Dr Juliet Carpenter
Reader in Housing and Urban Regeneration
School of the Built Environment
Role
Juliet Carpenter is a Reader with research interests in:
- urban regeneration,
- community engagement,
- participation in planning,
- arts-based methods in planning,
- sustainable urban development,
- the French banlieue and European urban policy.
Research
Research grants and awards
- 2012-2014, Marie Curie Research Fellow, based at L’Institut d’Urbanisme de Lyon "Urban Regeneration Governance for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Cities: An International Comparison of France and the UK"
- 2012-2014, Co-investigator (with Dr Christina Horvath, University of Bath) on AHRC Research Network related to the social inclusion and cultural expression in the French suburbs - funded by AHRC (www.banlieuenetwork.org)
Projects
- Co-Creation
- Exploring lessons from COVID for the role of the voluntary sector in Integrated Care Systems
- Social Sustainability and Urban Regeneration Governance: An International Perspective (SURGE)
- Integration of fast track home modification services in health and social care services
Publications
Journal articles
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Carpenter J, Spencer B, Moreira da Souza T, Cho Y, Brett J, 'Exploring lessons from Covid-19 for the role of the voluntary sector in integrated care systems'
Health and Social Care in the Community 30 (6) (2022) pp.e6689-e6698
ISSN: 0966-0410 eISSN: 1365-2524AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARIntegrated Care Systems (ICS) in England are partnerships between different health and social care organisations, to co-ordinate care and therefore provide more effective health and social care provision. The objective of this article is to explore the role of the ‘Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise’ (VCSE) sector in integrated care systems. In particular, the paper aims to examine recent experiences of the voluntary sector in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the lessons that can be learnt for integrated care provision.
The article focuses on the case of Oxfordshire (UK), using a mixed methods approach that included a series of semi-structured interviews with key informants in health and the VCSE as well as online surveys of GPs and organisations in the VCSE. These were complemented by two contrasting geographical case studies of community responses to Covid-19 (one urban, one rural). Data were collected between April and June 2021. Interviewees were recruited through professional and community networks and snowball sampling, with a total of 30 semi-structured interviews being completed. Survey participants were recruited through sector-specific networks and the research arm of doctors.net.uk, with a total of 57 survey respondents in all.
The research demonstrated the critical role of social prescribing link workers and community development workers in forging connections between the health sector and the VCSE at the hyper-local level, particularly in the urban case study. In the rural case study, the potential role of the Parish Council in bringing the two sectors together was highlighted, to support community health and wellbeing through stronger integrated working between the two sectors. The article concludes that enhanced connections between health and the VCSE will strengthen the outcomes of Integrated Care Systems.
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Carpenter J, 'Picture This: Exploring Photovoice as a Method to Understand Lived Experiences in Marginal Neighbourhoods'
Urban Planning 7 (3) (2022) pp.351-362
ISSN: 2183-7635 eISSN: 2183-7635AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARScholars in the social sciences are increasingly turning to research questions that explore everyday lived experiences, using participatory visual methodologies to promote critical reflections on urban challenges. In contrast with traditional research approaches, participatory visual methods engage directly with community participants, foregrounding their daily realities, and working towards collaborative knowledge production of participants’ situated experiences, potentially leading to transformative thinking and action. This participatory turn in research intersects with growing interests in community participation in collaborative planning and effective ways of engaging “unheard voices” in a planning context, particularly in marginalized neighbourhoods, using arts-based methods. This article critically examines the potential of participatory visual methodologies, exploring how the method of photovoice can reveal otherwise obscured perspectives from the viewpoint of communities in marginalised neighbourhoods. Based on a case study in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, the research considers whether and how creative participatory approaches can contribute to giving voice to communities and, if so, how these methods can impact a city’s planning for urban futures. The research shows that, potentially, photovoice can provide a means of communicating community perspectives, reimagining place within the framework of participatory planning processes to those who make decisions on the neighbourhood’s future. However, the research also demonstrates that there are limitations to the approach, bringing into sharp focus the ethical dimensions and challenges of participatory visual methodologies as a tool for engaging with communities, in an urban planning context.
