Urban governance and housing policies in the Global South / STREAM G – Governing cities

Organizer: Sonia Roitman (University of Queensland, AU);

During the last decade, there has been an intense debate in urban studies in relation to the failure of urban theories of the Global North to explain the urban transformations of the Global South. Aligned with post-‐colonial theories, authors like Parnell and Robinson (2012), Watson (2009) and Roy (2005) emphasise the need to stop borrowing and replicating theories from the developed world to explain the developing world. They argue about the ‘urgency for urban studies and planning to move beyond the dichotomy of First World “models” and Third World “problems”’ (Roy, 2005: 147). It has become critical to generate knowledge based on the dynamics of the Global South to explain the transformations of the South and also to learn from these experiences.

The vast literature on governance reflects the broad variety of definitions of governance. When explaining governance, some authors put the emphasis on the actors involved in policy-‐making and their relationships (Darchen and Tremblay, 2013), recognising the existence of a multiplicity of actors within three broad groups: the government (local, regional and national levels), the private sector and the civil society (in particular community-‐based organisations – CBOs and non-‐governmental organisations -‐NGOs) (Minnery, 2007). For other authors, partnerships, conflicts and consensus and the need for negotiation and coordination are also elements that characterise the process of governance (Healey, 1997), in addition to understanding the diversity of interests and goals underpinning this process. Other authors also include the setting, application and enforcement of rules (Kjaer, 2004).

This session will explore urban governance processes in relation to housing policies in the Global South. The following questions will be discussed:

How are governance processes regarding housing policies in the Global South organized?
What are the peculiarities of urban governance in the Global South?
What concepts and theoretical ideas are useful to explaining urban governance in the Global South?
Who are the key actors involved in the process urban governance in relation to housing policies in the Global South?

Abstracts on papers addressing these questions are welcomed.

G2.1 Urban Governance and Housing Policies in the Global South

Chairs: Sonia Roitman (University of Queensland)

Contacts: s.roitman@uq.edu.au

Florian Koch
Beyond informality: Pirate urbanization and land-owner urbanism as governance modes

Wilmar Salim
Governing housing policies in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities

Bruno Marot
Governing growth politics through the state in post-war Beirut

Claudio Pulgar Pinaud
Resistance and resilience in the neo-liberal city

Azzurra Sarnataro, Hassan Elmouelhi
Webs of governance in Cairo Informal Areas

Distributed papers

Tomas Alejandro Guevara, Ma Mercedes Di Virgilio
Policies, entrepreneurialism and urban development. The myth of spatial spillover in Buenos Aires and Bariloche in the twenty-first century

Benita Menezes
Engaging the state: Governance, housing and Urban citizenship in millennial Mumbai