Waley, P (2013) Pencilling Tokyo into the map of neoliberal urbanism. Cities, 32. 43 - 50. ISSN 0264-2751
Abstract
There is no questioning the immensity of change in Tokyo's urban landscape over the last few decades, despite the difficulties faced by the Japanese economy. This transformation results from a vigorous promotion of urban restructuring by the state and a keen uptake by corporations. The question examined here is the extent to which Tokyo fits into a palette of policies generally seen as neoliberal and, more generally, how and where Tokyo fits into global narratives of urban change. In order to put some perspective on the nature of urban change in Tokyo, three themes are pursued here that are generally considered to indicate a neoliberal policy turn: a territorial rescaling designed to concentrate energies on places of economic strength; a relaxation of regulations facilitating urban restructuring; and housing and other social policies resulting in residential segregation and producing greater social inequality which finds a spatial expression. In doing this, the paper reviews recent debates in the literature on Tokyo, debates that suggest a difference in view between those who see urban life-spaces as conditioned increasingly by a neoliberal policy approach and others for whom the pattern and spaces of life in Tokyo are colored by a more distinct set of policies molded by the (neo-) developmental state. The paper concludes by arguing that only some elements of a 'neoliberal urban inventory' are present in the urban landscape of Tokyo, that they exist within a recognisably neoliberal discursive framework, and that this is best conceptualized within a wider East Asian framework.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Cities. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Cities, 32, 2013 10.1016/j.cities.2013.02.005 |
Keywords: | Deregulation; Developmental state; East Asia; Neoliberal urbanism; Residential segregation; Territorial rescaling; Tokyo |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jan 2014 12:27 |
Last Modified: | 01 Jun 2016 00:38 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.02.005 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.cities.2013.02.005 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:77204 |