ABSTRACT

Over the last fifteen years, western cities have been generally very proactive in implementing strategies of re-imaging the local urban scene and in trying to establish a new, dynamic urban imagery. Such strategies are major components of new entrepreneurialist urban policies aimed at turning the city into a global competitive actor in a context of increasing inter-urban competition and developing neo-liberal economic policies (Harvey 1989). Large area-based urban development projects are the hallmarks of these new urban policies. Since the 1990s, local urban authorities in almost every Western city have strongly relied on the planning and implementation of such projects (e.g. post-industrial waterfronts, large entertainment facilities, the organization of international sport events) in order to strengthen the competitive position of their metropolitan economies in the new international division of labour, production and consumption (Swyngedouw et al. 2002; Moulaert et al. 2003).