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A social geography of the city
Book
able to planning authorities to implement policy objectives in the green belt. Munton concludes, as have many other commentators on the planning system, that they lack the positive powers to maintain agricultural productivity, improve landscape and provide recreation facilities. He also notes that, because central government appears little interested in these objectives, local authorities have not been encouraged to develop positive policies to meet them and back them with resources. Chapter 6 then examines the major activity within green belts, farming. He makes the important point, based on detailed survey work, that farm ownership patterns and activities within various parts of the London green belt are very varied, with different sorts of enterprises likely to respond to particular policy initiatives in different ways. Munton specifically examines the causes of poor farm maintenance, a major concern of many local authorities, their constituents and environmental pressure groups. He argues that poor maintenance is related primarily to: short-term letting; proximity to housing and new roads; ownerships of land by developers and gravel companies; ownership by hobby farmers; keeping of large numbers of horses as part of a recreation business. By contrast, public institutions and large-scale farmers maintain their lands well. Munton then goes on to consider how far poor agricultural land maintenance really matters, given that there are more effective ways of maintaining agricultural output than improving productivity on some urban fringe land. In any case, poorly maintained land may have recreational or ecological value. Munton concludes by arguing for clearer guidance from the Department of the Environment (DOE) as to the legitimate objectives of green belts and how these may be realized in practice. In doing so, he recognizes the primary role of central government in sustaining local planning policies in the UK planning system, and the often inconsistent way in which this role has been realized. But he is also implicitly arguing that the DOE should take on a positive role in the
CITIES
February
1984
management of land within green belts. In other words, policies aimed to stop development should be coupled with policies for the use of land thus protected. However, as Munton’s account illustrates, there are major problems in articulating such policies whether at central or local government level, given the conflicts of interests even among acceptable users of green belt land, and the powerful institutions and government departments which protect some of them. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, reflecting the high priority given to agricultural production in the UK, preserves its right to be concerned with agricultural output and management, and only tolerates interference from the DOE in relation to land released from farming.
Narrow view It is not surprising therefore that the DOE has preferred a simple if narrow view of the green belt as a ‘stopper’. However, as such, its attitude to the green belt, and that of local planning authorities, can only be understood in the context of the scale, nature and locational attributes of demands for development. Munton’s book does not touch in any detail on this aspect of the use of the green belt tool (and because of this, its subtitle, ‘Contain-
reviews
ment in practice’, is not really appropriate). Yet one may well wonder why, given that the UK planning system provides in itself a very powerful tool for ‘stopping’ development, the device of a green belt for this purpose is necessary at all. There is much evidence to suggest that, at various times, the DOE has tried to drop the idea. However, the green belt as valued landscape is now so deeply entrenched among those who live in or near or who enjoy the open land amenities of the urban fringe, that this is a politically impossible option. Munton’s book not only provides a wealth of detail about the implementation of green belt restraint around London, but raises major issues about the role of the planning system and central government in the management of urban fringe areas. Despite its many culturally-specific characteristics, the UK experience in this respect will be of interest to the many planners and academics in other countries struggling with the problems of rapid urban expansion onto valued agricultural land.
Department
Patsy Healey of Town Planning Oxford Polytechnic Oxford, UK
Cities and the man A SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY THE CITY
OF
by David Ley Harper and Row, New York, 1983, 449 pp, f 7.75 Ley begins this large, sprawling text with an assertion that for the future, urban planning must take greater account of social needs and perceptions. He writes: ‘one cannot identify a simple relationship between urban crisis, new policy initiatives and developments in urban theory since the late 1960s. But the connections are certainly there’ (p 1). In short, ‘there has been greater concern with how
physical development affects people’ (p 2). This is certainly an important goal within urban studies in general and geography in particular. It is, however, never going to be attained via the routes outlined here. The central theme of the book is the life-world of the urban resident. We are taken through several chapters which focus upon perceptions, attitudes, and aspirations, and which are designed to link in with the observed phenomenon of residential segregation within any city. Much attention is lavished upon informal social relationships, and the urban sense of place. Ley is not, of course, suggesting that everything that happens in the city is the product of individual deci-
295
sion making,
and he also introduces the forces that are active: managers in the housing market and their political counterparts. The weakness of the book is that the city is characterized as an arena in which all these individuals lead each other a merry dance. This is the antithesis of the structuralfunctionalist or even materialistfunctionalist perspective. Everything is individually perceived - even institutions have a life-world, and all political relations revolve around personal, instrumental links. This is clearly unacceptable. Although personalized issues are important within modern society, so too
Cross-section
course are not addressed
here.
