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Call for Papers - Decentralization and Urban Transformation in Asia |
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CALL FOR PAPERS (DEADLINE: 15 NOVEMBER 2010)
Decentralization and Urban Transformation in Asia
Date : 10 - 11 March 2011
Venue : Asia Research Institute
469A Tower Block, Level 10
Bukit Timah Road
National University of Singapore @ BTC
[MAP<http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/docs/maps/ARI-BTC%20Map.pdf>]
Website :
http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=6&eventid=1088
This multidisciplinary conference explores the relationship between different forms and degrees of decentralization and urban change in Asia. Recent regional trends toward the devolution of state power and resources have implications for the emergence of city-regions as important actors within and beyond nation-states, and as sites of innovation in addressing challenges related to urban growth, public service delivery, community building, and the management of resources for livable and sustainable cities. The shift in responsibility from central governments to the local level also has import for internal migration flows from rural-to-urban areas (and vice versa) and for the changing material fabric of urban centers, both in their built environment and in the lived spaces of city residents.
The nexus between decentralization and urban transformation in Asia may
take on various practical permutations and function at different levels.
Decentralization may achieve its normative goal of encouraging city
administrations to be more responsive to the needs and aspirations of
their constituents
by bringing government 'closer to the people'. Conversely,
decentralization within the contexts of globalization and privatization
may circumvent critical aspects of democratic procedure if city
administrations use their increased access to state power and resources
to nurture clientelistic networks
of patronage and/or to tap into wider circles of regional or global economic activity at the expense of local development.
Decentralization may also operate at multiple levels as both an agent
and consequence of urban transformation. For instance, decentralization
to cities may contribute towards decentralization within cities in a
process of 'urban decentralization', otherwise known as
'suburbanization' or 'urban sprawl'.
We invite submission of papers from young and established scholars,
policymakers, planners, legislators, architects and development
practitioners on the interplay between decentralization and urban change
in Asia. In this, we encourage applicants to consider empirical case
studies and theories within comparative Asian contexts, and what lessons
might be learned from Asia for urban transformations in other parts of
the world. Questions that will guide the conference proceedings to speak
to related themes across disciplinary and geographical boundaries
include:
* How has decentralization changed the role and functions of local administrations in Asian cities?
* In what ways has decentralization transformed the built
environment of urban spaces and the lived environments of city
residents?
* How have the processes and structures of decentralization
empowered cities to emerge as new centers of innovation in responding to
localized challenges (such as conflict management, rapid urbanization
and issues of livability, sustainability, public service delivery and
community building)?
* What networks of governance and inter-city cooperation have
emerged between cities within and beyond national borders since the
initiation of decentralization?
* How has decentralization reconfigured relations between cities
and between cities and their surrounding hinterlands (that is,
urban-to-urban and rural-to-urban linkages and networks)?
* To what extent are cities in Asia seen as models of best
practice in the governance of decentralization? Does this portend for
the travel of Asian city models of good governance and urban
sustainability within and beyond the region?
SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS
Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (250 words maximum)
and a brief personal biography of 150 words by 15 November 2010.
Please submit and address all applications and enquiries to Dr Michelle
Miller (
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). Successful applicants will be notified by 30
November 2010 and will be required to send in a completed draft paper
(5,000 - 8,000 words) by 11 February 2011.
CONTACT DETAILS
Organisers:
Dr Michelle Miller
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Email:
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Dr Tim Bunnell
Asia Research Institute and Dept of Geography, National
University of Singapore Email:
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Secretariat:
Ms Valerie Yeo
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Email:
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Valerie YEO (Ms) :: Management Assistant Officer (Events),
Asia Research Institute :: National University of Singapore ::
469A Tower Block, #10-01, Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259770
:: 65-6516 5279 (DID) :: 65-6779 1428 (Fax) ::
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