EU Integrated Urban Initiatives : Policy Learning and Quality of Life Impacts in Spain

This open access book presents a unique interdiscplinary analysis of urban projects promoted by the EU from a comparative perspective This book presents cross-sectional and cross-time analyses at the territorial level targeted by these initiatives focusing on the design, theory and impacts of urban projects developed under the framework of initiatives promoted by the European Union. The book includes a new methodology to analyse the design and theory of urban plans (the comparative urban portfolio analysis) and quasi-experimental strategies to perform impact assessment at the neighbourhood level (the territorial target of those initiatives). Although empirical analyses focus on examples in Spain, the resulting analytical and methodological outcomes of these studies can be applied in a broader context to analyse integral urban policies in other countries. Preface Acknowledgements Contents List of Contributors Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction: EU Urban Initiatives as Integrated Multi-level Policy Mixes—Policy Levels, Policy Dimensions and Added Values of Integrated Local Strategies from a Comparative Perspective Place-Based Urban Policies as Complex Multi-level Policy Mixes: Policy Levels, Dimensions and Integration EU Urban Initiatives as Integrated Multi-Level Policy Mixes: Policy Frames, Institutions and Comparative Analysis to Examine Local Integrated Strategies The ECP Policy Frame for Urban Initiatives and Over-Time Comparisons: From ‘Neighbourhood Revitalisation’ to ‘Sustainable Communities’ Institutional Context and Local Conditions: On Cross-Sectional Comparisons On EU Urban Integrated Initiatives Evaluation and Added Value: Better Urban Policies and Better Urban Places to Live The Spanish Case: An Opportunity for the Comparative Analysis of EU Urban Integrated Strategies and Their Added Value References Part I Better Urban Policies or Added Value I: The Practice and Learnings on the Policy Integration Strategy at the Local Level 2 The Nature and the Policy Added Value of EU Integrated Urban Initiatives: Research Issues and Strategies Introduction Analysing EU Integrated Urban Initiatives: Main Methodological Perspectives The Nature of EU Urban Initiatives and Their ‘Added Value I’: Quality of Design, Policy Agenda Content, Integrated Strategy, and Policy Theories References 3 Evaluating the Design of Integrated Urban Development Strategies: Evaluability, Plan Quality and Planning Learning Processes Introduction The Quality of Integrated Urban Policies Design: Comparative Tools to Assess Evaluability The Quality of Integrated Urban Initiatives: URBAN and URBANA Initiatives Integrating Evaluation in Planning Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategies References 4 The Agenda of Urban Sustainable Development Initiatives: Challenges, Goals, and Actions Across Policy Areas Introduction Analysing Urban Development Agendas: The Relevance of Different Policy Sectors of Intervention as Problems, Objectives, and Policy Actions The Urban Development Agenda: The Relevance of Challenges, Objectives, and Policy Actions From Problems to Strategies: On Projects Consistency Conclusions: A Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Model Annex References 5 The Integrated Strategy as Urban Policy Innovation Proposed by the EU: Do Cities Apply It? Introduction Integrated Urban Development as Urban Policy Innovation in the European Union and Spain Measuring the EU ‘Urban Acquis’: Policy Diversity, Integration, and Participation Levels of Policy Integration, Diversity, and Participation in Local Projects Towards a Sustainable and Integrated Urban Strategy?: Something More Than Diversity or a Balance Between Different Sustainable Development Goals References 6 Opening the Black Box of Integrated Urban Development Strategies: On Causal Mechanisms and Policy Theories Introduction Integrated Urban Development Projects as Policy Mixes: Objectives and Causal Processes Basic Policy Actions in Integrated Urban Development Policy Mixes: Combining Objectives and Policy Tools Integrated Urban Development Strategies in the URBAN and URBANA Programmes: Changes in Their Policy Theory From Policy Frames to a Theory of Integrated Urban Development: Some Analytical and Methodological Foundations References Part II Better Spaces to Live or the Added Value II: The Impacts of the Policy Integrated Strategy on Neighbourhoods and Residents 7 The Impact of EU-Integrated Urban Development Initiatives: Research Strategies Beyond ‘Good Practices’ Introduction Analysing the Effects of Integrated Urban Development Strategies on Socio-Spatial Cohesion: Main Methodological Strategies Impact Analysis Using Controlled Comparisons: A Quasi-Experimental Research Design Approach Observation Units: ‘Homogeneous Urban Areas’ Reducing the ‘Selection Bias’ of the Programmes: Propensity Score Matching for Experimental and Control Areas Selection Analysis of the ‘Average’ Impact of Programmes and Potential Heterogeneous Effects: Controlled Comparisons of Urban Trajectories of Change and Other Possible Specifications