Rome and a more balanced socio-spatial structure in Barcelona. The spatial distribution of pools in the three cities was found associated with different socioeconomic factors, outlining the role of spatial disparities between high-income and low-income neighbourhoods, the diverging economic base and place-specific attributes. Results from Barcelona, Rome and Athens case studies provide contrasting views of the relationship between class segregation and the local socioeconomic context. The resulting patterns of sprawl reflect distinct urban models belying the supposed homogeneity of the 'Mediterranean city' archetype.
Book
Full-text available
Excerpt (abstract, table of contents, objectives and structure of the book) of the book, which is published by Springer (foreword by Francesco Lo Piccolo). The book can be ordered at www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319439365. Abstract Western citizens live in the safest societies ever, and yet are more concerned with crime and violence than ever. What are the relationships between recent socio-spatial phenomena and the growing relevance of discussions about security/safety? Is urban fear an unavoidable consequence of contemporary urban life? Or does some political use of it exist? Are discourses of fear used as instruments of power in urban policy? And how can planning practice act to counter fear? In order to answer these questions, the book explores urban fear, (misinformative) discourses of fear and their relations with space and the practice of urban planning—focussing on Southern European cities and using empirical data from Palermo and Lisbon. The book has two objectives: to set out a comprehensive, critical, exploratory theory of fear, space and urban planning, unravelling the paradoxes of their mutual relations; and to contribute to recent studies about urban geopolitics, taking them from the space of global cities and enriching them from the perspective of ordinary cities. In short, the book debates whether, and to what extent, the production of ‘fearscapes’, the contemporary landscapes of fear, constitutes an (emergent) urban political economy. To do so, it explores the (re)production of urban fear around: (global) misinformation about, and paradoxes of, security (Chap. 2); the role of otherness, together with its political construction (Chap. 3); the spatialisation of fear in urban space (Chap. 4); and the way urban planning, as a practice and a discipline, is informed by, and has been shaping in turn, urban fear (Chap. 5). In conclusion (Chap. 6) the book adopts a forward thinking approach, envisaging how two radically different (if not opposite) futures are embedded in the present: a dystopian city in which the political economies of fear have become dominant; and some seeds for a practice of urban planning/action capable of facing the political economies of fear.
Chapter
This chapter critically questions how urban planning as a practice and a discipline, and as a political and technical praxis, is informed by, and has in turn been shaping, urban fear. This is done through two arguments stemming from the multiplex way in which the dimensions of (geo)politics, otherness and (urban) space interrelate: (modernist) spatialities and the encounter, at the intersection of space and otherness; and the political economies of urban fear, at the intersection of otherness and (geo)politics. These arguments are used to explore the role of mainstream paradigms of planning practice: the modernist/rationalist paradigm and the variety of paradigms emerging in recent times from post-Fordist/neoliberal restructuring. Rather than outlining a conclusive and universal definition of the way fear operates, the chapter builds an exploratory theoretical framework, based on the critical evaluation of the discussions presented in the previous chapters, which can be used to unravel the relationship between fear and planning in specific cases at the intersection of global trends and local contextual characterisations. To do this, the chapter reviews existing critiques and then uses them to reconsider the histories of two council housing districts in Palermo (the Zen) and Lisbon (Chelas)—i.e. it sets out, and then tests, a theoretical/exploratory framework.
Chapter
This chapter focuses on concrete urban space with the aim of exploring the spatialities interlinked with feelings and discourses of fear. An impressive amount of scholarly work has recently depicted processes of fortification, privatisation, polarisation, exclusion, segregation and control. Several attempts have been made to produce comprehensive theoretical understandings of such processes: ‘geographies of fear’, ‘military urbanism’, ‘end of public space’, ‘integral urbanism’, ‘divided cities’, to name some. This chapter sets out a fourfold taxonomy of the spatial processes connected with feelings and discourses of fear, with the aim of organising the knowledge available in literature from the perspective of macro-scale effects over urban territories. Each category is characterised by a specific spatial effect of urban restructuring: Enclosure, spaces of exclusion/seclusion; Barrier, infrastructural nets, with their longitudinal ‘splintering’ effect; Post-Public Space, privatisation and fortification of public space(s) and buildings; Control, the politics of surveillance over urban space. The theoretical discussion of each category is followed by the exemplification of a case from Palermo and/or Lisbon. The conclusions of the chapter, building on findings from Southern Europe, suggest a reframing of mainstream theories and advocate for a conceptual approach to the spatialisation of urban fear more attuned to local characterisations.
