sara gonzalez | University of Leeds (original) (raw)

Papers by sara gonzalez

Resumen: El objetivo de este artículo es realizar un recorrido crítico por la literatura mayorita... more Resumen: El objetivo de este artículo es realizar un recorrido crítico por la literatura mayoritariamente anglosajona que en los últimos años se ha centrado en el concepto de escala geográfica y las transformaciones socio-espaciales del capitalismo actual. Empezando por un comentario sobre el carácter discursivo de la globalización se propone el concepto de escala para huir de la dicotomía global/local abriendo así un nuevo panorama investigativo más amplio y flexible. El foco del artículo se centra en la aproximación de la "política de escalas" como el marco analítico más interesante a la hora de estudiar las cambiantes geografías de poder actuales. Por último, hago una reflexión sobre posibles preguntas de investigación que ofrece esta aproximación al estudio de las políticas urbanas actuales. Palabras clave: escala, política, capitalismo, poder. * Este texto foi publicado na revista Scripta Nova. Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales. Universidad de Barcelona. Vol. IX, núm. 189, 15 de mayo de 2005. <www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-189.htm>. Agradecemos à autora e aos editores a permissão para publicá-lo neste espaço.

International Journal of Iberian Studies, 2004

The Guggenheim Museum has had many 'effects' on the lives of local citizens and politicians in Bi... more The Guggenheim Museum has had many 'effects' on the lives of local citizens and politicians in Bilbao as well as on wider communities such as architects, planners, cultural policy-makers or museologists. This article, however, deals with the effect that the museum has had on the urban governance practices in Bilbao. Urban policy literature has clearly identified that contemporary cities are adopting an entrepreneurial approach to deal with increasing pressures to compete with each other and attract investment in a globalized world. This approach is connected to neo-liberal state policies that threaten social inclusion and democracy. The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum has to be considered within this wider trend and has played an important role in the consolidation of urban entrepreneurialism in Bilbao. The danger is, as I will show, that these practices can be taken for granted without internal reflection, and can therefore be institutionalized in urban policy. 177 IJIS 16

International Journal of Housing Policy, 2012

Dossier «Ciudades en la sociedad de la información»

Amb la globalització, les ciutats, lluny de perdre la seva funció, han adquirit un paper més acti... more Amb la globalització, les ciutats, lluny de perdre la seva funció, han adquirit un paper més actiu com a nodes de fluxos internacionals de persones, serveis i coneixement. L'obertura dels mercats a l'economia global i la creixent neoliberalització exposen les ciutats a la competició internacional per recursos. Els ajuntaments passen de ser administradors i distribuïdors de béns i serveis a promotors econòmics. Se centren cada vegada més a desenvolupar polítiques per atreure inversions des de fora i a "escalar" per la jerarquia urbana per posar-se al capdavant de les ciutats competidores. La realització de grans esdeveniments, la inversió en projectes estrella de regeneració o estratègies de màrqueting urbà són algunes de les noves pràctiques de governança que cada vegada més es desenvolupen en col·laboració amb el sector privat. En aquest article s'exploren les pràctiques de governança urbana neoliberal en tres ciutats europees, Milà, Newcastle i Bilbao, per an...

Urban Studies, 2014

ABSTRACT This paper looks at the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis on Leeds, a medium s... more ABSTRACT This paper looks at the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis on Leeds, a medium sized city in northern England, which in the last decades has specialised in finance-related economic activities. Our aim is to understand if the largely neoliberal pre-crisis urban growth model pursued in Leeds, based significantly on real estate speculation, retail and finance, was put at risk by the crisis and whether a collective reflection by local leaders took place about the need to change direction. To do that we have conducted interviews with experts in the city and analysed policy documents in detail. We focus, in particular, on how the crisis was constructed as affecting Leeds and more specifically if the socio-economic development trajectory and associated urban governance model have changed. We conclude that there has been little reflection and questioning of the underlying principles of the urban growth and governance model in Leeds.

Revista de geografía Norte Grande, 2014

Space and Polity, 2005

... UK. Fax: (44) 0191 222 6008. E-mail: Sara.Gonzalez@ncl.ac.uk. This article is part of a PhD t... more ... UK. Fax: (44) 0191 222 6008. E-mail: Sara.Gonzalez@ncl.ac.uk. This article is part of a PhD thesis about the scalar reconstruction of the metropolitan area of Bilbao, which was funded until 2002 by the Basque Government. ...

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2013

ABSTRACT This essay calls for a systematic investigation of the financial-economic crisis as a so... more ABSTRACT This essay calls for a systematic investigation of the financial-economic crisis as a source of new urban governance rationalities across Europe. We propose combining an understanding of neoliberalization as a variegated social phenomenon with a cultural political economy approach sensitive to the discursive dimension of variegation and the evolutionary mechanisms through which discursive variation is translated into geo-institutional differentiation. We illustrate how this theoretical framework may help to analyse the impact of the crisis on urban governmental rationalities. Rather than offering a complete cultural political economy account of the responses of European cities to the financial-economic crisis, we analyse how the crisis and the responses to it have been represented in discourses on urban policies and development by focusing on two discursive sites that are of strategic importance, namely OECD LEED and URBACT. Our preliminary findings suggest a re-assemblage of existing discourses rather than the emergence of a new post-neoliberal urban government rationality.

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2001

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2006

In this article I explore how theoretical metaphors about the contemporary rescaling of the capit... more In this article I explore how theoretical metaphors about the contemporary rescaling of the capitalist economy are used by local policy actors to justify an entrepreneurial urban policy. I develop a new theoretical concept (scalar narrative), suggest an analytical approach (cultural politics of scales) and give evidence of a particular case (Bilbao). The article is structured in the following way. First, I briefly review the literature on politics of scales and contribute to the debate with an approach that incorporates elements from cultural political economy and interpretative policy analysis. Within this approach I mobilize the concept of 'scalar narrative' that has already been suggested in the literature but not fully explored. I then put this approach into practice with a particular case study, Bilbao, a city in the north of Spain, which has recently gone through extensive urban regeneration, where I describe the appropriation of three scalar narratives by the policymakers. To show this I draw from empirical work done in Bilbao that looks at statutory and strategic planning documents as well as urban marketing literature and interviews with key informants.

European Urban and Regional Studies, 2011

... which can be defined as the discursive arena in which groups and actors explain, justify, def... more ... which can be defined as the discursive arena in which groups and actors explain, justify, defend ... such as Abruzzo, starting to show a new entrepreneurial cul-ture and governance capacity akin in ... new regional policy in Italy is similar to that of England and can be summarized as ...

European Urban and Regional Studies, 2007

10.1177/0969776407077737 Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore, http://eur.sagepub .com ..... more 10.1177/0969776407077737 Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore, http://eur.sagepub .com ... This introductory article does three things. First, it compares neo-liberal and social innovation dis-courses about urban socio-economic change, includ-ing associated policies and key ...

Environment and Planning A, 2009

This paper contributes to the debates on relational conceptualisations of space by focusing on ho... more This paper contributes to the debates on relational conceptualisations of space by focusing on how these notions are used by policy makers in particular governance contexts. It uses the example of Milan, where recent urban interventions and a particular fragmented ...