J O H N G O D DA R D A ND PAUL VAL L ANCE
wider industrial culture of the regions, hence dissemination, debate and collaborative
acting as one of the institutional factors that endeavour” (ibid.: 323) within the region.
explains the divergent development trajecto- This culture of cooperation between firms,
ries of these regions. In Silicon Valley, higher based on norms and values that are more
education institutions were well integrated usually associated with academic rather than
into the regional industrial system: Stanford industrial practices, is seen by Keeble et al.
and latterly Berkeley universities adopted to underpin high levels of local collective
open attitudes to collaboration with firms, learning.
giving them access to the leading research
being carried out there, as well as encourag- In both of these cases, however, the uni-
ing their members to be entrepreneurial versities were probably only a driving force
themselves by establishing firms to commer- behind the growth of the industrial milieux
cialise their knowledge. Saxenian (1994: 42) in their early stages. Castells and Hall (1994:
also cites the role of state and community 20–21) emphasise that subsequent to the
colleges, that like Stanford and Berkeley crucial contribution of university-based
developed close links with local industry to research and development in Silicon Valley,
ensure that there was a plentiful supply of the industrial base of the region developed
graduates with relevant skills to underpin its own self-sustaining innovative capability
the growth of the region. In Route 128 by and growth dynamics, in which the higher
contrast, which in MIT and Harvard had education sector has only a supporting, albeit
comparable local academic assets, the more vital, role in helping to meet local demand
conservative and large-firm-dominated indus- for professional labour. More recent research
trial culture meant that relations between by Saxenian (2006) has highlighted the
these institutions and smaller technology value of California’s world-class universities
enterprises were more remote. Consequently, in attracting talented international students,
practices such as promoting technology trans- who subsequently stay in the region to enter
fer and academic spin-offs which contrib- Silicon Valley’s labour market, and often go
uted to the dynamic milieu of Silicon Valley on to establish profitable business links with
were generally taken up much later. their home countries. Similarly, Garnsey and
Heffernan (2005) link patterns of repeated
The socio-cultural elements of university– spin-offs from Cambridge University and
firm relations have also been emphasised in related firms with the longer term building
studies of the Cambridge high technology of regional industrial competences, primarily
cluster in the South of England. Here, in a contained in specialised labour markets. In
process similar to that reported in Silicon the Cambridge biotechnology cluster,Casper
Valley, many of the firms that comprise the and Karamanos’s (2003) research shows that
cluster are either direct spin-offs from firms do have well-established links with
Cambridge University, or subsequent gener- Cambridge University (in the form of spin-
ations of spin-offs from these original firms offs, collaborations, graduates entering the
(Garnsey and Heffernan, 2005). For Keeble local labour market, and employees sitting on
et al. (1999) the function of the university is advisory boards), but that these are not the
not simply one of producing knowledge for exclusive or even dominant source of their
dissemination in the cluster.They argue that scientific relations: these also exist with other
processes such as spin-offs, the movement of universities and firms both inside and outside
graduate scientists into the labour market, the region. Other case studies of biotech-
and the establishment of close links with nology clusters from around the world have
local firms and research consultancies have indicated that, while embedded universities
also helped to spread conventions for the and the basic research function they perform
“positive valuation of research interaction, are central to the science base of most regions,
428
UNIVERSITIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
the presence of other factors, such as the Markusen, 1996; Leslie, 2000). Policy-led
availability of venture capital directly to sup- efforts to replicate these growth dynamics in
port enterprise, are at least as important to less developed regions have commonly
the success of regional systems (e.g. Feldman focused on reproducing one visible element
and Francis, 2003; Kaiser, 2003; Lawton of the institutional mix found in Cambridge
Smith, 2004). In particular, recent studies that and SiliconValley – the presence of university-
have highlighted the importance of global based science parks. These property-led
organisational networks in biotechnology developments (typically involving partner-
have tended to focus on transnational corpo- ship with local government, development
rations as the key actors within the industry, agencies or private finance) provide a space
capable of establishing operations in multiple where technology firms can locate together
regions to access sources of specialist local proximate to the university (Quintas et al.,
knowledge (Coenen et al., 2004; Zeller, 2004; 1992). Research on science parks has, how-
Gertler and Levitte, 2005). ever, found little evidence for their general
effectiveness in terms of granting firms
The work discussed above suggests that within them any clear advantages, suggesting
the emergence of successful high technology that physical co-location alone is not a suffi-
districts is contingent upon the convergence cient factor for the formation of profitable
of a set of wider regional and extra-regional relationships between academia and industry
processes, some of which will be relatively (Vedovello, 1997; Löfsten and Lindelöf, 2002;
independent of any direct effect universities Siegel et al., 2003). For instance, a survey of
have in the local economy. Garnsey and the first wave of such developments through-
Lawton Smith (1998) make reference to out the UK by Quintas et al. (1992), covering
complexity studies in explaining why Oxford 38 parks with a direct connection to an aca-
emerged as a high technology centre later demic institution built between 1972 and
than Cambridge (UK), despite these areas 1988, found that the host universities were
having many comparable features. Some of just as likely to have research links with firms
the various factors they cite relate to differ- outside the park as those inside. It also did
ences between the respective universities and not find that these initiatives had led to large-
their commercialisation strategies, but others scale incidence of academics forming suc-
relate to the industrial and geographic struc- cessful companies on the park, leading the
ture of the Oxfordshire economy, which was authors to conclude that the developmental
less conducive to the formation of tightly potential of university spin-off firms had
knit clusters of small firms. been overstated. In a wider ranging interna-
tional study of the “technopole phenome-
This line of argument is supported by non”, Castells and Hall (1994) show that
the successful examples discussed above being state-led attempts to establish new centres
widely regarded as unplanned developments, of technological-based economic growth,
largely free of direct government interven- whether by means of concentrating national
tion.While this seems to be basically accepted scientific resources, or inducing investment
of Cambridge (Castells and Hall, 1994; from the private sector, have historically
Garnsey and Heffernan, 2005; Kitson et al., failed to produce the synergies between
2009), many contend that the state played a research institutes and technology firms
vital part in the growth of Silicon Valley and required for extensive innovation. This is
Route 128 in the form of sustained and con- particularly the case when the centre is phys-
centrated public spending on defence and ically and functionally separated from exist-
aerospace during the Cold War period, from ing industrial production. By contrast, an
which universities like Stanford benefited example of successful science-based cluster
and strengthened their links with large
firms in the local economy (Saxenian, 1994; 429
J O H N G O D DA R D A ND PAUL VAL L ANCE
building around universities, the Finnish smaller firms, government departments,
strategy reported by Cooke (2002), is attrib- think-tanks and consultancies.
uted to the existence of close relations with
both large and small firms: “The key reason Nevertheless it is clear that, because of
for this [strategy seeming to work] is a policy their multifaceted character as educational as
of linkage between university research, R&D well as economic and cultural institutions in
laboratories of large companies such as Nokia society, universities will have a distinct place
or AAB, some of their suppliers, and start-up within RISs compared to these other types
firms spinning out largely from university of organisation. Charles (2006) identifies
research”, all of which are “[t]ypically … three forms of value that universities can add
co-located on or near the technology park” to a RIS: knowledge that is directly com-
(Cooke, 2002: 68). modified through spin-offs or licensing of
IP; human capital that upgrades skills and
Over roughly the past ten years, many knowledge in the regional labour market;
studies of universities in regional develop- and social capital that builds trust and coop-
ment have used a regional innovation systems erative norms in local economic governance
(RISs) framework. Adapting the earlier networks. Moreover, he sees that universities
national innovation systems approach to that are well integrated into their RIS, and
current understanding of the working of have developed suitable intermediary mech-
regional economies, this approach analyses anisms, can play a further key role by helping
the interrelationships between various organ- to join up these different circuits of know-
isational components (including firms and ledge within wider regional innovation pro-
supporting governance, financial and know- cesses. These varying functions are reflected
ledge infrastructure like universities) and the in a distinction Gunasekara (2006) makes
cultural or institutional environments that between approaches in the literature that
determine the innovative capability of a emphasise universities having either “genera-
region (Cooke et al., 1998; Cooke, 2001; tive” or “developmental” roles in a RIS.
Iammarino, 2005). While much of the work A generative role, which he cites the “triple
on the localisation of university–firm links helix” framework as exemplifying (Etzkowitz
reviewed above is based, even if implicitly, and Leydesdorff, 2000), holds that entrepre-
on the assumption that a direct linear trans- neurial universities can, in their relations
ference of knowledge from academia to with industry and government, be a driving
industry is possible (Quintas et al., 1992), force of regional innovation and develop-
innovation system approaches by contrast ment through “knowledge capitalisation and
are closely associated with a more complex other capital formation projects” (ibid.: 103).
evolutionary and non-linear conception A developmental role, which is identified
of innovation, involving interactions and with literature employing the softer terms
feedbacks between different networked of regional engagement (e.g. Chatterton and
agencies (Cooke et al., 1998; Etzkowitz and Goddard, 2000), positions the contribution
Leydesdorff, 2000). This position is more of universities in the less direct role of help-
aligned with Gibbons et al.’s (1994) vision of ing to build institutional capacity through
“mode 2 knowledge”, which prioritises their organisational partnerships with other
“knowledge produced in the context of regional governance actors, and the diverse
application”, and displaces universities from external engagement activities of their
their privileged location as the primary employees within the region.
site of knowledge production in society by
granting equal footing to, for instance, To which of these alternatives the higher
other public research laboratories, the R&D education component of a RIS most closely
divisions of large corporations, networks of conforms will clearly vary across different
regional contexts and should be left as a
430
UNIVERSITIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
predominately empirical question. For capabilities and deficiencies of a range
instance, Coenen (2007) compares the North of more “ordinary” regions (Charles, 2006;
East of England and Scania in Sweden. In the Coenen, 2007). Despite the higher than
old industrial region of the North East, the normal levels of local engagement often
relatively strong higher education sector is demonstrated by higher education institu-
positioned as having a major part in affecting tions in these regions (Boucher et al., 2003),
a path-breaking change in the economy: the absence of other conducive conditions
means that their actual transformative poten-
Being one of the few actors in the tial within the economy is likely to be
region with innovative potential, uni- constrained. According to Cooke (2001)
versities play a leading role in policy over-dependence on public sector institu-
measures to induce a structural trans- tions, which he sees as characteristic of most
formation of the regional industrial regions within Europe, may represent a
structure by offering a springboard for weakness within RISs, indicating “market-
new business start-ups in knowledge- failure” compared to the more enterprising,
intensive and science-based (analytical) private sector-centred systems found in the
sectors such as biotechnology and nan- USA where levels of innovation are generally
otechnology. As such, a considerable higher.
part of the involvement of universities
in strengthening the RIS is built on the A further issue concerning RISs is how
model of the entrepreneurial university. they relate to other governance scales: clearly
RISs are not self-contained, geographically
(Coenen, 2007: 816–817) bounded systems, but are instead partly pro-
duced through macro-level processes at the
For Scania, where by contrast strong indige- national or transnational level (Iammarino,
nous knowledge-based sectors have devel- 2005). This question is particularly salient
oped in biotechnology and ICT, Coenen when considering how universities are
frames the primary challenge facing the RIS inserted into an RIS, since in most countries
as a disconnection between the region’s higher education remains a national system,
knowledge infrastructure and one of its key rather than being governed at the regional
traditional industries – food production. level (Charles, 2006). The knowledge assets
Here, the university is seen to have a key part that universities add to local economies
in integrating local food firms into the RIS: are also, as some authors have emphasised,
“the university plays the role of an extended constituted through international research
R&D laboratory for an ailing industry where networks and communities of academics
innovation support is provided to existing (Maskell and Törnqvist, 2003; Coenen, 2007).
companies and where policy measures are
emphasized to reduce the fragmentation and These scale issues have started to be
to increase networking” (ibid.: 817). addressed in a growing comparative literature
on the multi-level governance of science
Other work has, like Coenen for the policy in different national contexts. In con-
North East of England, focused on the posi- trast to innovation policy, which in most
tion of universities at the forefront of innova- countries has a regional and, in the case of
tion strategies in less favoured regions (e.g. the EU (see Potts, 2002; Héraud, 2003;
Benneworth and Charles, 2005; Benneworth Larédo and Mustar, 2004), a transnational
and Hospers, 2007). This represents a more dimension, science policy is mainly national
general feature of the RIS approach. Rather (Crespy et al., 2007; Perry and May, 2007).
than concentrating on explaining the success In the case of England, science and techno-
of “exemplary” cases like Cambridge or logy policy remains, by and large, a highly
Silicon Valley, it compares the innovative centralised system that is orientated towards
431
J O H N G O D DA R D A ND PAUL VAL L ANCE
supporting global “excellence” at the national as France and Japan (Crespy et al., 2007;
level, and has little in the way of mechanisms Kitagawa, 2007). However, the relationship
through which science resources can be between national and sub-national levels is
directed to help meet regional economic different in countries with a federal govern-
development needs (Charles and Benneworth, ment structure, with individual states or
2001).This means that, despite the system in provinces more likely to have the institu-
theory being spatially neutral, in practice it tional scope and resources to pursue their
reinforces a geographical imbalance in the own autonomous science as well as innova-
state funding of research for universities and tion policies (Perry and May, 2007). In the
other public facilities towards a core Greater USA, for instance, various commentators
South East region that encompasses London, have written about the widespread tendency
Cambridge and Oxford. The period after for state-level university research policy to
the return of a Labour government in 1997 move in the more instrumental direction of
however, in addition to the devolution of supporting economic development through
relevant powers to new parliaments or assem- technology transfer programmes, although
blies in Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland, these are often at the expense of other higher
saw the emergence of some form of regional education funding and may be vulnerable to
tier of science policy in England. Perry budgetary cut-backs (Feller, 2004; Geiger
(2007) traces this development of what she and Sá, 2005). Salazar and Holbrook (2007)
calls a “minimalist system of multi-level gov- characterise the Canadian situation as one in
ernance” – in which local actors with only which the federal structure blurs the distinc-
limited capacity concentrate on supporting tions between levels of governance, so that
or delivering priorities defined at the national STI policy cannot be clearly attributed to
level. The main catalyst for this change has either the federal or provincial governments,
been a parallel institutional growth in eco- but instead operates predominately through
nomic development governance organisa- a series of nationwide network programmes
tions at the regional and trans-regional level, that link these levels.
which facilitate the development of relation-
ships between universities and local bodies Conclusion: A broader role
with an interest in promoting science-based for universities
innovation and economic growth. For
instance, all nine of the English regions have A recurrent theme in our review has been
now established public–private partnership that empirical research from different places
science and industry councils (Perry, 2007: shows the actual success of universities in
1058). The key actors within this process of stimulating regional growth often does not
constructing a new scale of science policy in match the role prescribed it in theory.A crit-
England, particularly in less developed regions, ical evaluation of the literature indicates that
were (centrally funded) regional develop- those celebrated cases in which universities
ment agencies (RDAs), which since their have reportedly played foundational roles in
inception in 1999 led the way in incorporat- technology-led regional economic growth,
ing universities into regional economic strat- such as Silicon Valley or Cambridge (UK),
egies aimed at boosting endogenous levels of are the evolutionary product of a favourable
innovation (also see Goddard and Chatterton, or “serendipitous” (Kitson et al., 2009) set of
1999; Kitagawa, 2004). geographically and historically contingent
circumstances, that cannot be reproduced in
Broadly similar patterns of limited devolu- any region solely through policies which
tion to “minimalist” systems of multi-level focus on engendering links between academia
science governance have been described in
other traditionally centralised countries such
432
UNIVERSITIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
and local industry. This may be particularly individual universities interact with their
true of less developed economic regions region across a broad front (Goddard and
where limited demand from private enter- Vallance, 2009). Several authors have noted
prise, and ‘absorptive capacity’ of local the wider cultural and civic roles that univer-
industry in general (Christopherson and sities have and their relevance to supporting
Clark, 2007), constrains the overall economic local governance, business or community
impact that universities can have through development (e.g. Chatterton, 2000; Charles,
business support or technology transfer pro- 2003;Gunasekara,2006;Huggins et al.,2008),
grammes, despite the prominent position but in general these processes have not been
they may be assigned in regional innovation examined to the same degree as those relat-
strategies. ing to the production and dissemination of
economically valuable knowledge.