’
All in all. this is an ultimately bankrupt approach to a key issue in urban affairs. I have no objection to a little existential phenomenology, but I do object to the suggestion that the concept of the liveable city is to be found in this naive manner. Andrew Kirby Department of Geography University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA
‘L. McDowell, ‘Towards an understanding of the gender division of urban space’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Vol 1, No 1, 1983, pp 5!+72.
of EEC regional development
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY Theory and Practice in the European Community by David Pinder University Association for Contemporary European Studies, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1983, 130 pp In the preface to this book D. Pinder writes: ‘The literature relating to regional development in Europe is immense. and it cannot be claimed that this book represents an exhaustive survey of what is available. Instead it is based on a cross-section, selected to illustrate the multifaceted nature of regional systems, regional problems and interventionist policies’. He has succeeded in this objective, and furthermore the book is written in an easy to read style, with interesting literature references. The first chapter gives an idea of regional policies, and their attempt to distribute growth more evenly than the unfettered play of market forces would dictate. This chapter sets theory and practice in context by outlining the historical background to regional economic planning in the European Community and by describing the revolution in regional studies that has
296
are multinational corporations, military-industrial complexes and transnational governmental organizations. These, I assert, do not possess life-worlds in the sense outlined here. Nor is it possible to have much faith in the efficacy of a subjectivized approach when this allows a writer to reduce all actions in the city to those undertaken by man! I soon gave up trying to count the occasions on which Ley talks about the city ‘as the home of man’. A writer with a fuller grasp of the structural forces at work within the city would never make such gaffes, because he or she would be aware of the issues that produce a real gender division of urban space. These of
paralleled and contributed to the regional interventionist movement. Chapters 2 and 3 review regional development theories and their contribution to our understanding of the causes and nature of spatial variations in prosperity. Here the initial focus is on interregional theory and its implications for Community expansion, after which attention turns to intraregional theory and the role of private and public sectors in the development process. Here Pinder refers to the excellent equilibrium theory of Hirschman in his book The Strategy oj Economic Development and points out: ‘that businessmen and investors possess a “mental map” of spatial opportunity that deviates markedly from reality’. Against this theoretical background, Chapter 4 charts the rise of regional policies, considers the methods employed to implement such policies and compares national strategies with those of the Community. Here I believe the author underestimates the role of the restraints or disincentives in regional policy. The new regional map of the UK and France cannot be written without emphasizing the impact of IDC and similar instruments.’ Chapter 5 explores the questions of policy assessment, the difficulties inherent in the assessment process and the prospects
for further progress in an expanding Community experiencing severe recession. Here I would like to make one remark with respect to autonomous forces in regional economic evolution (see p 90). It cannot be denied that autonomous factors were at work’ and in many cases European regional policy has had to make use of autonomous movements. A regional policy can only be effective when many external factors are positive, such as growth and availability of labour. These few remarks should not detract from the excellent quality of this publication. Although David Pinder is a lecturer in geography at Southampton University, his economic analysis is of a higher level than those of many economists. This book can be recommended to everyone who is interested in regional economies, regional development and regional policy. N. Vanhove Director-General Regional Development Authority for West Flanders Brussels, Belgium ‘D. Yuill and R. Allen, European Regional Incentives, Glasgow, 1981. ‘N. Vanhove, The Efficiency ofthe Regional Policy in the Netherlands.
