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by Fabricio Leal de Oliveira In Brazil today, the same solutions for cities come up in almost all forums, debates, and institutions: sustainability and competition. Competition, which is expressed through strategic urban planning, affects all local policy, including environmental policy. It favors relations between local government and entrepreneurs, the actors seen as most capable of […]
by Herbert Glasauer In Germany, as in most European countries, there has been a dramatic increase in people’s concerns about insecurity in the past thirty years. In particular, people living in big cities are afraid of using public urban space when it is dark. Many studies have confirmed this phenomenon, but only a few tried […]
Selected Feature What You Always Knew About Globalization but Were Afraid to Tell: Five Basic Lessons by Kanishka Goonewardena Mexico’s Pioneer Experiences in Participatory Planning by Gustavo Romero Fernöndez Civil Society: A Challenge to Planners by Gerda R. Wekerle
by Gerda R. Wekerle Planning is generally identified with the state or private sector. ‘Citizens’ are often relegated to discussions of citizen participation, which is token and marginal to the real action. Or they are described as “special interests,” one of many inputs to the planning process which must be mediated and negotiated. Yet it […]
By Gustavo Romero Fernšndez In the early 1970s, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) began to get involved in urban planning. They were invited to get involved because they weren’t “urban planning professionals” but technicians linked to the social processes of popular urban planning. From the beginning the fundamental aspect of NGO involvement was their participation, closeness, understanding […]
By Kanishka Goonewardena Globalization is a code word for something else. That is why David Harvey has the good habit of reminding his audiences that by globalization he means “the latest stage in the development of capitalism.” If he were writing today, Lenin would have been even more direct; he would not have found much […]
May/June 2000 The Electronic Frontier Selected Feature Information Technologies and Progressive Planning by Ann Forsyth Online for Organizing: The Story of COMM-ORG by Randy Stoeker NKLA: Neighborhood Improvement and Recovery is Not Just for the Experts! by Bill Pitkin The “Digital Divide” and the Persistence of Urban Poverty by Blanca Gordo Household Information Strategies and […]
by Gwen Urey For progressive planners, the “digital divide” should be thought of as a “digital wedge.” Technology-based strategies to improve the flow of information at the local level may have perverse effects if we don’t really understand the needs of the most marginalized neighborhoods as suppliers and demanders of information. Technology-based strategies that ignore […]
by Blanca Gordo In the last six months, the “digital divide” has attracted a lot of public attention from corporate leaders, politicians, and scholars. The growing interest is in part a response to the release of the Department of Commerce’s report, “Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide,” a PBS documentary, a series of […]
by Bill Pitkin Within planning, the computer has long been associated with images of the rational, technocratic planner who plugs data into a model that magically analyzes the information and proposes optimal solutions. Planners within a ‘progressive planning’ tradition tend to reject this use of technology, focusing instead on more social or political methods, such […]
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Progressive City: Radical Alternatives is an online publication dedicated to ideas and practices that advance racial, economic, and social justice in cities. We feature stories on inclusive urban planning practices, grassroots organizing, and civic action. Our contributors and readers are activists, reporters, practitioners, academics, and community members. Learn more about Progressive City and learn how to submit articles..
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