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Carpenter J, Pereira P, Dlabac O, Zwicky R, '"Urban interventionism" in welfare and planning: National typologies and "local cultures" in Europe'
Journal of Urban Affairs 44 (7) (2020) pp.1019-1038
ISSN: 0735-2166 eISSN: 1467-9906AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARComparative research on welfare and planning has traditionally been based on broadly defined typologies of national welfare state and planning systems, thereby neglecting the role of local ‘cultures’ that help sustain and redevelop underlying institutions and practices. Drawing on a European-wide survey of city mayors, we explore how well the established typologies are reproduced in local welfare and planning cultures, as reflected in Mayoral attitudes, and whether there are systematic variations of welfare and planning cultures even within the same country. The findings suggest that nationally-based categories of welfare regimes and planning systems do not necessarily correspond with mayors’ preferences for “urban intervention” in service delivery, housing provision or planning. Local specificities, including permeability to the influence of European institutions and policies, may in fact have a significant impact on mayors’ attitudes in these fields, possibly creating new local understandings as well as pressures for reforming national welfare and planning systems. These conclusions strengthen the argument that ‘local cultures’ are presenting a challenge to national typologies of planning and welfare, and are important elements to take into account when exploring the evolution of urban policies at the local level.
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Carpenter J, Horvath C, Spencer B, 'Co-Creation as an agonistic practice in the favela of Santa Marta, Rio de Janeiro'
Urban Studies 58 (9) (2020) pp.1906-1923
ISSN: 0042-0980 eISSN: 1360-063XAbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThis paper explores the potential of ‘Co-Creation’ to develop new understandings of neighbourhood disadvantage in collaboration with civil society partners. It argues that there is a growing need for collaborative knowledge production with communities carrying vernacular knowledges previously invalidated by dominant epistemologies. The first part of the paper undertakes a reconceptualization of ‘co-creation’, a term usually associated with citizen involvement in neoliberal contexts, redeveloping it as a ‘critical artistic practice’ (Chantal Mouffe, 2013) in which new ways of imagining the city can be articulated. The second part of the paper examines the practice of Co-Creation as a participatory methodology involving artists, researchers and stakeholders in developing ‘agonistic spaces’ by scrutinizing a five-day workshop conducted in the Rio de Janeiro favela of Santa Marta to explore multiple understandings and meanings of this neighbourhood. Through an analysis of creative workshop activities such as photovoice and mapping exercises, the authors explore the potential of the Co-Creation approach to construct new subjectivities that can help subvert existing configurations of power. The conclusion formulates some recommendations about future strategies to maximise Co-Creation’s potential to engage communities in collaborative knowledge production about their neighbourhoods and bring about positive change.
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Dlabac O, Zwicky R, Carpenter J, Pereira P, 'Towards the "just city"? Exploring the attitudes of European city mayors'
Urban Research & Practice 15 (2) (2020) pp.215-238
ISSN: 1753-5069 eISSN: 1753-5077AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARAfter decades of equity oriented urban policies, the advent of neo-liberalism and the more recent great recession have led to their successive dismantling. On the other hand, these developments, coupled with continuing massive immigration, have led to a call for a ‘just city’ agenda (Fainstein, 2010) where policies and planning are directed towards equity, diversity and citizen participation rather than growth and cultural protectionism. Given the difficult economic and social environment, however, it is not clear whether such an agenda finds political support even at the level of cities.
In this paper, we put forward both a descriptive and an explanatory research question. Firstly, can we find local political support for the ‘just city’ ideal in Europe? Secondly, what are the local conditions conducive to embracing this ideal? Building on a recent European survey of city mayors, we present a first assessment of local orientations towards the ‘just city’. Our cluster-analysis reveals a substantial share of favourably inclined mayors spread unequally across European countries. Capitalizing on subnational variation in mayoral attitudes, our multivariate regressions confirm a strong positive association with leftist party ideology, while also identifying favourable conditions for Christian and conservative mayors (medium-sized cities, low influence of the business sector). Strong voluntary associations, in contrast, are rather associated with participatory and egalitarian mayoral attitudes, but not with a positive stance towards diversity. Moreover, the positive predisposition of leftist mayors seems to wain with increasing dependency on EU funding. The exploratory study thus opens new avenues for further research.
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Carpenter J, González-Medina M, Huete García MA, De Gregorio Hurtado S, 'Variegated Europeanization and urban policy: Dynamics of policy transfer in France, Italy, Spain and the UK'
European Urban and Regional Studies 27 (3) (2020) pp.227-245
ISSN: 0969-7764 eISSN: 1461-7145AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThis paper explores the dynamics of urban policy transfer in the European Union (EU), critically examining the process of Europeanization in relation to urban issues. The paper takes a comparative approach, analysing the evolution of urban policy and Europeanization in four member states: France, Italy, Spain and the UK from the 1990s up to the current Cohesion Policy period (2014–2020). Using an analytical framework based on three dimensions of Europeanization (direction, object and impact), we examine the extent to which urban policies are moving towards an integrated approach to sustainable urban development, as supported by the EU. The paper highlights the contradictions between processes of convergence through Europeanization, and path-dependent systems and trajectories that forge alternative paths. In doing so, it advances wider debates on the impact of Europeanization in a neo-liberal context by arguing that member states more likely to be affected by Europeanization are those most impacted by national austerity measures. A process of ‘variegated Europeanization’ is proposed to capture the differential practices taking place within the EU with regard to the circulation of the EU’s approach to urban policy.
