Exploring roles and relationships in the production of the built environment

Given the number of different agencies and the complexity of institutional and professional relationships in the production, management and regulation of the built environment, many students entering built environment professions leave university education to take up work placements or employment without a sufficient understanding of the different actors and the formal and informal interactions and social relationships between them. Furthermore, destructive stereotypes may form during the educational process as students construct their own professional identity, in part learnt from their teachers and peers, and naturalised by the academic and professional institutions that form the context of their education – a process of enculturation termed ‘professional socialization’ by social scientists (Cuff, 1991: 118). These stereotypes may lead ultimately to inter-professional tensions and hostilities. Innovations in practice often involve challenges to established roles or joined-up thinking which breaches institutional structures, for all of which graduates may be ill-prepared

Proyectos de Regeneracion Urbana en Barcelona contra la segregacion socio-espacial(1986-2009): ¿solución o mito?

Las ciudades europeas deben su configuración urbana a complejos procesos de cambio social con transformaciones dinámicas, simultáneas y concurrentes en el espacio. Todas estas complejas estrategias de asentamiento y mobilidad residencial se materializan en el territorio, reflejando dinámicas de concentración y desagregación socio espacial cambiantes. Desde mediados de los años 80, el municipio de Barcelona introdujo una serie de programas de renovación urbana, los Proyectos Especiales de Reforma Interior (en adelante, PERI), con el objetivo de intervenir en los barrios más deprimidos del centro de la ciudad afectados por un descenso progresivo de la población, un fuerte deterioro de las condiciones de la vivienda, servicios inexistentes o inadecuados e infraestructura obsoleta. La demolición selectiva (o esponjamiento) fue un mecanismo clave para crear nuevos espacios abiertos en un centro urbano altamente densificado y deteriorado, mientras las familias afectadas por los derribos eran realojadas en viviendas de nueva construcción cercanas a las zonas afectadas. Este artículo tiene como objetivo evaluar y comparar los efectos sociales de los proyectos de regeneración urbana que afectaron a estos dos barrios entre 1985 y 2009, con una atención especial al rol jugado por la población extranjera en el distrito, en este proceso de transformación del centro histórico. El análisis longitudinal de carácter cuantitativo presentado emplea variables socio-demográficas para evaluar los cambios generados y analiza cómo el incremento de inmigrantes en el centro histórico (actualmente entorno al 40% de la población) podría haber alterado los resultados esperados de los programas de regeneración urbana implementados

From Right to Good, and to Asset: the State-led Financialisation of the Social Rented Housing in Italy

Rental housing has been regarded as the new ‘frontier for financialisation’ since the 2007 financial crisis. But research examining financialisation of de-commodified rental housing is limited and is primarily focused on stock acquisitions by financial investors and the enabling role of either national or local governments. This critically overlooks the emergence of the financialised production of social rented housing, the interplay between levels of government (particularly with the regional level), and the leading role of the state in these processes. By combining a political sociology approach to policy instruments with a housing system studies perspective, the paper investigates how Italy, through the interplay between national, regional (Lombardy) and local (Milan) governments, led the financialisation of its social rented housing production. Through analyses of six decades of financial-legislative changes in the housing system regarding production/provision, finance and land supply, it identifies a three-stage journey towards financialisation: (1) the rise and fall of publicly-owned rental social housing (1950s to 1990s); (2) the regionalisation and marketisation of the sector up to the late 2000s; and (3) the upward transfer from the first local-scale experiment with the real estate mutual investment fund in Milan to the creation of a national-scale System of Funds for the production of social rented housing. The study shows that the re-commodification of housing and land initiated in the 1980s were intertwined and a conditio-sine-qua-non for financialisation; that the state played a crafting—rather than solely enabling—role in this process; and that trans-scalar legislative–financial innovations transformed social rented housing into a liquid asset class

The value of the city. Rent extraction, right to housing and conflicts for the use of urban space

The extent of residential alienation and urban inequalities made visible in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis shed light on processes of politico-economic transformations that altered the role of housing within society since the late 1970s. The focus on (re-)commodification and financialization has become central in the debate and opened up rich interdisciplinary strands of research on the impacts that these processes have on housing. Building on such a fertile academic body of work, it is paramount to contribute to the setting of the public agenda, putting housing issues at the heart of the political debate and policy actions. Introducing this special issue, the paper is firstly asserting the political dimension of housing. Secondly the issue of urban rent extraction is discussed as crucial, especially in the face of the disruptive effects of extensive processes of re-commodification and financialization of housing and land markets in a context of neoliberal urban policies. Thirdly, the Italian case is presented as extremely relevant when it comes to understanding the political dimension of housing, recalling the controversial debates and clashes developed along the 20th century and the current trends of a country confronted with intense processes of financialization of housing, with a significantly accelerated real-estate cycle transforming the residential landscape and resulting in the most intense building cycle of the last half-century. Finally, the dynamics of de-politicisation (and re-politicisation) of housing are recalled with reference to the contributions collected in this special issue