Chapter
Urban fear is imbued with rational and irrational dimensions, some interlinked with, others independent from, urban life or the discourses of fear analysed in the previous chapter. This chapter, acknowledging that fear is not a simple ‘effect’ of specific ‘causes’, deepens the understanding of fear: it looks at the way fear is generated at the intersection of urban space and otherness, to build a theoretical framework supported by the work done by David Sibley on the geographies of exclusion and Iris Marion Young on the politics of difference. Diversity in urban (and especially public) space is debated, exploring encounters within contemporary, multicultural cities, with the aim of unpacking the role of feelings in the creation of relations between identity and otherness. Then, the chapter debates that the way the creation of such relations is necessary for the self-representation of societies and how the politics of exclusion are embedded in the construction of dichotomies such as ‘we’ versus ‘the others’ and the misrepresentation of (minority) groups. In conclusion, the chapter links such themes with urban studies and policy: it critiques Jane Jacobs’ theories on urbanism and exemplifies the processes of stigmatisation/removal through the case of ‘nomad camps’ in Italy.
Chapter
This book has two objectives: to set out a comprehensive, critical and exploratory theory of fear, space and urban planning, while unravelling the contradictions and paradoxes of their mutual relations; and to enrich recent studies about urban geopolitics and the geopolitics of fear, taking the research done from the point of view of global cities and looking at it from the perspective of ordinary cities. We shall thus use the term ‘fearscapes’, or landscapes of fear, as a linguistic trick with the aim of taking a critical approach to the spatial transformations directly/indirectly connected with, or produced by, discourses and feelings of fear. In short, the book debates whether, and to what extent, the production of landscapes of fear constitutes an (emergent) urban political economy. This chapter sets out the objectives, conceptual background and empirical context of the book. The introduction outlines the object of study, research questions and structure of the book. This will be followed by the summary of some theories about recent socio-spatial urban transformation, before focusing on the transformation in the institutional practice of urban planning, and more especially on the changing patterns of consensus building. The concept of misinformation is introduced as the main instrument for the inquiry of relations between discourses of fear and planning policymaking. In conclusion, the reasons for the election of Southern Europe as a field of study are presented, together with some notes about methodology and the empirical objects of study (the cities of Lisbon and Palermo).
Book
Full-text available
Taking as his case-study the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, where 600,000 people lack easy access to potable water, Erik Swyngedouw aims to reconstruct, theoretically and empirically, the political, social, and economic conduits through which water flows, and to identify how power relations infuse the metabolic transformation of water as it becomes urban. These flows of water which are simultaneously physical and social carry in their currents the embodiment of myriad social struggles and conflicts. The excavation of these flows narrates stories about the city's structure and development. Yet these flows also carry the potential for an improved, more just, and more equitable right to the city and its water. The flows of power that are captured by urban water circulation also suggest that the question of urban sustainability is not just about achieving sound ecological and environmental conditions, but first and foremost about a social struggle for access and control; a struggle not just for the right to water, but for the right to the city itself.
Article
Full-text available
The article explores the impact of European Union (EU) planning policies on southern Europe, by comparing the experiences of the Mediterranean member states (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain). It is argued that the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP) and the other EU-led planning instruments have generated important changes in the domestic patterns of south European spatial planning systems. These transformations are not the product of a forced compliance to EU models but the outcome of complex socialization and learning processes enabling domestic actors to experience new ideas and practices and to adapt their methods and strategies accordingly. In this sense, they can be read as a process of cultural innovation within southern European planning traditions that promotes European integration by accommodating national diversity.
Article
Full-text available
Urban sprawl is eroding the traditionally compact, diverse, and mixed Southern European cities. Besides the rise in land and energy consumption, the expansion of low density urban forms also affects water, a critical resource in the region. This study examines garden watering in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona in order to illustrate the importance of outdoor water use in the urbanization process, and, following the insights provided by urban political ecology, to highlight the differences in garden types and water spending according to power relations derived from income levels. Results indicate that, generally, higher income households prefer and can afford more water-consuming Atlantic gardens whereas lower income households have to resort to more climate-adapted species. These differences produce in turn different urban natures based on who can and who cannot afford water costs.
Article
Full-text available
Droughts are ubiquitous phenomena presenting nascent obstacles for any planning and management efforts. Such difficulties may emanate from the fact that the pertinent efforts try to incorporate physical processes as well as highly complex interactions with the surrounding environment. The Athens metropolitan area, in Greece, has recently suffered through some of the worst droughts on record. In this context, the Athenian region provides a unique opportunity for a specific examination of drought, drought management implementation efforts on a large scale and of their evaluation under stressed physical, structural and socio-economic conditions. The overall approach allows also for a broader consideration of water resources in Greece, and of water resources planning and management status. As a result, drought management options may be introduced of both structural and non-structural measures with a greater sensitivity to the particular environment of the Athenian metropolis and by extension to similar localities around the world.