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Carpenter J, Hutton T, 'Vancouver - Critical reflections on the development experience of a peripheral global city'
Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning 86 (2019) pp.1-10
ISSN: 0264-2751 eISSN: 1873-6084Published here Open Access on RADAR -
Carpenter J, '"Social Mix" as "Sustainability Fix"? Exploring Social Sustainability in the French Suburbs'
Urban Planning 3 (4) (2018)
ISSN: 2183-7635AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThe French suburbs, or banlieues, have long been associated with marginalization and peripheralization, characterized by unemployment, a high proportion of ethnic minority populations and low education attainment levels. Since 2000, the ‘crisis’ of the banlieue has been addressed through a policy of ‘social mixing’ which aims to promote mixed communities in certain neighbourhoods, to ‘dilute’ the ‘problematic elements’ of the suburbs. This ‘social sustainability fix’ however has had mixed results. Questions can be raised over whether a policy based on increasing a neighbourhood’s social mix is an appropriate sustainability fix for the suburbs, and whether it has actually resulted in the outcomes that were intended. Rather than encouraging social integration, it is argued here that the policy of social mixing reinforces segregation, and has done little to tackle inequalities and social exclusion. We suggest that there are alternative solutions to the challenges of fostering social sustainability in the suburbs, which could be implemented in partnership with citizens and neighbourhood-based groups (associations) that would be more effective in addressing social sustainability solutions in the future.
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Carpenter J, 'Regeneration and the Legacy of Thatcherism'
Métropolitiques 2014 (2014)
eISSN: 2114-5350Published here -
Carpenter J, Verhage R, 'Lyon City Profile'
Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning 38 (2014) pp.57-68
ISSN: 0264-2751 eISSN: 1873-6084Published here -
Carpenter J, 'Giving a voice to the banlieues? Spaces of participation in urban regeneration projects'
Francosphères 3 (2) (2014) pp.129-143
ISSN: 2046-3820 -
Simmie J, Sternberg R and Carpenter J, 'New technological path creation: evidence from the British and German wind energy industries'
Journal of Evolutionary Economics 24 (4) (2014) pp.875-904
ISSN: 0936-9937 eISSN: 1432-1386AbstractThe canonical economic literature on path dependence provides only a limited explanation of why and how new technological pathways are created initially. The motivation of this paper is to address this gap in the literature and argue that evolutionary economics theories of path dependence need to be linked with sociological explanations of how new technological pathways are created in the first instance by knowledgeable inventors and innovators. These arguments are developed by the authors in a hybrid socio-economic theory of new path creation. In this paper these theoretical arguments are illustrated empirically by a comparative analysis of the introduction and diffusion of new wind power technologies in Britain and Germany. The empirical analysis focuses on the key research question of why the introduction of these new technologies started earlier and has diffused sooner in Germany than in Britain.Published here -
Carpenter J, 'Social enterprise and urban regeneration: A model for the future?'
Calitatea Vieţii [= Quality of Life Journal] (2013)
ISSN: 1018-0389 eISSN: 1844-5292 -
Simmie J, Conti E, Carpenter J, Povinelli F, Kipshagan M, 'Innovation and new path creation: the role of niche environments in the development of the wind power industry in Germany and the UK'
European Spatial Research and Policy 19 (2) (2012) pp.87-101
ISSN: 1231-1952AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThis paper seeks to explore the issues of innovation and new path creation in the UK and Germany, illustrated through the case of the modern wind power industry. Taking an evolutionary perspective drawing on path dependence theory, the paper examines the role of niche environments in the creation of new economic pathways. The research finds that new economic pathways are more likely to develop in places where niche conditions provide receptive environments for innovations to flourish. The policy implications of the research include the importance of supporting niche environments that encourage growth in new sectors and the need for financial support to bring innovations to market, to encourage the development of new economic pathways.
