Rob Krueger | Worcester Polytechnic Institute (original) (raw)
Papers by Rob Krueger
Encyclopedia of Environment and Society, 2007
Planning Theory & Practice, 2015
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2009
Page 1. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Article Index 'Call if you have... more Page 1. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Article Index 'Call if you have trouble': mobile phones and safety among college students 863 Jack Nasar, Peter Hecht and Richard Wener 'Institutional thickness': local governance and economic development in Birmingham, England 591 Andrew Coulson and Caterina Ferrario Analysing the capitalist state in post-socialism: towards the Porterian workfare postnational regime 401 Jan ...
Encyclopedia of Geography, 2010
Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional de... more Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional development strategies.
Regional Studies, 2008
Krueger R. and Gibbs D.'Third wave'sustainability? Smart growth and reg... more Krueger R. and Gibbs D.'Third wave'sustainability? Smart growth and regional development in the USA, Regional Studies. Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional development strategies. This is also true in the USA, ...
The Professional Geographer, 2000
Local Environment, 2007
This paper provides a conceptual critique of ‘smart growth’, an increasingly popular urban redeve... more This paper provides a conceptual critique of ‘smart growth’, an increasingly popular urban redevelopment strategy, as an economic development policy. It seeks to do this in two ways. First, an argument is made for how the smart growth movement is linked to more broad discourses of economic development. Second, through an urban political ecology analysis, it is suggested that smart
Local Environment, 2009
The recent credit crunch has effectively halted speculator-led regeneration. Declining confidence... more The recent credit crunch has effectively halted speculator-led regeneration. Declining confidence in housing markets and worsening economic fundamentals have paralysed the supply of new projects and sent demand for housing and offices into rapid reversal. Tales emanating from the construction sector about demolishing half-built houses have started doing the rounds. The model that has driven urban renewal over the last 20 years is dead, but what are the implications for sustainability?
Local Environment, 2003
... Jody Emel, Marsh Institute, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA. ... The ru... more ... Jody Emel, Marsh Institute, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA. ... The rush was prompted by gold's rising return on international markets and technological innovation, particularly cyanide heap-leaching, that enabled economies of scale. ...
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2007
Recent studies have suggested a city-region's competitiveness is based not only on production, bu... more Recent studies have suggested a city-region's competitiveness is based not only on production, but social reproduction. These issues as well as the policy measures adopted by many city-regions are frequently couched in a discourse of 'sustainable development'. But as an analytical framework how well does the concept of sustainable development account for the dynamics of social reproduction and the sustainability of a city-region? This article examines the possible relationship between city-regions and sustainable development at a conceptual level. We argue that despite some excellent work on the concept of 'just sustainability', current constructions of sustainable development are inadequate to capture the broad array of social and economic issues found in the cityregion. As a way forward we initiate a discussion between the sustainability literature and labor geography, and provide a case study of a hospital privatization process in Boston, USA, which has been framed by a politics of city-regionalism.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2012
ABSTRACT This article explores economy-environment relations in urban areas through a focus upon ... more ABSTRACT This article explores economy-environment relations in urban areas through a focus upon the reorientation of development in the Boston city-region in Massachusetts around a vision of smart growth. The article draws upon the evolving tradition of critical economy-environment research from a broadly regulationist perspective. However, to date research has tended to mask the politics and mediations of the development agenda by actors locked in struggle to shape their social, economic and environmental landscapes. It is argued that reducing institutions to their stylized forms ignores the real politics associated with institutional formation and outcome. A more fruitful approach, we suggest, is to draw upon recent work on institutions and institutional change. In particular the article utilizes a decentered institutional analysis put forth by political scientists Mark Bevir and Rod Rhodes and investigates empirical data from secondary sources and interviews in the Boston city-region with reference to Bevir and Rhodes' three concepts of dilemmas, traditions and beliefs. Cet article explore les relations entre économie et environnement dans les zones urbaines à travers le cas de la région métropolitaine de Boston (Massachusetts) dont le développement a été réorienté autour d’une perspective de croissance intelligente. L’article s’appuie sur la tradition évolutive des analyses critiques des rapports économie-environnement selon un axe globalement régulationniste. Toutefois, les études à ce jour ont eu tendance à masquer la politique et les médiations du programme de développement par des acteurs prisonniers de luttes pour façonner leurs propres paysages social, économique et environnemental. Ramener les institutions à leur forme schématique néglige la politique réelle associée à la configuration institutionnelle et à ses conséquences. Une approche plus fructueuse devrait tirer parti des travaux récents sur les institutions et le changement institutionnel. En exploitant notamment l’analyse institutionnelle décentrée des politistes Mark Bevir et Rod Rhodes, l’article examine les données empiriques issues de sources secondaires ou d’entretiens dans la région métropolitaine de Boston, à la lumière des trois concepts élaborés par les deux scientifiques : dilemmes, traditions et croyances.