Article
Full-text available
This article explores how primary features of occupational restructuring, such as the feminization of employment and migration, and changes in patterns of residential mobility of Greek and migrant women since the 1990s have contributed to shaping new forms of sociospatial segregation in Athens. We examine changes in the occupational structure and in segregation indices from 1991 to 2001. Findings suggest that new gender and ethnic divisions in the occupational structure combine with residential mobility and introduce strong tendencies towards spatial fragmentation. Intra-urban and migratory flows reflect diversified occupational trajectories among women and contribute to shaping the socioeconomic profile of the destination areas: (a) migrant domestic and unskilled service workers locate to central city and suburban areas; (b) Greek managers and professionals, move to ‘upper-class suburbs’; (c) small Greek entrepreneurs and independent workers sprawl to peri-urban areas; (d) salespersons and clerks move to inner suburban areas.
Article
Full-text available
Segregation patterns and trends are traditionally considered to be changing through residential mobility, while scant attention is paid to the social mobility of long-term residents. This paper explores first the origins of this unilateral attention and ultimately relates it to the context in which mobility, and residential mobility in particular, were conceptualized by the founders of Urban Sociology. The rest of the paper is an attempt to substantiate the context dependency of this relation through the examination of the social mobility of long-term residents and its impact on shaping local social profiles in Athens. The Athenian context, bearing important similarities to those of other large cities in Southern Europe and elsewhere, has been characterized both by comparatively reduced residential mobility and by increased social mobility in the process of rapid postwar urbanization and the massive conversion of rural masses to urban dwellers. The importance of spatially endogenous social mobility is discussed in particular with respect to social structures and institutions - such as the family or the housing system - that have been systematically impeding residential mobility. The conclusion is that the social mobility of the long-term residents has a varying, context-dependent importance for the analysis of segregation patterns and tendencies which in many cases is unwittingly neglected.
Article
Full-text available
The paper provides a critical overview of a new socio-economic classification model, the ‘European Socio-economic Classes’ (ESeC), which aspires to become the classification standard for the European Union (EU). After a brief presentation of its basic features and theoretical foundation, the paper focuses on the compatibility of this model with the South European context. The main issue is that the central classifying principle of the model is the Goldthorpian employment relation, while a substantial part of the active population in Southern Europe is outside the scope of this principle, either because they have no employee status or because they are operating within small firms where internal hierarchies are very limited. The conclusion discusses the dilemma between the adoption of a relatively inappropriate classification standard and the prolongation of the current lack of such a standard for the EU.
Article
Full-text available
This article aims at examining how and why industrial location planning intentions and attempts undertaken by a Socialist government during the 1980s in a southern European capitalist metropolis, Greater Athens, were not achieved in practice. It first examines recent trends in the unequal geography of manufacturing production in Athens and identifies the major problems of the Athenian industrial space. It then examines the basic urban‐industrial planning attempts undertaken during the 1980s and the actual sociopolitical and cultural responses which drove to the abandonment of those attempts. The article argues that these responses were grounded in a widespread anti‐industrial mentality, the political speculation of the environment issue and the fictitious dilemma ‘environmental protection‐versus‐industrial development’ in Athens. It then sets forth an explanation of anti‐industrialism as the combined outcome of: (1) the general spatial‐economic problems; (2) the role of speculative land and housing interests; (3) the lack of a comprehensive and deliberate industrial strategy for the development and effective location of manufacturing; and (4) the mainstream ideological propensities developed during the 1980s. On the basis of these analyses the article finally proposes a re‐orientation of future research towards more socially and culturally informed approaches in the Greek context.
Article
Full-text available
This paper addresses the increasing socio-spatial inequalities in European cities and their impact on the possibilities for fostering social cohesion. Many policy programmes tackle spatial unevenness in order to build more cohesive communities. These policies have some impact, but their effect on reducing inequalities at city level is limited. Therefore, an important question is how the overall socio-spatial organisation of European cities affects social cohesion and the capacity to form an urban community able to decide on a common future. First, the complex relation between present-day societal and spatial dynamics is discussed, asserting that it produces segregation. The second part reflects on how segregation is regarded in terms of social cohesion. Many authors stress the social innovative capacities within segregated areas. However, European cities display different socio-spatial structures. How these structures influence negotiation processes between different social groups is poorly treated. The last part of the paper addresses this issue.
Article
Full-text available
This paper is concerned with the relationships between urbanisation and residential water consumption, taking as a case study the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona. More precisely, it investigates the influence of certain demographic, behavioural and housing factors on this consumption using descriptive statistics and a regression analysis. The data are derived from a sample of 532 households in 22 municipalities of the study area. Results show that income, housing type, members per household, the presence of outdoor uses (garden and swimming pool), the kind of species planted in the garden and consumer behaviour towards conservation practices play a significant role in explaining variations in water consumption. It is concluded that, along with prices and incomes, further research is needed on other demographic and housing variables in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the determinants of domestic water consumption in areas periodically affected by water stress.
