Journal
REGIONAL STUDIES
Volume 55, Issue 1, Pages 52-62Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2020.1762856
Keywords
city-region scale; spatial imaginary; scalar fix; politics of rescaling; functional economic areas; England
Funding
- Academy of Finland [303553]
- Academy of Finland (AKA) [303553, 303553] Funding Source: Academy of Finland (AKA)
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This paper proposes a new conceptualization of scale as performative imaginary and examines the issues of scalar fixing using city-regionalization in England as a case study. Despite the alignment between enacted scale, scalar imaginary and neoliberal political project, institutionalization of this imaginary has not been successful, resulting in variable geometries of subnational governance.
This paper proposes a new conceptualization of scale as performative imaginary and deploys that to explore the what, the why and the how questions of scalar fixing. Drawing on city-regionalization in England, it argues that a distinct imaginary of city-regions as economic- and city-centric spaces has been normalized through two forms of knowledge: one rationalizing the scalar positioning of this imaginary, the other demarcating its spatial boundaries. It shows that despite the alignment between enacted scale (what), scalar imaginary (how) and neoliberal political project (why), institutionalization of this imaginary has failed, leading to variable geometries of subnational governance.
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