Collaborative management of studentification processes: the case of Newcastle upon Tyne

This paper explores both benefits and potential drawbacks deriving from the spatial distribution of student accommodations across Newcastle upon Tyne. The core of the paper focuses on the interconnections, collaboration and exchange between university and city council as a potential “win–win strategy” for managing the spatial distribution of students across the city. On the one hand, both universities and local authorities in Newcastle are aware of how the urban location of student accommodation provides both services and facilities to students and positive implications for other inhabitants (and the local economy) as well. On the other hand, the increasing number of students living in both private and university accommodations can cause a progressive decrease in families living in such neighbourhoods in the long run. The risk is the formation of an “exclusive geography” in some parts of the city centre, in which the colonisation by students may cause the definition of a “distinctive time and space framework” (Chatterton in Geoforum 30:117–133, 1999), not always in line with that of non-student neighbours. Collaborative planning between university and city council is showing potential solutions for generating new urban spaces which in turn produce collective benefits within the city. This paper concludes that student housing planning should be reconceptualised in the light of collaborative schemes between universities and local authorities in order to guarantee community cohesion and quality of life of both established residents and students. The creation of platforms of dialogue between students, local communities and local authorities might contribute towards enhancing mutual understanding while informing local authorities about the needs of both categories of residents.     

The 'photographic tour' in nineteenth century Scotland

This paper examines the emergence of the 'photographic tour' as a distinct cultural form in Scotland. Analysis of the written accounts of photographers visiting Scotland in the mid 19th century reveals a pattern of recurring attitudes in which Scottish topography is understood in terms of its history, literature and social culture. It is also related to parallel developments in other branches of leisure and recreation, and is thus shown to be an integral element in the growth of mass tourism.     

Residential growth in Newcastle upon Tyne’s city centre: the role of the public and private sectors

This paper interprets the development of residential accommodation in Newcastle upon Tyne’s city centre as a complex, layered phenomenon. Provision of such accommodation has a longer history than is usually recognised. We trace the evolution of residential development schemes and illustrate the wide range of initiatives and actor groups involved. It is demonstrated that public support (including the third sector) has been the principal driver over a considerable period of time. Furthermore, the strategic role of the local authority has been central to the process. Without its policy commitment and strategic overview, partnerships and funding would not have been as fully developed. This calls into question the concept of re-urbanisation as some kind of ‘natural’ phase in an urban development cycle. However, the current financial climate does not bode well for the continuation of this role. Whilst the gradual emergence of private sector initiatives is demonstrated, it is clear that this has been somewhat slow and reluctant and its sustainable future remains questionable.     

The nature and extent of urban and village foundation and improvement in eighteenth and early nineteenth century Ireland

Conventionally, Irish historians have assumed that the widespread urban and village foundation and improvement that occurred in Ireland between circa 1700 and 1845 came about largely as the result of the direct intervention of members of the landowning minority. These people are held to have engaged in the extension or reconstruction of settlement as a means of exerting control over exchange and marketing or of asserting their social status through patterns of conspicuous consumption. This paper argues that while this sort of direct involvement by landowners was important in some cases, their involvement in urban modernization in Ireland was much more likely to be indirect. Commonly, it was limited to the construction of new markets and other public utilities and to the provision of building leases. These encouraged a wide spectrum of other social groups to participate in the process of reconstruction. The identity of these other participants is explored and a typology of urban and village foundation and improvement established which places these later transformations within the context of the inherited pattern of earlier, medieval and plantation, urban space.     

The conservation of historic areas in the UK: A case study of “Grainger Town”, Newcastle upon Tyne

Conservation in the UK is generally regarded as having undergone a sea-change in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as policy- and decision-makers retreated from comprehensive development and embraced conservation. Using part of the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne as a case study, this article examines this thesis. Beneath simple measures, such as the amount of the city centre which is classified as historic, a more complex picture emerges. A framework for interventions in the historic environment is theorised and there is found to be a continuing tension between conservation approaches which seek to visually manage the city and those which place stress on historic fabric and morphology.     

The ‘desiccator difficulty’: surprise,indignation and the local politics of planning for sanitary technology in nineteenth century Melbourne

ABSTRACT

‘Desiccators’, large machines that used steam and beaters to reduce waste into powder that could be sold as fertilizer, were one solution put forward in response to late nineteenth century Melbourne’s sanitation problems. Despite some initial enthusiasm for them, challenges with finding locations for desiccators were soon dubbed the ‘Desiccator Difficulty’. The ‘Desiccator Difficulty’ is one, all but forgotten, story of the fragmented governance contributing to Melbourne’s delays in coordinating a metropolitan sewerage system. This paper examines desiccators as a story with parallels in and legacies for planning today. It focuses on the role of local property-based conflicts – arguing these constituted emergent forms of planning, underscoring an increasing urban separation and control later embodied in metropolitan planning and infrastructure. Fragmented standoffs and bylaws also rationalized spatial disparities – with suburban municipalities refusing to house desiccators, nightsoil was sent to outer shires for decades. The paper argues Melbourne’s socio-technical transition to metropolitan sewerage and governance occurred not because water-borne technology was necessarily superior, but because legal assumptions and property interests made alternatives difficult to maintain. Desiccators are examples of ‘muddling’ details that belie simple narratives of technological change, and which have implications for how wider urban environmental change occurs and is understood.     

Geographic labor mobility in nineteenth century England and Wales

Historical evidence suggests that successful economic development efforts have been characterized by a structural transformation of the developing economy from one dominated by agricultural employment and production to one dominated by nonagricultural employment and production. Such transformations have typically involved the migration of relatively sizeable fractions of the nation's agricultural work force to centers of nonagricultural employment and production. In this study we employ regression analysis to examine the magnitudes in which various factors influenced intercounty migration in England and Wales during the Nineteenth Century. Our evidence suggests that out-migration tended to be lower the higher the agricultural wage that prevailed in a county. The results also reflect the attractiveness of job opportunities in the nonagricultural sector and the deterring effects of distance.     

La Plata: an advanced nineteenth century new town with ancient roots

La Plata, the new capital of the Buenos Aires province was founded as a descendant of the rich and homogeneous family of new towns based on the Spanish American model. The Spaniards established hundreds of settlements in America according to the early rules that were soon officially acknowledged and imposed by the Crown. King Philip II established in 1573 his ‘Ordinances concerning discoveries, settlements and pacification’. This system worked for more than four centuries because the Spanish American countries accepted the colonial rules long after their independence. La Plata offered one of the last opportunities for the development of these ideas. The urban theories which were originated during the nineteenth century left clear traces in La Plata's layout. La Plata became one of the first cases in which the nineteenth century ‘progressist model’ – the hygienic city, as defined by Françoise Choay – was adopted and actually built. The fortunate combination of the two models turned La Plata, its qualities and elements into a complex and unique example in urban history.