Journal Article

Enhancing urban autonomy

MacLeod, Gordon, McFarlane, Colin, Luque-Ayala, Andrés, Bulkeley, Harriet

2018

Overview

As the 21st Century world assumes an increasingly urban landscape, the question of how definitive urban spaces are to be governed intensifies. At the heart of this debate lies a question about the degree and type of autonomy that towns and cities might have in shaping their economic, environmental, social and cultural geography. This paper aims to examine this question. Starting with the premise that the degree of autonomy any particular town or city has is inherently an empirical question – one which can only be conceptualised in relational terms vis-á-vis the distributed, networked and territorialised responsibilities and powers of the city and the nation-state and other zones of connection – we examine four different contexts where debates over autonomy have intensified in recent history (Brazil, UK, India and South Africa). Drawing on recent respective histories, we identify key elements and enablers in the making of urban autonomy: a characteristic that exists in a variety of guises and forms and creates a patchwork landscape of differentially powerful fragments. We reveal how, beyond its characteristic as a political ideal, autonomy surfaces as a practice that emerges from within specific sectors of particular societies and through their relationship with national and regional politics. Four alternative forms of urban autonomy are delineated: fragmented, coerced (or enclave), distributed and networked. We contend that the spatial templates for autonomy are not predetermined but can be enhanced in multiple different sites and forms of political space within the city. This enhancement appears essential for the integration and strengthening of capacities for sustainable and just forms of development throughout the urban. 随着 21 世纪的世界日益城市化，如何治理明确的城市空间的问题日益突出。这一争论的核心是关于城镇在形塑自身经济、环境、社会和文化地理方面可具有的自治程度和类型的问题。本文旨在探讨这个问题。任何特定城镇的自治程度本质上都是一个经验问题，只能通过关系来理解，而无法通过城市、民族国家和其他人类聚合体的分布式、网络化和地域化责任和权力来理解。以此为前提，我们考察了巴西、英国、印度和南非这四个近年来对自治的争论激化的国家。我们参照这些国家近年来的历史，确定了城市自治的关键要素和推动力：一种以各种面貌和形式存在的特征，创造出了由各种强力碎片拼凑而成的格局。我们揭示，自治不但是一种政治理想，也表现为特定社会特定部门通过其与国家和地区政治的关系而从内部涌现出的一套实践方式。我们划定了城市自治的四种形式：碎片式、强制式（或飞地）、分布式和网络式。我们提出，自治的空间模式并不是预先确定的，但可以在城市内多个不同的地点和不同形式的政治空间中强化。这种强化对于整合和加强整个城市可持续公正发展的能力至关重要。

• Publisher: Sage Publications, Ltd,SAGE Publications,Sage Publications Ltd
• Subject: 21st century / Autonomy / Cities / Federal municipal relations / Fragments / Geography / Human geography / Landscape / Local government / Political economy / Politics / Questions / Sovereignty / Spatial distribution / Sustainable development / Towns / Urban areas / Urban development / Urbanization