CITIES
February
1984
able to planning authorities to implement policy objectives in the green belt. Munton concludes, as have many other commentators on the planning system, that they lack the positive powers to maintain agricultural productivity, improve landscape and provide recreation facilities. He also notes that, because central government appears little interested in these objectives, local authorities have not been encouraged to develop positive policies to meet them and back them with resources. Chapter 6 then examines the major activity within green belts, farming. He makes the important point, based on detailed survey work, that farm ownership patterns and activities within various parts of the London green belt are very varied, with different sorts of enterprises likely to respond to particular policy initiatives in different ways. Munton specifically examines the causes of poor farm maintenance, a major concern of many local authorities, their constituents and environmental pressure groups. He argues that poor maintenance is related primarily to: short-term letting; proximity to housing and new roads; ownerships of land by developers and gravel companies; ownership by hobby farmers; keeping of large numbers of horses as part of a recreation business. By contrast, public institutions and large-scale farmers maintain their lands well. Munton then goes on to consider how far poor agricultural land maintenance really matters, given that there are more effective ways of maintaining agricultural output than improving productivity on some urban fringe land. In any case, poorly maintained land may have recreational or ecological value. Munton concludes by arguing for clearer guidance from the Department of the Environment (DOE) as to the legitimate objectives of green belts and how these may be realized in practice. In doing so, he recognizes the primary role of central government in sustaining local planning policies in the UK planning system, and the often inconsistent way in which this role has been realized. But he is also implicitly arguing that the DOE should take on a positive role in the
CITIES
February
1984
management of land within green belts. In other words, policies aimed to stop development should be coupled with policies for the use of land thus protected. However, as Munton’s account illustrates, there are major problems in articulating such policies whether at central or local government level, given the conflicts of interests even among acceptable users of green belt land, and the powerful institutions and government departments which protect some of them. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, reflecting the high priority given to agricultural production in the UK, preserves its right to be concerned with agricultural output and management, and only tolerates interference from the DOE in relation to land released from farming.
Narrow view It is not surprising therefore that the DOE has preferred a simple if narrow view of the green belt as a ‘stopper’. However, as such, its attitude to the green belt, and that of local planning authorities, can only be understood in the context of the scale, nature and locational attributes of demands for development. Munton’s book does not touch in any detail on this aspect of the use of the green belt tool (and because of this, its subtitle, ‘Contain-
reviews
ment in practice’, is not really appropriate). Yet one may well wonder why, given that the UK planning system provides in itself a very powerful tool for ‘stopping’ development, the device of a green belt for this purpose is necessary at all. There is much evidence to suggest that, at various times, the DOE has tried to drop the idea. However, the green belt as valued landscape is now so deeply entrenched among those who live in or near or who enjoy the open land amenities of the urban fringe, that this is a politically impossible option. Munton’s book not only provides a wealth of detail about the implementation of green belt restraint around London, but raises major issues about the role of the planning system and central government in the management of urban fringe areas. Despite its many culturally-specific characteristics, the UK experience in this respect will be of interest to the many planners and academics in other countries struggling with the problems of rapid urban expansion onto valued agricultural land.
Department
Patsy Healey of Town Planning Oxford Polytechnic Oxford, UK
Cities and the man A SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY THE CITY
OF
by David Ley Harper and Row, New York, 1983, 449 pp, f 7.75 Ley begins this large, sprawling text with an assertion that for the future, urban planning must take greater account of social needs and perceptions. He writes: ‘one cannot identify a simple relationship between urban crisis, new policy initiatives and developments in urban theory since the late 1960s. But the connections are certainly there’ (p 1). In short, ‘there has been greater concern with how
physical development affects people’ (p 2). This is certainly an important goal within urban studies in general and geography in particular. It is, however, never going to be attained via the routes outlined here. The central theme of the book is the life-world of the urban resident. We are taken through several chapters which focus upon perceptions, attitudes, and aspirations, and which are designed to link in with the observed phenomenon of residential segregation within any city. Much attention is lavished upon informal social relationships, and the urban sense of place. Ley is not, of course, suggesting that everything that happens in the city is the product of individual deci-
295
sion making,
and he also introduces the forces that are active: managers in the housing market and their political counterparts. The weakness of the book is that the city is characterized as an arena in which all these individuals lead each other a merry dance. This is the antithesis of the structuralfunctionalist or even materialistfunctionalist perspective. Everything is individually perceived - even institutions have a life-world, and all political relations revolve around personal, instrumental links. This is clearly unacceptable. Although personalized issues are important within modern society, so too
Cross-section
course are not addressed
here.
