Abstract
This PhD thesis is about urban projects as part of strategic urban transformation. It is the result of a collaboration between Aalborg Municipality, Technical and Environmental Department, and Aalborg University, Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology.
The starting point has been a deep interest in the constant change and development of the city and a similar won- der towards the changing rationales and discourses present in the urban projects undertaken. The thesis focuses on the changing urban planning perspectives on the city and on urban projects as complex networks. The theoretical framework for the analysis is place, discourse and planning - three mutually different theoretical fields, each of which feeds the analysis. Bluntly it can be said that place is at the center of transformation and answers questions about WHERE? Planning is the conscious tool for transformation and answers questions about HOW? Finally, the discourse is said to express the rationality which govern the transformation and answer thus questions about WHY?
The research questions are:
1.How can strategic urban projects be understood in a theoretical framework consisting of place, discourse and planning?
2.How does changing rationales for urban projects and urban discourses correspond with changed economic con- ditions and the narratives associated with this? In what ways does social change, broadly considered, affect place perceptions and planning discourses?
Three case studies about urban projects in Aalborg after 1990 are analysed as part of the thesis: The Urban Ecology Project in Danmarksgade District 1994-98 was an urban renewal project with an extra ’layer’ about ecology and demonstration of different technological solutions, and it is a representative of a project run by ’a neighbourhood rationale’. The Kennedy Arcade which opened in 2004, consisting of a hub for public transport combined with a shopping and cinema centre and offices, is a representative of a project run by a ’mobility rationale’. Finally Nord- kraft, a former heat and power station converted into a culture house which opened in 2009-11, is a representative of a project run by a ‘lighthouse rationale’. In addition, the urban planning practice in Aalborg since 1950 have
been analysed and periodised focusing on changing rationales for urban projects, as well as Danish urban planning practice since 1990 which has been studied through articles in the specialist journal ‘Byplan’. Furthermore a number of European examples of iconic urban projects have been studied using the same theoretical perspectives as in the in depth case analysis.
The dissertation consists of 4 parts:
Part 1 ’problem, theory and method’, consisting of Chapter 1 ’problem and research questions’, Chapter 2 ’place, discourse and planning as a theoretical framework’ and Chapter 3 ’research design’.
Part 2 ’urban practice locally, nationally and globally’ consisting of Chapter 4 ’background and context, urban trans- formations in Aalborg from 1950 to 2013’ and Chapter 5 ’urban projects in Denmark and Europe 1990-2013’.
Part 3 ’three case studies’, consisting of Chapter 6 ’case analysis of The Urban Ecology Project’, Chapter 7 ’case analysis of the Kennedy Arcade’ and Chapter 8 ’case analysis of Nordkraft’.
Part 4 ’conclusions and perspectives’, consisting of Chapter 9 with the same name. The analysis results and thus the conclusions are at 3 levels of knowledge:
Historically specific development in terms of urban planning practices respectively in Aalborg and natio- nally/internationally
The tools here have been a focus on different rationales or urban planning perspectives on Aalborg and other cities and, with the use of Jessop’s (2004) method, a periodisation based on identification of periods of relative homo- geneity based on structural relationships, specifically for urban projects. This knowledge is expressed with the ’wave model’ of the historically changing rationales as dominating approaches to the city in different periods. The European examples of iconic urban projects serve as references. Three fundamental rationales, based on areas (the neighbourhood rationale), connections (the mobility rationale) and spots (the ’lighthouse’ rationale) exist together all the time, but it seems clear that different rationales dominate the thinking in different periods. It turns out that the rationales as drivers for urban projects include an inertia as going beyond what the specific urban challenges dictate - they dominate the way of thinking about the city for long periods.
Project dynamic in three cases
A ’network model’ has been constructed based on the theoretical framework: place, discourse and planning, and
in addition to these concepts it also contains representations, narratives and power as aspects of urban projects. With the understanding of projects as networks, there is no focus on causal explanations but on the contrary on
the complex relationships between many different actors. The model sheds light on the complex reality and many different truths. The case analysis produce a number of project specific points about the use of urban projects as a strategic tool in urban policy, development of place perceptions, the use of narratives in the planning processes, the functions of representations as discursive devised imagined realities, power structures and planning approaches - knowledge that can be used in the future practice of other urban projects.
The general usability of the models
The network model was initially designed and used as a model of analysis in relation to specific urban projects,
but it also expresses a general understanding of projects as socio-ecological complex networks. The model offers a constructive approach to design, which promises further from the level of analysis in relation to the development of strategic regeneration where place with its many dimensions play a vital role. The model can be used as a strategic tool in relation to designing how projects can be handled in the network. The network model is abstract in relation to time and space, while the wave model is historically specific as the view of the city, place conceptions and thus the goal of the projects are dependent on the time typical urban planning rationales. Combining the two models and the results they have produced, ie. add the mindset from the wave model as an additional, important dimension
to the network model, make possible a more general level of knowledge with regard to the understanding of urban projects.
