Motorway development and the conservation of traditional third world cities
Abstract Many Third World countries with pre-colonial backgrounds have traditional residential communities at the core of cities which differ from rings of modern development towards the outskirts. Some of the cities also have unique traditional social set-ups and suburbs of colonial and post-Independence development. The ideology of contemporary planning, founded on rational, impersonal layouts of districts and borrowed largely from the West, demonstrates little sensitivity to such traditional city communities, many of which are in danger of complete destruction. This article examines problems faced by such cities and the global prospects for conservation.
Developing inclusive approaches to regional governance in the post-referendum North East
Abstract Drawing upon empirical research of governance in the North East of England, this article aims to evaluate the impact of current practices of stakeholder engagement on declared aspirations of both inclusivity and democratic renewal. Using the North East Assembly (NEA) as a case study, it details the experiences and opinion of both ‘key’ and marginalized stakeholders of the NEA in its role as ‘the voice of the region’. Whilst highlighting examples of good practice, its findings identify persistent barriers to the inclusion of the wider civic society in regional decision making. Barriers that require more than mere aspirational terminology or the development of consultative fora if the expertise and voice of this civic society is to be not only encouraged to participate but effectively utilized and represented. It concludes with a proposed model for future engagement that aims to provide a more accountable, flexible and non-hierarchical approach to stakeholder engagement. Whilst located within a distinctively North Eastern context, the issues it attempts to address are equally pertinent to other regions looking to a genuine inclusive polity.
Toward a Subcultural Theory of Urbanism
Wirth's (1938) theory of urban life has been eclipsed in recent years by a perspective that denies the importance of ecological factors. This view, though more accurate than Wirth's, fails to account for the pervasive "unconventionality" (deviance, invention, etc.) of urban life. A model is presented here to remedy that problem; it reintroduces the variable of size but in a manner distinct from Writh's. Population concentration produces a diversityof subcultures, strengthens them, and fosters diffusion among them. Together, these three mediating variables account for urban unconventionality. The four propositions of the theory and three others deducible from it are examined against existing research.