Moving Beyond Indignation: Stakeholder Tactics, Legal Tools and Community Benefits in Large-Scale Redevelopment Projects

<p>Government and accompanying business interests often favour large-scale urban projects to promote urban growth, attract revenues, and place the city on the world stage. Such projects are primarily oriented towards consumption and spectacle, serving regional, if not global, clientele. Negati...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lisa Bornstein, Krista Leetmaa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2015-03-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2562886
Description
Summary:<p>Government and accompanying business interests often favour large-scale urban projects to promote urban growth, attract revenues, and place the city on the world stage. Such projects are primarily oriented towards consumption and spectacle, serving regional, if not global, clientele. Negative impacts &ndash; from traffic to displacement &ndash; are felt most heavily in the immediately adjacent areas, and developments often contribute to increases in socio-spatial polarization. This paper examines two redevelopment projects, one in South San Francisco, one in Montr&eacute;al, to assess the tactics and legal tools employed by municipal authorities and local organisations to harness development for social and environmental ends. Associated legal tools include public consultation requirements, citizen ballot propositions, Community Benefits Agreements and Development Agreements. The paper concludes with recommended principles to underpin future development and cautionary notes about the limitations of these tools.</p> <hr /><p>Los gobiernos e intereses empresariales que los acompa&ntilde;an, favorecen a menudo proyectos urban&iacute;sticos de gran escala, para promover el crecimiento urbano, atraer ingresos, y poner la ciudad en el mapa. Estos proyectos est&aacute;n orientados principalmente hacia el consumo y el espect&aacute;culo, al servicio de una clientela regional, si no global. Los impactos negativos &ndash;desde el tr&aacute;fico a los desplazamientos&ndash; se dejan sentir con m&aacute;s fuerza en las &aacute;reas inmediatamente adyacentes, y su desarrollo a menudo contribuye al aumento de la polarizaci&oacute;n socio-espacial. Este art&iacute;culo examina dos proyectos de reurbanizaci&oacute;n, uno en el sur de San Francisco, y el otro en Montreal, para evaluar las t&aacute;cticas y herramientas legales empleadas por las autoridades municipales y organizaciones locales para potenciar el desarrollo de los fines sociales y ambientales. Entre las herramientas jur&iacute;dicas asociadas se incluyen los requisitos de consulta p&uacute;blica, propuestas electorales ciudadanas, acuerdos sobre beneficios a la comunidad y acuerdos sobre el desarrollo. El art&iacute;culo concluye con recomendaciones para sustentar el desarrollo futuro y una nota de advertencia sobre las limitaciones de estas herramientas.</p><p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2562886 " target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2562886 </a></p>
ISSN:2079-5971