Michel B (2013)
Publication Status: Published
Publication Type: Journal article, Original article
Publication year: 2013
Publisher: V H Winston & Sons Inc
Book Volume: 34
Pages Range: 1011-1030
Journal Issue: 7
DOI: 10.1080/02723638.2013.799337
This paper presents findings from research on the globalization of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). Across a wide range of urban contexts, Business Improvement Districts are presented as prime strategies for resolving what is framed as an urban crisis and a crisis of urban public space. Building on a discourse analytical approach and on recent debates on mobile policies, I argue for a place sensitive approach that starts from the local and takes local trajectories seriously, but at the same time engages in comparative research. The case studies from Hamburg and Cape Town focus on public discourses in the early years of the implementation of BIDs in the respective contexts. After presenting brief descriptions of these discourses and the rationalization within different urban and national contexts, I highlight the links the discourses on BIDs establish, with notions of international best practices and international showcases; the way BIDs reframe notions of public space; and the way BIDs are constituted as the legitimate voice of the local common good. [Key words: comparative urbanism, discourse analysis, business improvement districts, urban policy mobilities]. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
APA:
Michel, B. (2013). A global solution to local urban crises Comparing discourses on business improvement districts in Cape Town and Hamburg. Urban Geography, 34(7), 1011-1030. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2013.799337
MLA:
Michel, Boris. "A global solution to local urban crises Comparing discourses on business improvement districts in Cape Town and Hamburg." Urban Geography 34.7 (2013): 1011-1030.
BibTeX: Download