The Production and Politics of Urban Knowledge: Contesting Transport in Auckland, New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Expert technical knowledge has a central role in decision-making for urban transport and is subject to public scrutiny for major investments. This paper examines how expertise is produced and contested by advocacy groups in Auckland, New Zealand. A network of advocates has emerged, garnering considerable influence as “experts” on urban transport and planning. In response to the perceived over-reliance on outdated approaches to transport, advocates mobilised alternative expertise using blogs and social media. Internet platforms enabled groups to extend the public sphere online, creating spaces for deliberation and contestation. Their activities targeted the technocratic logics embedded in forecasting models, reasserted transport infrastructure’s function as urban space, and highlighted how transport infrastructure shapes everyday experience. This case shows how advocates countered the postpolitical condition by re-ordering the polity of transport in Auckland. Advocates have been instrumental in appropriating globally mobile policies and successfully promoted improvements to public transport and cycling. However, those interviewed showed limited consideration of equity issues related to income, race and gender. This raises questions over whether the expertise mobilised favoured privileged groups, as advocates may be unaware of marginalisation that they rarely experience themselves. Alliances with community groups and local researchers can support broader engagement with distributional issues.

在城市交通决策中，专业技术知识发挥着核心作用，而且在重大投资项目中要接受公众监 督。本文探究新西兰奥克兰的专业知识生产过程，以及造势团体（advocacy groups）对这 种知识的对抗。目前奥克兰的造势人士已形成了网络，他们以城市交通和规划“专家”的 面貌出现，产生了不小的影响。他们针对明显过分依赖过时交通方式的现象，利用博客和 社会媒体调动另类专业知识。互联网平台使他们得以在线上扩大公共领域，创建协商和对 抗空间。他们反对预测模型中的技术官僚逻辑，强调交通基础设施具有城市空间的功能，突出交通基础设施对日常生活的影响。本文研究的案例显示出造势人士如何对奥克兰的交 通政体重新洗牌，并藉此对抗后政治状态。他们已在采纳全球移动政策方面发挥了作用，并成功促成了公共交通和骑行的改进。然而，接受采访的造势人士对收入、种族和性别平 等问题缺乏关注，令人担心他们所调用的专业知识会倾向于特权阶层，因为他们自身很少 有边缘化体验。与社区群体以及当地研究者合作将会拓宽其思路，帮助他们考虑分配问题。

KEYWORDS:

• Urban governance
• transport planning
• knowledge production
• infrastructure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The reasoning behind this decision is explained further by Mees and Dodson (2007).

2. The notion of revealed preference states that consumer behaviour can be equated to consumer preferences, by testing consumer behaviour under a variety of prices (Samuelson 1948), which states that individual preferences are reflected in what they purchase.

3. Muggle is a colloquial term for a person without specialist knowledge or skills in a given field.