Article
Full-text available
The literature on urban sprawl confuses causes, consequences, and conditions. This article presents a conceptual definition of sprawl based on eight distinct dimensions of land use patterns: density, continuity, concentration, clustering, centrality, nuclearity, mixed uses, and proximity. Sprawl is defined as a condition of land use that is repre- sented by low values on one or more of these dimensions. Each dimension is operationally defined and tested in 13 urbanized areas. Results for six dimensions are reported for each area, and an initial comparison of the extent of sprawl in the 13 areas is provided. The test confirms the utility of the approach and suggests that a clearer conceptual and operational definition can facilitate research on the causes and consequences of sprawl.
Article
Full-text available
Real estate market and property development dynamics in Greece are undergoing some critical changes, exhibiting a new condition which governs the relationship between capital and landed property in the current phase of capitalist development. A key feature of these changes is the formation of a property development pattern which clearly marks a break with the dominant conventional one (structured upon the small-scale owner occupation and the absence of big capital). The potential impact of this new pattern is difficult to assess as yet. Each pattern – the conventional and the newly emerging one – are affecting spatial development differently (in positive or negative terms). As things stand, however, there does appear to be a contradictory coexistence between the two; this is aggravated by inability of state and planning policy, in particular, to actively intervene in the changing spatial economy and society. Thus, there seems to be an inherent risk in the near future of having to cope only with the negative features produced by the two patterns which in a worstcase scenario could result in: continuous urban sprawl, non-planning and environmental degradation, increases in land values, overborrowing, reduction of public space and other socio-economic, functional and environmental bottlenecks.
Article
Full-text available
This paper examines the drought that hit Athens between 1989 and 1991 and analyses the role of this natural phenomenon as the “ferment” for ongoing political-economic transformations in the direction of liberalisation and privatisation of water management and allocation in Greece. The paper analyses how the drought was marshalled as an effective discursive vehicle to facilitate and expedite the state-led neoliberal political-economic agenda. It shows how the social consensus around a number of “emergency measures” that the state adopted to deal with a “natural” crisis was grounded in a particular discourse on water and in the political-economic “positioning” of “nature” as a source of crisis. In turn, this change in the “discursive” production of nature fused with the rhetoric and practice of market-led development and privatisation and, ultimately, facilitated important transformations in the social and political-economic (material) production of nature.
Article
Full-text available
This paper explores the processes of deconcentration or suburbanization in the Barcelona metropolitan area in Catalonia, Spain. In it I describe the major social forces driving changing land-use patterns and posit the question: Is there a particularly Mediterranean form of urban deconcentration? Although the growing preference of Catalans for a life at the urban periphery in some ways mimics American patterns of suburbanization, I argue that there are limits to the applicability of Anglo-American theories of deconcentration for the Mediterranean city. After briefly setting out the historical context for urban development in Barcelona, I describe the changing morphology of the city in recent years and explore the major trends—the pursuit of security, immigration from the developing world, changing family structures, among others—that make the process of deconcentration in Barcelona particularly Mediterranean in character.
Book
Postwar capitalist development has involved a transition from polarization toward diffuse urbanization and flexibility. The timing and form of this transition and its effects on spatial structures have varied, as is especially evident in the case of Mediterranean Europe. Focusing upon Greater Athens between 1948 and 1981 - the crucial period of the transition - Lila Leontidou explores the role of social classes in urban development. The emergence of new processes in cities such as Athens, Salonica, Rome, Naples, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon is different in both timing and manner from that of northern European cities, but, as Dr Leontidou argues, this should not be attributed to poverty or inexplicable cultural peculiarities. Instead interaction between popular spontaneity, economic forces and State control has played a major role.
Article
This paper quantifies the extent of exurban development in Mediterranean Europe. The assessment was carried out by studying changes in the urban-to-rural population density gradient between the years 1950 and 2010. Three of the six urban regions in this study have experienced population growth and moderate urban concentration, while two regions appear to be shifting toward population decline and urban de-concentration after having experienced compact expansion. A phase of recent re-urbanization has been observed in one region. Altogether, these findings indicate a common path of urban expansion among representative Mediterranean regions between 1950 and 1980 while, in the following period, the cities experienced distinct development phases. From this study, we conclude that exurban development is mainly the product of a shift from compact and dense to semi-compact and intermediate-density settlements. [Key words: semi-dense urban growth, density-distance curve, Mediterranean Europe].
