Taking Implementation Seriously in the Evaluation of Urban Growth Management Strategies: “Safeguarding the Future” of the Antwerp City-Region

Clemens de Olde and Stijn Oosterlynck
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Clemens de Olde: Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Stadscampus-Building M, St-Jacobstraat 2, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Stijn Oosterlynck: Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Stadscampus-Building M, St-Jacobstraat 2, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: Contemporary evaluations of urban growth management (UGM) strategies often take the shape of quantitative measurements of land values and housing prices. In this paper, we argue that it is of key importance that these evaluations also analyse the policy formulation and implementation phases of growth management strategies. It is in these phases that the institutions and discourses are (trans)formed in which UGM strategies are embedded. This will enable us to better understand the conditions for growth management policies’ success or failure. We illustrate this point empirically with the case of demarcating urban areas in the region of Flanders, Belgium. Using the Policy Arrangement Approach, the institutional dynamics and discursive meanings in this growth instrument’s formulation and implementation phase are unravelled. More specifically, we explain how the Flemish strategic spatial planning vision of restraining sprawl was transformed into one of accommodating growth in the demarcation of the Antwerp Metropolitan Area, epitomised by two different meanings of the phrase “safeguarding the future.” In conclusion, we argue that, in Antwerp, the demarcation never solidified into a stable policy arrangement, rendering it largely ineffective. We end by formulating three recommendations to contribute to future attempts at managing urban growth in Flanders.

Keywords: urban growth management; urban sprawl; land use planning; zoning; strategic spatial planning; institutionalism; discourse; Antwerp; Flanders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:2:p:159-:d:494009

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