Other recent reviews have come to similar
conclusions. Some have raised primarily To advance the field beyond this may
empirical and methodological concerns require a wider engagement with current
about the often inconclusive evidence or thinking on the role of universities in civil
conflicting findings of studies in this field society. For instance, in light of the increas-
(Lawton Smith, 2007). A related issue is the ingly social distributed nature of knowledge
problem of obtaining adequate data to meas- production described by Gibbons et al.
ure or otherwise properly evaluate the (1994), Delanty (2001: 6–7) conceives a new
regional economic impacts of university role for the university as “the most important
research and technology transfer activity site of interconnectivity in what is now a
(Thanki,1999;Drucker and Goldstein,2007). knowledge society”, “a key institution for
Others have focused on problematising the formation of cultural and technological
underlying conceptual beliefs about the citizenship” and “a site of public debate, thus
potential for knowledge produced through reversing the decline of the public sphere”.
global academic research networks to be While this is a global agenda, facilitated by
widely and effectively commercialised out- the diffusion of knowledge made possible by
side universities as the basis for specifically today’s communications technology, public
local economic development (Huggins et al., discourse is also local. It is rooted in the
2008; Power and Malmberg, 2008). place-based life experience of individual
citizens, including the academy and learners.
What these various commentaries point Moreover, to focus on citizens raises the
to is not so much that universities cannot important urban dimension to higher educa-
play a significant role in regional develop- tion and the concept of the ‘civic university’
ment, but that the relatively narrow function which mobilises its teaching and research to
assumed of them – as a source of knowledge help meet the economic, social, cultural and
generation and dissemination within a local environmental challenges confronting ‘its’
economic innovation system – is overstated. city (Goddard, 2009).
A theme of this volume is that more holistic
concepts of regional development are needed In a wide-ranging review of “universities
that do not just focus on economic growth and the public good”, Calhoun (2006) has
and competitiveness (also Pike et al., 2007). suggested that while knowledge may be gen-
In parallel with this, we suggest that a broader erated in the public interest, it is not neces-
view of higher education institutions and sarily widely circulated: indeed excellence in
their place in society would also be beneficial the academy is often equated with exclusiv-
in more fully understanding the multidi- ity. While real knowledge may eventually
mensional contributions that they make to be for the good of humanity as a whole, ben-
their localities at a sub-national level.This is efits “unequally trickle down”. The rewards
sometimes revealed by case studies of how for research are tied up with the production
433
J O H N G O D DA R D A ND PAUL VAL L ANCE
of academic hierarchy and the relative to development NGOs, with the notable
standing of institutions. On the other hand, difference that these centres are more likely
Calhoun (2006: 19) argues that: to be permanent fixtures in the region.
public support for universities is based Recognition of the diversity of higher
largely on the effort to educate citizens education institutions that co-exist within a
in general, to share knowledge, to dis- region or territory raises the further question
tribute it as widely as possible, and to of whether future research should remain
produce it in accord with publically focused predominately on case studies of
articulated purposes … [including] single regions and universities, or whether
economic development,especially inso- tensions between the academic research and
far as this requires technical expertise public service missions of universities should
and general education of participants. also be examined more often in the context
of national funding systems and the uneven
One effect of bringing these kinds of debate economic development of the territory.
into the study of universities and regional While many countries recognise the impor-
development is that it may help the local tance of supporting a diverse set of higher
engagement missions of a more varied set education institutions to meet national needs,
of higher education institutions than just matching this diversity to the developmental
leading-edge research universities to be con- needs of different and especially lagging
sidered. For Power and Malmberg (2008) a regions has not been a priority for the public
weakness of existing work is that it conflates funding of higher education in most coun-
an institution’s global ‘excellence’ in aca- tries. In England, for instance, the current
demic research with its ‘excellence’ in being system is one in which the sole criterion for
able to support regional competitiveness. research funding is to support academic
While regions do need access to global excellence wherever it is located, and the
knowledge that comes with a strong research funding of teaching is linked to graduate
base, it is often non-research-intensive uni- output to meet national needs, while funding
versities that have the deepest local or for regional engagement is largely marginal-
regional links. For instance, Glasson (2003) ised in so-called ‘third stream’ funding.
shows that two newer, teaching-orientated Policy-concerned work in this field could
universities in England (Sunderland in the make the case for public funding including a
North East and Oxford Brookes in the South core dimension that recognises the contribu-
East) are highly regionally engaged, reflect- tion of a university to civil society in the
ing their histories as local polytechnic col- place where it is located, and to support the
leges, and bringing a range of direct and evolution of networks of universities matched
indirect benefits to their cities. On an inter- to the needs and opportunities of each part
national level, there are many countries of a country (Goddard, 2009).
where higher education does not necessarily
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437
36
Transportation networks, the logistics
revolution and regional development
John T. Bowen, Jr. and Thomas R. Leinbach
The logistics revolution centers (Hesse and Rodrigue 2004). Ten are
and development shown in Figure 36.1 to indicate the breadth
of the companies involved. The appeal of
Over the past two decades, there have been Columbus to such businesses is obvious: a
profound changes in the way that goods circle centered on Columbus with a radius of
move through the economy. Raw materials, one-day’s trucking distance encompasses
intermediate goods, and final products move much of the North American market, the
with greater speed, precision, and real-time city lies at the intersection of important east–
“visibility” and do so via new or at least west and north–south interstate highways
altered transportation networks. One result and railroads, and its metro area contains
of these changes has been a newly “spiky two large airports. Yet what has happened
world” (Florida 2005) whose peaks are places in Columbus is hardly unique. A corridor
favored with superior accessibility. This of small towns along Interstate 81 in
chapter is about such places, the changes in Pennsylvania and Maryland (Fuellhart and
transportation and logistics that have fueled Marr 2007; Marr and Fuellhart 2008),
their rise, and the development that their California’s Inland Empire (Bonacich and
advantages have engendered. Wilson 2008), the Randstad in the
Netherlands (de Ligt and Wever 1998), and
One peak in this new topography, for the Pearl River Delta (Li and Cao 2005) are –
instance, is Columbus, Ohio. Indeed, distri- at varying scales of analysis – just a handful of
bution – for Ambercrombie & Fitch, Borders the other regions around the world whose
Books, Petsmart, and scores of other compa- development trajectories have likewise been
nies – has become one of the engines of the affected by the new importance of logistics.
Columbus economy. Overall, the Columbus
transportation and warehousing sector The rise of logistics, or the “logistics revo-
directly employed 44,000 people (5 percent lution” (Bonacich and Wilson 2008), com-
of the metro workforce) in 2007 and was prises several intertwined changes:
growing much faster than the overall regional
economy (City of Columbus 2009). Already i) the stronger integration of modes
in the mid-1990s it was estimated that the (intermodality) particularly via the
Columbus area was home to 150 distribution containerization of cargo;
438
T RANSPORTAT IO N N ETWOR KS, TH E LOGIS TIC S R EVOLU TION
Region within 500 miles (800 kms) of Columbus Volvo
The Limited
Port Columbus
Int’I Airport
McGraw-Hill
Interstate 70
Wal-mart Cardinal Health K-Mart
Netflix (Pharmaceuticals) General Motors
Gap
0 5 10 Interstate 71 Rickenbacker
Kilometers Int’I Airport
Figure 36.1 Distribution centers in the Columbus, Ohio area.
Source: Authors’ research
ii) the shift from push to pull supply In lowering the cost of transportation – par-
chains in which purchasing is driven ticularly the costs of inventory and transpor-
by point-of-sale (POS) information; tation costs measured in terms of time – the
logistics revolution has facilitated further
iii) the overall reduction in levels of internationalization of production, stronger
inventory, achieved partly by moving levels of regional specialization,and enhanced
goods faster and just-in-time ( JIT) economies of scale in many industries.These
from origin to destination; trends have consequences throughout the
economy. Yet it is in places like Columbus
iv) the application of electronic data that the transformation of transportation and
interchange (EDI) and other informa- logistics has been most pronounced.
tion technologies to monitor and
more precisely manage cargo flows in In the sections that follow, we first map
real time; the geography of opportunities for regional
development in transportation and logistics.
v) the development of more complex, While many traditional transportation hubs
often highly internationalized networks and gateways (e.g. seaports) have been reju-
linking firms engaged in the produc- venated by the logistics revolution, others
tion of some good; have languished. At the same, new opportu-
nities have been created for inland gateways
vi) the outsourcing of logistics to spe-
cialized third party logistics (3PL) 439
providers.
J O H N T. B OWE N , J R. AND T HOM AS R. L EINBACH
such as Columbus and even some places that The geography of opportunity
are decidedly not “peaks” in the global econ- in transportation and logistics
omy. We then turn to examine the regional
development impact of transportation and The movement of goods is a pervasive, yet
logistics. The rapid growth of goods move- spatially uneven economic activity. In 2008,
ment has generated millions of new jobs for example, more than 40 percent of the
directly and millions more indirectly in world’s containerized sea cargo traveled
related industries (e.g., truck manufacturing). to, from, or through one of just 10 ports
Further, new patterns of accessibility in (Table 36.1). The concentration of traffic in
transportation and logistics networks have such gateway cities fosters significant econo-
had far-reaching development consequences. mies of scale (and diseconomies of scale,
The third major section of the chapter too – see below).Over time,the cost efficiency
addresses the implications of the logistics of a port such as Singapore permits it to
revolution for sustainability, particularly in secure a progressively larger hinterland, stim-
terms of energy use and air pollution. Finally, ulating further traffic growth.Traffic growth,
we conclude by evaluating the potential in turn, both facilitates and encourages
rewards and dangers of making transporta- investment in new and better physical infra-
tion and logistics a cornerstone of regional structure (e.g., automated container handling
development policy. equipment) and institutional infrastructure
Table 36.1 The world’s top containerports, 2008
Rank Port Thousands of Average annual
twenty-foot growth since
equivalent units 2000 (%)
(TEUs)
7.3
1 Singapore 29,918 22.2
3.7
2 Shanghai 27,980 23.4
7.5
3 Hong Kong 24,248 18.4
37.0
4 Shenzhen 21,414 29.1
7.0
5 Busan, South Korea 13,425 21.9
10.9
6 Dubai 11,828 3.4
9.9
7 Ningbo, China 11,226 22.2
12.1
8 Guangzhou 11,001 6.1
4.4
9 Rotterdam 10,800 38.3
9.2
10 Qingdao, China 10,320 7.1
11 Hamburg 9,700
12 Kaohsiung,Taiwan 9,677
13 Antwerp 8,664
14 Tianjin 8,500
15 Port Klang, Malaysia 7,970
16 Los Angeles 7,850
17 Long Beach 6,488
18 Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia 5,600
19 Bremen/Bremerhaven 5,501
20 New York/New Jersey 5,265
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (2009)
440
T RANSPORTAT IO N N ETWOR KS, TH E LOGIS TIC S R EVOLU TION
(e.g., expedited customs clearance proce- become, combined, the fourth most heavily
dures), and these developments in turn facili- trafficked containerport in the world by
tate and encourage still further traffic growth. 2008 (Table 36.1).The divergent fortunes of
Such a virtuous cycle lies at the heart of these two hubs reflect the fact that cargo
Janelle’s (1969) model of time-space conver- flows are ultimately dependent upon patterns
gence; transportation improvements permit- of economic activity. This basic fact has
ting the convergence of places in time-space an important implication for regional devel-
are more likely on routes linking important opment: regions with weak or declining
places, enhancing the accessibility advantages economies are ill-positioned to harness the
of already favored places. Janelle discussed logistics revolution.
this tendency in the context of road transpor-
tation within the American Midwest, but the Shenzhen illustrates two of the prerequi-
same pattern is evident – albeit unevenly – sites for new players in this sector of the
on a global scale (Knowles 2006). economy. First, it has a strategically valuable
location; specifically, Shenzhen is located
For instance, in 2006, the Maersk Line near the center of the thriving Pearl River
introduced the Emma Maersk, the first of a Delta (Figure 36.2).The Pearl River Delta is
family of extremely large containerships, on home to three of the ten busiest container
a vast intercontinental itinerary with just ports in the world and the second busiest
13 stops ( Joseph 2006). Specifically, the cargo airport. The airports in Guangzhou
11,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and Shenzhen meanwhile have been selected
containership was deployed on Maersk’s Asia- by FedEx and UPS, respectively, for their
Europe one route linking Aarhus,Gothenburg, intra-Asian hubs. Second, the political com-
Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Algeciras, Suez mitment and financial capital to bring the
Canal, Singapore, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, new gateway to fruition were in abundance
Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Tanjung Pelepas when Shenzhen’s terminals were planned and
(Malaysia) and back to Europe. The ship’s then built. A strategic location and plenty of
huge size translated into lower unit costs, money and political will to build new infra-
favoring this handful of ports. Further, the structure also help to explain the surge in the
flow of traffic through Singapore and other stature of Dubai,another fast-rising star among
large ports has been complemented by the the ranks of the world’s container ports.
development of “distriparks” adjacent to the
port where consolidation, sampling, inventory A similar conjunction of factors explains
management, product customization, merge- the uneven growth of the world’s top air
in-transit, storage, and other increasingly cargo hubs (Table 36.2). Again, Dubai and
sophisticated logistics services are performed, Chinese gateways have enjoyed the fastest
further augmenting the port’s pull on the recent growth. One key difference between
traffic within its hinterland (Zhu et al. 2002). air and sea cargo, however, is the degree to
Giant vessels such as the Emma Maersk – like which an air cargo hub can be affected, for
other transportation innovations – both draw better or for ill, by the decisions of a single
upon and reinforce the resulting concentration carrier, such as FedEx in Memphis Inter-
of traffic. national. We return to this point in the last
section of the chapter.