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Carpenter J, 'Money's too tight to mention? Urban regeneration in a recession and beyond: The case of Oxford'
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal (2011)
ISSN: 1752-9638 -
Valler D, Carpenter J, 'New Labour's Spaces of Competitiveness'
Local Economy 25 (5) (2010) pp.438-456
ISSN: 0269-0942AbstractPublished hereNew Labour's engagement with sub-national economic governance was a stuttering and uneven story marked by both significant achievements and jolting failures. While devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the introduction of Regional Development Agencies in England represented early successes, the bold rhetoric of New Labour's programme was not in reality matched by solid ideological foundations and a coherent policy approach. Rather, the decentralisation project was constructed around a distinctive"rationality" based around the role of place in driving competitiveness in the face of a global, knowledge-based economy. This had significant implications for the level and clarity of political commitments in this sphere, and the durability of new forms. After the comprehensive"no" vote in the referendum for the North East Elected Regional Assembly in 2004 and the subsequent collapse of the English regional agenda, a period of hiatus gave way to an emerging sub-regional agenda, where developments were influenced at least in part by bottom-up pressures and allowed for some degree of local autonomy and flexibility in the construction of new governance forms. Yet the continuing absence of a clear ideological drive emphasised the ad-hoc nature of these changes and accentuated the lack of an over-arching political resolution. In this context Labour's proposals for sub-national economic governance were muddied, raising questions over the sustainability of new arrangements. The paper concludes with a brief commentary on the experience of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government following the general election on 6 May 2010.
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Durning B, Carpenter J, Glasson J, Butina Watson G, 'The spiral of knowledge development: professional knowledge development in planning'
Planning Practice and Research 25 (4) (2010) pp.497-516
ISSN: 0269-7459 eISSN: 1360-0583AbstractPublished hereThis paper explores knowledge development in professional planners in England, in both the public and private sectors. Through an exploration of how they engage and interact with a rapidly expanding knowledge base, the paper identifies how knowledge and expertise are developed that thereby inform their professional practice. It identifies the role, position in the career and level of expertise of the planner as influential to the drivers for knowledge development and the tools and techniques employed. It proposes that the level of expertise in professional planners should be seen as a spiral rather than a linear transition, and that the planning professional will move in and out of this spiral during their career in response to the changing demands of their professional practice. This paper adds to the body of academic work on the subject of practical knowledge development in planners, which is so far limited in the peer-reviewed literature.
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Brownill S, Carpenter J, 'Governance and 'integrated' planning: the case of sustainable communities in the Thames Gateway, England'
Urban Studies 46 (2) (2009) pp.251-274
ISSN: 0042-0980 eISSN: 1360-063XAbstractPublished hereThis paper explores the relationship between the increasing emphasis on the integration of social, economic, democratic and environmental objectives within planning practice and the emergence of new forms of networked governance. Using a framework which stresses the hybridity and tensions that characterise current governance arrangements, the article investigates attempts to create `sustainable communities' in the Thames Gateway, England. The analysis reveals the tensions and contradictions arising from governing the Gateway, including those between the conflicting goals of economic competitiveness and social and environmental sustainability, between horizontal, networked governance and forms of and requirements for hierarchical direction and between a focus on delivery and participatory governance. The paper concludes by reflecting on the implications of the hybridity and complexity in governance forms for the search for sustainable communities and the forms of governance `fit for purpose' in their realisation.
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Carpenter J, Brownill S, 'Approaches to democratic involvement: widening community engagement in the English planning system'
Planning Theory & Practice 9 (2) (2008) pp.227-248
ISSN: 1464-9357AbstractParticipation has become integral to the delivery of public services, as governments attempt to involve citizens in decision making through processes of consultation and engagement. This paper addresses the issue of community participation in the context of the English planning system, which has recently been restructured to focus more sharply on integrating communities in the planning process. It presents findings of research into the workings of the reformed planning system, in particular in relation to the objective of public participation, using the case of the Planning Aid service. The paper sets the discussion in the context of two different forms of democracy (representative and deliberative democracy) and associated strategies for participation. It then outlines the recent reforms in the planning system, highlighting the different approaches to participation that are being applied. The paper then examines the case of Planning Aid, a service that aims to involve disadvantaged groups in the planning system. The paper concludes that the outcomes from recent experiences of participation in planning are in part due to the -œhybrid- approaches that are emerging within the system. While this provides the potential for more inclusive planning, it is argued that this -œhybridity- needs to be acknowledged by policy makers and practitioners if strategies and mechanisms are to be put in place that respond to the demands of different forms of democracy.Published here -
Simmie J, Carpenter J, 'Towards an evolutionary and endogenous growth theory explanation of why regional and urban economies in England are diverging'
Planning Practice and Research 23 (1) (2008) pp.101-124
ISSN: 0269-7459 eISSN: 1360-0583Published here -
Brownill S, Carpenter J, 'Increasing participation in planning: Emergent experiences of the reformed planning system in England'
Planning Practice and Research 22 (4) (2007) pp.619-634
ISSN: 0269-7459 eISSN: 1360-0583Published here -
Brownill S, Carpenter J, 'Participation and planning: Dichotomies, rationalities and strategies for power'
Town Planning Review 78 (4) (2007) pp.401-428
ISSN: 0041-0020 eISSN: 1478-341XPublished here -
Carpenter J, 'Addressing Europes Urban Challenges: Lessons From the Eu Urban Community Initiative'
Urban Studies 43 (2006) pp.2145-2162
ISSN: 0042-0980 eISSN: 1360-063XPublished here
Books
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Horvath C, Carpenter J, (ed.), Co-Creation in Theory and Practice: Exploring Creativity in the Global North and South, Policy Press (2020)
ISBN: 9781447353959 eISBN: 9781447353997AbstractPublished hereThis innovative book provides a critical analysis of diverse experiences of Co-creation in neighbourhood settings across the Global North and Global South.
