Origins of the use of urbanism in cities competition: Houston case
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37230/CyTET.2021.207.10Keywords:
Cities competition, Houston, Sunbelt, Zoning, Land UseAbstract
This article analyzes the origins of the use of urbanism in the competition between cities in order to attract economic activities. Regarding the time period, it focuses in the 1980s, when this practice started to expand globally, in coincidence with a similar process in the economy. As for the geography, it uses the American Sunbelt as case study. It starts analyzing the figure of the ‘developer-municipalities’, and the historic roots of the ‘weak urbanism’ in the United States. In a second part, it focuses on the case of Houston, a city with no urban plan. It analyzes the few tools that the public administration has to operate in the city, as well as the tools used by developers in order to avoid the risks derived of the absence of planning. Finally, the article concludes with several considerations on the advantages and inconveniences of the no-plan policy for Houston in the analyzed period, as well as on the reasons that explain the support of the local community.
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