Article
This revised edition, first published in 1977, contains a new introductory section by Tibor Scitovsky. It sets out to analyze the inherent defects of the market economy as an instrument of human improvement. Since publication, it is believed to have been very influential in the ecological movement and hence is considered to be relevant today. The book tries to give an economist's answer to three questions: Why has economic development become and remained so compelling a goal even though it gives disappointing results? Why has modern society become so concerned with distributional processes when the great majority of people can raise their living standards through increased production? Why has the 20th century seen a universal predominant trend toward collective provision and state regulation in economic areas at a time when individual freedom of action is widely extolled and is given unprecedented reign in non-economic areas? The book suggests that the current impasse on a number of key issues in the political economy of advanced nations is attributable, in part, to an outmoded perspective on the nature, and therefore, the promise of economic growth. The critique has some important implications for policy and opens up a range of policy issues. -after Author
Article
The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens has provided an opportunity to revisit the contemporary history of the Greek capital. A new city in the nineteenth century, Athens manifested over more than a century (1834-1922) the paradoxes of an artificial refoundation: meager demographic and economic destinies, internationalization outside the national elites, and surface grandiloquence of neoclassic public planning. The humiliating failure of the conquest of Asia Minor stopped these faltering attempts. Through half a century dramatic political uncertainties, the face of the present city was constructed: human and material concentration that controlled Greek space and the triumph of civil society over the state to reconfigure the central zone of the city and extend the agglomeration. Since the fall of the dictatorship (1979), Athens gained world stature as a result of the entrance of Greece into political Europe, international attraction to migrants, grandiose infrastructures, and symbolic monumentality. Beyond these specificities, Athens reveals the three ages of European capitals: international Enlightenment, organization of national territories, and metropolitan expansion of exchange.
Article
The relationship between form and function in European Mediterranean cities has been widely addressed from various perspectives. A number of studies indicate that, until the 1980s, compactness was a key trait of several cities of the Northern Mediterranean. However, after the ‘compact growth’ period, these cities experienced patterns of urbanization that differed from their traditional trends. Since the 1990s, sprawl, coupled with population decline in the inner cities, has become the main pattern of urban development. This article explores the key features of exurban development in the Mediterranean region in order to provide material for a discussion based on the differences and similarities in the characteristics of sprawl processes originating in the US and Northern Europe. It concludes that any debate on policy responses to sprawl must be specifically formulated according to the scope, administrative level, housing and planning system, territorial and socioeconomic characteristics of the urban system under examination. It is our belief that sprawl requires site-specific analyses and policy strategies for the region being studied if the process is to be effectively controlled.
Chapter
Urban sprawl is one of the most important types of land-use changes currently affecting Europe. It increasingly creates major impacts on the environment (via surface sealing, emissions by transport and ecosystem fragmentation); on the social structure of an area (by segregation, lifestyle changes and neglecting urban centres); and on the economy (via distributed production, land prices, and issues of scale). Urban Sprawl in Europe: landscapes, land-use change & policy explains the nature and dynamics of urban sprawl. The book is written in three parts. Part I considers contemporary definitions, theories and trends in European urban sprawl. In part II authors draw upon experiences from across Europe to consider urban sprawl from a number of perspectives. © 2007 Chris Couch, Lila Leontidou, Estate of Gerhard Petschel-Held.
Article
The present study explores the long-term changes (1971–2001) in the socio-economic structure of a monocentric Mediterranean urban region (Rome's province, central Italy) undergoing moderately polycentric development. Descriptive and correlation statistics and a multiway factor analysis (MFA) have been used to analyse the spatio-temporal evolution of 24 socio-economic indicators made available at the urban district/municipal scale. The socio-economic disparities observed along the urban-rural gradient in 1971 decreased only moderately in 2001. The MFA clearly separates urban districts from suburban municipalities in both 1971 and 2001. Results indicate that exurban development has impacted only partly Rome's urban form which remained mainly compact and dense with persisting socio-economic gaps between urban and suburban areas. The paper discusses the partial failure of Rome's master plan to promote a really polycentric development and a new, more sustainable, urban form.
Book
The growing literature on comparative European housing policy has played a major part in developing our understanding of the way housing in provided in different countries, and in the way the interaction between the stat, market and civil society is conceptualized. However, much of this analysis is rooted without question in the welfare states of northern Europe – there has been almost no research published in English on the provision of housing in southern Europe. Such research as exists deals with specific feature of housing policy, invariably in a single country. There is probably a better understanding of the housing systems of the former communist countries than those of southern Europe. Housing and Welfare in Southern Europe fills a major gap in the literature on comparative European housing policy. It shows how the relationship between state, market and civil society in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece is fundamentally different from northern Europe. By providing a southern view of housing provision, it throws new light on difficult social and housing policy issues throughout Europe. This book will be of direct interest to academics, policy makers and students involved in housing as it - Offers a fresh new way to analyse comparative housing policy and practices - Highlights the distinctive relationships among state, market, civil society and households in southern Europe - Draws out lessons for developing alternative models of housing provision
Article
Throughout its long history from the fifth century B.C. until today, the city of Athens managed to satisfy a gradually increasing urban demand for water supply with reserves obtained by the diversion of freshwater. At first, the water was displaced from the adjacent territories and with time from more distant basins, extending the water imprint of the city on its hinterland. This article traces the history of the development of successive water supply infrastructures, which has resulted in the current situation where Athens controls a significant amount of the water reserves of two (in a total of fourteen) Greek River Basin Districts (Attica and Western Sterea Ellada). With the exception of a short period of drought (1989–1993), no serious effort has ever been made by the decision makers to slow down the increase of urban per capita consumption in the city. The water imprint of Athens is also linked to the disposal of wastewater in the coastal waters of the Saronic Gulf, since wastewater treatment has been established from 1985 onwards. New lines of thinking are suggested for meeting the needs of the still-growing city of Athens without further increasing its water imprint.