And yet, the stature of hubs and gateways
is by no means fixed.Yokohoma, for instance, Memphis is an example of inland hub and,
ranked eighth among containerports in 1995 in that regard, it illustrates a broader trend for
but had fallen to thirtieth by 2008. Shenzhen the handling and distribution of cargo to
surged in the opposite direction as its two move farther toward the interior of conti-
terminals (Yantian and Shekou) zoomed nents and away from coastal gateways. This
from their opening in the early 1990s to trend, which is evident in Europe but espe-
cially prominent in North America, is played
441
J O H N T. B OWE N , J R. AND T HOM AS R. L EINBACH
Guangzhou Baiyun Int’l Airport Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport
Opened 2004 Opened 1991
Zhaoqing Guangzhou
Post of Guangzhou Dongguan Huizhou
Nansha Container Terminal (in the south)
Opened 2005 Port of Shenzhen
Shekou (west) opened 1991
Yantian (east) opened 1993
Jiangmen Shenzhen
Zhongshan
Pearl
River
Zhuhai Hong
Macau SAR Kong
SAR
Yangjiang Port of Hong Kong
Major expansion (Terminal 9) opened 2003
Zhuhai Sanzao Airport
Opened 1995 Macao Internation Airport Hong Kong International Airport
Opened 1995 Opened 1998
0 35 70
Kilometers
Figure 36.2 Transportation infrastructure expansion in the Pearl River Delta.
Source: Authors’ research
out a two scales. First, mid-continent hubs metropolitan area of which it is a part
such as Columbus and Memphis have (Lee et al. 2008).
become more prominent with the modal
shift of goods traffic toward air cargo and Finally, despite the concentration of traffic
trucks (Hesse and Rodrigue 2004). Second, in favored hubs, it is not just in and near the
land-hungry warehouses and distribution “peaks” of the spiky world that the logistics
centers (DCs) have grown rapidly in areas revolution has affected regional development.
located just inland from major seaports. For In small, but strategically located towns such
instance, Ikea’s DC for the western US and as Wilmington, Ohio and in gateways to
Canada is located in Tejon Ranch, a privately peripheral regions such as Mombasa, Kenya
owned logistics development 170 kilometers in East Africa, transportation and logistics
north of the ports of Los Angeles and powerfully shape development trajectories,
Long Beach (Rodrigue and Hesse 2007). too. We return to this point in the final
Conversely in Asia there has been less inward section of the chapter.
movement of logistics, with much of the
handling of inbound, outbound, and trans- Transportation, logistics
shipped cargo still done in the immediate and regional development
vicinity of key ports, for instance. As a result
the development impact of a hub like the Two broad kinds of impacts are considered
Port of Singapore is concentrated in the here: the creation of jobs in the transportation
442
T RANSPORTAT IO N N ETWOR KS, TH E LOGIS TIC S R EVOLU TION
Table 36.2 World’s top cargo hubs, 2008
Rank Airport Cargo (thousands Average annual
of tonnes) growth since
2000 (%)
1 Memphis Int’l 3,695
2 Hong Kong Int’l 3,661 5.1
3 Pudong Int’l (Shanghai) 2,603 6.2
4 Incheon Int’l (Seoul) 2,424 15.9
5 Ted Stevens Anchorage Int’l 2,340 3.3
6 Paris Charles de Gaulle Int’l 2,280 3.3
7 Frankfurt 2,111 4.4
8 Narita Int’l (Tokyo) 2,100 2.7
9 Louisville Int’l-Standiford Field 1,974 1.0
10 Changi (Singapore) 1,884 3.3
11 Dubai Int’l 1,825 1.3
12 Miami Int’l 1,807 15.3
13 Los Angeles Int’l 1,630 1.2
14 Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 1,603 (2.8)
15 Taipei Taoyuan Int’l 1,493 3.0
16 Heathrow (London) 1,486 2.7
17 John F. Kennedy Int’l (New York) 1,451 0.7
18 Beijing Capital Int’l 1,366 (2.8)
19 Chicago O’Hare Int’l 1,332 7.4
20 Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok) 1,173 (1.2)
3.8
Source: Airport Council International (2009)
sector (broadly defined to include ware- logistics jobs is beneficial for regional eco-
housing and other logistics enterprises) and nomies depends upon the kinds of jobs
then the broader, catalytic effects of trans- created, including their associated wage and
portation accessibility and logistics capability skill levels. Here the story is mixed. Some
upon the structure and performance of dockworkers in major US ports, for instance,
regional economies. have achieved substantial earnings increases
due to the pivotal position they occupy in
Jobs in transportation global supply chains, the strength of their
and logistics union, and the high labor productivity
achieved through the panoply of technolo-
The movement, storage, and handling of gies related to containerization (Hall 2009).
goods sustain millions of jobs directly Yet the highest wages go only to those who
across the world. In the United States, for occupy the most critical positions, such as
instance, cargo transportation and warehous- the operators of giant cranes at portside;
ing employed at least 2.3 million people in there are many more drayage truckers whose
2006 or a little less than 3 percent of the earnings are meager and under heavy pres-
workforce (US Census 2009). Between 1998 sure from newly arrived migrant workers
and 2006, employment in this sector grew (Bensman 2008). And the employment
five times faster than employment in the US impact of some of the fastest growing seg-
economy generally, due in part to the out- ments of the transportation sector, especially
sourcing of logistics by manufacturing firms. warehousing, is muted by their heavy reli-
Whether the growth of transportation and ance on temporary employees (Bonacich and
Wilson 2008).
443
J O H N T. B OWE N , J R. AND T HOM AS R. L EINBACH
Furthermore, globalization has enlarged a regional economy; such studies therefore
the geographic scope of cargo flows so that often fail to account for the way in which an
there are more choices of hubs and corridors improved transportation system alters a
via which to move goods and concomitantly region’s economic structure.The importance
greater competition among workers in dif- of that failing is evident in a mid-1990s anal-
ferent places.Thus,port workers in Singapore, ysis of several air cargo hubs (Oster et al.
the world’s busiest container port and one 1997).Two techniques were used to measure
famous for its extraordinary speed and effi- the broader effects of expanded hub employ-
ciency, were compelled by the government- ment in Memphis, Louisville, and Cincinnati
linked Port of Singapore Authority to accept in order to assess the likely impact of FedEx
pay cuts in 2003 to fend off the challenge plans for a bigger hub at Indianapolis. The
posed by lower cost ports elsewhere in Asia first approach, input-output modeling, found
(Fang 2003). that the employment multiplier for the air
transportation sector in these cities was a
Ultimately, what one may say of labor in little more than 2. The second approach,
the transport and logistics sector is that econometric modeling, found much higher
employment has grown rapidly in tandem multipliers (e.g., 3.75 for Memphis).The dif-
with world trade and that there is a wide ference between the two sets of multipliers
variety of jobs involved in the movement of has to do with how accessibility changes
goods; some are associated with very high an economy. Input-output analysis assumes
skill and/or education levels and pay accord- a steady relationship between airports and
ingly, but most are not. Of course, the overall other elements of the economy, but as the
employment impact of the sector extends carriers based at these hubs spawn more and
to other parts of the economy, too, via the denser linkages to places around the globe,
purchase of inputs (e.g., trucks, fuel, ware- their attraction as sites for certain other eco-
house stacking systems, accounting services, nomic functions increases (SRI International
etc.) and the spending of workers themselves. 2001), apparently in a nonlinear fashion.
For instance, an input-output analysis of
Cumberland and Franklin Counties in Certainly, the catalytic effects of accessibil-
Pennsylvania (part of the I-81 corridor ity figure prominently in the work of John
mentioned above) found a relatively low Kasarda concerning air transport-centered
employment multiplier for warehousing and development (e.g. Kasarda 2005; Kasarda and
trucking combined (Fuellhart and Marr Sullivan 2005). Kasarda has argued that the
2007). Specifically, these two industries contemporary economy places a premium
employed 15,800 directly but supported on speed and agility, favoring locations near
27,500 jobs overall – implying a multiplier air transport hubs. The result is a new form
of about 1.7405. This modest multiplier of airport-centric development he terms the
reflects low wages in the industry and the “aerotropolis,” among whose hallmarks are
fact that the industry is near the end of the airport-adjacent logistics parks, fulfillment
typical supply chain. centers, and distribution centers. Singapore is
an example of an aerotropolis (Lindsay 2006),
Cargo network accessibility and there is little doubt that its centrality in
and regional economic the air cargo industry has fostered superior
development services in the air and on the ground, facili-
tating the city-state’s movement up the value
A limitation of input-output modeling – the chain, especially in the electronics industry
methodology employed in the Pennsylvania (Leinbach and Bowen 2005).
study – is that it is based on a static picture of
And yet Kasarda’s work can be criticized
444 for overemphasizing air accessibility. In an era
T RANSPORTAT IO N N ETWOR KS, TH E LOGIS TIC S R EVOLU TION
of unprecedented intermodality, accessibil- but also the broader consequences of freight
ity in multiple networks is becoming more transportation including its contribution to
important, particularly as manufacturers global climate change and the exhaustion of
develop more sophisticated logistic strategies easily accessed oil reserves. The logistics
premised on multimodal hybrid networks and revolution, insofar as it has fostered faster,
flexibility (Henstra et al. 2007). Geographi- more frequent, small, often globally dispersed
cally, such strategies favor, of course, places shipments militates against sustainability
that have multimodal access. For instance, by favoring more energy-intensive modes
Sony replaced 14 European warehouses in (e.g., air); and yet the cost-effective man-
2001 with a single European Distribution agement of supply chains, which is also a
Center at Tilburg, the Netherlands – a loca- part of the logistics revolution, has meant in
tion that has excellent sea, air, and ground some cases a shift away from high cost (both
network accessibility as Schiphol Airport, the financially and environmentally) modes. For
Port of Rotterdam, and major highways are example, Intel, which once moved 98 per-
all nearby (Lovell et al. 2005). cent of its goods by air, has reduced that share
to 88 percent (Lloyd’s List 2008).
Externalities, sustainability
and the logistics revolution Of course, the airline industry is itself
becoming more environmentally friendly
The increased volume of goods traffic has with the development of more fuel-efficient
brought with it significant externalities aircraft like the Airbus A380 and new air traf-
including land take, road congestion, air pol- fic control procedures such as continuous
lution, noise pollution, and the “ugly blight” descent. Other modes, too, are changing in a
(Hunt 2006) of big box DCs. Some com- similar direction. Political pressure and
munities have decided there is a limit to their increased fuel costs are likely to accelerate
appetite for more business. For instance, the pace of technological change within
Frankfurt, Europe’s second largest air cargo modes,encourage competition among modes
hub, has imposed increasingly stringent on efficiency grounds, and perhaps spark a
restrictions on night-time operations. Because reversal of some of the trends (e.g., globalized
freighter aircraft operations are concentrated production) that have defined the logistics
at night (to facilitate late-day pickups and revolution. The ramifications for patterns of
early-morning deliveries), the Frankfurt economic development, including regional
restrictions are a significant impediment to economic development, are likely to be far-
growth for hometown carrier Lufthansa. reaching and should be a theme of further
Partly as a result of those concerns, in 2008 research in this area.
Lufthansa and DHL – which had been
pushed from its hub at Brussels by similar Conclusion
night-time restrictions – formed a new cargo
airline called AeroLogic to operate from a Drawn by the capacity of transportation and
hub in Leipzig where there are no night-time logistics to create thousands of jobs, many
restrictions (Lloyd’s List 2008). places have worked hard to gain, to keep, or
to build upon an advantage in the world’s
More generally, sustainable logistics are supply and distribution networks. The
likely to become a major concern for the rewards – and the dangers – in pursuing such
industry, policymakers, and academics in the a strategy are many. Consider the case of
future (Black 2007). Sustainable logistics Wilmington, Ohio. In 2004, Germany’s DHL
means paying attention not only to local chose Wilmington as its primary US air hub
externalities such as those described above as part of a broader effort to challenge FedEx
445
J O H N T. B OWE N , J R. AND T HOM AS R. L EINBACH
and UPS on their home turf. Like Columbus partly due to the latter’s lower handling costs
100 kilometers to the north, Wilmington is (Richardson 2002).
well positioned to serve as a national dis-
tribution center, but a further factor in Ultimately, in an industry whose purpose
Wilmington’s favor was the package of state is movement, few spatial patterns are con-
and local government incentives, worth an stant. Changes in the geography of freight
estimated $400 million (Driehaus 2008). flows and shifts in the strategies of major
Wilmington’s selection brought many new players such as DHL have reshaped the
jobs; indeed, by 2008, DHL and its subsi- topography of advantage in the past and
diaries employed 7,000 people in a city of will undoubtedly do so again in the future.
13,000 people. But the good times did not The state – through its infrastructure invest-
last for long. In November 2008, DHL ments and policies toward aircraft noise, for
announced its decision to withdraw from the instance – is likely to play an increasingly
domestic overnight express market in the influential role in that topography, too.These
US, and to abandon its hub in Wilmington. myriad forces will bring new places to the
In a matter of months, DHL employment fore in freight transportation flows: places
in Wilmington fell by half with the strong like Hahn, Germany that are in the shadow
likelihood of further steep job cuts (Nolan of increasingly congested hubs – Frankfurt
2009; Dreihaus 2008). Other businesses that in Hahn’s case – in developed countries
had been drawn to the Wilmington area by (Behnen 2004) and new winners like Dar es
the accessibility afforded through DHL’s hub Salaam and Mombasa in the trend toward
also left. For example, DealerTrack, an over- increased traffic concentration in developing
night processor of car loans decided to move economies (Hoyle and Charlier 1995). The
from Wilmington to Memphis, primarily growth of traffic to, from, and through such
to be close to the FedEx hub there (Risher communities can be expected to bring a
2009). familiar mixture of positive development
impacts and negative externalities. Managing
Ultimately, the story of Wilmington is the balance of these outcomes, both in
about the dangers of basing regional eco- new hubs and in old ones, will remain an
nomic development upon an industry as spa- important challenge.
tially dynamic as transport and logistics.The
dangers are enlarged in places such as References
Wilmington that are not the “peaks” in the
spiky world and that as a result have little Behnen, T. (2004) “Germany’s Changing Airport
locally or regionally generated traffic and just Infrastructure: The Prospects for Newcomer
one or a few key players. Both characteristics Airports Attempting Market Entry,” Journal of
help to explain the world of difference Transport Geography 12 (4), 277–286.
between the enduring significance of deeply
rooted gateways such as Singapore and the Bensman, D. (2008) “Globalization and the Labor
scramble for position among smaller hubs Markets of the Logistics Industry.” A presen-
competing on narrow, even fleeting advan- tation at the Sloan Industries Studies Con-
tages.Yet, as noted above, even Singapore is ference, Boston, May 2. Available online at
not invulnerable to the industry’s dynamism. www.web.mit.edu.
Indeed, the new Malaysian port at Tanjung
Pelepas (see Table 36.1) has eaten into Black, W. R. (2007) “Sustainable Solutions for
some of Singapore’s business; Maersk and Freight Transport,” in Leinbach, T. R. and
Evergreen, two of the world’s largest ship- Capineri, C. (eds) Globalized Freight Trans-
ping lines, moved their Southeast Asian trans- port: Intermodality, E-Commerce, Logistics, and
shipment business from Singapore to PTP, Sustainablity, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar,
189–216.
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Goods Ports, Labor, and the Logistics Revolution,
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
T RANSPORTAT IO N N ETWOR KS, TH E LOGIS TIC S R EVOLU TION
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (2009) (eds) Learning and Knowledge for the Network
America’s Container Ports: Freight Hubs That Society, West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue
Connect Our Nation to Global Markets, June. University Press, 99–108.
Available online at www.bts.gov. Kasarda, J. and Sullivan, D.L. (2005) “Air Cargo.
