Current Research in Urban and Regional Studies – serie

The chapters in this volume, written by a distinguished group of academics in planning and related fields, revisit the terrain of planning in light of recent developments in the recognition of the importance of institutions in planning. The book is divided into three sections: the first section is concerned with examining the impact of the new institutionalism on the field of planning and on its theory. Chapters include those proposing intellectual justification of planning as a field and a profession. The second section is concerned with how civic traditions and institutions affect the urban realm. The chapters here explore the impact of these concerns on the daily patterns of urban life and particularly on the examination of the role of institutions in making this vitality possible. The final section examines the intellectual meaning of public-private partnerships that shed light on the role of planning in this new environment. It is a volume in the current research in urban and regional studies series. Its chapters are written by top tier academics. It revisits planning based on recent developments. It is broken up into three parts: Planning Perspectives on Institutions, Institutional Design, and Applying Institutional Ideas.

The gleaming Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has put the Basque capital on the map of world cities and has exacerbated optimism among public officials worldwide about the role of spectacular architecture in urban renewal. This book - a theoretically-informed case study and a major synthesis of Bilbaos developments through the lens of globalization analyzes the Guggenheim project as the latest of Bilbaos globalization efforts, puts the project in the context of Bilbaos decades-long transformation and contends that Bilbaos positive economic performance since 1994 is not fundamentally due to the success of Frank Gehry's building, but rather to a complex array of causal processes that must be understood in the context of Bilbaos connections with the world economy and a changing world-system. The author argues that globalization processes in Bilbao are as old as the city itself and that the role of the State must be taken into account in order to explain the city's changing fortunes throughout the years. Globalization itself ought to be understood as a complex and variable network-like process with multiscalar nodes, an approach which is carefully theorized and empirically developed in this book. This is a volume in the "Current Research in Urban and Regional Studies Series". It takes into consideration Bilbao's social history and the complex relationships between local and global entities (regionalism v. state). It provides a socioeconomic analysis of the "Bilbao Effect".

The British state has long been regarded as one of the most stable and centralised political structures in the world, and devolution represents one of the most significant changes to its fabric in 300 years. To date research on devolution in the UK has largely focused on core public policy areas such as health, economic development and social welfare. Work on transport has been somewhat limited, despite its increased policy prominence in recent years. This book presents a thorough academic investigation into the impact of devolution on the formulation and delivery of transport policy in the UK. Using detailed interviews with key policy makers, transport providers, business organisations and user groups, the authors draw upon concepts and ideas from across the social sciences to inform their analysis. The picture that emerges is distinctly mixed: there are elements of both convergence and divergence in the strategies and policies adopted by the devolved administrations, and marked variations in the overall performance of these administrations in transport are uncovered. Ultimately, though, devolution on its own is an insufficient basis for improved policy performance what matters is the generation of enough strategic capacity to promote real change for the better. This book presents a thorough academic investigation into the impact of devolution on the formulation and delivery of transport policy in the UK. The authors draw upon concepts and ideas from across the social sciences to inform their analysis by using detailed interviews with key policy makers, transport providers, business organisations and user groups.