ismael blanco

The main goal of this special edition is to analyze and to assess the nature and scope of social participation, in its different meanings, in the context of urban peripheries in Spain and Mexico. More concretely, this article permits to identify and to justify the empirical and theoretical relevance of the three main themes that articulate this special edition: urban peripheries, social participation and new institutional frameworks. We highlight the great socio-political heterogeneity of urban peripheries. We contextualize the current emphasis on social participation in the frame of an in-depth reconsideration of traditional state-society relations. We stress the political and ideological diversity of community participation practices. And, finally, we state the difficulty of this type of practice to build a new institutionality, alternative to the dominant one.

Durante estos últimos años, estamos asistiendo a cambios profundos y acelerados en el terreno de la política y de las políticas públicas locales. En el nuevo contexto global, los ámbitos locales salen fortalecidos como espacios de construcción de proyectos colectivos, de profundización de la ciudadanía y de satisfacción de necesidades. Los gobiernos locales incorporan a sus agendas cuestiones emergentes (sostenibilidad, cooperación al desarrollo, diversidad cultural, nuevos espacios educativos, nuevos yacimientos de empleo...). Las políticas locales ya no pueden tratar dichas cuestiones desde concepción clásicas: la innovación democrática, la articulación de redes, la activación de capital social... ya no operan sólo como referentes normativos, sino como valores practicables y hasta como requisitos para la resolución eficaz de problemas.
Este libro pretende reflexionar sobre todo ello. En él se recogen las aportaciones de un grupo de prestigiosos especialistas que -desde las múltiples perspectivas de las ciencias sociales- ofrecen elementos de análisis y claves interpretativas sobre las ideas anteriormente expuestas.

Durante los últimos años, diversas transformaciones han alterado profundamente las bases de la sociedad industrial. Son transformaciones multidimensionales que afectan a la economía, al mercado de trabajo y a las estructuras demográficas sociales, entre otros. Se trata de cambios de alcance global que aunque generan nuevas oportunidades, también dan lugar a nuevos riesgos. Riesgos de exclusión social ligados a la precarización del empleo, al aislamiento, a la desprotección y a la falta de reconocimiento de los derechos de ciudadanía. Asimismo, riesgos de privatización de los problemas y de debilitamiento de la acción colectiva y de la democracia.

Como reacción a esta serie de riesgos, en la actualidad asistimos a la aparición de incontables experiencias innovadoras en el ámbito local, gracias a la acción de sujetos que se forman a partir del esfuerzo de transformación de una experiencia vivida. Estos sujetos se convierten en multiplicadores de ideas, y muchos de ellos lideran procesos de movilización, de toma de conciencia y de afirmación de la identidad de una comunidad socialmente excluida. Las prácticas innovadoras, tanto en el ámbito de la sociedad como del Estado, aparecen como estrategias originales de inclusión social y de fomento de la ciudadanía activa.

En este sentido, el Programa de Estudos da Esfera Pública (PEEP) de la Fundação Getulio Vargas (EBAPE/FGV) desde Brasil, y el Instituto de Gobierno y Políticas Públicas de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (IGOP/UAB) desde España, en colaboración con la Fundación CIDOB, realizaron una investigación con el objetivo de analizar experiencias de innovación social y local orientadas a promover la inclusión social y la ciudadanía activa.

El artículo ofrece en primer lugar una perspectiva general sobre la era urbana, entendida como un nuevo tiempo global donde las ciudades juegan un papel central, en tanto que espacios que producen y reflejan las grandes dinámicas vertebradoras de las primeras décadas del siglo XXI. Ello permite situar un segundo elemento de discusión: lo común y la proximidad como posibles respuestas donde generar proyectos colectivos de protección y reconocimiento. En ese sentido, el artículo plantea los retos clave de empoderamiento de las ciudades en redes horizontales de gobernanza. En un plano más concreto, la reflexión se traslada a la evolución del municipalismo en España: la trayectoria de tres décadas de gobiernos locales democráticos, las dinámicas recientes de movilización urbana, y el nuevo escenario surgido de las elecciones de 2015. A partir de ahí, el artículo plantea la posible configuración de un nuevo municipalismo definido por dos dimensiones: una agenda de políticas urbanas comprometidas con el derecho a la ciudad; y una agenda de prácticas urbanas vinculadas a la construcción del común. La Obra Social de la PAH se expone, finalmente, como caso que permite articular ambos aspectos: la producción de comunes urbanos y el ejercicio del derecho a la vivienda.