Liberalization, and Economic Development,”
City of Columbus (2009) “Economic Advisory Annals of Air and Space Law 31.
Committee Report and Recommendations,” Knowles, R. (2006) “Transport Shaping Space:
March 5. Available online at www.cityof Differential Collapse in Time-Space,” Journal of
columbus.org. Transport Geography 14 (6), 407–425.
Lee, S.W., Song, D.-W. and Ducruet, C. (2008) “A
De Ligt, T. and Weger, E. (1998) “European Tale of theWorld’s Ports:The Spatial Evolution
Distribution Centres: Location Patterns,” in the Global Hub Port Cities,” Geoforum
Tijdschift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 39 (1), 372–385.
89 (2), 217–223. Leinbach, T. R. and Bowen, J. T. (2005) “Air
Cargo Services, Global Production Networks
Dreihaus, B. (2008) “DHL cuts 9,500 Jobs in US, and Competitive Advantage in Asian City-
and an Ohio Town Takes the Brunt,” The New Regions,” in Daniels, P.W. Ho, K.C. and
York Times, November 11: B3. Hutton, T.A. (eds) Service Industries and Asia-
Pacific Cities, New York: Routledge, 216–240.
Fang, N. (2003) “PSA Slashes Wages by Up to Li, P. and Cao, X.-S. (2005) “Evolution and
14%,” The Straits Times (Singapore), July 25. Development of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong
Corridor,” Chinese Geographical Science 15 (3),
Florida, R. (2005) “The World Is Spiky,” Atlantic 206–211.
Monthly October, 48–51. Lindsay, G. (2006) “Rise of the Aerotropolis,” Fast
Company July/August, 76–85.
Fuellhart, K. and Marr, P. (2007) “Economic Lloyd’s List (2008) “AeroLogic Lifts Off with
Impacts of Trucking and Warehousing in EUR550m Joint Cargo Venture in Tow,”
South-Central Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania February 4, 6.
Geographer 45 (2), 85–103. Lovell, A., Law, R. and Stimson, J. (2005)
“Product Value Density: Managing Diversity
Hall, P.V. (2009) “Container Ports, Local Benefits, through Supply Chain Segmentation,” Inter-
and Transportation Worker Earnings,” national Journal of Logistics Management 16 (1),
Geojournal 74 (1), 67–83. 142–158.
Marr, P. and Fuellhart, K. (2008) “ATransportation
Henstra, D., Ruijgrok, C. and Tavasszy, L. (2007) Assessment of the Warehousing and Trucking
“Globalized Trade, Logistics, and Intermodality: Industries in Franklin and Cumberland Coun-
European Perspectives,” in Leinbach, T. R. ties, Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania Geographer
and Capineri, C. (eds) Globalized Freight 46 (1), 3–34.
Transport: Intermodality, E-Commerce, Logistics, Nolan, J. (2009) “No End in Sight for DHL-UPS
and Sustainablity, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, Talks,” Dayton Daily News, January 27:A6.
135–163. Oster, C.V., Rubin, B. M. and Strong, J. S. (1997)
“Economic Effects of Transportation Inves-
Hesse, M. and Rodrigue, J.-P. (2004) “The tments: The Case of Federal Express,”
Transport Geography of Logistics and Freight Transportation Journal 37 (2), 34–44.
Distribution,” Journal of Transport Geography Richardson, M. (2002) “Malaysia Aims to
12 (3), 171–184. Become a Key Southeast Asian Shipping
Hub: Singapore Faces a Rival Next Door,”
Hoyle, B. and Charlier, J. (1995) “Inter-Port NewYork Times, February 1.
Competition in Developing Countries: An Risher, W. (2009) “DealerTrack moving to
East African Case Study,” Journal of Transport Memphis,” The Commercial Appeal (Memphis),
Geography 3 (2): 87–103. February 10.
Rodrigue, J.-P. and Hesse, M. (2007) “Globalized
Hunt,T. (2006) “Warehouse of the World: Out-of- Trade and Logistics: North American Pers-
Town Depots Are an Ugly Blight on the pectives,” in Leinbach, T. R. and Capineri, C.
Landscape and Will Destroy Our Civic Life,” (eds) Globalized Freight Transport: Intermodality,
Guardian, July 12, 32. E-Commerce, Logistics, and Sustainablity,
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 103–134.
Janelle, D. G. (1969) “Spatial Reorganization: A
Model and Concept,” Annals of the Association 447
of American Geographers 72 (1), 8–15.
Joseph, G. (2006) “Emma Helps PSA, Maersk
Make Peace,” The Business Times (Singapore),
October 3.
Kasarda, J. D. (2000/2001) “Logistics and the Rise
of the Aerotropolis,” Real Estate Issues 25 (4),
winter, 43–48.
Kasarda, J. D. (2005) “Gateway Airports,
Speed, and the Rise of the Aerotropolis,” in
Gibson, D.V., Heitor, M.V. and Ibarra-Yunez, A.
J O H N T. B OWE N , J R. AND T HOM AS R. L EINBACH
SRI International (2001) Global Impacts of Fedex in Kasarda, J. D. (2005) “Gateway Airports, Speed,
the New Economy. Available online at www.sri. and the Rise of the Aerotropolis,” in
com/policy/csted/reports/economics/fedex/. Gibson, D.V. Heitor, M.V. and Ibarra-Yunez, A.
(eds) Learning and Knowledge for the Network
US Census (2009) County Business Patterns. Society, West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue
Available online at www.census.gov. University Press, 99–108. (Concisely describes
Kasarda’s ideas concerning the aerotropolis.)
Zhu, J., Lean, H. S. and Ying, S. K. (2002)
“The Third-Party Logistics Services and Lasserre, F. (2004) “Logistics and the Internet:
Globalization of Manufacturing,” International Transportation and Location Issues Are Crucial
Planning Studies 7 (1), 89–104. in the Logistics Chain,” Journal of Transport
Geography 12 (1), 73–84. (An insightful analysis
Further reading of the implication of e-commerce for freight
and logistics patterns.)
Bonacich, E. and Wilson, J. B. (2008) Getting the
Goods Ports, Labor, and the Logistics Revolution, Leinbach, T. R. and Capineri, C. (eds) (2007)
Ithaca,NY:Cornell University Press. (Contains Globalized Freight Transport: Intermodality,
a highly accessible, empirically grounded E-Commerce, Logistics, and Sustainablity,
account of changes in the logistics and the Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. (Draws together
implications of those changes for major stake- experts from geography, political science,
holders, especially labor unions.) public policy and other fields on both sides of
the Atlantic to present a rich overview of
changes in freight transportation.)
448
37
(Im)migration, local, regional
and uneven development
Jane Wills, Kavita Datta, Jon May, Cathy McIlwaine,
Yara Evans and Joanna Herbert
Introduction migration to both reflect and perpetuate
uneven development at a number of scales.
Migration has a long and intimate relation- As such, this chapter seeks to explore the dif-
ship with local and regional development. ficult issues that lie at the heart of the inter-
On the one hand, policy-makers may use section between labour migration and local
(im)migration as a means to develop a geo- and/or regional development. To do so, the
graphical area, seeking to attract desirable chapter draws on current research in London
migrants as a means to fill labour short- and the UK, as well as secondary evidence
ages, foster economic growth and promote about development in the rest of the world.
competitiveness. On the other hand, policy-
makers may seek to promote emigration as a Changing immigration regimes
way of tackling under- and unemployment
and raising additional capital in the form of Structural shifts in global political economy
remittances sent home by overseas workers. have served to increase rates of population
In the first case, migration provides a new movement in recent years.The IOM (2008: 2)
source of labour and in the latter, the capital estimate that in 2005 some 191 million
required for economic development. This people were living outside their country
chapter starts by exploring these twin devel- of birth, a figure two and a half times the
opment strategies focusing first on emerging number in 1965, with these trends looking
policy frameworks that are designed to attract set to continue. International migration is
international migrants and then those that now recognised as being one of the most
seek to promote the export of labour for critical challenges facing the world as well as
economic development. In both cases, labour one of its most crucial resources. Yet while
is positioned as the key agent in local and international migration continues to increase
regional development even if that labour is as workers move to avoid conflict and/or take
not always physically present. Once these up employment, politicians remain account-
foundations are laid, the chapter then goes able to national electorates. Internal divisions
on to explore the consequences of labour over the issue of immigration inevitably pull
migration in relation to uneven develop- politicians two ways both in favour of, and
ment. It is argued that there is a tendency for
449
JANE WILLS ET AL.
against, immigration controls (Hollifield 1992; closed to those who might cause us harm or
Freeman 1995). Politicians rarely adopt the seek to enter illegally” (Home Office and
pure political liberalism that would abandon Commonwealth Office 2007: 2). The new
any immigration controls and in the present points-based immigration regime is the cen-
period, most are adopting some form of tre-piece of this new approach to migration
hierarchical and stratified types of control. (Home Office 2006). Highly skilled migrants
are positioned at the top of the hierarchy
As an example, the British government (in Tier 1) with full rights to the labour
has recently sought to adapt its immigration market and the benefit system. Those who
regime. Recognising the economic advantages are granted access to work for a particular
posed by certain forms of immigration – employer in an identified shortage sector
particularly in relation to skilled workers and (that depends on research and analysis con-
those able to fill labour market shortages – ducted by the Migration Advisory Com-
new legislation has sought to create a hierar- mittee) have to have a requisite level of
chical immigration regime that attracts the English language skills to fulfil the terms of
desirable and excludes the unwanted. In her Tier 2. While this tier does not grant access
speech to the Institute for Public Policy to the benefit system it does afford migrants
Research (IPPR) in September 2000, the some possibility of applying for citizenship
Immigration Minister Barbara Roche sig- when they have been in the UK for as long
nalled what has been a dramatic shift in as five years. In contrast, Tier 3 – covering
policy by declaring: “We are in competition so-called unskilled migration – has no such
for the brightest and best talents.The market route to belonging. Ministers now expect all
for skilled labour is a global market and unskilled vacancies to be filled by migrants
not necessarily a buyers’ market.” Drawing from the wider EU – and while full labour
parallels with the effective use of immigra- market access was granted to would-be
tion as a strategy for economic development immigrants from the first wave of EU suc-
in countries like the USA, Canada and cession states (Cyprus,Malta,Estonia,Croatia,
Australia, Roche anticipated a torrent of Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland,
future legislation enacted by New Labour in Slovakia and Slovenia) from May 2004,
the following years. In a scaled-up version of any further vacancies are to be filled through
Richard Florida’s (2002) arguments about time-limited quotas of Bulgarians and
the role of the ‘creative class’ in the dyna- Romanians (the countries of the so-called A2).
mism of conurbations, the UK government As in the past, those classified as unskilled
has sought to open its borders to those who from outside the EU can only gain access to
are seen as sufficiently highly skilled and the UK’s labour market through family
entrepreneurial that they can contribute to reunification, as international students or as
the wealth of the nation. Rather than limit- refugees. But while student visas were once a
ing immigration per se, the government has relatively easy route for would-be migrants
sought to manage it for economic advantage from the global South to enter the UK and
(Favell and Hansen 2002; see also Flynn stay despite immigration controls, educa-
2005). As a result, and in contrast to the pre- tional providers (who are to be registered
vious century, the UK has become a country under Tier 4) are now expected to sponsor
of net immigration. and monitor the activities of their students
for violations of immigration control. Indeed,
Thus, in tandem with developments else- the UK government has renewed its efforts
where in the world, British immigration to control and monitor all international
policy is being developed in the interests of immigrants.Those who don’t meet the terms
the economy with: “borders that are open of the points-based immigration regime are
to those who bring skills, talent, business
and creativity that boost our economy, yet
450
( IM ) M IGRAT ION, L OC AL, R E GION AL AN D U N EV E N D EV E LOPMEN T
now subject to identification, detention and migrants have free movement – such as those
deportation back home. under Tier 1 and those from the wider EU
(including the so-called A8 migrants) – policy-
The implementation of this new immi- makers are left to deal with the impact of the
gration regime has significant implications market itself. Thus the post-2004 arrivals
for local and regional development within from Eastern Europe have taken up low-
the UK. Recent experience suggests that the waged employment across the UK in response
policy-makers responsible for economic to local labour market demand. Local and
development in different parts of the country regional policy-makers have been left to deal
have had to develop a twin-track approach with the impact of local in-flows, but they
towards immigration reform. In the short have little if any control over the nature of
term, policy-makers have had to try and labour supply. Indeed, the A8 migrants have
attract – or repel – the migrants they need – caused something of a policy crisis by settling
or don’t need – to underpin local and in areas where local authorities and related
regional development strategies.In the longer agencies have little experience of responding
term, they also have an obvious interest in to the needs of new populations or the chal-
influencing the trajectory of national policy lenges posed to community cohesion (McKay
developments as they unfold. This is often and Winkelman-Gleed 2005; Stenning and
difficult, however, as local policy-makers tend Dawley 2009). While migrant workers have
to find themselves in a relatively weak posi- generally been very beneficial for these
tion with regards to national immigration economies they have also brought challenges
reform (Ellis 2006). Although sub-national in terms of service delivery. Local policy-
localities are profoundly affected by changes makers have had to react to the impact of
in the rules governing the recruitment of national-level policy and market forces
international students and/or access to the (IPPR-CRE 2007).
labour market, for example, such rules are
created and enforced by bodies operating In this context, different regions will tend
beyond the regional and/or local scale. to develop differentiated responses to the
Policy-makers are thus entangled in the spa- national immigration regime, seeking to
tial politics of immigration policy whereby secure local interests in relation to policy and
the interests of the nation may undermine its implications for regional and local devel-
local and regional interests.In addition,policy- opment. In the UK, Scotland and London
makers often have to work through the provide the most obvious examples of this
intermediaries of the immigration regime, locally-specific and differentiated response.
such as employers or educational establish- The Scottish Parliament and associated policy-
ments, if they are to influence rates of local makers have been unusual in trail-blazing a
migration. very positive public policy agenda in relation
to immigration. These bodies have seen
Thus, in relation to the UK’s new points- immigration as a way to increase the size and
based regime, migrants granted access under skills of the local population, and to promote
Tiers 2, 3 and 4, as well as those being pro- economic activity. Until it was superseded by
cessed by the asylum system are spatially the national points-based system, the Scottish
constrained once they arrive within the UK. Parliament sought to attract international
Their terms of entry are tied to having a par- graduates to Scotland after their studies. In
ticular job, studying in a particular place or what was called the Fresh Talent Scotland
securing state support by living in a particu- initiative, the Parliament provided funding for
lar location (Phillimore and Goodson 2006). advisory staff and resources to attract skilled
Attracting or repelling migrants depends workers to the region. In this case, migrant
upon the actions of those given authority by workers were characterised as an asset to
the national regime. Even in cases where
451
JANE WILLS ET AL.
local and regional economic development UK. I believe it is perverse, particularly
and they have been encouraged to make given the current economic climate
Scotland their home (Houston et al. 2008). that illegal immigrants can use public
services such as the NHS and schools
In many ways, London has been similarly but are actually prevented from paying
positioned in relation to the national immi- the taxes that fund these services … I
gration regime. Here, policy-makers have also believe we should carefully consider
recognised the extent to which the regional the merits of an earned amnesty for
economy and its prosperity have come long-term migrants to maximise the
to depend upon supplies of foreign-born economic potential of these people so
workers. In contrast to Scotland, however, they can pay their way. I do not want
London has had little difficulty in attracting to be the Mayor of two categories of
new migrants such that recent statistics indi- people in our great city, one group
cate that as many as 35 per cent of the work- who live normally and another who
ing age population were foreign-born by the live in the shadows unable to contrib-
mid-2000s, with much greater concentra- ute fully to [the] rest of society.
tions among the low paid (see May et al.