References 8 The Impact of the URBAN Initiative: On Residential Mobility and ‘Contextual Exposure’ to EU-Integrated Urban Development Strategies Introduction The Impact of Integrated Urban Development and Urban Change: Intervention Mechanisms, Policy Exposure, and Residential Mobility Research Design to Analyse Integrated Strategy Impacts: Controlling by Territorial Eligibility Criteria and Contextual Exposure to the Programme Results Place-Based Integrated Strategies and the Puzzle of Residential Mobility: on Gentrification, Revitalisation, and Socio-Spatial Inequalities Reproduction Annex References 9 The Impact of the URBANA Initiative: Socio-Economic Conditions, Self-Perceived Health and Quality of the Built Environment—A Time-Trend Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data Introduction Measuring Programme Objectives: Household Socio-Economic Situation, Personal Health and House-Environmental Problems Is There an ‘Average’ Impact of the URBANA Projects? Do Impacts Depend on the Properties of the Context in Which the Intervention Takes Place? Some Brief Reflections About the ‘Average’ and ‘Heterogeneous’ Policy Impacts of EU Urban Integrated Strategies References 10 ‘Cultural Buzz’ on the Neighbourhood: The Impact of the URBAN I Initiative on Cultural Consumption Opportunities Introduction Cities and Neighbourhoods as Cultural Contexts: Urban Policies and the ‘Cultural Buzz’ of Neighbourhoods Urban Development Strategies and Cultural Buzz: Quantity and Type of Opportunities for Cultural Consumption The URBAN Initiative: ‘Culture’ as a Project Objective and Its Potential Impacts The Impact of the URBAN Initiative on the Cultural Buzz of Neighbourhoods: Sort and Long Time Effects Final Considerations: On the ‘Sustainability’ of Impacts References 11 The ‘Historical City Centre’ Question: How Have the Historical Centres of Major Cities Changed After the Intervention of the URBAN I Initiative? Introduction The URBAN Initiative as a Socio-Spatial Rebalancing Policy in the City: Contextualised Improvements and Changes Methodology: Case Selection and Analysis Strategy Starting Conditions in the Intervention Areas: Severity of the Socio-Spatial Vulnerability URBAN Policy Impact: Contextualising Changes Within the City Urban Integrated Policies, Changes in Historical Centres, and Heterogeneous Policy Impacts References Part III Conclusion 12 Policy Evidence About the Added Value of EU-Integrated Urban Initiatives as Local Policy Mixes Introduction On the Nature and Added Value of Urban Initiatives Promoted by the EU: Policy Evidence About Policy Compliance and Learning from the Case of Spain (1994–2013) Better Urban Policies? Applying and Learning About the Integrated Model Proposed by the EU Better Urban Places to Live? ‘Average’ and ‘Heterogeneous’ Effects of EU Urban Initiatives Towards a Multi-Scalar Comparative Research Agenda for EU Urban Initiatives as Multi-Level Policy Mixes: Policy Levels, Institutional Contexts and Integrated Local Policy Mixes References Index This open-access book presents a unique interdisciplinary analysis of integrated urban initiatives promoted by the EU and their added values. This text presents a general analytical frame to study these initiatives as complex multi-level policy mixes from a comparative perspective. Cross-sectional and over-time analyses at the territorial level targeted by these initiatives are done to study the policy design, theory and impacts of urban integrated strategies. The book includes a new methodology to analyse the design and theory of urban plans (the comparative urban portfolio analysis) and quasi-experimental approaches to perform impact assessment at the neighbourhood level (the territorial target of those initiatives). Although empirical analyses focus on all local integrated plans implemented in Spain from 1994 to 2013, analytical and methodological outcomes can be applied in a broader context to analyse integral urban policies in other countries. Clemente J. Navarro. Professor, Department of Sociology, Pablo de Olavide University (Seville, Spain). Head of the Centre for Sociology and Urban Policies-The Urban Governance Lab. Jean Monnet Chair in European Urban Policies. President of the Research Committee on Community Research-International Sociological Association. His research focuses on urban sociology, policies, and governance from a comparative perspective. Maria J. Rodriguez-Garcia. Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Pablo de Olavide University (Seville, Spain). Member of the Centre for Sociology and Urban Policies-The Urban Governance Lab. Member of the research team of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Urban Policies. Her research focuses on the comparative analysis of local welfare systems and gender-friendly policies. Maria Jose Guerrero-Mayo. Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Pablo de Olavide University (Seville, Spain). Member of the Centre for Sociology and Urban Policies -The Urban Governance Lab. Member of the research team of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Urban Policies. Her research focused on public policy analysis and evaluation