Geographical Review, 2010
... want of social investment. So, while pouring a high-quality skinny latte is critical in Flo... more ... want of social investment. So, while pouring a high-quality skinny latte is critical in Florida's conception of the creative city, the person pouring it does not figure in (see Gornostaeva 2009). Moreover, in this discourse quality ...
Geoforum, 2005
As an approach to development, many see capitalism as reaching across an enormous range of schola... more As an approach to development, many see capitalism as reaching across an enormous range of scholarly domains and political interests. For some time geographers and others have begun to conceptualize capitalism as less of a system of intrinsic economic logic and more a collection of social and discursive relationships. By bringing capitalism into the ''discursive world'' these commentators and others have provided the theoretical ground for an exploration of alternative economic forms, especially those that are more socially and ecologically just. This paper makes an argument for putting sustainable development through the same theoretical scrutiny. Drawing on examples from the US we recruit the concept of ''actually existing sustainabilities'' from AltvaterÕs concept ''actually existing socialisms'' as an entry point to this conversation. Our purpose is to show that the potential for sustainability in the US exists in current local policies and practices if we rethink how we frame it.
Environmental Management, 2001
It is now widely accepted that members of the public should be involved in environmental decision... more It is now widely accepted that members of the public should be involved in environmental decision-making. This has inspired many to search for principles that characterize good public participation processes. In this paper we report on a study that identifies discourses about what defines a good process. Our case study was a forest planning process in northern New England and New York. We employed Q methodology to learn how participants characterize a good process differently, by selecting, defining, and privileging different principles. Five discourses, or perspectives, about good process emerged from our study. One perspective emphasizes that a good process acquires and maintains popular legitimacy. A second sees a good process as one that facilitates an ideological discussion. A third focuses on the fairness of the process. A fourth perspective conceptualizes participatory processes as a power struggle--in this instance a power play between local land-owning interests and outsiders. A fifth perspective highlights the need for leadership and compromise. Dramatic differences among these views suggest an important challenge for those responsible for designing and carrying out public participation processes. Conflicts may emerge about process designs because people disagree about what is good in specific contexts.
Environment and Planning A, 2010
This paper presents an argument and empirical case study to draw out additional nuance in the soc... more This paper presents an argument and empirical case study to draw out additional nuance in the social construction of institutions. Adapting the conceptual work of political scientists Mark Bevir and Roderick Rhodes to recent accounts in economic geography of institutional change we present an ‘interpretative analysis’ of recent policy changes in the regulation of land use in competitive global regions in London and the South East, UK. The paper examines the appeal to tradition, the construction of policy dilemmas, and the affect these have on what we think of as neoliberal policy reform.
This article critically examines three interrelated contemporary themes in urban regeneration and... more This article critically examines three interrelated contemporary themes in urban regeneration and regional development: economic development, urban sustainability and creative city planning. While these themes have distinct conceptual origins, they complement each other in practice. The question we ask in this article is: how do the embedded and contingent politics found in these approaches shape opportunities for sustainable urban regeneration? We begin the article by defining our core concepts: urban sustainability and creative planning. We then explore their convergence with economic development, both in theory and practice, and raise critical questions about the universal applicability of these formulas. We conclude with a conceptual discussion of the problems these discourses represent. In particular, we reveal how these discourses create consensus among diverse (often competing) groups of actors, and the problems associated with this form of 'consensual urban politics'.