2007;Wills et al. 2009a). In this regard, policy- (GLA 2009)
makers have been more concerned about the
implications of national legislation for local Thus the national management of migration
patterns of growth. In their response to the poses a range of challenges to actors posi-
government’s consultation about the case for tioned at local and regional scales. While
managed migration outlined in the White some parts of a nation may have a policy
Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven, for example, commitment to increase in-migration (both
the Greater London Authority (GLA 2002) domestic and international) as a means to
opposed the proposed limits on numbers, support economic development,other regions
reduced access to the asylum system and new may not. Moreover, different groups within
barriers to citizenship. Indeed, it is significant any local community will also be differen-
that such concerns have persisted beyond the tially positioned in regard to the debate about
dramatic change in the leadership at the immigration reform. Although (im)migra-
Authority following elections in 2008, with tion may be viewed as a route to increased
the Conservative Mayor, Boris Johnson, also competitiveness and economic growth by
championing London’s particular interests in some, others are likely to see migrants as
regards to the national immigration regime. potential competitors for work, housing and
Having agreed to explore the need to turn resources. Indeed, those communities already
‘Strangers into Citizens’ in a public dialogue facing the challenge of surviving in a
with the broad-based community organisa- subcontracted deflationary economy with
tion London Citizens in the run-up to the poor employment prospects and diminishing
election, Mayor Johnson has since commis- public service provision have understandably
sioned research into the issue of irregular been the most likely to view immigration
migration and has recently made the case for with the greatest concern. In this regard,
reform (LSE 2009). As he put it in a press research exploring the reception and inte-
release advocating a one-off regularisation of gration of new migrant communities in dif-
migrants issued in March 2009: ferent localities across the UK has found a
clear link between attitudes towards immi-
[Irregular migration is a] huge issue for gration and economic status (IPPR-CRE
the capital … London is dispropor- 2007).Those living in relatively affluent areas,
tionately affected with more irregular with tight labour markets and above-average
migrants … than anywhere else in the levels of skills (in this case, Edinburgh, Perth
452
( IM ) M IGRAT ION, L OC AL, R E GION AL AN D U N EV E N D EV E LOPMEN T
and Kinross in Scotland) tended not to see regional development in large parts of the
migrants as a threat to their lives. In contrast, world. Our recent research to explore the
those living in relatively poor areas, with labour market experiences and prospects of
high rates of unemployment, high levels of migrant workers in low-paid employment in
homelessness and/or overcrowding and London revealed very high levels of remit-
below-average levels of skills (in this case ting, and given the diversity of the popula-
Birmingham, and Barking and Dagenham in tion, this practice impacted on many parts of
London) were likely to be much more con- the world. As illustrated in Figure 37.1, our
cerned about increased rates of migration. interview survey of more than 400 migrants
identified people from 63 different countries
The prevailing political-economic geogra- of origin and as many as 73 per cent were
phy of a nation – its uneven development – sending money back home (see also Datta
will thus underlie differential approaches to et al. 2007;Wills et al. 2009a).
immigration in relation to strategies for local
and regional development. Moreover, locally As might be expected, this, and other
based policy-makers will inevitably have a research, has illuminated the extent to which
different view to those determining the laws remittances appear to function as crucial
of the state. Such challenges are further mag- safety nets for households in situations where
nified at the transnational scale, as we outline cash-strapped national governments are unable
further below. or unwilling to provide any ongoing relief
(de Haas 2005; Van Hear and Sørensen 2003).
Remittance-sending In a country like Zimbabwe, for example,
for development? extreme economic deprivation has meant
that nearly half of all households are heavily
Governments in the global South have dependent upon migrant remittances for
increasingly come to view their workers as a their everyday needs (Styan 2007). Migration
resource to be exploited either in situ (via can thus underpin life itself, being essential
local economic development strategies and to survival (and thereby sometimes referred
state-sponsored Export Processing Zones) or to as ‘subsistence remittances’) as well as
by moving abroad. The government of the bringing more lasting development. Indeed,
Philippines has been something of a pioneer a certain level of development is usually nec-
in this respect, promoting the export of essary before remittances are able to generate
labour. Developed over several generations, more general growth and activity beyond the
the country now has a strong culture of household scale. In this regard, researchers
international labour migration in which offi- have documented a potential continuum
cial policies facilitate the out-migration of between so-called ‘unproductive’ and ‘pro-
workers at all skill levels in the expectation ductive’ investments. In the case of the
that these ‘bagong bayani’ or ‘new heroes’ former, remittances are used for essential
will send money back home. Such remit- household expenditure. In the latter, remit-
tances now amount to greater sums than tances have proved important in the purchase
those sent in overseas development assistance of land and housing, and in the development
from the global North to many parts of the of local businesses which can then impact
global South (Datta et al. 2007). Recent fig- on local development rates (de Haas 2006).
ures available from the World Bank suggest
that worldwide remittances exceeded US$ This nexus between remittances and devel-
305 billion in 2008, up from just US$ 2 bil- opment is being increasingly recognised by
lion in 1970 (Ratha 2007;World Bank 2006). governments, banks and public officials. As
This money is now critical to local and an example, Peru has recently pioneered the
Quinto Suyo programme to tap the ambi-
tions of Peruvian migrants resident in the
453
JANE WILLS ET AL.
Figure 37.1 Remittance flows from London to the rest of the world.
Source: Authors’ survey
US, Spain, Italy and Japan, allowing them being remitted back home (see also Taylor
directly to purchase housing in Peru through et al. 1996).Yet remittances also have dangers
collaboration between Peruvian banks and for development in the poorest parts of
foreign intermediaries (Conthe and García the globe. Most obviously, there is evidence
2007). Governments have similarly started to that remittances can intensify inequalities
support the collective development efforts of between migrant and non-migrant house-
migrants themselves. In circumstances in holds with attendant implications for com-
which migrants are already working together munity relations (Osella and Osella 2000). In
to foster development – via informal con- addition, there is a tendency to become
nections, charitable work and hometown increasingly reliant on foreign-earned cash.
associations (Mohan 2008) – some govern- While domestic industries such as construc-
ments are reinforcing this work. In the tion may flourish due to migrant investment
Mexican tres-por-uno (three for one) pro- in housing, for example, such activities simul-
gramme, for example, each ‘migradollar’ taneously become highly dependent upon
sent from abroad is complemented by three migrant remittances (Portes 2001). Such so-
dollars from various governmental levels called ‘productive’ investments can also result
to be spent on local development work in land and housing booms and consequent
(Faist 2008). inflation in sending areas, which further mar-
ginalises non-migrant households without
Such examples illustrate the ways in which remittance income supporting their house-
policy-makers in migrant-sending countries hold (Ballard 2003).A dependency on remit-
are beginning to recognise the potential tances may thus ‘infect’ entire communities
development gains to be made from the with particularly detrimental consequences
money migrants are earning abroad. Indeed, for local economic development, engender-
by providing additional financial and physical ing dependency, a withdrawal from broader
infrastructure, local policy-makers can facili- livelihood opportunities and the neglect of
tate the developmental impact of the money
454
( IM ) M IGRAT ION, L OC AL, R E GION AL AN D U N EV E N D EV E LOPMEN T
any indigenous potential for growth.There is also clear that migration can erode the space
no certainty that remittances will facilitate for ‘high road’ strategies of local and regional
sustainable development or that they will fuel development in destination locations, again
greater equality at local, regional, national or reinforcing uneven development at the sub-
international scales. Moreover, in providing a national scale.
potential source of development funding,
remittances can provide fodder for neoliberal Most obviously, migration is a product of
ideologues who are eager to shift responsibil- uneven development. People are more likely
ity for development from the state to the to move when they are unable to support
poor, with migrants in host countries making themselves in sustainable ways in their place
huge sacrifices in order to bolster ailing of origin, and migrant flows often (although
economies back home (Datta et al. 2007). by no means always) reflect the uneven land-
scape of economic activity. If some poor
(Im)migration and uneven localities and regions lose their labour power
development through (domestic or international) migra-
tion, it can then further reinforce their
Thus far, this chapter has argued that there decline. In their explication of the so-called
are potential synergies between migration ‘brain drain’, for example, scholars and activ-
and local and/or regional development, but ists have highlighted the way in which skilled
also that these synergies are by no means workers in one place are enticed elsewhere,
easy to sustain on the ground. While it is further eroding the skills base of their home-
clear that migrants can provide the labour nation. Given the low skills base in many
power and skills needed to underpin growth, African countries, it is not surprising that
and can generate the capital to support eco- they have taken the lead in voicing these
nomic activities in the global South, it is also concerns, especially with regard to health
very difficult to ensure such positive feed- workers.While the largest global suppliers of
back in practice. As we have seen, policy health personnel are from middle-income
developed at one spatial scale may not suit countries like India, the loss of doctors and
development plans and needs at another; one nurses from poorer countries like Zimbabwe,
group of people may be well served by Guinea-Bisssau and Uganda is deleterious to
migration while others are not; one place wider development goals (Skeldon 2008). As
may benefit from migration while another is many as three-quarters of all native-born
plunged into further decline. Any positive doctors emigrate from Zimbabwe within a
nexus between migration and development few years of qualifying (Farrant et al. 2006)
is thus fraught with potential pitfalls and and more generally, about one-third of all
problems. African graduates now reside outside their
country of birth – rising to as many as 42 per
In this section we argue that there is a ten- cent of skilled Ghanaians, and 36 per cent of
dency for migration to both reflect and per- skilled Nigerians (Grillo and Mazzucato
petuate uneven development at a number of 2008). Migration tends to suck the wealthiest
scales. Moreover, we suggest that despite and best-educated citizens from their homes
recent arguments about the role of ‘brain in the South only to see them work in often
circulation’ (Saxenian 2006) in local and inferior conditions in low or unskilled jobs
regional development, much migration still in the lands of the North – thus contributing
involves the deskilling of migrants that then not only to a ‘brain drain’ but also to ‘brain
further undermines the potential benefits of wastage’. Rather than being a positive cycle,
labour migration for the economic develop- and despite the impact of remittances, migra-
ment of both home and host locations. It is tion can thus be deleterious to local and
economic development in the poorest parts
455
JANE WILLS ET AL.
of the world.There is a danger that migration workers now advocated on the basis of the
reinforces the uneven development it could economic needs of the nation.
otherwise do so much to reduce.
Yet in practice, the UK government has
There is also a danger that the potential provided very little access for the highly
development impact of migration in host skilled from the poorest parts of the world
countries can also be undermined by the who are often unable to meet the points
terms of migration itself, which often leads threshold in relation to their qualifications,
to ‘brain wastage’. A combination of immi- previous salary and English language pro-
gration control, labour market conditions, ficiency, forcing them to take up less qua-
language skills and the non-transferability of lified work. In addition, Saxenian herself
professional qualifications means that many highlights the importance of the local
skilled workers are progressively deskilled regional context into which migrants return.
and de-professionalised when they cross While she documents the traditions of entre-
international borders for work. preneurialism and efforts to foster a business
culture in countries like Taiwan, such local
Research in London, for example, has conditions are often absent in poorer parts
found many graduates working in low-waged of the world. Moreover, as Gertler (2008: 107)
employment in cleaning, catering and hos- suggests, the wider geo-political context in
pitality, facing significant barriers to pro- which economic activity takes place is also
gression in the labour market (Wills et al. critical to the transplantation of business
2009a). The low wages on offer mean that energy and ideas. Thus, while brain circula-
workers are often struggling to survive and tion is certainly possible, thus far at least,
are unable to remit large sums of money it has been characterised by the flows of
back home. It also implies that their skills workers between relatively developed econ-
are not fully exploited in relation to eco- omies (such as India and Taiwan) and the
nomic growth and success. Unless they are global North only in very particular condi-
properly recognised, the resources proffered tions and contexts.
by migrant labour tend to be degraded as
cheap labour, and deskilling means that There are also dangers that immigration
valuable skills are lost. can distort development trajectories in host
country states. In recent years, ‘high road’
On the other hand, recent evidence from strategies have been advocated as a means to
Silicon Valley in the USA suggests that there foster sustainable local and regional eco-
is nothing inevitable about the ‘brain drain’ nomic development through skills, training
or ‘brain wastage’ of skilled migrants as and increased productivity that generate
they move across borders. Instead, the nature increased profits for employers and better
of the immigration regime, the actions of wages for workers in a locally ‘Fordist’ plat-
employers and the state can all help to foster form for growth. It is argued that state-led
what Saxenian (2006) refers to as ‘brain cir- investment in human capital can raise pro-
culation’. Her research among highly skilled ductivity and sustain the wage increases that
information and communication technolog- can generate increased wealth to be shared
ical (ICT) workers exposes the way in which (Malecki 2004; see also Pike et al. 2006).Yet
such migrants can act as conduits to develop- given a supply of cheap workers, there is less
ment in both host and home-nations; taking incentive for policy-makers to pursue the
skills from one place to another, and aug- high road rather than the low road to growth.
menting the scope for innovation and valori- Indeed, in conditions of the oversupply of
sation in both (Saxenian, 2006). Indeed, such cheap labour, there is no labour market pres-
logic has underpinned the recent changes sure for employers to raise wages, improve
in the UK’s immigration regime, outlined training and raise productivity as a means
above, with priority access for highly skilled
456
( IM ) M IGRAT ION, L OC AL, R E GION AL AN D U N EV E N D EV E LOPMEN T
to survive. The free hand of the market Conclusions
tends to reinforce a ‘race to the bottom’ in
labour standards. Thus, despite its great This short overview has explored the rela-
wealth, a city like London has witnessed a tionships between (im)migration and local
sharp deterioration in the wages and condi- and regional development at a number of
tions on offer to the low paid during the past different spatial scales. While there is scope
twenty years.At a time when the city has had for a positive relationship between immigra-
both high rates of local unemployment and tion and development, there are also many
high rates of labour in-migration, low-skilled reasons that negative change can occur. In
labour has been in oversupply. In conditions this context it is important to highlight the
in which there are as many as three low- growth of ‘bottom-up’ community efforts to
skilled workers for each low-skilled job, wages challenge this negative cycle. In London, for
have stagnated and even fallen for those example, migrant workers have sought to
doing the lowest paid jobs (see Wills et al. work with a wide alliance of local people to
2009a, 2009b). tackle this situation through efforts to gener-
ate ‘high-end’ roads to development through
Moreover, given the low wages and poor living wages, and associated increases in
conditions of work for those at the bottom training, productivity and labour market
of the labour market, those who are able to reform (see Wills et al. 2009c; Pattison 2008).
claim benefits have often proved unwilling to Irregular migrants are also organising to
engage in the labour market at all. In review- demand regularisation, giving them the
ing the evidence of the economic impact chance to improve their conditions of work
of immigration on the UK, the House of (Wills et al. 2009a). Such organisation is rep-
Lords’ Select Committee on Economic licated in migrant-sending locations where
Affairs (2008) has been particularly exercised workers and their community bodies are
by these long-term effects of migration. As trying to create sustainable employment
they put it: opportunities, to win living wages from
international corporations and to influence
Immigration, encouraged as a ‘quick the migration process itself (Hale and Wills
fix’ in response to perceived labour 2005). There is also a role for government
and skills shortages reduces employers’ and other agencies in the global South to
incentives to consider and invest in realise the potential development gains from
alternatives. It will also reduce domes- remittances – and returning migrants – with
tic workers’ incentives to acquire the efforts to provide the physical and financial
training and skills necessary to do cer- infrastructure needed to stimulate new eco-
tain jobs. Consequently, immigration nomic activity and reduce the uneven impact
designed to address short term short- of migration itself. As such, community-
ages may have the unintended conse- led strategies have the potential to ensure a
quences of creating the conditions that more positive relationship between migra-
encourage shortages of local workers tion and local and regional development,
in the longer term. North and South.
