The literature review chapter tackles three main
themes that formulate the conceptual framework fro intervening to retrofit Big
Urbanism projects influenced and intensified by globalization – I call them
Global Projects
THIS IS about defining global urban projects” as an emerging
concept with its related challenges and investigates the forces that
have lead to the sterility of their urban spaces. The public space
definitions have been studied through different disciplines .Each discipline
has studied its primordial characteristics and offered a partial perspective
depending on the layer of analysis tackled. Few cases of research have
attempted to present a comprehensive view or an overreaching concept (Low
2000).
Global Urban Projects
Global urban projects represent the local
articulation of global processes with the physical space of the city. They
represent the materialization of the globalization forces in the urban
territory. They are referred to as the “new urban form’’ (Forbes 1999, Lin
1994) that links city regions, or spans across borders or even become an
extended ‘’metropolitan regions’’ (Rohwer 1995, Marshall 2003)
Their spread encompasses the five continents although most of the literature
focused on their emergence in the Asia –Pacific region (Olds 1995, Marshall
2003).Most of the public spaces in these projects suffer from such as Pudong
Area China.
Absent urbanism is reflected in the absence of a
deliberate articulation of the physical and non-physical characteristics of
urban space which Results in the absence of the link bonding it to the
encompassing public realm of the territory it occupies. Thus, the space is not
enabling multiple meanings and facilitating multiple perceptions or readings by
its users. It becomes flat, purified and abstract.
Global
urban projects sprang out of the political, economic and cultural forces of globalization.
The below section will try and analyze the entrenched aspects of these forces
contributing to the absence of urbanism
(
.
Global
urban projects are seen as a marketing tool to put their host cities on the
global map .In order to make foreign capital move
efficiently, the projects disconnect themselves form their hosts and become
isolated from the complexities of the territory surrounding them.
In the emerging urban economic base, cities compete mainly
in terms of global competitiveness and connectivity which are the main criteria
to determine their status (Short et.al 2003). In order to
claim a position in the urban hierarchy, these cities establish global projects
(Friedman 1995). According to Short (ibid.), the
world city status is seen as a guaranteed enhanced level of prosperity in the
contemporary urban economy (Dieleman 1994 in Short ibid.).
The connection
to the global flow of capital means confining connectivity to
a global network of information and people that are essential to sustain the
activities of these nodes. The dependence on the foreign direct investment and
the relocation of transnational companies make it essential to remove risks
associated with local conditions.
Castells (1989) argues that ‘the suppression of places by
the network of the information flows is essentially to avoid the complicated
different layers of the urban space’. Therefore, developers of such spaces are
taking advantage of the liberalization policies and consumerism by developing
the spaces and the infrastructure supporting these spaces as a closed network
.By filtering the boundaries of these projects and enhancing global
connectivity via transportation and information highways, they risk a
disconnection from the local context (Graham and Marvin 2001).
This disconnection will impact the life
and life cycle of the urban spaces created in the global urban projects since
they will become only a transient space for Multi National Companies employees or Foreign Direct Investment
guests. This transient character and the lack of connection with the existing
fabric and community render their urbanism absent.
The dislocation and disconnection form the urban life of its
host city, impacts negatively the input of these projects into the culture of
the city.
The
research proved that in practice these projects, although implemented due to
the cultures diversity of either the consultants working on the project or the
investors developing them, lack the multiplicity of spaces needed for
representation and interaction. Although policy makers emphasizes
the role of economic forces and political forces in the success of global
projects ,their sustainability can not be attributed only to economic factors
such as accessibility to global networks or agglomeration of producer services
firms.
Current research stresses on the importance of
social and cultural factors in their economic long term life (Lee1995; Budd 1995; Amin and Thrift 1992,
1994).Global urban projects are essentially dependant on people.
In his study of the Asian global urban projects, Olds argues that at the origin
of the capital flows and mega urban developments between Hong Kong and Canada,
lies essentially a cultural flow facilitated by the influential Chinese
families and multinational consultants migrating Global projects are directly
influenced by the cultural globalization that has been facilitated by the
continuous flow of ideas, information, commitment and values across the world
(Waters, 1995).
1. Epidural (1990, 1996) propose five dimensions of
these global cultural flows:
2. -Ethnos capes: The movement of tourists,
refugees and guest workers
3. -Medias capes: the international flows of
printed media
4. -Techno capes: the spread and distribution of
technologies
5. -Financscapes: the flows of international
capital
6.
-Icescapes:
the flows of political ideas and values.