Taking one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Barcelona as a paradigmatic case, the aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which contestation organised by sublocal grassroots movements in the context of the current urban crisis operates, both in terms of content and form of protest. Our thesis is that resident mobilisation in the neighbourhood of Ciutat Meridiana is expressive of a new cycle of (urban) social mobilisations in Spanish cities. In such mobilisations, more or less spontaneous initiatives which emerged to counteract the effects of the crisis at the community level are simultaneously serving as platforms for reciprocity and political contestation. Establishing a dialogue with the literature on social innovation, in this paper we claim that these micro-local urban practices are linked to broader social movements and thus play a fundamental role in the political empowerment of citizens living in highly segregated and vulnerable urban areas.

Contemporary explanations of urban governance in Europe have underlined the increasing influence of the ‘networks paradigm’. For some, urban network governance revitalises local democracy by fostering a more plural, inclusive and participative approach to urban policymaking. For others, the shift towards collaborative governance facilitates the concentration of urban political power and the cooptation of civil society into the rationalities of neoliberalism. This paper argues that such accounts are excessively reductive, failing adequately to recognise the spatio-temporal complexities of urban governance trajectories in Europe. The paper argues that a reinvigorated regime-theoretical approach can help overcome the networks/neoliberalism dualism by showing how different coalitions mobilise different sets of resources over time and in different policy arenas. Prospects for urban democracy are not only determined by the evolution of structural forces like the 2008 crisis or global neoliberalism. They are also influenced by the outcomes of political competition between alternative coalitions within each city. The analysis of the case of Barcelona illustrates the value of such analytical perspective and of the research agenda that stems from it.

The local state, and more broadly the logic of the local, remains divorced from accounts of urban governance. Addressing this omission, this article examines how a focus on the local opens up new avenues of enquiry in urban governance. It first discusses the interactions of the ‘urban’ and
the ‘local’, analysing the significance of both to an understanding of neoliberalism in action. It then evaluates the opportunities and challenges that emerge from the multiple interplays of the ‘local’ and the ‘urban’, setting out five focal points for the exploration of the local: understandings of ‘crisis’; politics, meaning and affect; agency and regulatory intermediaries; the turn to practice; and place and comparison. The article concludes by calling for the study of local practices, in ways that recognise the multiple logics at play in different conjunctures, and the spaces such ambiguities and ‘messiness’ open up for different forms of situated agency.

La crise a frappé durement frappé l’Espagne comme en témoignent de nombreux indicateurs économiques et sociaux. Tout ceci intervient dans un pays qui a entrepris au cours des dernières décennies un important mouvement de décentralisation en faveur des Communautés Autonomes et, dans une moindre mesure, des gouvernements locaux. La crise a tout remis en question : les paradigmes de politique publique imposés jusqu’à présent, le processus de décentralisation et jusqu’aux institutions elles-mêmes de la démocratie représentative, aujourd’hui soumises à une grave crise de crédibilité. Cet article analyse les impacts de la crise sur le développement de la décentralisation en Espagne, l’ampleur de la crise de légitimité des institutions représentatives et l’importance de l’émergence de nouveaux mouvements sociaux comme le M15 (« Indignés ») et la Plateforme des Affectés par l’Hypothèque (PAH). Plus que d’une crise conjoncturelle, l’importance des transformations sociopolitiques subies ces dernières années, nous amène à parler d’un authentique changement d’époque.

