Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
or the many websites that now connect people interested in particular issues, such
as those dealt with in other chapters from the New Urbanism to Cittaslow network
sites. All of these features create a greater understanding of the functioning of urban
places and the policy opportunities to solve problems. Another important Associa-
tion Capital category consists of elements that can be summarized as the
gover-
nance
dimension, not only the services provided by various levels of government
to the city, but also the political institutions that provide and support democracy,
legality and citizen rights. These rights are not simply the words or phrases used in
constitutions that are never fulfilled in many totalitarian states, but those in an ac-
tual, practical sense. They ensure that all individuals are free and fully able to fully
participate in and be rewarded in a society, and are free from arbitrary coercions or
sanctions, some of the basic Capability principles discussed in the Just City discus-
sion (Chap. 3).
The final Association Capital sub-domain uses Carillo's (
2006
) term
referential
category. This deals with the identification of the city and its relation with all other
factors, essentially its links in an affective context. It consists of two different sets
of elements. One is the way that each city has a distinctive identity to its citizens
and others throughout its region, country and the world, based on its inheritance
from the past, its current status and what it wants to achieve in its future. Many
cities have negative images—such as high crime rates or records of lengthy labour
strikes—which can impede future development. These handicaps have long been
known to cities and many have attempted to create positive identities for themselves
by branding themselves through creative advertising. This is not new. Historically
the competition between the emerging towns in the American and Canadian mid-
west from the end of the nineteenth century led to the so-called 'booster movement'
where the settlements often produced quite exaggerated views of their prospects to
gain investment and new businesses, especially railway lines (Artibise
1981
). In
the 1990s the deliberate advertising of cities to emphasize their strengths became
a standard policy. One of the most original slogans was provided by a consulting
company for Dunedin, New Zealand. Kearsley (
1995
) has shown how the phrase
'Dunedin: It's All Right Here' was a brilliant publicity success. The simple words
expressed the double meaning of a satisfaction with life in Dunedin with the idea
that the city has
all
the needed facilities for a good life, or for new businesses
searching for a new location. Yet this discounted some of the real problems of the
city, its old infra-structure and relatively limited hinterland, as well as a location in
a peripheral part of the country. The second set of elements in this domain consists
of the intelligence capacity of the city managers and the various stakeholders to
understand and respond to events and changing situations that affect its current and
future development, finding ways of eradicating problems and ensuring progress by
the positive use of its existing assets and attracting new ones.
11.6.4
Heritage and External Capitals
These elements of value generation come from beyond the specific time and place
of the city. The former deals with a temporal externality, the heritage of the city,