Another
factor that proves the importance of the social and cultural aspects of these
developments is the importance of livability or what is referred to formally as
“Quality of Life”. This is depicted in the quantitative models
developed by international institutions such as World Bank and IMF; Quality of
Life encompasses aspects such as availability of public spaces, open spaces as
well as the array of cultural activities available .It is the absence of these
spaces that impedes these projects from achieving sustainability and fostering
social and cultural interaction (Knight 1995).. The reason for this
could arguably be a disconnection from the local dimension resulting in lack of
spaces of representation and therefore the absence of urbanism in the spaces of
these projects.
Sassen argues that the corporate culture as a representation
of expertise neutralizes the urban space by ordering it through technology,
economic efficiency and rationality. The main actors are the ‘’business
elites’’ who establish their identity by “aestheticizing urban space to
overshadow the aspects that need to be controlled (Murray, 1995; Zukin 1991,
1992, 1995). Sites become
designed for one user group mainly business elites and employees providing
spaces which can host them without
taking into considerations the needs of
other surrounding communities that are disregarded The issues of representation
are key to understanding how various types of firms that are not associated
with globalization or information economy are excluded. These are referred to
‘’contested representations of globalism’’ (Hannerz 1991).The
representation of the city is merging with aims of boosting the city world
status. These representations, either external or internal consumption,
emphasize on the needs of the corporate new class: the city as a place of
social justice, democratic participation or creativity is therefore silenced.
‘’This new managerial class colonizes exclusive spatial
segments that connects with one another across city, country, world; they
isolate themselves from the fragments of local societies’’ (Castells, 1989).
Sassen
(1994) argues that there is a new
space emerging that is calling for a new transnational identity. It is placed
in the center because of its unique location and is considered transnational
because it is connected to distant places .It is coinciding with Massey’s
(1993) call for a ‘’progressive sense of place’’ that is global by linking
itself to places beyond.
Although
these flows have enabled the formation of a globalized culture, their
articulation between each other and the local context lead to their
reinterpretation and reinvention as subverted micro narratives (Appadurai
1990). In this sense, globalization is not a one way process, it
adapts culturally to the local settings. However, differentiation does not
occur in between societies. Instead, differences occur when clashes are
produced between local cultures and imported ones (King, 1997).
Hence, Globalization as it advances will create hybrid
spaces whereby the local and global fabric will fuse together and produce
spaces that celebrate diversity while creating its unique narratives to the
host city it belongs to.
When the space is abstracted and purified through
rationalization, it ceases to acknowledge that attractive urban
spaces throughout famous cities have always been sordid. Peter Hall (1989)
deduced, after reviewing planning theory of the twentieth century, that’ Great
cities have never been earthly utopias: they are place of stress and conflict,
messy places, sordid places but places nevertheless superbly worth living in’’ (ibid:
998).
Moreover, such acute privatization of public space can lead
to the loss of the same security that the global agenda strives to protect. Examining
the psychological implications of the decline of the public realm, Senett (1974) notifies that this turning inwards
undervalues the importance of class and community relations with strangers,
particularly those that occur in cities.
Third, inclusive public spaces add to the 
an
important indicator in global marketing strategies, by enhancing opportunities
of a more vibrant social life. Zukin (1995) elucidates the importance of public spaces
because it reveals how the city
receives strangers and integrates them into their social life. Where the public arena gives way to mingling
with strangers, urban spaces are transformed into scenes of the civic life. Boyer
(1994) highlights the importance of everyday street life and ordinary places of
collective assembly that initiate the emergence of a shared public culture
which the new consuming places fail to infuse. Furthermore, she points out that
this level of every day practices construct ’social vitality and cultures of
socialization, talk, negotiation and understandings’ (ibid: 260).
Fourth, face to
face encounters is still an essential component in increasing creativity and
reducing economic costs of insecurity.
Stressing on ‘’the extraordinary social nature of modern economics’,
Thrift and Olds (1996) argue that ‘’in volatile and globalizing economies ,
trust ,reciprocity and face-to-face relational networks become centrally
important to many economic practices’’.
Fifth, Hybrid public spaces will cut on costs. By encouraging the sense of belonging for a
variety of social groups, such space will also increase economic potential by
increasing social relations between different groups and therefore enhance
employment opportunities in minority enterprises, third sector services, local
education and technical centers. Hall (1995) views such diversity
as producing better conditions for ‘economic adaptability since cultural mixing
would allow innovative business formulas and practices’ (ibid cited in Amin A
et al.1997:423).Diversity in the urban areas contribute culturally and
economically to a vital style of life which will sustain social cohesion,
mobility and opportunity (Castells 1989).
In designing our plans and thinking about our development frameworks of design schemes, wether we are practitioners,
