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‘Arriving At’ Urban Policies: The Topological Spaces of Urban Policy Mobility

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  • Jennifer Robinson

Abstract

type="main"> Spatial vocabularies are stretched to their limits by the complexities of policy mobilities. Using the example of city-wide strategic policymaking in Johannesburg, this essay argues for an enrichment of our vocabularies for appreciating how wider circuits of urban policy shape localized policy outcomes. Rather than tracing policies until they arrive somewhere, a more nuanced spatiality of policy mobility emerges when considering how policies are 'arrived at'. Thus policy influences can, for example, be ephemeral and recursive, international but already present in localities, have many simultaneous origins, and be folded into a relatively amorphous but specific policy blend. Drawing on John Allen's account of topological space, the essay indicates how both a more subtle spatiality and a more open politics of policy formation would emerge from turning the analysis of policy mobilities on its head in this way.

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  • Jennifer Robinson, 2015. "‘Arriving At’ Urban Policies: The Topological Spaces of Urban Policy Mobility," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 831-834, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:39:y:2015:i:4:p:831-834
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1468-2427.12255
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jamie Peck & Nik Theodore, 2012. "Follow the Policy: A Distended Case Approach," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(1), pages 21-30, January.
    2. John Allen & Allan Cochrane, 2007. "Beyond the Territorial Fix: Regional Assemblages, Politics and Power," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(9), pages 1161-1175.
    3. Kevin Ward, 2006. "‘Policies in Motion’, Urban Management and State Restructuring: The Trans‐Local Expansion of Business Improvement Districts," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 54-75, March.
    4. Abdoumaliq Simone, 2001. "Straddling the Divides: Remaking Associational Life in the Informal African City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 102-117, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mattias Qviström & Nik Luka & Greet De Block, 2019. "Beyond Circular Thinking: Geographies of Transit‐Oriented Development," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 786-793, July.
    3. Håvard Haarstad & Stina Ellevseth Oseland, 2017. "Historicizing Urban Sustainability: The Shifting Ideals Behind Forus Industrial Park, Norway," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 838-854, September.
    4. Wood, Astrid, 2020. "Tracing the absence of bike-share in Johannesburg: A case of policy mobilities and non-adoption," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Haarstad, Håvard & Wathne, Marikken W., 2019. "Are smart city projects catalyzing urban energy sustainability?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 918-925.
    6. Philip Lawton, 2020. "Tracing the Provenance of Urbanist Ideals: A Critical Analysis of The Quito Papers," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 731-742, July.
    7. Tom Baker & Cristina Temenos, 2015. "Urban Policy Mobilities Research: Introduction to a Debate," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 824-827, July.
    8. Noga Keidar, 2023. "CITIES AND THEIR GURUS: The Role of Superstar Consultants in Post‐political Urban Governance," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 279-298, March.

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