(House of Lords 2008: 39)
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38
Neoliberal urbanism in Europe
Sara Gonzalez
Introduction forces and free market principles to all areas
of social and economic life. It advocates the
Neoliberal urbanism is a concept increas- free flow of goods, capital and services across
ingly used to describe the progressive priva- the world economy, reduced public spending
tization of public space and public realm and minimal state regulation, particularly in
(housing, civic facilities, etc.) and the com- the labour market. Beyond these common
modification of our cities as profit-making points however, neoliberalism is a slippery
machines. Some authors however believe idea. As it has implanted itself in different
that the particular history and institutional geographical and historical contexts it has
characteristics of European cities make them adapted and changed. Although it initially
at least more resilient to these transforma- emerged in the 1980s as a set of policies to
tions.Through case studies of three European “roll back” (Peck and Tickell, 2002) the state
cities located in three different national con- and enclose public services by the early 1990s
texts, Newcastle (UK), Milan (Italy) and it had morphed into “more socially interven-
Bilbao (Spain), this chapter will look at these tionist and ameliorative forms epitomized by
debates uncovering the chameleonic nature theThirdWay” (ibid.: 41) seeking to “roll out”
of neoliberal urbanism, stressing how it adapts new regulatory policies designed to ensure
and changes in different local governance that markets work effectively (Brenner and
modes. The case studies draw on fieldwork Theodore, 2002).
carried out in three different projects making
this a post-hoc comparative analysis. The Logically, the urban realm does not escape
methodology was qualitative and based on the neoliberal tide.As Harvey (2008) reminds
discourse analysis of main policy documents us capitalism’s ‘creative destructive’ tendency
and interviews with key informants such as is always related to urban restructuring. The
politicians, policy makers and academics. overarching goal of neoliberal urban devel-
opment policies is to “mobilize city space as
European cities as strategic an arena both for market oriented economic
neoliberal sites growth and for elite consumption” (Brenner
and Theodore, 2002: 21). Far from a retreat of
Neoliberalism is a political-economic philo- the state, neoliberal policies are actually either
sophy that seeks the application of competitive carried out or enabled by the public sector
(Moulaert et al., 2003) in a wide range of ways:
460 private–public partnerships, deregulation of
NEOLIBERAL URBANISM IN EUROPE
planning, privatization of housing and liber- all play specific roles in shaping European
alization of rent controls,mega-urban projects, cities (Häussermann and Haila, 2005; Musterd
gentrification, urban surveillance, city mar- and Ostendorf, 2005). In my analysis of three
keting and branding to mention some. European cities I want to find the methodo-
logical middle ground that is able to grasp
In the face of this ‘pessimistic’ diagnosis, a the particular local configuration of actors,
group of European academics has sought to resources and powers that make neoliberalism
question this, according to them, totalizing take root in different ways.
analysis, arguing that in the case of European
cities these neoliberal trends are mitigated. The remaking of the political
This so-called European city perspective economic space of three
seeks to reinvigorate a Weberian theoretical European cities
approach that brings out the specific role of
political and institutional aspects of European Milan, Bilbao and Newcastle are three
cities, toning down the effects of macro- medium-sized European cities embedded
economic structures. The accent is on the in complex scalar choreographies from the
collective actor aspect of European cities as European Union to the neighbourhood
active communities where actors such as level. Significantly, they belong to different
Mayors, Chambers of Commerce or neigh- nation-states with diverse models of social
bourhood associations have path-shaping regulation and regimes of accumulation.
influence (Le Galès, 2002). The European Table 38.1 summarizes key indicators to com-
city approach is also held as a normative pare these cities showing the differences in
project to “disclose the good qualities of terms of demographic trajectories, location
European Cities and to emphasize the politi- in the ‘imaginary’ urban and global hierar-
cal role of cities” (Häussermann and Haila, chies and main economic characteristics. In
2005: 61). The European city approach can the face of current hegemonic discourses of
provide a useful counterpoint to the neolib- urban competitiveness, the three cities suffer
eral urbanism thesis by emphasizing the role from what I term aspirational complex as
of local and regional politics as well as iden- they are neither national capitals nor interna-
tity politics. The different levels and quality tional global centres but medium-sized cities
of welfare systems, housing subsidy schemes, located in secondary exchange networks.
pension systems, political-cultural, land-
ownership patterns, morphological legacies,
Table 38.1 Comparative indicators of Bilbao, Milan and Newcastle
Demographic data Economic data Global rankings
City City-region Demographic “Regional” GDP Urban audit Global connectivity
population population trajectory per capita, PPS
(EU27=100)
Bilbao 351,179 867,777 Growth 31,600 (133.7) No data In the top
3,906,726 set-back 35 European cities
Milan 1,299,633 1,089,300 Recent 31,900 (135.1) Knowledge hub In the top
resurgence 10 Global cities
Newcastle 271,600 Continuous 24,500 (103.7) Transformation No data
decline pole
Source: Compiled by author from Demographic data: Eustat (2006) for Bilbao, Istat (2008) for Office of National
Statistics (2007) for Newcastle and Turok, and Mykhnenko (2007) for demographic trajectory. Economic data:
Eurostat (2009), Global rankings: EC (2007),Taylor (2003),Taylor et al. (2002)
461
SARA GONZALEZ design to place Bilbao in the international
circuits of tourism, conferences and private
Bilbao as a global city investment. Most of the big regeneration
projects in the Bilbao city-region have
A major oil-based manufacturing industrial been funded by the financially autonomous
city in the Basque Country, Bilbao was hit regional and provincial governments, such as
particularly hard by the international indus- the Guggenheim Museum, costing about
trial crisis of the 1970s and by 1986 some $100 million (Zulaika, 1997). Local authori-
towns in the Bilbao city-region reached ties have consciously sought to attract inter-
unemployment rates of 30 per cent (Torres national star architects such as Calatrava,
Enjuto,1995;Rodriguez and Martinez,2003). Foster, Isozaki, Zaha Hadid or Pelli respond-
Following the establishment of democracy ing to the demands of a ‘brand society’
after 40 years of Francoist dictatorship, a according to Bilbao’s Deputy Mayor (Author’s
socialist government introduced a corporate interview, 2008). Former working-class spaces
liberal-internationalist (Holman, 1996) mod- (factories or residential areas) have been
ernization programme consistent with the transformed in the flagship projects for the
destructive moment of neoliberalism in the new Bilbao, ‘rolling out’ the gentrification
form of roll-back. Nationalized industrial frontier from the more traditional bourgeois
companies were privatized and rationalized, neighbourhoods of the city by pushing up rent
a process that was reinforced by Spain’s and property prices (Vicario and Martinez
accession to the European Common Market Monje, 2003).
in 1986. This crisis had a particular spatial
dimension as heavy industry was located Most significant is the city’s adoption of a
along the riverfront and in working-class series of “network forms of local governance
communities of Bilbao. The main steel fac- based upon public–private partnership,‘quan-
tory in the metropolitan area of Bilbao went gos’ and the ‘new public management’ ”
from almost 8,000 permanent contract work- (Brenner and Theodore, 2002: 369). The
ers to 300 in 2002. From the end of the 1980s most important is Bilbao Ría 2000 (BR
a series of regeneration plans concentrated 2000), established in 1992 as a multi-level
on cleaning up these areas and moving the public–public partnership between regional/
industrial port from the river out to the sea, local and central government bodies owning
opening up prime development land. land and planning powers in and around
Bilbao. It functions as a company and aims
From the late 1980s a more creative to generate profits from assembling and
moment of what we can call regionalist neo- selling land to private developers to then
liberalism emerged to “position [the Region] reinvest in other urban projects. Although a
with advantage in the competitive interna- 100 per cent public institution, BR 2000 is
tional context of the most innovative city- a good example of neoliberal urbanist prac-
regions” according to one regional leader tices (increasingly copied abroad: Gonzalez,
(Intxaurraga, 2002: 11). Bilbao, as the largest 2009a). This model is based on land reve-
and economically most important city, was nues (Rodríguez et al., 2001) and therefore
re-invented as a ‘global city’ (BM30, 2001). dependant on a changing market which can
Moderate Basque nationalism (the ruling put revitalization plans in jeopardy even as
force in the region up to recent elections they are carried out (Reviriego, 2008); it has
in 2009) has adapted its traditionally entre- relegated local authorities’ planning depart-
preneurial regionalist claims (del Cerro ments to a secondary role by assuming more
Santamaria, 2007) to a neoliberal context, planning powers in key regeneration areas
investing in innovation, technology and an (Rodriguez et al., 2001); and regeneration
industrial policy inspired by Porter’s cluster has become a predominantly technical affair
theory (Ahedo, 2006). Its urban strategy has
been to use spectacular architecture and
462
NEOLIBERAL URBANISM IN EUROPE
as BR 2000 practitioners are mainly engi- change in its employment structure towards
neers working to a mandate of “maximum smaller firms and the service sector (increas-
efficiency” (ibid.) rather than civic consensus ingly technology and knowledge) (OECD,
or social engagement. Public participation 2006). Workers’ rights and conditions wors-
is not encouraged. It thus represents an ened under the liberalizing labour market,
example of the erosion of “traditional relays following EU policy guidelines and the
of local democratic accountability” (Brenner rescaling of labour bargaining processes from
and Theodore, 2002: 369) as decision making the national to the local scale (such as the
is ‘elitized’, making it easier for business elites ‘Milan Pact’).
to influence development decisions.
Local planning has also shown recent ele-
In Bilbao, the local governance coalition is ments of neoliberal urbanism. From the 1960s
mainly made up of public actors, such as the up to the 1980s there was an attempt to plan
regional and provincial governments, state- comprehensively for the city-region with a
owned railway companies and port authority, strong public intervention sometimes going
and bears the heavy imprint of Basque against real estate interests. This attitude
Nationalist Party control due to their domi- was replaced in the 1980s by a more frag-
nance of both regional government and the mented project-based approach (Balducci,
Bilbao local authority for 30 years. Links 2005) characterized by deregulation of plan-
with the private sector are not formalized ning (PIM, 2004), entrepreneurialism and an
but take place through traditional networks. emphasis on growth (Healey, 2007), leading
The particularities of urban neoliberalism in to a process of urban sprawl and suburbani-
Bilbao combine an economic ‘global’ strat- zation which has seen the city implode to its
egy to place central areas of Bilbao in the outer region into an infinite city (Bonomi
international marketplace while at the same and Abruzzese, 2004) with consequent traffic
time mobilizing a political ‘new regionalist’ and pollution problems (OECD, 2006).
project to bypass the Spanish nation-state.
The lack of planning and governance
Milan, node of a global network capacity in the 1980s was not so much related
to an international neoliberal trend as to
Milan was at the core of Italy’s industrializa- the incapability of weak local governing coa-
tion during the country’s economic miracle litions to put forward strong public visions,
in the 1950s and 1960s hosting large facto- following instead “single economic interests”
ries like Pirelli and Alfa Romeo or important (Dente, 2005: 320). Besides, a clientelistic
infrastructures like the Exhibition Fair, all corruption network led by the governing
of which employed a large part of the popu- Socialist Party was discovered in Milan (Foot,
lation providing a social and cultural ferment 2001), the scandal bringing down the entire
to the city. During the 1980s many of these national political system. Subsequently local
industrial referents began to relocate out of governance in Milan has been dominated
the centre of Milan, triggering a fast process by right-wing and regionalist parties more
of deindustrialization and deproletarianiza- interested in efficient urban management
tion; between 1971 and 1989, industrial jobs including privatization and outsourcing of
in the Province of Milan fell by 280,000 local services than integrative urban planning
(Foot, 2001). Like in Bilbao, this change had (Dente, 2005). With these political scandals
a particular spatial footprint, hitting jobs in and the city’s recent decline as a centre for
neighbourhoods and municipalities in the international innovation, Milan “seems to
North of Milan, but unlike Bilbao, there was have lost part of its historical drive’’ (OECD,
not so much severe unemployment as a 2006: 12).
In response, a new spirit has emerged
among sections of the local elite who are
463
SARA GONZALEZ Newcastle, a European cultural
and knowledge city
now presenting Milan as a ‘node in a global
network’ of knowledge and communication, Newcastle and its region has the lowest
encouraged by Peter Taylor’s (2004) ranking GVA (gross value-added) output per head
of Milan as the eighth city in the world in in England as well as some of the highest
terms of global connectivity (Gonzalez,2009). rates of child poverty, welfare dependency,
This has given impetus and coherence to a unemployment and long-term sickness. Like
series of otherwise disconnected big urban much of Northern England, the city has
projects. One of these projects is the Inter- suffered from a long period of economic
national Expo 2015 under the slogan “Milan, decline (Robinson, 2002) since the 1930s,
world city-metropolis” which, according transforming from a “booming core in the
to the Head of Planning of Milan, has started 19th century to a marginalized and near-bust
a new “magical moment” for “ascending periphery by the end of the 20th century”
Milan” according to Masseroli (Carbonaro, (Hudson, 2005: 581).The city and the region
2008: 5). Other projects include the Fashion have been constant public policy targets, from
City, the New Exhibition Fair and the regen- interventionist and top-down regional poli-
eration of various ex-industrial or exhibition cies after the Second World War to a more
spaces within the city (Balducci,2005;Healey, entrepreneurial urban policy (Martin, 1993).