Environment and Planning A, 2002
Encyclopedia of Environment and Society, 2007
Planning Theory & Practice, 2015
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2009
Page 1. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Article Index 'Call if you have... more Page 1. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Article Index 'Call if you have trouble': mobile phones and safety among college students 863 Jack Nasar, Peter Hecht and Richard Wener 'Institutional thickness': local governance and economic development in Birmingham, England 591 Andrew Coulson and Caterina Ferrario Analysing the capitalist state in post-socialism: towards the Porterian workfare postnational regime 401 Jan ...
Encyclopedia of Geography, 2010
Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional de... more Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional development strategies.
Regional Studies, 2008
Krueger R. and Gibbs D.'Third wave'sustainability? Smart growth and reg... more Krueger R. and Gibbs D.'Third wave'sustainability? Smart growth and regional development in the USA, Regional Studies. Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional development strategies. This is also true in the USA, ...
The Professional Geographer, 2000
Local Environment, 2007
This paper provides a conceptual critique of ‘smart growth’, an increasingly popular urban redeve... more This paper provides a conceptual critique of ‘smart growth’, an increasingly popular urban redevelopment strategy, as an economic development policy. It seeks to do this in two ways. First, an argument is made for how the smart growth movement is linked to more broad discourses of economic development. Second, through an urban political ecology analysis, it is suggested that smart
Local Environment, 2009
The recent credit crunch has effectively halted speculator-led regeneration. Declining confidence... more The recent credit crunch has effectively halted speculator-led regeneration. Declining confidence in housing markets and worsening economic fundamentals have paralysed the supply of new projects and sent demand for housing and offices into rapid reversal. Tales emanating from the construction sector about demolishing half-built houses have started doing the rounds. The model that has driven urban renewal over the last 20 years is dead, but what are the implications for sustainability?
Local Environment, 2003
... Jody Emel, Marsh Institute, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA. ... The ru... more ... Jody Emel, Marsh Institute, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA. ... The rush was prompted by gold's rising return on international markets and technological innovation, particularly cyanide heap-leaching, that enabled economies of scale. ...
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2007
Recent studies have suggested a city-region's competitiveness is based not only on production, bu... more Recent studies have suggested a city-region's competitiveness is based not only on production, but social reproduction. These issues as well as the policy measures adopted by many city-regions are frequently couched in a discourse of 'sustainable development'. But as an analytical framework how well does the concept of sustainable development account for the dynamics of social reproduction and the sustainability of a city-region? This article examines the possible relationship between city-regions and sustainable development at a conceptual level. We argue that despite some excellent work on the concept of 'just sustainability', current constructions of sustainable development are inadequate to capture the broad array of social and economic issues found in the cityregion. As a way forward we initiate a discussion between the sustainability literature and labor geography, and provide a case study of a hospital privatization process in Boston, USA, which has been framed by a politics of city-regionalism.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2012
ABSTRACT This article explores economy-environment relations in urban areas through a focus upon ... more ABSTRACT This article explores economy-environment relations in urban areas through a focus upon the reorientation of development in the Boston city-region in Massachusetts around a vision of smart growth. The article draws upon the evolving tradition of critical economy-environment research from a broadly regulationist perspective. However, to date research has tended to mask the politics and mediations of the development agenda by actors locked in struggle to shape their social, economic and environmental landscapes. It is argued that reducing institutions to their stylized forms ignores the real politics associated with institutional formation and outcome. A more fruitful approach, we suggest, is to draw upon recent work on institutions and institutional change. In particular the article utilizes a decentered institutional analysis put forth by political scientists Mark Bevir and Rod Rhodes and investigates empirical data from secondary sources and interviews in the Boston city-region with reference to Bevir and Rhodes' three concepts of dilemmas, traditions and beliefs. Cet article explore les relations entre économie et environnement dans les zones urbaines à travers le cas de la région métropolitaine de Boston (Massachusetts) dont le développement a été réorienté autour d’une perspective de croissance intelligente. L’article s’appuie sur la tradition évolutive des analyses critiques des rapports économie-environnement selon un axe globalement régulationniste. Toutefois, les études à ce jour ont eu tendance à masquer la politique et les médiations du programme de développement par des acteurs prisonniers de luttes pour façonner leurs propres paysages social, économique et environnemental. Ramener les institutions à leur forme schématique néglige la politique réelle associée à la configuration institutionnelle et à ses conséquences. Une approche plus fructueuse devrait tirer parti des travaux récents sur les institutions et le changement institutionnel. En exploitant notamment l’analyse institutionnelle décentrée des politistes Mark Bevir et Rod Rhodes, l’article examine les données empiriques issues de sources secondaires ou d’entretiens dans la région métropolitaine de Boston, à la lumière des trois concepts élaborés par les deux scientifiques : dilemmes, traditions et croyances.