A unique collection of international researchers, artists and activists explore how creative, arts-based methods of community engagement can help tackle marginalisation and stigmatisation, whilst empowering communities to effect positive change towards more socially just cities.
Focusing on community collaboration, arts practice, and knowledge sharing, this book proposes various methods of Co-Creation for community engagement and assesses the effectiveness of different practices in highlighting, challenging, and reversing issues that most affect urban cohesion in contemporary cities.
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Carpenter J, Horvath C, (ed.), Regards croisés sur la banlieue, Peter Lang (2015)
ISBN: ISBN-10: 2875742647 eISBN: 9783035298550Published here -
Carpenter J and Horvath C, (ed.), Voices and images from the Banlieue = Voix et images de la Banlieue, Oxford Brookes University (2014)
ISBN: 9781873640845
Book chapters
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Carpenter J, Valler D, 'Urban Policies in the Framework of the 2030 Agenda: The Case of Bristol, England' in María Ángeles Huete García, Adrián Rodríguez Miranda, Vicente Ugalde, Rafael Merinero Rodríguez (ed.), Urban Policy in the Framework of the 2030 Agenda: Balance and Perspectives from Latin America and Europe, Springer Nature (2023)
ISBN: 9783031384721 eISBN: 9783031384738AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThe UK case study provides an example of how a local authority, in partnership with an engaged university, other local stakeholders, and a strong civil society, can harness a global agenda that has been sidelined by national government. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) went from being largely unknown in UK local government circles to being a core part of the ‘One City Plan’ and the city’s Covid recovery strategy over a period of two years. The critical role of the SDGs in prompting dialogue and bringing together stakeholders with different priorities, particularly the tensions between the ‘green’ and ‘inclusion’ agendas, is highlighted.
The Bristol case provides several lessons, including the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, promoting the SDG ethos within communities, and strong communications around the SDGs. Awareness and understanding of the SDGs are relatively low, and a strong communication strategy that maps the SDGs onto local issues and challenges can increase their relevance and understanding.
Although Bristol's experience shows what can be achieved in a short period, much is still to be done to meet the UN's Agenda 2030 targets. Stable, well-resourced budgetary environments are necessary, including resources for community initiatives and partnership coordinators to bring stakeholders together. Focus on trade-offs and prioritization can help resolve the complex and conflicting issues raised by the SDGs. Many cities across the UK would benefit from support to mirror Bristol's structures, particularly for Voluntary Local Reporting. Resources to support collaboration between cities would ensure that lessons learned from Bristol's experience could be applied elsewhere to support local action on global challenges. -
Spencer B, Jones T, Carpenter J, Brownill S
, 'The potential for public participation in planning healthy urban mobility: the case of Oxford, United Kingdom' in Hansson L, Rye T, Hedegaard Sørensen C (ed.), Public Participation in Times of Change, Emerald (2023)
ISBN: 9781804550380 eISBN: 9781804550373AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThis chapter explores the potential for involving the public in planning healthy urban mobility using a case study of two neighbourhoods in Oxford, UK. We draw specifically on lessons learned from the UK case of a large-scale international study entitled Healthy Urban Mobility (HUM). The HUM project was based on the need to address health inequalities within urban areas by implementing new approaches to planning and health that use novel research methods to encourage active dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders. The two principal objectives of the research were firstly, to understand the impact of everyday (im)mobility on health and wellbeing within different social groups, and secondly, to explore the potential for participatory mobilities planning with local communities to support and develop solutions for healthy urban mobility.
The chapter is organised into five parts. In the first part, we highlight the theories behind the need for public participation in urban mobility planning and calls for active dialogue and mutual learning between practitioners and communities for effective action on improving urban health. Then in the second and third parts, we provide an overview of the approach to participatory mobilities planning with local communities in the UK as part of the HUM project. In the fourth part, we report the outcomes of the project and critically reflect on the overall approach and lessons learned that may be of use to practitioners and communities. Finally, we conclude on the significance of the study and implications for public participation in planning healthy urban mobility. The research demonstrates the significant potential of participatory methods in transport infrastructure projects, but also highlights the complexities of public engagement and points to the need for a continual, long-term process to build trust between partners.