’
All in all. this is an ultimately bankrupt approach to a key issue in urban affairs. I have no objection to a little existential phenomenology, but I do object to the suggestion that the concept of the liveable city is to be found in this naive manner. Andrew Kirby Department of Geography University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA
‘L. McDowell, ‘Towards an understanding of the gender division of urban space’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Vol 1, No 1, 1983, pp 5!+72.
of EEC regional development
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY Theory and Practice in the European Community by David Pinder University Association for Contemporary European Studies, George Allen and Unwin, London, 1983, 130 pp In the preface to this book D. Pinder writes: ‘The literature relating to regional development in Europe is immense. and it cannot be claimed that this book represents an exhaustive survey of what is available. Instead it is based on a cross-section, selected to illustrate the multifaceted nature of regional systems, regional problems and interventionist policies’. He has succeeded in this objective, and furthermore the book is written in an easy to read style, with interesting literature references. The first chapter gives an idea of regional policies, and their attempt to distribute growth more evenly than the unfettered play of market forces would dictate. This chapter sets theory and practice in context by outlining the historical background to regional economic planning in the European Community and by describing the revolution in regional studies that has
296
are multinational corporations, military-industrial complexes and transnational governmental organizations. These, I assert, do not possess life-worlds in the sense outlined here. Nor is it possible to have much faith in the efficacy of a subjectivized approach when this allows a writer to reduce all actions in the city to those undertaken by man! I soon gave up trying to count the occasions on which Ley talks about the city ‘as the home of man’. A writer with a fuller grasp of the structural forces at work within the city would never make such gaffes, because he or she would be aware of the issues that produce a real gender division of urban space. These of
paralleled and contributed to the regional interventionist movement. Chapters 2 and 3 review regional development theories and their contribution to our understanding of the causes and nature of spatial variations in prosperity. Here the initial focus is on interregional theory and its implications for Community expansion, after which attention turns to intraregional theory and the role of private and public sectors in the development process. Here Pinder refers to the excellent equilibrium theory of Hirschman in his book The Strategy oj Economic Development and points out: ‘that businessmen and investors possess a “mental map” of spatial opportunity that deviates markedly from reality’. Against this theoretical background, Chapter 4 charts the rise of regional policies, considers the methods employed to implement such policies and compares national strategies with those of the Community. Here I believe the author underestimates the role of the restraints or disincentives in regional policy. The new regional map of the UK and France cannot be written without emphasizing the impact of IDC and similar instruments.’ Chapter 5 explores the questions of policy assessment, the difficulties inherent in the assessment process and the prospects
for further progress in an expanding Community experiencing severe recession. Here I would like to make one remark with respect to autonomous forces in regional economic evolution (see p 90). It cannot be denied that autonomous factors were at work’ and in many cases European regional policy has had to make use of autonomous movements. A regional policy can only be effective when many external factors are positive, such as growth and availability of labour. These few remarks should not detract from the excellent quality of this publication. Although David Pinder is a lecturer in geography at Southampton University, his economic analysis is of a higher level than those of many economists. This book can be recommended to everyone who is interested in regional economies, regional development and regional policy. N. Vanhove Director-General Regional Development Authority for West Flanders Brussels, Belgium ‘D. Yuill and R. Allen, European Regional Incentives, Glasgow, 1981. ‘N. Vanhove, The Efficiency ofthe Regional Policy in the Netherlands.
CITIES
February
1984