2007; Gonzalez, 2009). We find the tradi- This was exemplified most strongly in the
tional mix of famous architects and landmark work of the Urban Development Corpora-
architectures with little respect for the sur- tions (UDCs), one of which is located in
rounding communities, limited consultation Newcastle, central government appointed
and piecemeal approach (Balducci, 2005), agencies to take control of large former
risking turning Milan into a “free for all city” industrial areas and docklands (Imrie and
(Rete Comitati milanesi, 2007). Environ- Thomas,1993) and prioritizing private sector
mental campaigners fear the Expo is already needs, growth over redistribution, physical
giving more momentum to the construction over social development and effectively sup-
of mega-developments,such as a new regional planting democratically elected local authority
super-motorway (Legambiente, 2009). planning powers (Deas et al., 2000). In the
Newcastle region, they also had a strong role
The governing local coalition in Milan is in the deindustrialization of the region, turn-
made up of a loose public–private partner- ing many industrial sites into residential or
ship embedded in clientelistic and sometimes commercial spaces (Byrne, 1999).
corruption-ridden networks (Piana, 2005)
where the impetus comes mainly from the UDCs and other similar regeneration
local business class and national corporations. strategies have also contributed to the aim of
But the coalition has also stretched out geo- breaking up “the bastions of Labour-union
graphically to encompass national and inter- support” (Healey, 1994: 187) and traditional
national developers, further weakening the industrial working-class culture in Newcastle.
voice of local actors and those outside the With the arrival of New Labour, nationally
property market arena (Pasqui, 2006). Like in driven regeneration programmes have deve-
Bilbao, local elites see in these schemes a loped a more social approach, specifically
glocal project to bypass the nation-state and targeting deprived working-class communities
position Milan as a global city in the interna- in Newcastle through welfare to work-types
tional sphere. This is linked to a localist/ of policies and bringing in middle-class popu-
regionalist form of entrepreneurial politics lation through tenure mix and gentrification.
favoured by the right-wing conservatives and The West End of Newcastle, for example,
regionalist parties who seamlessly combine has been subject to 17 different government
neoliberal policies with a strong attachment
to the local territory (Gonzalez, 2009).
464
NEOLIBERAL URBANISM IN EUROPE
programmes amounting to over £500m The local governance coalition in
from 1979 to 2000 (Coaffee, 2004). Some of Newcastle is formed by the local authority,
this funding has attempted to engage poor central government and myriad partnerships
communities in urban governance, a strategy and quangos that run regeneration budgets
that Gough (2002) considers a neoliberal and deliver social services. As a highly cen-
“top-down community socialization”, by tralized country, central government still
integrating the poor into low-wage labour controls most of the budget and Newcastle
relationships, disciplining the youth and de- City Council has relatively little financial
politicizing class struggle. Other programmes, autonomy, often dependent on private devel-
this time initiated by the local authority, such opers to shape and take the lead in urban
as Going for Growth, have directly advocated development (Gonzalez and Vigar, 2008)
for demolition of working-class housing and with real estate development typically domi-
gentrification (Cameron, 2003). nated by large landowners and construction
(Healey, 1994). Despite the regional devolu-
Most of the symbolic regeneration efforts tion process from 1997, regional institutions
to place Newcastle in the international are still relatively weak, largely unaccountable
sphere and change its industrial image have and generally business-led. In sum, the local
been focused in the waterfront along the governance coalition in Newcastle is more
River Tyne. From a so-called ‘no-go area’, public sector dependent than in other English
it has been turned into the centre of cities and constrained by financial restric-
Newcastle’s corporatized nightlife, with bars, tions and the power of national and big
nightclubs and restaurants (Byrne and landowners and construction industries.
Wharton, 2004; Chatterton and Hollands,
2003), expensive flats and cultural attractions Conclusions: Neoliberal
(a music centre designed by the ubiquitous ‘Eurbanism’?
global architect Norman Foster, a contem-
porary art gallery and an iconic bridge). Returning to the discussion at the beginning
Here public investment has led the way in of the chapter, it is clear that the three cities
redefining the internal and external identity demonstrate an array of ‘mechanisms of neo-
of a former industrial site in the hope of liberal localization’ as identified by Brenner
attracting private development, tourists and and Theodore (2002). But can we say that
residents (Miles, 2005), an example of which there is a homogenizing trend of neoliberal
was Newcastle’s bid to host European Capital urbanization in Europe? And is it distinc-
for Culture in 2008.Another parallel strategy tively European?
in recent years is the ‘Science City’ project,
which aims to turn Newcastle into “one of All three cities have opted for urban mega-
the world’s premier locations for the integra- projects to attract private investors and have
tion of science, business and economic devel- relied on mega-urban events (European
opment” (Strategy for Success, 2007). Partly Capital of Culture bid and EXPO) or sym-
funded by central government and regional bolic icons (the Guggenheim) to initiate and
agencies, it aims to create areas of scientific sustain urban regeneration. In effect, a rather
interest for the private sector drawing similar new urban landscape is being built by
on neoliberal-inspired regional innovation the same global star architects, resulting in
policy ideas such as the‘triple helix’(Moulaert what Muñoz (2008) calls urbanalization, the
and Sekia, 2003) but the OECD (2006a) repetition of similar branded, financially effi-
has already deemed it ambitious.The project cient and disconnected landscapes for con-
has also created a real estate development sumption. At the same time, their respective
opportunity freeing up the site of the former existing urban fabrics are rich enough to
Tyne Brewery.
465
SARA GONZALEZ
preserve local distinctiveness, and all have constructing instead various typologies that
experienced political contestation with civil correspond more with the economic hierar-
society winning some important victories. chy of the cities or the particular national
situations (EC, 2007;Turok and Mykhnenko,
Regeneration in all three cities has been 2007). Our analysis here confirms that the
based to an extent on rolling forward the nation-state and wider and more traditional
gentrification frontier to working-class areas, geo-categories like ‘southern Europe’ are
more decisively and state-led in Newcastle, still at play. So, in conclusion we seem to find
and less clearly in Milan and Bilbao, where a process of homogenization and neoliberal
public housing stock is anyway marginal and convergence in terms of urban governance
therefore gentrification has happened more practices, new landscapes, discourses of com-
as a by-product. petitiveness and the emergence of cities as
strategic economic centres. The European
New forms of urban governance have City approach’s critique of this convergence
emerged in all three cities involving more holds if one sees neoliberalism as a relatively
actors, particularly from the private and com- monolithic phenomenon but, as argued by
munity sector.This is particularly the case in Peck and Theodore (2007: 757): “a process-
Newcastle while in Milan and Bilbao this is based conception – sensitive to conjuncture,
again not a top-down trend but takes place contingency, and contradiction – are less
through ad-hoc institutional arrangements. vulnerable to such blunt critiques, since they
In the three cities, but mostly so in Milan are explicitly concerned with the manner
followed by Bilbao, there has been an in which (partially realized) causal processes
internationalization of governance practices generate uneven and divergent outcomes.”
with international developers, architects, There are, therefore, differences in the insti-
policy gurus, academics and private compa- tutional settings where neoliberalization is
nies having a bigger say about the trajectories taking root giving way to different localized
of the cities. ‘neoliberal eurbanisms’: a process of central
state-led neoliberalization in Newcastle; a
One of the most striking similarities market-led neoliberal regionalism in Milan
among the three cities is the use of interna- and a (local) state-led neoliberal regionalism
tional competitiveness discourses and their in Bilbao.
aim to scale up the international hierarchy of
cities. Bilbao has been re-imagined as a global In the face of the global economic down-
city and Milan as a hub in an international turn, however, neoliberal urbanist policies
network while Newcastle aspires to be a are failing: the construction industry in Spain
world-class science and innovation centre. is in crisis, flagship regeneration projects
But the reasons and mechanisms for this are across the UK have been mothballed and the
different. In Milan and Bilbao, local and Milan Expo 2015 is being questioned by
regional elites combine an entrepreneurial environmentalists and architects. The reces-
approach with a strong attachment to the sion can indeed open up space for alterna-
local territory. It is therefore local forces who tives. The opportunities, however, arise in
push for neoliberal policies in order to jump different contexts and different forms as
scales not necessarily ‘protecting’ European the myriad protests, movements, factory
cities from neoliberal policies (as suggested occupations, etc. today express (Mayer, 2009).
by the European City approach) but, on the The challenge is therefore – as ever – to find
contrary, I would argue in the cases of Bilbao alliances and linkages between localized
and Milan, reappropriating them. demands and global claims. Recently Harvey
(2008: 40) has promoted Lefebvre’s slogan
It is difficult to assess whether these iden- of the “The Right to the City” as “both
tified trends are particularly European.
Recent reports on European cities have been
unable to find common trends across cities,
466
NEOLIBERAL URBANISM IN EUROPE
working slogan and political ideal”, demand- Balducci, A. (2005) “Una visione per la regione
ing “greater democratic control over the milanese,” in M. Magatti et al. (eds) Milano,
production and utilization of the surplus” nodo della rete globale, Milan: Bruno Mondadori,
(ibid.: 37). This goes radically beyond the 231–264.
normative (and conservative) ambitions of
the ‘European city’ approach. Similarly, BM30 (2001) Bilbao as a Global City. Making
Uitermark (2009) argues that a ‘just city’ Dreams Come True, Bilbao: BM30.
(different to the ‘good city’ or the ‘sustainable
city’) is one in which there is an equitable Bonomi, A. and Abruzzese, A. (2004) La città
allocation of scarce resources and where resi- infinita, Milan: Bruno Mondadori.
dents have control over their living environ-
ment.The decommodification of the housing Brenner, N. and Theodore, N. (2002) Spaces of
market must be the central idea in an alter- Neoliberalism: Urban Restructuring in North
native urban and regional kind of develop- America and Western Europe, Oxford: Blackwell.
ment (Hodkinson, 2010). But there are
plenty of other ideas currently being experi- Byrne, D. (1999) “Tyne and Wear UDC – turning
mented (Leitner et al.,2007):transition towns, the uses inside out: active deindustrialisation
participatory budgeting, slow cities, urban and its consequences,” in R. Imrie and T. Huw
farming, self-managed social centres and fac- (eds) British Urban Policy:An Evaluation of the Urban
tories, etc. It is difficult to see, however, how Development Corporations, London: Sage, 128–143.
local initiatives could amount to a radical
change within the current capitalist system. Byrne, D. and Wharton, C. (2004) “Loft living –
As Marcuse (2009: 187) argues it is a bit Bombay calling: culture, work and everyday
pointless to imagine a less greedy capitalism life on post-industrial Tyneside. A joint
as “greed is not an aberration of the system; it polemic,” Capital and Class, 84, 191–198.
is what makes the system go”. A just urban
and regional development must therefore be Cameron, S. (2003) “Gentrification, housing
imagined beyond the current system which redifferentiation and urban regeneration:
makes predicting exactly how it would ‘going for growth’ in Newcastle upon Tyne,”
exactly be very difficult beyond several rather Urban Studies, 20, 2367–2382.
general ideas:
Carbonaro, M. (2008) “l’effeto-Expo sulla ‘Milano
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experiences of merging area-based and
(Marcuse, 2009: 195) city-wide partnerships in urban policy,” The
International Journal of Public Sector Management,
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Blackwell. (Presentation of framework and
case study work from the ‘European city’
school.)
469
39
Gender, migration and socio-spatial
transformations in Southern European cities
Dina Vaiou
Introduction and opportunities. The vital contribution of
migrants to the productive structures of
In the context of processes implied in the Southern European cities and regions is not
term “globalization”, Southern European discussed here but it is taken as an indis-
countries, formerly “sending” economic pensable backdrop (for an elaboration see
migrants to the European and global North, Hadjimichalis 2006b).
have become“receiving”of ever more diverse
flows: temporary and transnational migrants, I first discuss some features of an emerging
“sans papiers”, refugees, human trafficking “Mediterranean model” of migration which
circuits, as well as movements of elite groups. accounts for much of the economic success
Women’s migration forms an important part in Southern Europe since the 1990s; then
in these flows,leading to modified approaches these features are further elaborated in rela-
of migrant movement/settlement as well tion to local development through examples
as representations of “the migrant”. These drawn from research in Athens (Vaiou et al.
processes deeply affect the ways in which 2007) and references to Barcelona and
local development may be examined and Naples; in a third step, the gendering of
evaluated in Southern European cities, where migrant settlement experiences is examined
migrants are primarily directed. in relation to socio-spatial transformations.
Athens is used as “canvas” to discuss patterns
Local development as it is approached in of migrant settlement and dynamics of local
this chapter does not refer to industrial dis- development. This tactic does not lead to a
tricts, innovative success stories and dynamic comparative study nor does it intend to
enterprise clusters, as is the case in the vast underestimate differences among cities and
literature accumulated since the 1970s (for homogenize diverse experiences of migra-
a review see Hadjimichalis 2006a; also tion. It is rather an attempt to go beyond
Becattini et al. 2003). The term is rather widespread arguments about“deviance”from
used as a reference to the ways in which mainstream patterns and “idiosyncratic”char-
migrant women and men, as active agents, acteristics and critically examine the ways
develop practices of survival and integration in which alternative understandings may be
within and beyond the economy, combin- developed about recent development patterns
ing in different ways global/local constraints in Southern European cities.
470
GENDER, M IGRAT I O N A N D SOC IO-S PATIA L TR AN S FOR MATION S
A Mediterranean model? seen as a “cause” or a parameter of attraction,
rather than as an effect of the new migratory
The changing nature of global migrant flows (see among many Reyneri 1998).
movements after 1989 alongside specific
local development patterns in Southern Migrants are attracted to Southern
European countries has led many research- European countries, on the assumption that
ers to talk of a “Southern European” or it is easy to make a living, or even make
“Mediterranean”model of migration (among money, even without a residence/work
many see King 2000, Macioti and Pugliese permit. Finding an informal job comes out
1991, Bettio et al. 2006, Tastsoglou and prominently in many migrants’ own accounts
Hadjiconstanti 2003). Differences among about the reasons for choosing particular
countries and particular localities are signi- countries and places. Opportunities and
ficant, while the complex geographies of earnings vary among countries and localities
movement/settlement cannot be understood but there are widespread expectations that,
in a simple North–South scheme, especially sooner or later, they can somehow regularize
in view of the recent transit flows. However, their status (see, for example, Pugliese
common features can be identified, three of (2002) for Italy, Martinez Veiga (1998) for
which are discussed here: the informal, cities Spain, Bagavos and Papadopoulou (2006) for
as migrants’ destinations and the growing Greece) – an expectation which has so
demand for female labor. far been verified, at least in part, through
a series of “legalization processes” which
The attractions of the informal aim to regulate migrants’ status and, mainly,
to restrict new entries.
Informal activities and practices are an
important historical feature of Southern The main requisite in order to acquire a
European economies and societies and form residence/work permit is a legal employ-
part of dynamic and innovative processes of ment contract and proof of having paid social
local development (for a detailed discussion of security contributions for a specified period
the multiple meanings and uses of the term of time (Solé et al. 1998, Pavlou and
“informal”, see Vaiou and Hadjimichalis Christopoulos 2004), a result of which is the
1997/2003). Through such practices large fragilization of the legal status of migrants
social groups have found ways of integration who often oscillate between legality and ille-
not only in the labor market, but also in gality. They seem to be caught in a vicious
broad areas of social and economic life, cycle between a growing demand for (infor-
including access to housing and property, mal) low-paid, flexible labor and the repro-
ways of avoiding taxation and circumventing duction of that demand also through the
bureaucratic procedures, and securing caring migrants’ acceptance of informal jobs – for
services for children, the sick, the old and lack of alternatives outside the informal.
the disabled. In short, the informal has been Despite differences among migrant groups,
central in the development of a know-how to do with particular migration strategies and
of survival which legitimated, among other individual or family projects,women migrants
things, the limited and sometimes controver- seem to be more vulnerable than men in this
sial involvement of the state, the latter going vicious cycle.
hand in hand with limited expectations from,
or in some cases mistrust towards, the state. Migrant settlement in Southern
Therefore, informal practices enjoy wide- European cities
spread social acceptance and they have to be
An important aspect of recent migrations to
Southern Europe – and one that remains less
471
DINA VAIOU
discussed – is the settlement of migrants in hence a renewed interest in the much con-
central areas of cities. In the 1990s, metro- tested notion of “neighborhood”, which is
politan areas, like Milan, Rome, Naples, also reflected in EU policies of the early
Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon,Athens, and many 1990s (examples here include projects like
smaller cities have begun to host a multi- the Quartiers en crise or Développement
ethnic/multi-cultural urban population of social urbain).
various origins, with profound effects on
urban dynamics. The literature on these A growing demand for
effects emphasizes mainly segregation and/or “female labor”
spatial marginalization of migrants, especially
when it refers to the beginning of the 1990s Feminization of migration has been singled
(see, for example, Malheiros 2000, Iosifidis out as one of the major general trends in
and King 1998). In many cases arguments are recent migrations (Castles and Miller (1993)
drawn from Northern European cities, for among the first), referring to women moving
which there is much more evidence, both independently from men and/or families,
for earlier and for more recent migrations. albeit in widely different proportions among
Southern patterns, however, do not seem to different ethnic groups. Since the early 1980s,
verify a simple geography of urban center– in Southern Europe this presence is related
periphery division, based as they are on dif- to demographic and economic changes which
ferent histories of urban development and have led to a growing demand for female
modes of urban governance particular to spe- labor, particularly in cities, for a restricted
cific cities and their respective countries. range of “women’s jobs”, most prominently
domestic helpers, carers and “entertainers”.