Paradoxes Of Segregation Housing Systems, Welfare Regimes and Ethnic Residential Change in Southern European Cities

Through an international comparative research, this unique book examines ethnic residential segregation patterns in relation to the wider society and mechanisms of social division of space in Western European regions

The value of the city. Rent extraction, right to housing and conflicts for the use of urban space

The extent of residential alienation and urban inequalities made visible in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis shed light on processes of politico-economic transformations that altered the role of housing within society since the late 1970s. The focus on (re-)commodification and financialization has become central in the debate and opened up rich interdisciplinary strands of research on the impacts that these processes have on housing. Building on such a fertile academic body of work, it is paramount to contribute to the setting of the public agenda, putting housing issues at the heart of the political debate and policy actions. Introducing this special issue, the paper is firstly asserting the political dimension of housing. Secondly, the issue of urban rent extraction is discussed as crucial, especially in the face of the disruptive effects of extensive processes of re-commodification and financialization of housing and land markets in the context of neoliberal urban policies. Thirdly, the Italian case is presented as extremely relevant when it comes to understanding the political dimension of housing, recalling the controversial debates and clashes developed along the 20th century and the current trends of a country confronted with intense processes of financialization of housing, with a significantly accelerated real-estate cycle transforming the residential landscape and resulting in the most intense building cycle of the last half-century. Finally, the dynamics of de-politicisation (and re-politicisation) of housing are recalled with reference to the contributions collected in this special issue

Hitting the target but missing the point: The case of area-based regeneration

Area-based regeneration projects have captured the imagination of diverse assemblages of community actors, governmental interests, and commercial stakeholders around the world. Their appeal derives from claims that they are exemplary instruments for combating intertwined social, economic, and environmental issues in an integrated manner. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of such initiatives remains contentious and continues to provoke divergent views. In the midst of an era of fiscal austerity, demands for increasing "returns on investments" and maximizing "value for money" have risen to the forefront. This article investigates an area-based regeneration initiative in Europe that has been lauded for successfully achieving its regeneration outputs. The research examines whether hitting narrowly constructed (economic) targets may be missing the point of yielding holistic (community) outcomes. Of broader international and theoretical significance, the merits of output-driven regeneration strategies are questioned. © 2013 Community Development Society

From right to good, and to asset: The state-led financialisation of the social rented housing in Italy

Rental housing has been regarded as the new 'frontier for financialisation' since the 2007 financial crisis. But research examining financialisation of de-commodified rental housing is limited and is primarily focused on stock acquisitions by financial investors and the enabling role of either national or local governments. This critically overlooks the emergence of the financialised production of social rented housing, the interplay between levels of government (particularly with the regional level), and the leading role of the state in these processes. By combining a political sociology approach to policy instruments with a housing system studies perspective, the paper investigates how Italy, through the interplay between national, regional (Lombardy) and local (Milan) governments, led the financialisation of its social rented housing production. Through analyses of six decades of financial-legislative changes in the housing system regarding production/provision, finance and land supply, it identifies a three-stage journey towards financialisation: (1) the rise and fall of publicly-owned rental social housing (1950s to 1990s); (2) the regionalisation and marketisation of the sector up to the late 2000s; and (3) the upward transfer from the first local-scale experiment with the real estate mutual investment fund in Milan to the creation of a national-scale System of Funds for the production of social rented housing. The study shows that the re-commodification of housing and land initiated in the 1980s were intertwined and aconditio-sine-qua-nonfor financialisation; that the state played a crafting-rather than solely enabling-role in this process; and that trans-scalar legislative-financial innovations transformed social rented housing into a liquid asset class

The challenges of understanding urban segregation

Despite a century of research into urban segregation, patterns of immigrant settlement are insufficiently understood. This topical issue requires radical thinking, particularly as it is currently dealt with by a range of disciplines, each of which tends to rely on its own research paradigms. This paper reviews some of the key challenges of studying the subject, starting with the concept of segregation being more complex than the simplistic label of 'ghetto' might suggest. The paper also shows how approaches to the challenges of understanding urban segregation differ according to its given geographical context and disciplinary approach. It shows that segregation is a multi-dimensional process, requiring a multi-disciplinary approach. The paper concludes that research into segregation needs to address the fact that it is an inherently complex and fundamentally spatial phenomeno

UCL Urban Migration Film Festival and Symposium summary report

This report summarises the discussions which took place at the 2012 UCL Urban Migration Film Festival and Symposium. A gathering of participants from a range of backgrounds in academic and practice-related fields of migration and film studies as well as many students and the general public took part in the event on 15th February 2012. The festival was held in three sessions with a lunchtime screening of two complete films (see Appendix 1). Each session was followed by a panel of experts from anthropology, film studies, art history, migration studies and more (see Appendix 2). Migration film research was undertaken in preparation for the event by Laura Vaughan, Searle Kochberg, Rastko Novakovic and Sonia Arbaci for the UCL Environment Institute, who funded the event . The following report is a distillation of the day’s discussions by the research team. It should not be read as necessarily replicating the views of the panellists