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Fedeli V, Carpenter J, Zimmermann K, 'National urban policies in Europe: Does the EU make the difference?' in A Modern Guide to National Urban Policies in Europe, Edward Elgar (2021)
ISBN: 9781839109041 eISBN: 9781839109058AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThis chapter aims to provide a critical exploration of whether or not there is a common understanding of urban policy within the EU Member States, and if so, what role the European Union (EU) has played in its development over the past 30 years. To address this question, the chapter examines the role of
Europeanization in the field of national urban policies, some 20 years after the original formulation of the Europeanization concept. We aim to understand how and to what extent the 30 years of discussion and operationalization of urban policies at the EU level have impacted on the development of national
urban policies in different Member States. We examine the EU Urban Agenda as a new and flexible model to address urban challenges within a framework of Integrated Sustainable Urban Development (ISUD) and look more directly at the current and contemporary phase of urban policies promoted by the EU, trying to highlight whether and to what extent the mechanism and tools, as well as the vocabulary and meanings produced under the 2014–2020 EU cohesion framework, are innovating the field and also contributing to reshaping the
debate on the role and nature of national urban policies. -
Carpenter J, 'When Co-Creation meets Art for Social Change: The Street Beats Band' in Co-Creation in Theory and Practice: Exploring Creativity in the Global North and South, Policy Press (2020)
ISBN: 9781447353959 eISBN: 9781447353997Published here Open Access on RADAR -
Carpenter J, 'Decision making in regeneration practice' in Orbaşlı A, Vellinga M (ed.), Architectural Regeneration, Wiley (2020)
ISBN: 9781119340331 eISBN: 9781119340379AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARCities are faced with complex challenges in urban governance, integrating the many and varied voices of the city into decision-making frameworks. This is particularly the case in the arena of urban regeneration, where (at times) opposing interests are involved in governance processes at the level of neighbourhood regeneration. The aim of this chapter is to explore the key players that are involved in the process of regeneration, from national governments through to local public sector bodies, private sector involvement, and the engagement of community groups and civil society, and to analyse how the balance of interests between these players has changed over time with the evolution of policy towards urban regeneration since the 1980s.
Urban regeneration is an umbrella term that refers to ‘those policies and strategies that have been designed to deal with urban decline, decay and social and economic transformation’ (Imrie et al. 2009: 4). Given its broad remit, the term ‘urban regeneration’ implies an integrated perspective on the problems and potentials of cities, and the areas peripheral to them. However, this integrated perspective also necessarily brings many voices to the table, which can itself present challenges in finding a consensus for a way forward. It is also worth noting that the roles of the different stakeholders in urban regeneration (public, private and civil society) vary markedly in different contexts. Each socio-political and institutional system at the national level is embedded with different cultural and ideological norms that influence the role of actors in the regeneration process, and thus the dynamics of decision-making processes can vary considerably between different national contexts. This chapter is based on the experience of urban regeneration in the UK, which it could be argued, has led the way internationally in relation to public-private partnerships and decision-making in a regeneration context. Other national contexts will differ depending on the particular circumstances, but most follow the pattern followed by the UK in relation to the shifts in stakeholder involvement that have taken place since the 1980s.
The chapter is divided into three main parts. First, the key theoretical debates related to urban governance more generally, and more specifically regeneration governance are outlined. Second, the history of urban regeneration in the post-war period is examined to illustrate how the evolution of approaches to regeneration has impacted on the composition of actors involved in decision-making, from public, to private, to greater community involvement. Third, the post-2008 context and the implications for regeneration decisionmaking and potential outcomes are explored. The chapter concludes with an overview of the implications of decision-making structures for the future of urban regeneration. -
Carpenter J, 'Arts-Based Methods' in Kobayashi A (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Elsevier (2020)
ISBN: 9780081022955 eISBN: 9780081022962AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARResearchers are increasingly using arts-based methods in geography to explore new pathways in the creation of knowledge through creative practice. This can be in any phase of the research, from initial data collection and analysis, to interpretation and representation. Creative practice in geography can stretch across different disciplines, from the literary arts of poetry and creative prose, to performance-based music and drama, to dance and the visual arts. The researcher can either work as “researcher-artist” mobilizing these methods in their own work, or collaborate with research participants through participatory arts-based methods. Both approaches present geographers with new pathways to create knowledge within the qualitative research paradigm, expanding their capacity to explore varied understandings and experiences of place and space. These methods reflect a growing interest in geographical scholarship toward the affective and embodied aspects of everyday practice, offering a more fluid approach to understanding the emotional qualities of quotidian experience. They also open up opportunities to engage different publics, and to broaden research audiences beyond academia. Although these methods are gaining recognition, further work is needed to strengthen their position within the discipline, particularly addressing the cross-disciplinary creative skills that geographers need to develop further to give legitimacy to their creative practice in a research setting.