After the Second World War, many Low birth rates and high life expectancy
Southern European cities have followed pro- gradually led to an aging population in need
cesses of “additive growth”, with a consider- of caring, at a time when local women have
ably reduced influence of central plans and been entering paid work at an ever increas-
provisions (Leontidou 1990). Such processes ing pace (Bettio and Plantenga 2004), thus
have contributed to the growth of neighbor- contributing to a general rise of the standards
hoods with poor social and technical infra- of living. In this context, caring and domestic
structures; at the same time they account for labor cannot be accommodated in the con-
a certain homogeneity of urban space with text of families, in line with the familistic
limited divisions and tensions. It is in such model of welfare, prominent in Greece, Spain
areas that post-1989 migrants seek to settle. and Italy, and to a lesser degree Portugal.
Formerly unused spaces in apartment blocks The state is a “carer of the last resort”, as
and other buildings become re-integrated in Bettio et al. (2006: 272) call it, in a system
urban life and new activities diversify urban based mainly on monetary transfers (pen-
realities. Migrants do not settle in some sions, subsidies, etc.).
remote periphery, but rather in centrally
located socially mixed neighborhoods, with The caring gap which develops in the
diverse typologies of housing stock and many last decades is partially covered by migrant
opportunities to find a job in an extensive women from Eastern Europe and the Balkans
and varied formal and informal labor market, in Greece, from Latin America in Spain, from
as well as better possibilities to escape controls. Africa in Italy, from former colonies in
A relatively fast improvement in housing Portugal. It is to these areas of work that a
conditions becomes a prime parameter for lot of recent research has been devoted
social integration, supporting ideas that inte- (among many, Andall 2000, Campani 2000,
gration in the city takes place before integra- Papataxiarchis et al. 2008, Parella Rubio
tion in the host society (Germain 2000);
472
GENDER, M IGRAT I O N A N D SOC IO-S PATIA L TR AN S FOR MATION S
2003, Ribas 1999), combining a variety of A closer look at migrant settlement within
sources and methods and highlighting a vari- the municipality of Athens reveals interesting
ety of aspects and perspectives. Migrant patterns to do with the forms of concentra-
women’s labor covers caring needs, at prices tion (Figure 39.2). An extensive nucleus is
which make it accessible even to lower immediately identifiable in an area which
income households, securing at the same includes the “heart of the city” and a range of
time a rather stable income for themselves neighborhoods at its immediate vicinity.The
and their own families. By the same token it latter are part of the intensive urban growth
contributes to a new gendered model of of the 1960s and 1970s and retain a strong
caring, which remains in the context of fam- presence of local households. Some 215 eth-
ilies and among women and leaves men nicities have been identified in the resident
mostly uninvolved. migrant population, with Albanians being
the vast majority (51.1 percent), followed
The features of the “Mediterranean at a distance by Poles and Bulgarians (5.0 per-
model” briefly sketched above account for cent and 3.8 percent respectively), with quite
migrants’ practices which form part of local different migration patterns and gender
development in the places where they settle composition.
for longer or shorter periods of time, i.e., in
multi-functional and socially mixed central A similar pattern has been identified in
neighborhoods of Southern European cities. Barcelona where most of the recent migrants
Informal practices and employment patterns, have settled in the city itself and in the poorer
small family businesses, modes of access to parts of the Old City (Ciutat Vella) from
housing, networks of mutual support and where locals and internal migrants of the
exchange of caring services all point to pat- previous decades had partially left (Fullaondo
terns which are historically embedded in and Elordui 2003; for mappings at various
these places and highly gendered. However, scales see Martori et al. 2005, Elordui and
they acquire new dynamics and modalities Cladera 2006). In Naples, migrants who are
as they mix with migrants’ different habits, in “transit” and intend to move soon to the
cultures, ways of doing and being in the Centre or North of Italy tend to settle in
city – which are further examined in the housing complexes in the periphery, already
next section. abandoned by locals and run down. When
their plan is to stay more permanently, how-
Athens and other Southern ever, they seek low-cost housing in very cen-
European cities tral neighborhoods (Schmoll 2008).
As already mentioned, cities in Southern In these central, densely populated and
Europe receive the bulk of recent migrants, socially mixed areas support networks and
thus becoming a prime site of major trans- integration mechanisms from below are in
formations. In 2001 and according to the operation,along with (and sometimes against)
population census, migrants were 7.5 per- policies from above. Migrants’ activities and
cent of the population resident in Greece (or everyday practices contribute to new dynam-
797,000 people) and 11 percent of the ics and to the constitution of places-within-
population of Greater Athens (or 321,000 places, in the cities of destination where
people), although many researchers consider women’s involvement is determinant. This
these figures an underestimate.Almost half of last remark aims to underline the particular
the migrants residing in Greater Athens live ways in which women and men interpret,
in the central municipality of Athens and not live and attribute meanings to the spaces of
in some remote periphery (Figure 39.1). the everyday, the neighborhoods of their
new settlement.Three interrelated aspects of
their contribution to local development are
473
DINA VAIOU
Figure 39.1 Migrant distribution in the municipalities of Greater Athens (% of total migrant population).
Source: Vaiou et al. (2007). Adapted from Population Census data (2001)
discussed here: revitalization of the housing however, never reached the dimensions of an
market, intensification of local commercial “exodus” (Emmanuel 2002). It rather led to
activity and the intensive (re)use of public successive reorderings of the built stock in
spaces. many central neighborhoods, such as manu-
facturing micro-firms in basements and
Revitalization of the lower floors of apartment buildings or, later,
housing market empty flats. Such restructurings kept prices
low and attracted students, lower income
The influx of migrants to the city center cre- households and, after 1990, migrants.
ates a considerable demand for housing, par-
ticularly after a first period of temporary Migrants live in basements and lower
arrangements, in the case of Athens in cheap floors of the same apartment buildings in
hotels, overcrowded and rundown flats and which students and professional premises
even public squares. The municipality of (lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc.) occupy the
Athens, like most historic centers of Greek middle ones, while higher income, mainly
cities, includes a rich typology of urban elderly households remain in the upper
neighborhoods, resulting from a complex set floors – a pattern which contradicts theor-
of micro-local histories. After 1980, young etical arguments of gentrification based on
households with better incomes started rent gaps (e.g. Smith 1996). Migrants have
moving towards suburban areas, in search of upgraded through personal labor many old
better living environments. This movement, flats and paid higher rents than were proper
for what they rented, usually in older apart-
474 ment blocks. Initially, newcomers usually
GENDER, M IGRAT I O N A N D SOC IO-S PATIA L TR AN S FOR MATION S
Figure 39.2 Migrant concentration in the municipality of Athens (LQs)
Source: Vaiou et al. (2007). Adapted from Population Census data (2001)
cohabited with friends or relatives and/or the possibilities for contacts and networking
sought smaller and cheaper flats and, most in the context of everyday activities (Coppola
importantly, owners who would accept them. 1999). In a similar vein, in the neighborhood
As their job situation and incomes became of Raval in the Old City of Barcelona prop-
more stable, they looked for better housing erty prices had gone down due to the run-
conditions, usually in the same neighbor- down condition of old stock – which attracted
hood, where networks and ties were already incoming migrants, mainly single men. The
being established (Vaiou et al. 2007). latter formed a first link in migrant networks,
attracting more migrants who looked for
The case of Neapolitan “bassi” is indica- housing near their compatriots. This process
tive of how migrants have contributed to put led to rent increases and to the re-insertion
back into the property market stock which in the market of premises that were in poor
was unused or poorly used and partially condition (Garcia Armand 2005).
devalued. The difficult living conditions in
these flats are compensated by the centrality After more than two decades since the end
of their location and the opportunities to of the 1980s, there is an observable tendency
earn a living that the city center offers for migrants to buy flats in older apartment
(Peraldi 2001).They are also compensated by buildings, where prices per square meter are
475
DINA VAIOU
lower. Albanian households in Athens are 25 percent migrant population, 53 such
the main protagonists in this process, since shops were identified in an area of about 700
they tend to pursue longer term migration by 700 meters. These shops not only serve
projects, and women among them are key the different ethnic groups living in the area,
actors. In a situation of limited household but also a broader community of customers
resources, women’s work, predominantly as from the immediate vicinity and sometimes
domestic helpers and carers, yields a much from other parts of the city.
more stable income (and possibilities to save)
than men’s seasonal or occasional work Mini-markets, bakeries, money transfer
mainly in construction; on the other hand, offices, call centers, hairdressing salons, bar-
and in this context, women have a decisive bers, video clubs, internet cafes, fast-food
say in matters of housing (location, size, inter- stands, (ethnic) restaurants – all seem to fill a
nal arrangement, etc.), not only “here” (in gap in the market, exceeding the local areas
the place of destination), but also “there” and the specific ethnic communities. These
(in the place of origin), where they also shops attract customers through specialized
invest in housing purchase and/or improve- offers, long opening hours, higher quality
ment. In interviews with Albanian and service and affordable prices. They also play
Bulgarian women this continuous concern a stabilizing role in the neighborhood: they
with securing better housing conditions make the migrants’ presence more visible,
“back home” comes out vividly; it clearly promote different selling/buying habits and
determines practices of income spending in usually function as points of reference for
both places and affects housing markets in various groups of migrants and as contact
several cities and towns of the Balkans and places between migrants and locals. At the
former USSR where most migrant women same time they are important employment
in Athens come from. Remittances not only and income generators. In this process
cover immediate survival needs “there”, but migrant women are again key actors, both
also trigger developments in the housing as consumers and as workers, in “family busi-
market and the growth of construction activ- nesses” or in shops of their own.
ity, with significant multiplier effects.
The majority of migrant women living in
Intensification of commercial Kypseli are employed: more than 70 percent
activity of women from the Balkans (but 49 percent
of women from Albania who usually come
As migrants settle more permanently, they with their families), 50–70 percent of women
begin to contribute to local economies from Africa and Poland (but less than 30 per-
through their activities and their incomes cent of women from Arab countries). Their
mostly spent locally, with immediate effects paid work may take them to any part of the
on local shops and services. It has been esti- metropolitan area, but their daily activities as
mated that migrants accounted for 1.1 per- “homemakers” evolve mostly in the neigh-
cent out of the 4.5 percent GDP growth in borhood: in local shops, in the weekly open
the 1990s (Labrianidis and Lyberaki 2001). markets, in municipal health consultancies,
Extensive fieldwork in neighborhoods of schools and other services. They not only
Athens, including detailed land use mapping, buy for day-to-day needs “here”, but also
revealed a considerable number of shops invest in consumer goods and appliances
addressed to migrants, as well as shops owned for homes “back home”; for the latter case
or run by them (Vaiou et al. 2007). In one neighborhood shops are preferred, even
such neighborhood, Kypseli, with more than though they may be somewhat more expen-
sive, because items can be paid off through
476 monthly installments, which are made possi-
ble through personal contacts with local
GENDER, M IGRAT I O N A N D SOC IO-S PATIA L TR AN S FOR MATION S
shop-owners. And it is women rather than space full of tourists (who visit the adjacent
men who determine such decisions to Museum of Modern Art or the Centro
spend family or personal income, based on de Cultura Contemporana de Barcelona)
short- and longer term projects. and students from the nearby Department
of Geography and History of the University
Similar processes of migrant women’s of Barcelona (“Un barrio con futuro”, spe-
involvement as consumers and as workers in cial issue of the local newspaper El Raval,
local commercial activities and services are November 7, 2007).
identified for the Old City of Barcelona
(Aramburu 2002). Women may be earning In Athens particular micro-spaces are
their income all around the city, as domestic appropriated, regularly or occasionally, by
helpers, carers of elderly people, employees different ethnic groups in all the central
in shops and services, but they spend locally, public squares, parks and gardens. In the
in the immediate vicinity of their home neighborhood of Kypseli two different public
(Garcia Armand 2005). In their role as spaces illustrate emerging development pat-
“homemakers” they not only contribute to terns: the main square and the municipal
an intense local commercial activity, but also market (the agora). The agora, a covered
to a slow but visible change of attitudes. market which for many years was a landmark
Examples like these help explore the“hidden” for the area, was occupied in December 2006
aspects of place-making which relate to by local left-wing activists to prevent its
household processes and extend over space at demolition by the Municipality and to stop a
various scales. plan to build an office block and a large
underground garage. The act initiated a
Intensive use of public spaces broader mobilization in the neighborhood
(and beyond) demanding public spaces and
The numerous presence of migrants in public defending a site of collective memory. It now
spaces of Southern European cities has been works as a self-managed social center and
an important part of urban transformations hosts various cultural, political and artistic
since the early 1980s (for Italy) and 1990s projects and events of local and city-wide
(for Greece and Spain). At times, public reach (Figure 39.3). Migrants from the area
squares and parks are used as temporary are active in the center, which has become a
sleeping places for newcomers, usually men; meeting point with locals, while the evening
but most intensely they are used as meeting school offering free courses of Greek lan-
and recreation spaces for various ethnic guage by volunteer teachers contributes to
groups who thus make their presence visible build contacts among people of various
to other migrants as well as to locals. Piazza ethnic backgrounds.
Municipio or Galleria Umberto in Naples
are associated with the presence of Somalis The main square of Kypseli, one of the
and Eritreans respectively, while the area of very few public open spaces in the neighbor-
the Central Station, characterized by a con- hood, is bustling again with activity since the
tinuous presence of migrants from Senegal early 1990s. Migrant children from a variety
and the Maghreb, is thought by many to be of countries and places communicate in a
an “arabized” locality (Cattedra and Laino whole host of languages and body move-
1994). Plaza dels Ángels or Plaza dels ments, while their mothers learn to accept
Caramelles in the Raval are intensely fre- different playing habits, “other” attitudes
quented by women migrants from Pakistan, towards children, “strange” ways of sitting
Bangladesh, the Philippines or Latin America and socializing. Repopulation of the square
who oversee their children playing in a public by migrant women and children has brought
back also local, mainly elderly women, hesi-
tant in the beginning but later eager to reuse
477
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