Who is in Charge of the Urban Fringe? Neoliberalism, Open Space Preservation and Growth Control

Abstract

Cities throughout the world continue to physically expand, complicating access to regional open space for the ever-larger share of the world population that lives in cities. As the importance of a green living environment receives increasing attention, the implementation of strategies for controlling where the urban fringe can and cannot move becomes a prominent issue. European governments face the challenge of designing instruments to effectively guide spatial development against the backdrop of neoliberalism. In search of examples of market-based open space preservation, this paper assesses the mechanisms used to steer urban growth in the metropolitan fringe of two multi-million city regions in the Northwest of America—metropoles with populations growing at a staggering rate that control urban expansion in a liberal planning culture, managing to retain a reputation of liveable and green places. Market-based planning appears to be of limited importance. Explanations and relevance for the European debate are discussed.

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to all the people interviewed in Portland and Seattle for their time and willingness to share their thoughts. Gratitude is also expressed to colleagues Chris Zuidema and Justin Beaumont for their constructive comments on earlier versions of this paper. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) financed this study as part of one of its GaMON-projects.