Neoliberal accounts of local governance have paid insufficient attention to variation in the forms of urban governance and urban policies across local regimes. On the basis of a comparison of eight deprived neighbourhoods in Catalonia (Spain) where the same regional programme of urban regeneration has been carried out, this paper explores the significance of place when it comes to understanding the adoption of different models of urban governance. In Spain, the combination of a high autonomy of local government and a very strong tradition of neighbourhood associations has resulted in both local authorities and community organisations playing a very important role in local policy-making. Local structural and agency factors are both essential to understanding why models of urban governance and regeneration change from place to place. The paper concludes that neighbourhood type, size of municipality, social capital and previous conflicts are crucial for the understanding of urban governance geographies.

A substantial body of literature has addressed the emergence of new forms of network governance in the urban realm. Whilst some authors tend to consider network governance practices as intimately linked to neo-liberalism, others celebrate them as a Third Way between markets and hierarchies. Bringing urban regime analysis back into this debate can be important because of three main reasons: first, this theoretical approach invites us to interrogate narratives of transformation, arguing that “governance” and “networks” have always been integral to governing and, therefore, forcing governance theory to clarify what is new in the network paradigm; second, urban regime analysis highlights a fact that is often neglected in the network governance literature – that, in reality, the agendas and participants of governance networks can be very different in different places and that this can lead to different types of socioeconomic outcomes; third, urban regime analysis focuses our attention on the interplay between political economic structures and local political activities in particular places, helping us to understand how local governance decisions are taken in the face of global structural pressures. The comparison between two cases of neighbourhood regeneration in Barcelona permits us to illustrate what is new in the “network governance” era; the diversity of urban policy practices that the “network paradigm” can encompass; as well the influence of locally-specific circumstances and of local actors’ policy choices on the practice of network governance.

This paper examines the main transformations of urban policies in Spain and the challenges they have to face in a context of crisis and structural shift like the current one. Prior to this analysis, it presents and discusses briefly the notion of urban policies ―relatively unknown in our country. Later on, the expansion of urban policy agendas in Spain is observed, as well as the shifts of governance modes in the frame of an institutional context that, nonetheless, is very resilient to change ―a fact that has generated important unbalances and tensions in the development of these types of policies. The current economic crisis poses three kinds of threats to local governments and urban policies: recentralization, retrenchment of urban policy
agendas, and the consolidation of technocratic forms of governance. The paper takes an opposing stance to such tendencies, arguing that cities’ resilience will depend on the deepening of decentralisation and the democratic radicalization of urban governance.

In this article we seek to analyse and compare the models of regeneration of the city centres of Barcelona and Madrid in the light of the transformation of urban governance in Spain. New ways of network governance are emerging in European cities and Madrid and Barcelona are no exception. Urban policies are evolving towards the creation of more integrated strategies for regeneration that involve not only multiple public stakeholders, but also private actors including social and community organizations. Despite both cities showing some common trends, the analysis reveals significant differences between the two cities, both in terms of the composition and the dynamics of the governance networks, and the priorities and strategies for regeneration. The article concludes by discussing the possible explanatory factors for such differences and their political implications.

Networks are central to both the practice and understanding of contemporary governance. But there is a tendency to conflate and confuse different concepts. Concepts of ‘policy network’ (PN) and ‘governance network’ (GN) are often used interchangeably, with an assumption that the latter has evolved from the former. Such indiscriminate borrowing fails to recognise the different antecedents, and distinctive analytical offer, of specific network theories. The article develops a systematic distinction between PN and GN theories, enabling those engaging with networks to select from, and even combine, alternative perspectives as they confront a new wave of change in policymaking and governance. The more sceptical account provided by PN theory provides a valuable counterbalance to the ‘optimistic’ character of the GN literature, which tends to underestimate the continued hold of (albeit multi-sector) elites on policy making, and over-state the extent to which networks represent a new ‘stage’ in the evolution of governance.

