Routledge Constructing Metropolitan Space: Actors, Policies and Processes of Rescaling in World Metropolises

There is little question today that processes of globalization affect national and local economies, governance processes, and conditions for economic competitiveness in the major urban regions of the world. In most liberal-democratic countries, these processes are occurring according to a rationale which attempts to combine strategies of state-supported development with increasing local-regional governmental decentralization and autonomy. Against this background, the issue of metropolitan development is being redefined worldwide, along with its institutional frameworks, modes of governance, policy instruments, and spatial planning strategies. The overarching assumption of this volume is that ‘metropolitan space’, far from being consolidated as a policy object, is currently being redefined and in some instances ‘constructed’ and contested as a scale, through a variety of policy practices related to spatial-economic development objectives. Through case studies drawn from across four continents, the authors reveal a range of interesting cross-national commonalities concerning the power that state actors, situated at various spatial scales, exert as agents in these processes. This volume interrogates key research issues raised by these developments, and is intended as a contribution to the establishment of a globally comparative analysis of the construction of metropolitan spaces and scales under conditions of globalization and neoliberalization. Review "Across the world economy, the space of metropolitan regions remains a terrain of intense institutional restructuring, state spatial strategies, regulatory experimentation and sociopolitical contestation. This volume offers a powerful geocomparative perspective on contemporary metropolitan transformations, projects and struggles in Western Europe, North and South America, East and South Asia, and beyond. It will be a key resource for anyone interested in understanding emergent patterns and pathways of metropolitan development under contemporary capitalism." -Neil Brenner, Professor of Urban Theory, Harvard University, USA "Constructing Metropolitan Space profoundly enriches our understanding of metropolitan rescaling. Beyond rather abstract scale construction, the book interrogates the state, firm, and practices in the governance of eight world cities. Combining rich empirical materials and innovative conceptual perspectives, it is a milestone contribution to governance studies." -Fulong Wu, Bartlett Professor of Planning, University College London, UK "This book presents an insightful analytical framework together with a rich set of empirical case studies on metropolitan/regional scales. Moving back and forth between the local mechanisms and global forces, the book shows vividly how and how far the changing global and local political economy have been spatially manifested through new configurations of governance and regulation, where both the (central and local) state and the private sector have their own, and often contested, roles." -Yimin Zhao, Journal of Urban Affairs About the Author Jill Simone Gross is Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College, City University of New York. Enrico Gualini is Professor at the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning of TU Berlin - Berlin University of Technology. Lin Ye is Professor at the School of Government of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou.