IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v46y2009i5-6p1137-1155.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public-sector Intervention in Embodying the New Economy in Inner Urban Areas: The Barcelona Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Antònia Casellas

    (Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici B, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain, antonia.casellas@uab.cat)

  • Montserrat Pallares-Barbera

    (Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici B, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain, montserrat.pallares@uab.cat)

Abstract

This article investigates the urban and economic revitalisation of a traditional industrial working-class neighbourhood into a knowledge-based economic district. It explores why and how this new district is the result of an assertive public policy led by Barcelona's city council and implemented by a quasi-public agency. The project represents the most important urban-growth strategy in the city at the turn of the century and also exemplifies the advantages and shortcomings of many of the policy elements that have contributed to the radical transformation of Barcelona in recent decades. The article further highlights methodological challenges regarding the conceptualisation and operationalisation of new economic activities and it discusses the spatial and uncertain economic consequences of this ambitious approach by the local government.

Suggested Citation

  • Antònia Casellas & Montserrat Pallares-Barbera, 2009. "Public-sector Intervention in Embodying the New Economy in Inner Urban Areas: The Barcelona Experience," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(5-6), pages 1137-1155, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:46:y:2009:i:5-6:p:1137-1155
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098009103858
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098009103858
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098009103858?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ann Markusen, 2003. "Fuzzy Concepts, Scanty Evidence, Policy Distance: The Case for Rigour and Policy Relevance in Critical Regional Studies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6-7), pages 701-717.
    2. Monica Degen, 2003. "Fighting for the global catwalk: formalizing public life in Castlefield (Manchester) and diluting public life in el Raval (Barcelona)," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 867-880, December.
    3. Markusen, Ann & Hall, Peter & Campbell, Scott & Deitrick, Sabina, 1991. "The Rise of the Gunbelt: The Military Remapping of Industrial America," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195066487.
    4. Acs, Zoltan J & Ndikumwami, Adrien, 1998. "High-Technology Employment Growth in Major U.S. Metropolitan Areas," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 47-59, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Greig Charnock & Thomas F. Purcell & Ramon Ribera-Fumaz, 2014. "City of Rents: The limits to the Barcelona model of urban competitiveness," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 198-217, January.
    2. Luca Salvati & Margherita Carlucci & Efstathios Grigoriadis & Francesco Maria Chelli, 2018. "Uneven dispersion or adaptive polycentrism? Urban expansion, population dynamics and employment growth in an ‘ordinary’ city," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 38(1), pages 1-25, February.
    3. Balanzó, Rafael de & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2017. "Crisis and Reorganization in Urban Dynamics: The Barcelona Case Study," IZA Discussion Papers 10748, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Al James & Mia Gray & Ron Martin, 2004. "(Expanding) the Role of Geography in Public Policy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(11), pages 1901-1905, November.
    2. Simone Carmine & Valentina De Marchi, 2023. "Reviewing Paradox Theory in Corporate Sustainability Toward a Systems Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 139-158, April.
    3. Doloreux, David & Parto, Saeed, 2005. "Regional innovation systems: Current discourse and unresolved issues," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 133-153.
    4. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Robert Hassink & Dong-Ho Shin, 2005. "Guest Editorial," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(4), pages 571-580, April.
    6. Gary A S Cook & Naresh R Pandit & Jonathan V Beaverstock & Peter J Taylor & Kathy Pain, 2007. "The Role of Location in Knowledge Creation and Diffusion: Evidence of Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces in the City of London Financial Services Agglomeration," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(6), pages 1325-1345, June.
    7. Susan Christopherson & Jennifer Clark, 2010. "Limits to ‘The Learning Region’: What University-centered Economic Development Can (and Cannot) do to Create Knowledge-based Regional Economies," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 25(2), pages 120-130, March.
    8. Al James, 2005. "Demystifying the role of culture in innovative regional economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(9), pages 1197-1216.
    9. Yu Zhou, 2005. "The Making of an Innovative Region from a Centrally Planned Economy: Institutional Evolution in Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(6), pages 1113-1134, June.
    10. Ann Markusen & Gregory H. Wassall & Douglas DeNatale & Randy Cohen, 2008. "Defining the Creative Economy: Industry and Occupational Approaches," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 22(1), pages 24-45, February.
    11. Michael Powe & Jonathan Mabry & Emily Talen & Dillon Mahmoudi, 2016. "Jane Jacobs and the Value of Older, Smaller Buildings," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(2), pages 167-180, April.
    12. James Rees & Alex Lord, 2013. "Making space: Putting politics back where it belongs in the construction of city regions in the North of England," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(7-8), pages 679-695, November.
    13. G Hooks & V Getz, 1998. "Federal Investments and Economic Stimulus at the End of the Cold War: The Influence of Federal Installations on Employment Growth, 1970–1990," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 30(9), pages 1695-1704, September.
    14. Keshab Das, 2015. "Situating Labour in the Global Production Network Debate: As if the ‘South’ Mattered," Working Papers id:6665, eSocialSciences.
    15. Kajanus, Miika & Leban, Vasja & Glavonjić, Predrag & Krč, Janez & Nedeljković, Jelena & Nonić, Dragan & Nybakk, Erlend & Posavec, Stjepan & Riedl, Marcel & Teder, Meelis & Wilhelmsson, Erik & Zālīte, , 2019. "What can we learn from business models in the European forest sector: Exploring the key elements of new business model designs," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 145-156.
    16. Eran Razin, 2015. "District plans in Israel: post-mortem?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(5), pages 1246-1264, October.
    17. Heike Mayer, 2013. "Spinoff regions: entrepreneurial emergence and regional development in second-tier high-technology regions – observations from the Oregon and Idaho electronics sectors," Chapters, in: Frank Giarratani & Geoffrey J.D. Hewings & Philip McCann (ed.), Handbook of Industry Studies and Economic Geography, chapter 8, pages 207-229, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Zafer Sonmez, 2017. "Inventor mobility and the geography of knowledge flows: evidence from the US biopharmaceutical industry," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(5), pages 670-682.
    19. Santos-Rojo, Cristina & Llopis-Amorós, Malar & García-García, Juan Manuel, 2023. "Overtourism and sustainability: A bibliometric study (2018–2021)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    20. Sanjoy Chakravorty, 2003. "Capital source and the location of industrial investment: a tale of divergence from post-reform India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 365-383.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:46:y:2009:i:5-6:p:1137-1155. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.