Geographical Review, 2010
... want of social investment. So, while pouring a high-quality skinny latte is critical in Flo... more ... want of social investment. So, while pouring a high-quality skinny latte is critical in Florida's conception of the creative city, the person pouring it does not figure in (see Gornostaeva 2009). Moreover, in this discourse quality ...
Geoforum, 2005
As an approach to development, many see capitalism as reaching across an enormous range of schola... more As an approach to development, many see capitalism as reaching across an enormous range of scholarly domains and political interests. For some time geographers and others have begun to conceptualize capitalism as less of a system of intrinsic economic logic and more a collection of social and discursive relationships. By bringing capitalism into the ''discursive world'' these commentators and others have provided the theoretical ground for an exploration of alternative economic forms, especially those that are more socially and ecologically just. This paper makes an argument for putting sustainable development through the same theoretical scrutiny. Drawing on examples from the US we recruit the concept of ''actually existing sustainabilities'' from AltvaterÕs concept ''actually existing socialisms'' as an entry point to this conversation. Our purpose is to show that the potential for sustainability in the US exists in current local policies and practices if we rethink how we frame it.
Environmental Management, 2001
It is now widely accepted that members of the public should be involved in environmental decision... more It is now widely accepted that members of the public should be involved in environmental decision-making. This has inspired many to search for principles that characterize good public participation processes. In this paper we report on a study that identifies discourses about what defines a good process. Our case study was a forest planning process in northern New England and New York. We employed Q methodology to learn how participants characterize a good process differently, by selecting, defining, and privileging different principles. Five discourses, or perspectives, about good process emerged from our study. One perspective emphasizes that a good process acquires and maintains popular legitimacy. A second sees a good process as one that facilitates an ideological discussion. A third focuses on the fairness of the process. A fourth perspective conceptualizes participatory processes as a power struggle--in this instance a power play between local land-owning interests and outsiders. A fifth perspective highlights the need for leadership and compromise. Dramatic differences among these views suggest an important challenge for those responsible for designing and carrying out public participation processes. Conflicts may emerge about process designs because people disagree about what is good in specific contexts.
Environment and Planning A, 2010
This paper presents an argument and empirical case study to draw out additional nuance in the soc... more This paper presents an argument and empirical case study to draw out additional nuance in the social construction of institutions. Adapting the conceptual work of political scientists Mark Bevir and Roderick Rhodes to recent accounts in economic geography of institutional change we present an ‘interpretative analysis’ of recent policy changes in the regulation of land use in competitive global regions in London and the South East, UK. The paper examines the appeal to tradition, the construction of policy dilemmas, and the affect these have on what we think of as neoliberal policy reform.
This article critically examines three interrelated contemporary themes in urban regeneration and... more This article critically examines three interrelated contemporary themes in urban regeneration and regional development: economic development, urban sustainability and creative city planning. While these themes have distinct conceptual origins, they complement each other in practice. The question we ask in this article is: how do the embedded and contingent politics found in these approaches shape opportunities for sustainable urban regeneration? We begin the article by defining our core concepts: urban sustainability and creative planning. We then explore their convergence with economic development, both in theory and practice, and raise critical questions about the universal applicability of these formulas. We conclude with a conceptual discussion of the problems these discourses represent. In particular, we reveal how these discourses create consensus among diverse (often competing) groups of actors, and the problems associated with this form of 'consensual urban politics'.
Environment and Planning A, 2002