The so-called ‘Barcelona Model’ of urban regeneration is worldwide known as a ‘success story’. Amongst the most frequently mentioned features of this ‘model’ are: the use of major events – such as the Olympic Games – as catalysts for great urban regeneration; the adoption of a relational mode of urban governance based on the collaboration between different tiers of government, public and private bodies; the political and administrative decentralisation and the participation of the citizenship. However, the ‘Barcelona Model’ has also received strong criticisms by certain segments of the city’s academic elite and several local social movements. This article calls into question the mere existence of one ‘Barcelona Model’. It highlights how the main strategies of urban public policy have changed in different periods. It illustrates that territorially speaking the strategies of urban regeneration have also been very varied. Eventually, it shows that the networks of urban actors involved in processes of urban change have been significantly diverse. Some learning elements for the analysis of urban regeneration are pointed out at the end of the article.

What can we expect from citizen participation processes in local policymaking? Is it reasonable to expect significant political transformations? In this article, we identify the conditions that theoretically determine the transformation capacity of citizen participation. Such theoretical discussion gives place to a framework for the assessment of participative practices, which we use to analyse 11 cases of participatory budgeting in the province of Barcelona. The analysis puts in evidence the limits of this kind of participative practices, which are linked to three main factors: their peripheral institutional position; the scarce decision margin that is given to the citizens; and the lack of social mobilization. However, the cases analysed reach a good performance in two important aspects: the impact of citizens’ proposals on public decision-taking and the transformation of the attitudes of local authorities, the public employees and the citizens themselves towards public participation. The assessment framework proposed helps us to identify critical aspects for the improvement and the strengthening of the transformation capacity of participative processes.

Profound and rapid changes in the socioeconomic structures are triggering a significant transformation of urban policy-making. One of the consequences of this process is the emergence of new networks of governance based on the cooperation between different kinds of urban actors. The case of Barcelona and more concretely the comparison between urban regeneration policies in the neighbourhoods of Raval – historical centre – and Trinitat Nova – urban periphery – permits us to illustrate the emergence of such new paradigm. Nevertheless, it also leads us to state that both the intensity and direction of urban policy change might be highly variable. As we explore the explanatory factors of such variability, we find out that forms of governance adopted in each territory depend both on structural and agency factors.

During the past few years, new mechanisms of citizen participation in decision making have been introduced into local governance frameworks in many countries around the world. One of the basic objectives of these mechanisms is to bridge the gap between citizens and politicians or, in other words, to build political trust. In Spain, citizen juries are one of the main manifestations of this trend towards local democratic innovation. Their contribution to the building of political trust depends above all on their ability to secure their own procedural legitimacy. Case studies of Spanish citizen juries demonstrate that this mechanism can guarantee sufficient pluralism, and that appropriate amounts of information and deliberation, as well as devices to guarantee neutrality, can be incorporated. However, the limited role that citizen juries assign to associations and the strategic considerations that all political actors have with respect to them are crucial limits to their broader political acceptance. Moreover, their educative effects are limited by two factors: they are isolated experiences in a context of very limited opportunities for participation; and their impact on decision making tends to be irregular and diffuse. Nevertheless, Spanish citizen juries also have the potential to increase citizens' interest in local events and the topics under discussion, and to stimulate reflection on social problems. Their contribution to achieving better informed and more responsive bureaucrats and politicians could also be a crucial step towards establishing a greater degree of political trust.

As a first step towards the exploration of the particularities urban social exclusion in Spain, the research presented here evaluates the significance of the urban territorial factor at neighbourhood level in order to develop relevant conclusions for the design of urban policies. After comparing the structure and dynamics of socio-spatial inequalities in five large Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville and Murcia), we analyse how different disadvantaged neighbourhoods - inner city districts and peripheral housing estates - affect the life trajectories of different vulnerable social groups: long-term unemployed males, undocumented immigrants, single mothers, old people living alone and young people with a low education level and job problems. We identify the existence of significant differences between inner city districts and peripheral housing estates regarding the way they affect the life chances of their inhabitants. Furthermore, we show how different social groups are unequally affected by the characteristics of the neighbourhood in which they live. This all leads us to stress the importance of urban public policies being sensitive to the diversity of socio-spatial conditions of cities.