MCRI Researchers Publish Foundational Papers on Governance, Land and Infrastructure

News, Publications

GOVERNANCE

Michael Ekers, Pierre Hamel & Roger Keil (2012). "Governing Suburbia: Modalities and Mechanisms of Suburban Governance." Regional Studies. 46:3, 405-422.
Abstract: This paper traces the major modalities of suburban governance through a review of the extant literature on the matter. Based on the existing debate on suburban governance it appears that three modalities can be differentiated: the state, capital accumulation and private authoritarianism. A case is made for each and how they function and interrelate is developed. What are the universal and particular forces shaping suburbanization processes in different urban-regions? It is also argued that governance itself needs to be used in critical sense by extending its meaning towards issues of suburbanism, not just the process merely of suburbanization.

LAND

Ute Lehrer, Richard Harris, & Robin Bloch (2015). "La question du territoire suburbain." Pôle Sud.
http://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=PSUD_042_0063

Abstract: Cet article traite du développement et du réaménagement consécutif des territoires situés en périphérie urbaine ou dans ses alentours. Cet aménagement est caractéristique car dans ses phases initiales il se traduit généralement par la juxtaposition insolite d’une grande diversité de types d’utilisation du territoire, et parfois également de cultures et de formes de propriété foncière. Parce que la terre a bien plus de valeur dans le cadre d’une utilisation urbaine que dans celui d’une utilisation rurale, l’aménagement suburbain offre aux propriétaires terriens la possibilité de réaliser des profits exceptionnellement élevés. Les enjeux financiers sont très importants et partant, il ne fait aucun doute que le territoire suburbain constitue une source de conflits importante. C’est la terre, en tant que type de propriété, qui est le thème principal de cet article, mais sans oublier qu’une fois aménagée, elle est intimement liée aux bâtiments et autres types de « biens immobiliers ».

INFRASTRUCTURE

Pierre Filion & Roger Keil (2016). "Contested Infrastructures: Tension, Inequity and Innovation in the Global Suburb." Urban Policy and Research.
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/jak7yhdMrr2FfKaNHIJs/full

Abstract: The article explores the suburban infrastructure reality at a global scale. It does so by acknowledging both the wide diversity of suburban forms across the world and the existence of common features that warrant the apprehension of suburbs as a unified object of study. Due to their rapid growth rate and an insufficient infrastructure development response, suburbs are perceived as more severely afflicted by infrastructure tensions than other urban sectors. They thus provide an ideal object of study to identify urban infrastructure shortcomings in the present age. At the same time, by virtue of their infrastructure difficulties and ongoing expansion, suburbs can be seen as a foremost source of infrastructure innovation.