Article
After the World War II the Mediterranean cities experienced important changes in their form becoming more compact and dense and then sprawling into larger areas. The complexity of causes and consequences involved in sprawl processes makes the classical models evaluating urban diffusion hardly applicable to the Mediterranean cities. Using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) this article investigates the changes (1920–2010) in the vertical profile of buildings in a traditionally compact urban region (Attica, Greece) taken as a paradigmatic example for hyper-dense cities in both developed and developing countries. The aim of this study is to illustrate how a widely-used indicator (the vertical profile of a city) may represent a proxy indicator of urban diffusion. The vertical profile of buildings has been changed in the investigated region towards densification with average building height passing from 1.3 floors in 1919 to 1.8 floors in 2009. However, both regression analysis and PCA revealed how the densification pattern has been shifting towards ‘horizontal’ rather than ‘vertical’ growth since the early 1990s. Low-density expansion areas possibly undergoing unsustainable land consumption and landscape fragmentation were identified according to the recent changes in the studied indicator. The findings illustrated in this article represent a potentially useful tool to monitor sprawl and the consequent land consumption in rapidly-changing urban landscapes.
Article
Characteristic of the Attic landscape is its great diversity. There are many mountains, plains, valleys, basins and hills. The geological background and the climate are varied. Man's impact on this landscape has a long history, because there were settlements and intense grazing even during the prehistoric period. There were, also, cultivations, especially olive orchards. The history of human impact on the Attic landscape is divided into different phases of landscape modification. The natural ecosystems of Attica and their present status are considered.
Article
Our study of the expansion of a representative sample of 30 cities showed that 28 of them expanded more than 16-fold during the twentieth century. More generally, cities are now expanding at twice their population growth rates, on average, and now cover almost 0.5% of the planet's land area. We created a new dataset comprising the universe of all 3646 named metropolitan agglomerations and cities that had populations in excess of 100,000 in the year 2000, their populations in that year, and their built-up area identified in the Mod500 map, currently the best of eight satellite-based global maps of urban land cover. Using this dataset, we estimated urban land cover in smaller cities and towns in all countries and calculated total urban land cover in every country in the year 2000. We then employed multiple regression models that could explain more than 90% of the variations in our urban land cover estimates amongst countries. Then, using U.N. urban population projections in combination with three realistic density change scenarios based on our previous global and historical study of densities, we projected urban land cover in every country and world region from 2000 to 2050. According to our medium projection, urban land cover in developing countries will increase from 300,000km2 in 2000 to 770,000km2 in 2030 and to 1,200,000km2 in 2050. Containing this expansion is likely to fail. Minimal preparations for accommodating it – realistic projection of urban land needs, the extension of metropolitan boundaries, acquiring the rights-of-way for an arterial road grid that can carry infrastructure and public transport, and the selective protection of open space from incursion by formal and informal land development – are now in order.
Article
“Lock living” refers to the importance of security design, consumed as a commodity, in the new suburban residential landscapes of Mediterranean cities. This article summarizes the process of urban sprawl that has developed in the cities of Southern Europe in recent decades. It presents the main consequences of this evolution, regarding changes in residential landscape. Mediterranean cities have been historically characterised by the archetypal image of density, urban complexity and social diversity. However, the increasing development of urban sprawl shows a very different urban scenario. Metropolitan spaces along the edges of the motorways and orbital ring roads are developing the type of residential landscape that was, until not so long ago, exclusively associated with the cities of the Anglo-Saxon urban tradition. New low-density residential areas show the proliferation of territories manifesting the same morphological criteria in different cities. From a cultural perspective, these standardised landscapes mean the production of residential areas designed on the basis of a thematization of the American suburb. This iconographic display dresses them up as private-urban-ecological-thematic paradises, as a residential landscape that becomes image more than territory and, in this sense, a commodity. This commodification process refers both to the residential space and the inhabitants’ lifestyles as the domestic landscape, created by private security, clearly shows.
