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First ISA Forum of Sociology
Sociological Research and Public Debate
Barcelona, Spain
September 5 - 8, 2008


Research Committee on
Regional and Urban Development RC21

Main theme
Rethinking cities and regions in the troubled world


Programme Coordinators
Marisol Garcia, University of Barcelona, Spain, marisolgarcia@ub.edu, Kuniko Fujita, Michigan Sate University, Japan and USA, fujitak@msu.edu, Fernando Diaz Orueta, University of Alicante, Spain, Fernando.diaz@ua.es and Marc Pradel, University of Barcelona, marcpradel@ub.edu

This information is also available at http://www.msu.edu/user/fujitak/2008Conferences.htm
and RC21 web page, http://www.shakti.uniurb.it/rc21/

Local Hosts
Maria Soledad Garcia, Univesitat de Barcelona, Spain, marisolgarcia@ub.edu and Marc Pradel, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, marcpradel@ub.edu

Venue of RC21 sessions:

Faculty of Philosophy, Geography and History
University of Barcelona
Montalegre, 6
08001 Barcelona, Spain, map

Theme 1: Transformation in urban politics

Organizers: Margit Mayer, Free University, Germany, mayer@zedat.fu-berlin.de and Fernando Diaz Orueta, University of Alicante, Spain, Fernando.diaz@ua.es
'Classic' neoliberal strategies in urban development -- as captured in the concept of the entrepreneurial city and manifest in the competitive politics of upgrading downtowns and subsidizing growth hot spots while privatizing formerly public infrastructure, space, and housing -- are increasingly superseded by new 'soft' strategies of building social cohesion, incorporating (sub)local cultural as well as political milieus, and invoking urban civil society as more effective ways to enhance a sustainable competitiveness of the city. This theme focuses on such contemporary forms of governance and hopes to compare different, locally contingent, path-specific transformations in the polities and politics of cities around the globe.

Session 1: Transformation in urban politics: Comparing strategies, actors, and outcomes of neoliberal urbanization
Friday, September 5, 2008, 15:30-17:30
Chair: Fernando Díaz Orueta, University of Alicante, Spain, fernando.diaz@ua.es

Session 2: Transformation in urban politics: Enrolling oppositional movements into the neoliberal project
Friday, September 5, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chair: Margit Mayer, Free University of Berlin, Germany, mayer@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Session 3: Transformation in urban politics: Neoliberalizing cities in transitional societies
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 09:00-11:00
Chair: Fernando Díaz Orueta, University of Alicante, Spain, fernando.diaz@ua.es

Session 4: Transformation in urban politics: Comparing urban development strategies: culture, environment & McKinsey
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 11:30-13:30
Chair: Margit Mayer, Free University of Berlin, Germany, mayer@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Theme 2: State-Led gentrification and mixing policies: Implications for the urban middle class and the (ethnic) poor

Organizers: Jan Willem Duyvendak, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, W.G.J.Duyvendak@uva.nl and Marisol Garcia, University of Barcelona, Spain, marisolgarcia@ub.edu
In the current theoretical framework, gentrification has been widely discussed in relation to neo-liberalism as most researchers emphasize the role of the private sector (or coalition of local governments and developers). However, urban restructuring has increasingly been led by the state in many countries. One way the state has become a major actor is by implementing investments in physical and cultural infrastructures. But there are other modalities. State-led gentrification certainly raises many questions. What is the logic and motive of state-led gentrification?What explanations can we develop beyond the allegedly neo-liberalized state? What are logical connections between state and urban restructuring? Are there different national patterns of state-led gentrification? Sate-led gentrification has serious implications for the working middle class, the poor and the ethnic minority groups, leading to debates on citizenship and social justice in the city. We need to investigate the logic, the nature, and the patterns of state-led gentrification in comparative perspective and to develop new theories that bring the state into gentrification research.

Session 5: State-led gentrification and mixing policies: Implications for the urban middle class and the (ethnic) poor. Panel I.
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chair: Jan Willem Duyvendak, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, duyvendak@uva.nl

Session 6: State-led gentrification and mixing policies: Implications for the urban middle class and the (ethnic) poor. Panel II.
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 09:00-11:00
Chair: Marisol Garcia, University of Barcelona, Spain, marisolgarcia@ub.edu

Session 7: State-led gentrification and mixing policies: Implications for the urban middle class and the (ethnic) poor. Panel III.
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 11:30-13:30
Chairs: Jan Willem Duyvendak, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, duyvendak@uva.nl and Marisol Garcia, University of Barcelona, Spain, marisolgarcia@ub.edu

Theme 3: New urban cultures: Public space, public art, performance and popular cultures

Organizers: John Clammer, United Nations University-Tokyo, Japan, clammer@hq.unu.edu and Nuria Benach, University of Barcelona, Spain, nuriabenach@ub.edu
The dynamism of cities constantly produces new forms of urban culture. In any of the world's major cities (New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris. etc.) a large part of the urban economy is now cultural production. This session intends to examine some manifestations of contemporary and emerging urban cultures with a focus on alternative uses and interpretations of public spaces (parks, squares, plazas, etc), the emergence of public art and performance within these spaces, the blurring of urban "genres" in spaces such as markets as in London's Camden Town where consumerism, art, performance, tourism, gazing and micro-economies all intersect and the identification of new urban cultures along lines of ethnicity, gender and youth.

