The ghost in the machine: the neoliberal urban visions of Michael Bloomberg

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of grand urban visions in neoliberal urbanism by drawing on ethnographic and other research into the administration of New York City's ex-CEO Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. It argues that such visions illustrate the cultural dimensions and power of neoliberal urbanism, of which Bloomberg's approach to governance and development was an example. It describes the details and development of such visions in the Bloomberg administration, their role in the administration's ambitious development agenda, and the ways in which they affected the politics surrounding this agenda.

Keywords:

• New York
• neoliberalism
• urban development

Notes

1. For examples of these renderings, please contact the author or see these URLs: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/hyards/hymain.shtml#vision; http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/about/strategy.pdf; http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/erw/index.shtml.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julian Brash

Julian Brash is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07040, USA