Farrar, J.; (2005) Visions of delivery: Institutional capacity, governance and spatial planning in London Thames gateway. Masters thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

This study is about the delivery of urban visions. New institutional landscapes are being formed across London and power is increasingly diffused across multiple sectors under a new multi-level network pattern of governance. The new institutional arrangements for London and the inauguration of the Greater London Authority in particular embody the contradictory New Labour modernisation agenda displaying evidence of centralism, managerialism and localism at the same time (Brooks, 1999). In London Thames Gateway the omnipresence of the central state is revealed despite the 'devolution' of power to a new citywide Mayor. This also suggests that Government is increasingly being 'hollowed-out' (Houghton and Counsell, 2004) but that central Government continues to 'steer' the course. If the last few years are anything to go by spatial planning and strategic planning projects in particular, are back in vogue. As in the post-war period London is faced with a projected population and jobs explosion, although for very different reasons. 'Big bang' strategic planning has returned with a vengeance but for London Thames Gateway the same old questions remain: delivery---how, who and where The current institutional apparatus continues to confuse and bemuse and this study is about contributing towards the task of converting paper plans and a multitude of competing urban visions into lived reality. A broader reconfiguration of the state, economy and civil society means that a more sophisticated understanding is required to get to grips with the different actors involved within networks and the relationships of these networks. In the context of institutional fragmentation London Thames Gateway is used as a 'window' into the current institutional framework to see how the New Labour modernisation agenda is working 'on the ground'. The study uses semi-structured interviews across the various governance tiers (i.e. central Government, pan-London and sub-regional levels) to analyse the internal and external working relationships of the various actors involved. The analysis suggests that for those organisations involved in London Thames Gateway there is a 'sense of a widely-held common project' (Amin and Thrift 1995) and that this is the 'institutional glue' that binds these organisations together. In this sense the study draws on anthropology by isolating typologies or generic characteristics to understand what binds (or not) these institutions together. The evidence also suggests that participation in developing an urban vision for London Thames Gateway has broadened to encompass sectors (such as the health sector) previously neglected in planning processes and this is a positive aspect of the reforms. In an analysis of the proposed Urban Development Corporation a number of positive (generic) components can be identified. However, the analysis also emphasises that the New Labour modernisation programme is likely to generate significant tensions and some of these are in evidence in London Thames Gateway. This is because the many changes and innovations that result from this programme are creating new institutional arrangements and there is evidence of competing cultures as emerging institutions bring with them a whole new set of values and rules-in-use. These new governance structures can be linked to London's position within the global economy, the 'flavour' of the new planning system and the spatial plans being produced to take account of these trends. The global economic race for economic competitiveness dictates that planners and planning must respond, whilst at the same time steering a course through social cohesion and environmental sustainability. It is argued that there is no spatial fait accompli and political institutions and civil society in London Thames Gateway are able to manoeuvre to steer these forces in a positive direction. And so, the broader of role of planners and their ability to deliver through these emerging institutional mechanisms is brought into question. In so doing we argue that this has forced them to cast aside traditional working practices and to develop new approaches to ensuring economic, environmental and social objectives are met through the prism of spatial planning.

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