Innovative Practices in Large Urban Development Projects: Conflicting Frames in the Quest for “New Urbanity”

Abstract

Large urban development projects are at the forefront of scholarly attention. This article aims at complementing critical analyses of urban projects from a political-economic perspective with an analysis centred on planning agency and practice. The focus is on the role of innovative planning concepts in the governance process. The question raised is: how can discourse on the urban quality of places affect collective choices in a reflective way, possibly leading to integrating private interests within ambitious public strategies?

The question is addressed by analysing planning of large urban projects as a “framing” practice, intended in a dual sense: as a practice defining arenas and forms of interaction, and as a practice conveying ideas, visions, concepts of “urbanity”. The case study presented—the Zuidas in Amsterdam—is interpreted as the scene of conflicting frames about the “public” meaning of places and as the contradictory struggle for framing collective action by means of innovative planning concepts. The analysis highlights the limits of framing approaches that do not adequately address the multiplicity of arenas and interactions involved in the governance of urban transformations.

Keywords:

• Large-scale urban projects
• urban governance
• policy frames
• Zuidas
• Amsterdam

Notes

1. This paper results from a joint effort of the authors. The case study is part of a doctoral research project on institutional conditions for framing large urban development projects, conducted by Drs S.J.H. Majoor under the supervision of Professor Dr W.G.M. Salet and Dr E. Gualini and supported by Habiforum. A number of primary and secondary sources were used and extensive qualitative interviews were conducted with representatives of: the Municipality of Amsterdam; the Dutch Ministries of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, of Economic Affairs, and of Finance; the Provincial Government of North-Holland; Dutch Rail/High Speed Alliance; as well as representatives of the business community. Research has furthermore benefited from direct access to meetings and proceedings of the Projectbureau Zuidas. Thanks to L. Janssen-Jansen, P. Hoetjes, W.G.M. Salet and to three anonymous referees for valuable comments.

2. Amsterdam's 15 city district bodies were formed in the 1980s to bring politics closer to the neighbourhood-level. However, their capacity and political clout is often conceived as too small for larger strategic projects. In the case of Zuidas, the district of Zuideramstel focuses especially on issues of design and maintenance of public space.