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Carpenter J, 'Decision‐making in Regeneration Practice' in Architectural Regeneration, Wiley (2020)
ISBN: 9781119340331AbstractOpen Access on RADARThis chapter presents an overview of decision-making in urban regeneration practice in the UK since the 1970s. By tracing the evolution of regeneration over the past four decades, the chapter illustrates how decision- making has shifted from being a primarily public sector led process, to involving the private sector much more fully from the 1980s, and integrating community interests to varying degrees since the 1990s. However, since the financial crisis of 2008, there has been an increased involvement of nonstate actors in regeneration: first with local community groups encouraged to become more integrated in local planning and development, and second with the private sector being encouraged to invest in large-scale urban development. The chapter concludes that in the prevalent neoliberal climate that promotes economic growth and wealth creation, the main driving force behind governance in urban regeneration projects comes firmly from the private sector, encouraged by public sector policies that strengthen global investment in urban development projects.
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Carpenter J, 'The French banlieue: Renovating the suburbs' in Bernadette Hanlon, Thomas J. Vicino (ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Suburbs, Routledge (2018)
ISBN: 9781138290235 eISBN: 9781351970129AbstractPublished here Open Access on RADARThe French banlieues were constructed from the mid-1950s in response to rapid economic growth and subsequent migration to the cities, both from rural areas as well as from outside France, during the post-war period. Low-cost public sector housing was constructed on the edge of cities, characterized by high-rise towers, few community facilities, and often poor connectivity to the rest of the city. However, by the mid-1970s, these peripheral housing estates had become synonymous with marginalization and socioeconomic exclusion, with low-income households, often of ethnic minority background, feeling isolated from mainstream society. A number of urban renewal programs have attempted to tackle these issues, most recently the Program National de Rénovation Urbaine (PNRU), which aims to address stigmatization of the banlieue through housing diversification, area improvements, and a policy of “social mixing.” However, evidence suggests that this policy has only been partially successful, due to the emphasis on demolition of the social housing stock, with an erosion of affordable housing for the least well-off, as well as limited evidence of the benefits of introducing middle-income housing to disadvantaged neighborhoods in terms of social mixing and integration. Critics suggest that urban renewal programs in the banlieue should integrate actions to promote social cohesion through community-led initiatives, to create more socially sustainable neighborhoods for the future.
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Carpenter J, 'Assembling multi-level governance in regeneration: An international comparison between France and Britain' in Cole A, Payre R (ed.), Cities as Political Objects, Edward Elgar Publishing (2016)
ISBN: 978 1 78471 989 0 eISBN: 978 1 78471 990 6AbstractA key characteristic of urban governance developing over the late twentieth century has been the rescaling of state spaces, with a tendency towards the growth of multi-level governance structures. The term ‘multi-level governance’ has been used in a range of contexts, from the supra-national down to the local context, and its meaning can therefore be varied; but for a general definition, Schmitter (2004, p._49) offers the following:an arrangement for making binding decisions that engages a multiplicity of politically independent but otherwise interdependent actors – private and public – at different levels of territorial aggregation in more-or-less continuous negotiation/deliberation/implementation, and that does not assign exclusive policy competence or assert a stable hierarchy of political authority to any of these levels. In other words, multi-level governance refers to the increasing number of actors at different spatial levels that interact within a political economic system to achieve ‘good governance’. Within an urban context, there have been recent moves in a number of European Union (EU) countries to add a wider layer at the metropolitan level for governing the city at the scale of the agglomeration. The reasons for supporting strong metropolitan governance are various, and include more effective management of services at the broader level, as well as seeking to increase a city’s competitiveness, within a neoliberal framework (Peck and Tickell, 2002).Published here -
Carpenter J, 'Sustainable urban regeneration within the European Union: A case of 'Europeanization'?' in The Routledge Companion to Urban Regeneration, Routledge (2013)
ISBN: 978-0-415-53904-3 eISBN: 978-0-203-10858-1 -
Carpenter J, 'Integrated urban regeneration and sustainability: approaches from the European Union' in Colantonio A, Dixon T (ed.), Social sustainability and urban regeneration: best practice from European cities, Wiley (2011)
ISBN: 978-1-4051-9419-8 eISBN: 9781444329445AbstractPart II. Chapter 5Published here
Other publications