The starting point has been a deep interest in the constant change and development of the city and a similar won- der towards the changing rationales and discourses present in the urban projects undertaken. The thesis focuses on the changing urban planning perspectives on the city and on urban projects as complex networks. The theoretical framework for the analysis is place, discourse and planning - three mutually different theoretical fields, each of which feeds the analysis. Bluntly it can be said that place is at the center of transformation and answers questions about WHERE? Planning is the conscious tool for transformation and answers questions about HOW? Finally, the discourse is said to express the rationality which govern the transformation and answer thus questions about WHY?
The research questions are:
1.How can strategic urban projects be understood in a theoretical framework consisting of place, discourse and planning?
2.How does changing rationales for urban projects and urban discourses correspond with changed economic con- ditions and the narratives associated with this? In what ways does social change, broadly considered, affect place perceptions and planning discourses?
Three case studies about urban projects in Aalborg after 1990 are analysed as part of the thesis: The Urban Ecology Project in Danmarksgade District 1994-98 was an urban renewal project with an extra ’layer’ about ecology and demonstration of different technological solutions, and it is a representative of a project run by ’a neighbourhood rationale’. The Kennedy Arcade which opened in 2004, consisting of a hub for public transport combined with a shopping and cinema centre and offices, is a representative of a project run by a ’mobility rationale’. Finally Nord- kraft, a former heat and power station converted into a culture house which opened in 2009-11, is a representative of a project run by a ‘lighthouse rationale’. In addition, the urban planning practice in Aalborg since 1950 have
been analysed and periodised focusing on changing rationales for urban projects, as well as Danish urban planning practice since 1990 which has been studied through articles in the specialist journal ‘Byplan’. Furthermore a number of European examples of iconic urban projects have been studied using the same theoretical perspectives as in the in depth case analysis.
The dissertation consists of 4 parts:
Part 1 ’problem, theory and method’, consisting of Chapter 1 ’problem and research questions’, Chapter 2 ’place, discourse and planning as a theoretical framework’ and Chapter 3 ’research design’.
Part 2 ’urban practice locally, nationally and globally’ consisting of Chapter 4 ’background and context, urban trans- formations in Aalborg from 1950 to 2013’ and Chapter 5 ’urban projects in Denmark and Europe 1990-2013’.
Part 3 ’three case studies’, consisting of Chapter 6 ’case analysis of The Urban Ecology Project’, Chapter 7 ’case analysis of the Kennedy Arcade’ and Chapter 8 ’case analysis of Nordkraft’.
Part 4 ’conclusions and perspectives’, consisting of Chapter 9 with the same name. The analysis results and thus the conclusions are at 3 levels of knowledge:
Historically specific development in terms of urban planning practices respectively in Aalborg and natio- nally/internationally
The tools here have been a focus on different rationales or urban planning perspectives on Aalborg and other cities and, with the use of Jessop’s (2004) method, a periodisation based on identification of periods of relative homo- geneity based on structural relationships, specifically for urban projects. This knowledge is expressed with the ’wave model’ of the historically changing rationales as dominating approaches to the city in different periods. The European examples of iconic urban projects serve as references. Three fundamental rationales, based on areas (the neighbourhood rationale), connections (the mobility rationale) and spots (the ’lighthouse’ rationale) exist together all the time, but it seems clear that different rationales dominate the thinking in different periods. It turns out that the rationales as drivers for urban projects include an inertia as going beyond what the specific urban challenges dictate - they dominate the way of thinking about the city for long periods.
Project dynamic in three cases
A ’network model’ has been constructed based on the theoretical framework: place, discourse and planning, and
in addition to these concepts it also contains representations, narratives and power as aspects of urban projects. With the understanding of projects as networks, there is no focus on causal explanations but on the contrary on
the complex relationships between many different actors. The model sheds light on the complex reality and many different truths. The case analysis produce a number of project specific points about the use of urban projects as a strategic tool in urban policy, development of place perceptions, the use of narratives in the planning processes, the functions of representations as discursive devised imagined realities, power structures and planning approaches - knowledge that can be used in the future practice of other urban projects.
The general usability of the models
The network model was initially designed and used as a model of analysis in relation to specific urban projects,
but it also expresses a general understanding of projects as socio-ecological complex networks. The model offers a constructive approach to design, which promises further from the level of analysis in relation to the development of strategic regeneration where place with its many dimensions play a vital role. The model can be used as a strategic tool in relation to designing how projects can be handled in the network. The network model is abstract in relation to time and space, while the wave model is historically specific as the view of the city, place conceptions and thus the goal of the projects are dependent on the time typical urban planning rationales. Combining the two models and the results they have produced, ie. add the mindset from the wave model as an additional, important dimension
to the network model, make possible a more general level of knowledge with regard to the understanding of urban projects.
| Translated title of the contribution | Urban Projects: between place, discourse and planning |
|---|---|
| Original language | Danish |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2013 |