IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v57y2020i9p1811-1826.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Infrastructure imaginaries: The politics of light rail projects in the age of neoliberalism

Author

Listed:
  • Kristian Olesen

Abstract

In the last decade light rail transit systems have become a popular mode of public transport in many cities around the world to upgrade the existing public transportation network, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to support neoliberal urban development strategies. The paper takes its starting point in the growing critical literature discussing the politics of light rail and related transport infrastructure projects in the context of neoliberalism. The paper uses the case of Aalborg, Denmark, to demonstrate how light rail projects are embedded in particular infrastructure imaginaries, which reflect wider political agendas of promoting urban development and economic growth. In the case of Aalborg, the city’s spatial strategies have played an important role in constructing an imaginary of the city as the region’s ‘growth dynamo’, which in turn have led to a growth-fixated conceptualisation of the city’s spatiality, and contributed to rationalising the need for investments in light rail. The paper argues that light rail projects are first and foremost politically rationalised as important investments for facilitating urban development and supporting entrepreneurial city strategies of urban and economic growth, whilst their social objectives of providing affordable public transportation play a less prominent role in the contemporary imaginary of the city.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristian Olesen, 2020. "Infrastructure imaginaries: The politics of light rail projects in the age of neoliberalism," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(9), pages 1811-1826, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:9:p:1811-1826
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098019853502
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098019853502
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098019853502?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chong Ju Choi & Carla C. J. M. Millar & Caroline Y. L. Wong, 2005. "Knowledge and the State," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Knowledge Entanglements, chapter 0, pages 19-38, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Maria Kaika & Erik Swyngedouw, 2000. "Fetishizing the modern city: the phantasmagoria of urban technological networks," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 120-138, March.
    3. Bas Waterhout & Frank Othengrafen & Olivier Sykes, 2013. "Neo-liberalization Processes and Spatial Planning in France, Germany, and the Netherlands: An Exploration," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 141-159, February.
    4. De Bruijn, Hans & Veeneman, Wijnand, 2009. "Decision-making for light rail," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 349-359, May.
    5. D. Knowles, Richard & Ferbrache, Fiona, 2016. "Evaluation of wider economic impacts of light rail investment on cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 430-439.
    6. Phil Allmendinger & Graham Haughton, 2013. "The Evolution and Trajectories of English Spatial Governance: 'Neoliberal' Episodes in Planning," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 6-26, February.
    7. Flyvbjerg,Bent & Bruzelius,Nils & Rothengatter,Werner, 2003. "Megaprojects and Risk," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521009461.
    8. Culver, Gregg, 2017. "Mobility and the making of the neoliberal “creative city”: The streetcar as a creative city project?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 22-30.
    9. Kristian Olesen, 2017. "Talk to the hand: strategic spatial planning as persuasive storytelling of the Loop City," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 978-993, June.
    10. Theresa Erin Enright, 2013. "Mass Transportation in the Neoliberal City: The Mobilizing Myths of the Grand Paris Express," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(4), pages 797-813, April.
    11. Olesen, Mette & Lassen, Claus, 2016. "Rationalities and materialities of light rail scapes," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 373-382.
    12. Hein‐Anton Van Der Heijden, 2006. "Multi‐level Environmentalism and the European Union: The Case of Trans‐European Transport Networks," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 23-37, March.
    13. Tom Baker & Kristian Ruming, 2015. "Making ‘Global Sydney’: Spatial Imaginaries, Worlding and Strategic Plans," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 62-78, January.
    14. Joe Grengs, 2005. "The abandoned social goals of public transit in the neoliberal city of the USA," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 51-66, April.
    15. King, David A. & Fischer, Lauren Ames, 2016. "Streetcar projects as spatial planning: A shift in transport planning in the United States," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 383-390.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Biyue Wang & Martin de Jong & Ellen van Bueren & Aksel Ersoy & Yanchun Meng, 2023. "Transit-Oriented Development in China: A Comparative Content Analysis of the Spatial Plans of High-Speed Railway Station Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Diogo Da Fonseca-Soares & Josicleda Domiciano Galvinicio & Sayonara Andrade Eliziário & Angel Fermin Ramos-Ridao, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Trends and Characteristics of Railway Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Shaun Tyan Gin Lim & Francesco Perono Cacciafoco, 2023. "Naming public transport and historicising experiences: Critical toponymies and everyday multilingualism in Singapore’s mass rapid transit system," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(15), pages 3045-3060, November.
