Production and Use of Urban Knowledge

This book engages with a policy agenda that is of increasing importance - the production and use of urban knowledge. How cities function and what counts as a 'good city' have become important elements in politics at all scales. At local level, efforts have long concentrated on replacing and improving problematic and low quality environments with ones that provide high quality living conditions and enhance the general image of localities. Nationally, urban issues have gained in importance over the last half century as not only key factors in production, consumption and welfare, but also, more recently, in the enhancement of culture and creativity which are seen as essential elements in the creation of a knowledge economy. Finally, the European Union has recognised the urban scale as a strategic level in which to intervene in order to improve Europe's competitiveness. Urban places have changed from being primarily localities of problems to places for future growth and improvements in the quality of life. Consequently, urban politics/policies addressing urban problems and opportunities have become of increasing importance. Thus, to maintain efficiency and increase value for money, key actors in this policy field have demanded more and more policy relevant research and development. Despite this the selection of knowledge seems somewhat biased towards institutional traditions, ideologies and political discourses rooted in the so-called scientific approaches to knowledge Our contention is that the recognition and accreditation of relevant knowledge is not a neutral or simple process. It inevitably entails, often unacknowledged, assumptions about what constitutes knowledge that also relate to issues of power concerning the recognition and use of knowledge.