Session 8: New urban cultures: Social practices in public spaces
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 15:30-17:30
Chair: Nuria Benach, University of Barcelona, Spain, nuriabenach@ub.edu

Session 9: New urban cultures: Cultural industries and city promotion
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chair: Joan Ganau, Universitat de Lleida, Spain, ganau@geosoc.udl.cat

Session 10: New urban cultures: Art and alternative uses of public space
Monday, September 8, 2008, 09:00-11:00
Chair: John Clammer, United Nations University-Tokyo, Japan, clammer@hq.unu.edu

Theme 4: Urban ethnic conflicts in comparative perspective

Organizers: Diane Davis, MIT, USA, dedavis@MIT.EDu and Ramon Ribera, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain, rriberaf@uoc.edu
This theme examines the origins, nature, and impact of ethnic, religious, or ethno-nationalist conflicts on cities around the world. In the contemporary era of globalization, which has challenged nation-states and national identities as a legitimating source of authority, struggles over sovereignty and for recognition often unfold among subnational groups -- and in cities, precisely because in a world of relatively fluid borders and transnational labor flows, cities are ever more likely to draw and host populations of difference. This, in turn, has meant that ethnic and ethno-national identity conflicts are increasingly transferred to the built environment and local governing practices, and much more likely to manifest themselves in urban conflicts over the allocation of space, resources, and rights rather than over the grand projects of nation-state building.

Papers explore the impact of these developments on cities, as well as the impact of cities and urban dynamics on ethnic or ethno-national identities and conflicts. Does the historic cosmopolitanism of cities dilute or exacerbate ethnic or ethno-national tensions? Does ethnic identity trump class or other forms of identity in the social production of urban space or the urban experience, why or why not? Does national or regional context mediate the urban-ethnic nexus (i.e. are there significant differences in the ways ethnic or ethno-national conflicts unfold in cities of the global south as opposed to the global north, or in Africa as opposed to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East)? Finally, how might theories of the built environment, city form, urban political participation, and/or urban governance accommodate the importance of ethnicity, and will we need new tools, frameworks, or methodologies to understand the urban-ethnic nexus in an increasingly globalized world?

Session 11: Urban ethnic conflicts in comparative perspective: The built environment, urban transformation, and urban conflict
Friday, September 5, 2008, 15:30-17:30
Chairs: Diane Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, dedavis@mit.edu and Ramon Ribera, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain, rriberaf@uoc.edu

Session 12: Urban ethnic conflicts in comparative perspective: Identity politics and the socio-spatial bases of urban conflict and cooperation
Friday, September 5, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chairs: Diane Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, dedavis@mit.edu and Ramon Ribera, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain, rriberaf@uoc.edu

Session 13: Urban ethnic conflicts in comparative perspective: The social and spatial dimensions of urban violence
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 09:00-11:00
Chairs: Diane Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, dedavis@mit.edu and Ramon Ribera, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain, rriberaf@uoc.edu

Theme 5: The creative city and social innovation

Organizers: Serena Vicari, Milano-Bicocca University, Italy, serena.vicari@unimib.it and Montserrat Pareja, University of Barcelona, Spain, mpareja@ub.edu
Creative cities are today’s engines of regional and national development that depend on innovation and creativity. To be creative, cities must offer a vibrant environment, cultural amenities and career choices sufficient to attract groups with talent to build creative industries. In so doing, creative cities secure comparative advantages over other cities. According to this creative city view, there is a need for a new urban agenda that focuses on both innovation and cultural revitalization.
But the new urban agenda inevitably creates a tension between the goal of competitiveness and the search for greater equality and social integration.

