 |
 |
Well done - looks great. Daniel Zhang wrote: > in case you are interested. Im organising a session in Beijing this June. > > On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 2:40 PM, Yunpeng ZHANG <[log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: > > Apologise for cross posting > > Regional Studies Association Global Conference 2012 > Sustaining Regional Futures, 24th - 27th June 2012, Beijing, China > > Call for papers for a session entitled: > > Sustaining Whose Futures? Megaprojects, territorial politics and > social injustices > > Organisers: > Yunpeng Zhang, PhD student, Institute of Geography, The University of > Edinburgh, UK, email: [log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > Huifang Cong, PhD student, School of Built Environment, Heriot-Watt > University Edinburgh, UK email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > Xiang Feng, PhD, Managing Director of Sino-European Comparative Urban > Research Centre, Shanghai Normal University, China, email: > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > > Session Introduction > > The ascendancy of neoliberal ideology worldwide witnessed a shift, > what David Harvey portrays, from managerialism to entrepreneurialism > in urban governance, prioritising policy concerns on competitiveness > and attractiveness of places to footloose capital investment over > social settlements on welfares and redistribution. A prominent > strategy of such entrepreneurial urbanism focuses on the production > and reproduction of spaces at various scales, or 'spatial fix' to > use Harvey's words, in order to exploit locational advantages. > Megaprojects are one of the spatial fixes. In this session, we > advise megaprojects include: large scale infrastructural projects, > major urban regeneration/gentrification programmes, new town > development, and one-time off mega-event such as Olympics or World > Expo, etc. This broad view of megaprojects is based on our > conviction that the spatial-temporal criteria of scale and the > financial yardstick of cost cannot be adopted as the defining > features of megaprojects for the firm connections of megaprojects > with wider political-economic changes and spatial (re)structuring, > such as, inter alia, the shift towards post-Fordism economy, the > dominant power of fictitious finance capital, the hegemony of > neoliberalism, and state rescaling. > Whilst much academic input has been invested in examining the > contextual changes giving rise to megaprojects as an entrepreneurial > strategy and the impacts upon the city/region (often based on > ex-ante predications), theoretical polemics and empirical > investigations have overlooked the complicated process and the > realpolitik of territoriality in developing and managing > megaprojects. Filled with a plethora of celebratory accounts laying > much weight on the contribution of megaprojects to urban/regional > economic development and improvement of place images, existing > scholarship fails to highlight the inherent irrationalities and > contradictions in developing megaprojects and social inequalities > and social injustices generated and exacerbated by them, especially > in non-western context. What required are independent and critical > examinations of the actual impacts upon the city/region in general > and the citizens in particular as the latter are the human agents > bearing the direct intended or unintended consequences of > megaprojects. More importantly, there is a moral and ethical > imperative to examine how megaprojects impact the vulnerable > populations such as the displacees, the migrant workers, the urban > poor, etc. Take the issue of displacement in China as an example, > millions of farmers were displaced and relocated in order to develop > the Three Gorges Dam and more than 18000 households gave away their > beloved homes and communities to make way for the Expo 2010, > however, existing studies seem oblivious to the impacts upon their > personal lives, families, and communities. > The proposed session provides an opportunity for critical > contribution from a wide range of disciplines such as sociology, > anthropology, geography, political sciences, and legal studies to > offer inter-disciplinary insights on the study of megaprojects. We > ask contributors to critically think about questions what kind of > futures megaprojects are promising; for whom such futures are > created and sustained, and whether the promised futures are well > delivered. We invite both theoretical exploration and empirical case > studies from different regions in the world on the following themes: > > * The underlying logics of megaprojects ; > * The territorial politics and strategies in legitimating and > developing megaprojects; > * Legal and policy frameworks for land use in developing megaprojects; > * Evaluation of the impacts of megaprojects; > * Social injustices and social inequalities in megaprojects ; > * Involuntary displacement and forcible evictions caused by > megaprojects (policy frameworks, representations of displacement, > and mechanics of displacement process); > > > We welcome abstracts of 400-800 words along with paper titles and > full contact details of all participating authors to be submitted to > Huifang ([log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>) and Yunpeng > ([log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ) by Monday > 20 February 2012 (it is possible to extend the deadline to Mondy 27 > February 2012 ). Please see > http://www.regional-studies-__assoc.ac.uk/events/2012/__globalconf-june/abstract-__submission.pdf > <http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/2012/globalconf-june/abstract-submission.pdf> > for detailed instructions for abstract submission. Those submitting > abstracts to this special session must also register for the > conference via the RSA online registration website in order to be > confirmed and included in the conference programme. The uploading > of abstracts is inclusive of the online registration process. > > > Yunpeng Zhang > PhD Candidate > Institute of Geography > University of Edinburgh > Drummond Street > Edinburgh EH8 9XP > Scotland, UK > Web: www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/__s0977814 > <http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/s0977814> > > -- > The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in > Scotland, with registration number SC005336. > > _________________________________________________________ > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > An urban geography discussion and announcement forum > List Archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/URB-__GEOG-FORUM > <http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/URB-GEOG-FORUM> > Maintained by: RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group > UGRG Home Page: http://www.urban-geography.__org.uk > <http://www.urban-geography.org.uk> > > > > > -- > Yunpeng Zhang > PhD student > Institute of Geography > School of GeoSciences > The University of Edinburgh > Drummond Street > Edinburgh, EH8 9XP > Scotland, UK > > www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/s0977814 <http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/s0977814> > > _______________________________________________________ > [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> An > urban geography discussion and announcement forum List Archives: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/URB-GEOG-FORUM Maintained by: RGS-IBG Urban > Geography Research Group UGRG Home Page: http://www.urban-geography.org.uk -- Dr. Tom Slater Senior Lecturer in Human Geography http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/tslater Chair, RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group: http://urban-geography.org.uk/ http://www.advancedurbanmarginality.net/ School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)131 650 9506 The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. _______________________________________________________ [log in to unmask] An urban geography discussion and announcement forum List Archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/URB-GEOG-FORUM Maintained by: RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group UGRG Home Page: http://www.urban-geography.org.uk