7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

1/11

RISCH Conference

How participation can modify urban regeneration?Some reflections about Discourse and Politics in Urban

Regeneration Programmes

Jordi Bonet i MartIGOP Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

2/11

Participation, Urban SocialMovements and Urban Change

Research on urban studies has tended to split the fields of research on:

Urban Participation linked to urban governance & communitydevelopement theories

Urban Social Movements linked to social identity and new socialmovements theory

Urban Change linked to structuralist approach & urban planningtheories with little space to movements agency.

My proposal is to analyse the relationship among them in order to recognisethe agency of the urban social movements through participation in theproduction of the urban space.

How Participation can lead us to urban changein terms of more social justice and empowered communities?

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

3/11

What do we understand byparticipation?

Mainstream definition: different mechanisms for thepublic/demos to express their opinions - and ideally exertinfluence - regarding political, economic, management or othersocial decisions.

We could distinguish between: Top Down Participation / Bottom Up Participation

Institutionalised/non-institutionalised participation.

Ladder of participation: from manipulation/transformation

Theoretical assumptions:

Consensual approach (habermasian and strongdemocracy)

Focused on the process (how) not on the results (why).

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

4/11

Methodology

Comparative Case Study analysing 4 moments/kinds of urbanparticipation in the regeneration of the Old Town of Barcelona.

Collecting data:

Interviews to practicioners, activists,...

Documentation Analysis:

Official Documentation (plans in the different stages)

Meeting acts,...

Leaflets, journals,...

Discursive approach: Who are the actors involved? (actors network)

Which discourses are expressed? (discourse network)

How are the power relationships expressed?

Which are the effects of the participation in the final output?

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

5/11

Two key dimensions:

Beyonf consensual approach

Acces to Participation:

By irruption/ By invitation:

Production of Multivocality/Interdiscoursivity:

Monologic-single issue / Dialogic-Heterogeneous (Kristeva,Bakhtin)

My question is:

Could one higher degree of multivocality/interdiscoursivity providehigher degree of incidence of the participation in the outputs?

Theoretical assumptions that connects interdiscoursivity and socialchange: Fairclough/Wodak

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

6/11

4 cases

Hotel Illa Robadors

Pla de la Gardunya

Forat de la Vergonya

Comissi Gestora del'ARI

By irruption

By invitation

Multivocal/HetMonologic/Hom

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

7/11

Ouputs: degree of incidence

+

- -

+ +

-

By irruption

By invitation

Multivocal/HetMonologic/Hom

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

8/11

4 tipologies of Participation

NIMBY

Liberal-democratic

RadicalDemocratic

Burocraticengagament

By irruption

By invitation

Multivocal/HetMonologic/Hom

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

9/11

4 models of Urban Participation

NIMBY

The conflict is targeted in a single issue (lost orwin)Challenge only the power relationship linked tothe issue.Tend to act purified community only recognise

two point of view (us and them)The main aim is block or enact a policyintervention.

RADICAL DEMOCRACY

Assume the conflict as a creative forceChallenge the power relationships to balanceRecognise the differences points of views.The main aim is transform the conditions of lifein the area.

BUREOUCRATIC ENGAGEMENT

The conflict is chanelled through bureoucraticstructuresOnly recognise the differents points of view as arepresentation.The main aim is gain more power positionthrough the process of negotiation/concertation.

LIBERAL-CONSENSUAL

Negation of the conflictDon't recognise the differences of power amongactors.Dissolve the different points of viewsThe main aim is to improve and legitimise thepolicy intervention.

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

10/11

Some questions for a criticalwork

Is urban participation one path to the negationof conflict (post-politics) or could be also a pathto radical democracy?

How could we link urban democracy to socialjustice and community empowerment?

It's possible to transform urban participationfrom one model to another? And how?

7/29/2019 Presentacio Risch Conference

11/11

THANK YOU!

Questions