    4. Adolphi, Lukas & Dutzmann, Silke & Sgibnev, Wladimir & Weicker, Tonio, 2022. "When means of transport move: German export of second-hand tramways," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    5. Remme, Devyn & Sareen, Siddharth & Haarstad, Håvard, 2022. "Who benefits from sustainable mobility transitions? Social inclusion, populist resistance and elite capture in Bergen, Norway," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Ayesha Khan & Haroon Gulzar & Hafsa Shoaib & Hamza Saleem & Asra Hafeez, 2022. "Urban Transport: A Proposal of Light Rail Transit (LRT) System in Lahore," International Journal of World Policy and Development Studies, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, 06-2022.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Yazdi, Asieh Haieri, 2019. "Technological frames and the politics of automated electric Light Rail Rapid Transit in Poland and the United Kingdom," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Michael J. Smart & Nicholas J. Klein, 2020. "Disentangling the role of cars and transit in employment and labor earnings," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1275-1309, June.
    3. Diemer, Matthew J. & Currie, Graham & De Gruyter, Chris & Kamruzzaman, Md. & Hopkins, Ian, 2021. "A streetcar to be desired? The development of a new approach to measure perception of place quality in the context of tram network modernisation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    4. Nilsson, Isabelle & Delmelle, Elizabeth, 2018. "Transit investments and neighborhood change: On the likelihood of change," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 167-179.
    5. Kristian Olesen & Helen Carter, 2018. "Planning as a barrier for growth: Analysing storylines on the reform of the Danish Planning Act," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 36(4), pages 689-707, June.
    6. Graham Haughton & Phil Allmendinger, 2016. "Think tanks and the pressures for planning reform in England," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1676-1692, December.
    7. Talia Margalit & Nurit Alfasi, 2016. "The undercurrents of entrepreneurial development: Impressions from a globalizing city," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(10), pages 1967-1987, October.
    8. Athanasios-Alexandru Gavrilidis & Andreea Nita & Mihaita-Iulian Niculae, 2020. "Assessing the Potential Conflict Occurrence Due to Metropolitan Transportation Planning: A Proposed Quantitative Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-21, January.
    9. Reigner, Hélène & Brenac, Thierry, 2019. "Safe, sustainable… but depoliticized and uneven – A critical view of urban transport policies in France," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 218-234.
    10. Culver, Gregg, 2017. "Mobility and the making of the neoliberal “creative city”: The streetcar as a creative city project?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 22-30.
    11. Mace, Alan & Holman, Nancy & Paccoud, Antoine & Sundaresan, Jayaraj, 2015. "Coordinating density; working through conviction, suspicion and pragmatism," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 56768, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Schreiner, Lena & Madlener, Reinhard, 2022. "Investing in power grid infrastructure as a flexibility option: A DSGE assessment for Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    13. Oliver Hinz & Jochen Eckert, 2010. "The Impact of Search and Recommendation Systems on Sales in Electronic Commerce," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 2(2), pages 67-77, April.
    14. Xiao-Bai Li & Jialun Qin, 2017. "Anonymizing and Sharing Medical Text Records," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 332-352, June.
    15. Ahsan Nawaz & Xing Su & Qaiser Mohi Ud Din & Muhammad Irslan Khalid & Muhammad Bilal & Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah, 2020. "Identification of the H&S (Health and Safety Factors) Involved in Infrastructure Projects in Developing Countries-A Sequential Mixed Method Approach of OLMT-Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Lawrence Bunnell & Kweku-Muata Osei-Bryson & Victoria Y. Yoon, 0. "RecSys Issues Ontology: A Knowledge Classification of Issues for Recommender Systems Researchers," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-42.
    17. Martinovici, A., 2019. "Revealing attention - how eye movements predict brand choice and moment of choice," Other publications TiSEM 7dca38a5-9f78-4aee-bd81-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    18. Cantarelli, C.C. & Flyvbjerg, B. & Buhl, S.L., 2012. "Geographical variation in project cost performance: the Netherlands versus worldwide," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 324-331.
    19. Simin Yan & Anna Growe, 2022. "Regional Planning, Land-Use Management, and Governance in German Metropolitan Regions—The Case of Rhine–Neckar Metropolitan Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-24, November.
    20. Joanna Sokolowska & Patrycja Sleboda, 2015. "The Inverse Relation Between Risks and Benefits: The Role of Affect and Expertise," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(7), pages 1252-1267, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:9:p:1811-1826. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.