Article
Competitiveness appears as a new element in the specific dynamics of the Mediterranean city. This paper explores the process of competitiveness at the local level, and the implications of the re-orientation of spatial planning priorities through case-study research. It looks at Athens, an example of a so-called ’winner’ city, which hosted successfully the 2004 Olympic Games. It examines by means of satellite imagery and GIS the changing patterns of land development in the metropolitan area. Olympics-related infrastructural investments, such as the new ring road and international airport, facilitated the efficient execution of the Games. Olympic development priorities, however, sidestepped stated planning directions on metropolitan growth. Evidence presented in this paper point to a land-use change trend in the urban periphery that takes the form of unordered expansion. Competitiveness agendas exacerbate unsustainable development tendencies, compromising future growth prospects.
Article
The economic, social, and environmental limits of supplying water to metropolitan areas through conventional means (reservoirs, water transfers, etc.) have resulted in growing consideration of demand management actions as well as in the use of non-conventional sources of supply. In terms of demand management, economic instruments (pricing and taxes), domestic water-saving technologies, and educational campaigns to encourage water saving during periods of drought have received special attention. While demand management policies have an effect on conserving water and therefore should be welcome, they present problems and uncertainties as well. Using the example of the metropolitan region of Barcelona, in this article I argue that water demand management policies may be insufficient for reaching their ultimate goal of controlled water consumption when confronted with structural changes in urban development such as the expansion of low-density growth, the multiplication of the number of households, or gains in income, all of which lead to a potentially greater demand for water. This calls for more integration of water policies with land use and urban development policies.
Article
1 Segregation, Polarisation and Social Exclusion in Metropolitan Areas Sako Musterd and Tim Ostendorf 2 Social Polarisation, Economic Restructuring and Welfare State Regimes Chris Hamnett 3 Assimilation and Exclusion in US Cities: The treatment of African-Americans and Immigrants Susan S. Fainstein 4 Chicago: Segregation and the New Urban Poverty Jerome L.Kaufman 5 The Wefare State, Economic Restructuring and Immigrant Flows: Impacts on Socio-Spatial Segregation in Greater Toronto Robert A. Murdie 6 Exclusion and Inclusion: Segregation and Deprivation in Belfast Fredrick W. Boal 7 Segregation, Exclusion and Housing in the Divided City Alan Murie 8 The Geography of Deprivation in Brussels and Local Development Strategies Christian Kesteloot 9 Ideologies, Social Exclusion and Spatial Segregation in Paris Paul White 10 Social Inequality, Segregation, and Urban Conflict: The Case of Hamburg Jurgen Friedrichs 11 Segregation and Social Participation in a Welfare State: The Case of Amsterdam Sako Musterd and Wim Ostendorf 12 The Divided City? Socio-Economic Changes in Stockholm Metropolitan Area 1970-94 Lars-Erik Borgegard, Eva Andersson and Susanne Hjort 13 (De)Segregation and (Des)Integration in South African Metropoles Anthony J. Christopher 14 Welfare State Effects on Inequality and Segregation: Concluding Remarks Herman van der Wusten and Sako Musterd
Chapter
Introduction: Theory and Method‘Astyphilia’ and Popular Spontaneous Suburbanisation Until the 1970sModernism and Urban Land Policy After EU AccessionToward the Entrepreneurial City and Post-Olympic LandscapesMega-events and Mediterranean Urban FuturesNotesReferences
Article
Swimming pools constitute an important part of the expanding suburban landscapes of many cities of southern Europe. Yet we know relatively little about their characteristics and especially about whether or not they capture a substantial part of urban water for the benefit of a few that could be used for other more essential tasks, especially in periods of scarcity. In this paper, taking the metropolitan region of Barcelona as a case study, we estimate the number of residential (private) swimming pools in this area, their characteristics and their water consumption. Our analysis is set against the context of important changes in the nature of the urbanisation process in Barcelona and in other southern European cities, namely the expansion of low-density growth and with this the expansion of outdoor water uses such as gardens planted with turf grass and swimming pools. However, results do not seem to support the assumption that swimming pools take a substantial part of the domestic water resources of the region or that they are a luxury affordable only by the very rich. Swimming pools represent little over 1 per cent of total domestic water consumption of the Barcelona region and they can be found in both higher and lower income municipalities. Nevertheless, swimming pools tend to be more often found in richer municipalities, which are also those observing higher per capita water consumption.