Session 14: The creative city and social innovation. Panel I
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 11:30-13:30
Chairs: Serena Vicari, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, serena.vicari@unimib.it and Montserrat Pareja Eastaway, University of Barcleona, Spain, mpareja@ub.edu

Session 15: The creative city and social innovation. Panel II.
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 15:30-17:30
Chairs: Serena Vicari, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, serena.vicari@unimib.it and Montserrat Pareja Eastaway, University of Barcleona, Spain, mpareja@ub.edu

Theme 6: Urban sustainability: Process and form

Organizers: Roger Keil, University of York, Canada, rkeil@yorku.ca and Jesus Vicens, University of Barcelona, Spain, jvicens@ub.edu
Urban sustainability research seems to often bifurcate into two (sometimes) diverging perspectives. One deals with the processes needed to make urban regions more sustainable. This includes questions about planning democracy, environmental justice, and participation. The other is concerned with urban form and design, technological change and infrastructures. Both deal with change geared towards the redirection of urban metabolisms. While theoretically not incompatible, the two perspectives have often been at odds conceptually and in terms of the practices associated with the politics that bring them to life. The former has been often strangely non-material in its technological and ecological sense; the latter has been characterized by fetishizing things (such as green roofs, compact architecture, or transit) at the expense of questions of distribution and democracy. Will explore ways in which the material and procedural dimensions of urban sustainability can be brought back into a more constructive dialogue. Papers aim at critically examining conceptual and real ways through which such connections can be made.

Session 16: Urban sustainability: process and form. Panel I
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chairs: Roger Keil, University of York, Canada, rkeil@yorku.ca and Jesus Vicens, University of Barcelona, Spain, jvicens@ub.edu

Session 17: Urban sustainability: process and form. Panel II
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 09:00-11:00
Chairs: Roger Keil, University of York, Canada, rkeil@yorku.ca and Jesus Vicens, University of Barcelona, Spain, jvicens@ub.edu

Theme 7: Segregation in a-typical context

Organizers: Thomas Maloutas, University of Thessaly-Volos, Greece, maloutas@ekke.gr, Jesus Leal, Universidad Compultense-Madrid, Spain, jleal@cps.ucm.es and Tim Butler, King’s College, UK, tim.butler@kcl.ac.uk
Segregation studies have been heavily influenced by the context in which they have been initially developed. It began with the booming mid-western American metropolis of the inter-war period and its intense racial divisions with market shifting and sorting trailing behind overt discrimination and racism as a mechanism of sociospatial separation, even when institutionalized discrimination was abolished for several decades. A different focus for segregation studies emerged in the post-war period of reconstruction and welfare state building in Europe, with emphasis on social, rather than ethno-racial, division and on state regulation of the segregating impact of market mechanisms. Later, when the leading cities of the western world started experiencing de-industrialization, a new focus on gentrification emerged as a consequence of new forms of urban renewal and their social impact. Research agendas and conceptualizations are always set in respect to contextual conditions at core regions (which coincide with the core regions in the academic division of labour as well) and, often implicitly, become general directives irrespective to their initial contextual limitations.

At the same time, however, the vast majority of the world’s urban population partakes in sociospatial processes for which the dominant research agendas and conceptualizations may sometimes be mystifying and/or misleading.

Papers focus contributions from a-typical contexts for segregation studies, like southern Europe or Latin America or Asia, where the timing and structure of industrial development, the family centered welfare regimes and the clientelist political systems have heavily influenced the forms of urban development and renewal and, eventually, the patterns and the social impact of segregation. The aim is not to pinpoint at the specificity of a-typical contexts, but to stress the context dependence of any serious analysis of sociospatial issues, which does not necessarily diminish with globalization.

Session 18: Segregation in a-typical contexts: Segregation and ethnicity
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 11:30-13:30
Chairs: Jesus Leal, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, jleal@cps.ucm.es and Thomas Maloutas, University of Thessaly, Greece, maloutas@ekke.gr

Session 19: Segregation in a-typical contexts: Housing and segregation
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 15:30-17:30
Chairs: Tim Butler, King’s College, London, UK, tim.butler@kcl.ac.uk and Thomas Maloutas, University of Thessaly, Greece, maloutas@ekke.gr

Session 20: Segregation in a-typical contexts: Segregation in the Latin American metropolis
Sunday, September 7, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chairs: Jesus Leal, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, jleal@cps.ucm.es and Tim Butler, King’s College, London, UK, tim.butler@kcl.ac.uk

Session 21: Segregation in a-typical contexts: Segregation in context
Friday, September 5, 2008, 18:00-20:00
Chairs: Thomas Maloutas, University of Thessaly, Greece, maloutas@ekke.gr and Jesus Leal, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain, jleal@cps.ucm.es

Theme 8: Cities of territorial responsibility: In search for a methodological and theoretical debate on areas of low city density

Session 22: Cities of territorial responsibility: In search for a methodological and theoretical debate on areas of low city density
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 09:00-11:00
Chair: Tatiana Schor, Federal University of the Amazon , Brazil, tschor@ufam.edu.br

Theme 9: Transnational migration and local economies: Comparative perspective

Session 23: Transnational migration and local economies: Comparative perspective
Saturday, September 6, 2008, 11:30-13:30
Chairs: Junko Tajima, Hosei University, Japan, jtajima@hosei.ac.jp, Luis Garzon, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain, luis.garzon@urv.cat, Eduardo Barberis, Università di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Italy, eduardo.barberis@uniurb.it