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Simmie J, Carpenter J, Chadwick A , Martin R, 'History matters path dependence and innovation in British city-regions', (2008)
AbstractPublished hereInnovation is a hot topic in economic development circles around the world. Buoyed by the success of Silicon Valley, Hsinchu region, or Helsinki, innovation is seen by leading regions as the key to staying ahead; in those that lag, as an opportunity to catch up. The result has been a plethora of ambitious innovation strategies. Unfortunately, the common thread has often been under-delivery. This failure to deliver has been blamed on many things: lack of institutions, lack of ambition, and lack of skilled policymakers. However, what has been less straightforward to understand is the extent to which such change was ever possible. In this research project, we have worked with leading researchers from Oxford Brookes and Cambridge Universities to use advanced economic techniques to uncover the extent to which'history matters'. The results contain important lessons for national and regional economic policymakers. Developing new'pathways' for economic development depends considerably on a region's innovation system. However, individual policy interventions are likely to have little impact on economic development if they do not take into account previous economic structures and their legacy. Perhaps most importantly, policymakers must be patient and allow major interventions time to bear fruit. This work feeds into a wider body of work that deals with the spatial aspects of innovation policy. Its insights underpin many of the practical programmes we have underway at NESTA and it forms the backdrop to our work with the nations, cities and regions that make up the UK. As with all of our work, we welcome your comments and your views
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Durning B, Glasson J, Carpenter J, Butina Watson G, 'Professional knowledge development for sustainable communities', (2007)
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Butina Watson G, Carpenter J, Brownill S, Durning B, Reeve A, 'Thames Gateway Evidence Review', (2006)
Published here
Professional information
Conferences
- Carpenter J (2019) Invited presentation “L’impact social des projets artistiques dans les quartiers défavorisés” Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris. Journée d’Etude, "Mesurer l’empreinte d’un lieu culturel sur un territoire: observer, représenter, évaluer", 15th November 2019
- Carpenter J (2019) Invited panellist “Performing arts in the city: socio-spatial impacts, hospitality and community building” Association of American Geographers, Washington DC, 4th April 2019
- Carpenter J (2019) Vancouver Street Beats: Community-based arts practice as catalyst for social change?, Association of American Geographers, Washington DC, 3rd April 2019
- Carpenter J (2018) Social sustainability and urban governance through Co-Creation, Research Symposium, Tongji Shanghai University, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, 9th – 11th May 2018
- Carpenter J and Horvath C (2018) Co-Creation: Addressing Urban Stigmatization, Building Inclusive Cities, Urban Affairs Association, University of Toronto, 4th - 7th April 2018
- Dlabac O, Carpenter J, Zwicky R and Pereira P (2018) Towards the Just City? SPSA (Swiss Political Science Association) Annual Conference, University of Geneva, 5th-6th Feb 2018
- Carpenter J (2017) Addressing territorial stigmatization: Building inclusive cities, UBC SCARP-Tongji University Symposium “Globalizing Cities and the Reshaping of Space, Place and Territory”, Vancouver, 5th – 6th Oct 2017
- Gonzalez Medina M, De Gregorio Hurtado S, Huete Garcia M and Carpenter J (2017) Europeanisation and urban policy in the EU: The impact on national urban agendas in Spain, France, Italy and the UK, AECP XIII Annual Congress, Santiago de Compostela, 20-22 September 2017
- Carpenter J and Horvath C (2017) Co-Creation : Conceptualising a methodology addressing urban stigmatisation, AHRC/Connected Communities/Urban Living Conference, Bristol, 12th -13th July 2017
- Carpenter J and Horvath C (2016) “Voices and Images from the Banlieue: Towards co-creation of knowledge”, PoLIS Seminar, Bath University, 5th May 2016
- Carpenter J (2016) “Urban policy, the EU and the UK: future perspectives?”, Cities of Tomorrow, 2nd international Seminar, “After the Riga Declaration, Towards an EU Urban Agenda”, Milan 16th January 2016
- Carpenter J, Dlabac O and Zwicky R (2015) “The democratic foundations of the Just City: Comparing urban planning politics in Lyon and Zurich”, AESOP International Congress, 13-16 July 2015, Prague
- Carpenter J (2015) “Urban Policy and Regeneration: A UK (and French and EU) Perspective”, Cities of Tomorrow, 1st International Seminar, Seville, 4th December 2015
- Carpenter J (2014) « La représentation de la banlieue à travers la co-création des images : L’expérience de Banlieue Network », Journée d’Etudes « Les médiations visuelles de la ville : la photographie comme image, archive, média », Lyon 12 December 2014
- Carpenter J (2014) Listening for ‘unheard voices’?: Urban regeneration governance in France and England, IPSA International conference, Montreal, July 2014
- Carpenter J (2014) Multilevel governance and the relationship between neighbourhood and city governance mechanisms: An international comparison bertween France and the UK, Triangle International Conference, Lyon, November 2014