Article
The U.S. population is increasingly spreading out, moving to the suburbs, and migrating from the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt. This paper uses recent household-level data sets to study some of the environmental consequences of population suburbanization. It measures the increase in household driving, home fuel consumption, and land consumption brought about by population dispersion. Suburban households drive 31 percent more than their urban counterparts, and western households drive 35 percent more miles than northeastern households. Despite increased vehicle dependence, local air quality has not been degraded in sprawling areas, thanks to emissions controls. Technological innovation can mitigate the environmental consequences of resource-intensive suburbanization. © 2000 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
Article
This paper adopts a coevolutionary perspective to criticize the dominant narratives of water resource development. Such narratives of progress portray a sequence of improving water technologies that overcame environmental constraints, supplying more water to satisfy the demands of growing populations for better living. Water supply appears as the response to an insatiable demand, exogenous to the water system. Instead, as the history of water in Athens, Greece illustrates water supply and demand in fact coevolve, new supply generating higher demands, and in turn, higher demands favouring supply expansion over other alternatives. This vicious cycle expands the water footprint of cities degrading environments and communities in the countryside. Far from being predetermined and inevitable, as progressive narratives wants it, water resource development has been contingent on geographical and environmental conditions, institutional struggles, accidents, experiments and external geo-political and technological forces. In the last part of this paper, I discuss the policy implications of this coevolutionary reframing with respect to a the transition to a “soft water path”.
Article
Debates on the urban form have become strongly polarized between the advocates and opponents of the compact and of the dispersed or “sprawled” city. In this paper we argue that this may be the result of an excessive concentration on the study of the American experience and the neglect of other urban contexts, and examine the recent process of urban growth against the background of urban compactness and extreme densification represented by the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR). The comparison of two detailed land-cover maps of 1993 and 2000 shows a progressive transformation in the traditional urban character of the region. Lower urban densities, high losses of non-urban land covers, depopulation of the metropolitan inner core, an increasing importance of single housing or the expansion of transportation infrastructures confirm the generalization of the dispersed urban model. However, the presence of numerous medium sized towns has also proved to be a deterrent of excessive dispersion. In conclusion, polycentric metropolitan areas such as the BMR may be more adjusted to absorb the negative effects of dispersion than monocentric areas.
Article
Concern over the quality of modern life is a characteristic of contemporary society. This paper explains the social geographical approach to research into quality of life and urban environmental quality. A five-dimensional model for quality of life research is presented, and a number of key conceptual and methodological issues examined. Two exemplar case studies are employed to illustrate the application of the five-dimensional social geographical perspective in a real world context. Finally, the potential usefulness of quality of life research is assessed, and several conclusions advanced for future research.
Article
This paper deals with transformations of urban landscape in the era of globalization. First, it attempts to describe and understand how particular aspects of urban morphology, such as built heritage and innovative design of space, have become the competitive edge in terms of landscape. Second, it develops the argument that on the basis of their great potential for (a) promoting economic growth and (b) enhancing place identity of cities, both built heritage and innovative design of space appear to be expansively used as major components of contemporary strategic plans of cities for the transformation and improvement of urban landscape. Combining and promoting built heritage and innovative design of space as two central themes in urban landscape transformations generates, for the 21st century city, a new landscape collage dominated by two extremes: (a) that of tradition with rather local spatial references and (b) that of innovation having more universal or global spatial references. Thus, under the forces of globalization, the new emerging urban landscapes may be termed as “glocalised” ones. As a case study, Athens and the landscape transformations for Olympic Games 2004 are analysed.
Article
As anyone who has flown into Los Angeles at dusk or Houston at midday knows, urban areas today defy traditional notions of what a city is. Our old definitions of urban, suburban, and rural fail to capture the complexity of these vast regions with their superhighways, subdivisions, industrial areas, office parks, and resort areas pushing far out into the countryside. Detractors call it sprawl and assert that it is economically inefficient, socially inequitable, environmentally irresponsible, and aesthetically ugly. Robert Bruegmann calls it a logical consequence of economic growth and the democratization of society, with benefits that urban planners have failed to recognize. In his incisive history of the expanded city, Bruegmann overturns every assumption we have about sprawl. Taking a long view of urban development, he demonstrates that sprawl is neither recent nor particularly American but as old as cities themselves, just as characteristic of ancient Rome and eighteenth-century Paris as it is of Atlanta or Los Angeles. Nor is sprawl the disaster claimed by many contemporary observers. Although sprawl, like any settlement pattern, has undoubtedly produced problems that must be addressed, it has also provided millions of people with the kinds of mobility, privacy, and choice that were once the exclusive prerogatives of the rich and powerful. The first major book to strip urban sprawl of its pejorative connotations, Sprawl offers a completely new vision of the city and its growth. Bruegmann leads readers to the powerful conclusion that "in its immense complexity and constant change, the city-whether dense and concentrated at its core, looser and more sprawling in suburbia, or in the vast tracts of exurban penumbra that extend dozens, even hundreds, of miles-is the grandest and most marvelous work of mankind." “Largely missing from this debate [over sprawl] has been a sound and reasoned history of this pattern of living. With Robert Bruegmann’s Sprawl: A Compact History, we now have one. What a pleasure it is: well-written, accessible and eager to challenge the current cant about sprawl.”—Joel Kotkin, The Wall Street Journal “There are scores of books offering ‘solutions’ to sprawl. Their authors would do well to read this book.”—Witold Rybczynski, Slate