! ! ! ! ! !
Framing the FOC
A!discourse!analysis!of!the!contested!development!of!factory!outlet!
centers!in!the!northern!regions!of!the!Netherlands!
! ! ! by! Zino!Rowin!Schouman,!B!Eng.! ! ! A!thesis!for!the!degree!of! Master!of!Science!in!Urban!and!Regional!Planning! ! ! at!the! University!of!Amsterdam! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Title:! Framing! the! FOC:! A! discourse! analysis! of! the! contested! develI opment! of! factory! outlet! centers! in! the! northern! regions! of! the! Netherlands! Auteur:! !Z.R.!Schouman!(S10895337)! Date:!! ! ! ! June!20th,!2016! ! Supervisor:!!! ! ! dr.!D.V.H.!Evers! Second!reader:! ! ! dr.!M.!Giezen! ! ! !
Abstract
In! February! of! this! year,! the! city! council! of! Assen! approved! the! building! of! a! factory! outlet! center! (FOC)! near! the! city’s! motorsport! racetrack.! Before! construction! of! the! outlet!can!begin,!the!province!has!to!give!its!approval.!The!project!sparked!a!regional! debate,!in!which!supporters!emphasize!the!economic!opportunities!–!serving!the!northG ern!customers!in!their!demand!for!highGend!brands!and!creating!new!jobs!in!the!region.! Opponents!see!problems!for!the!weak!inner!city!and!criticize!the!location!of!the!develG opment!for!environmental!reasons.!Although!the!Assen!case!is!the!main!object!of!this! study,! two! reference! cases! put! it! in! perspective.! Differentiating! perspectives! on! the! ‘truth’!is!the!focus!my!attention,!together!with!examining!various!conflicting!strategies! to!construct!this!truth.!My!research!will!apply!discourse!analysis!as!a!methodological! tool,!concentrating!mainly!on!metaphors!and!framing,!storylines,!and!discourse!coaliG tions.! The! intent! is! to! show! how! actors,! both! for! and! against! the! development,! use! language!to!persuade!political!decisionGmaking.!
!
Table of content
!
Abstract( 5!
1.#!
Introduction# 9!
The(project( 10!
2.#!
Theoretical#framework# 13!
Politics(and(power( 13!
Discursive(‘turn’(in(planning( 14!
Discourse(analysis( 17!
Retail(perspectives( 21!
3.!
Methodology# 27!
Research(questions( 27!
Operationalization( 28!
Case(studies( 31!
Data(collection( 32!
4.!
Case#of#North#Groningen# 35!
FOC(Zuidbroek(discourses( 36!
FOC(Winschoten(discourses( 43!
5.!
Case#of#Assen# 49!
Actor(scan( 49!
FOC(Assen(discourses( 52!
Proposal(and(motions( 68!
After(the(decision( 70!
Conclusion( 71!
6.!
Conclusion# 73!
Synthesis(of(discourses( 73!
Discourse(coalitions( 80!
Final(remarks( 81!
References# 85!
Appendix:#Media#references# 89!
! !1. Introduction
The!project!in!Assen!is!an!example!of!decisionImaking!in!modern!city!planning!and! politics.! The! momentum! in! the! course! of! retail! development! policy! is! contested! in! the!public!debate,!and!the!national!political!discourse!seems!to!deviate!at!the!local! level;!it!also!involves!a!possible!shift!in!the!paradigmatic!policy!on!peripheral!fashion! stores.!The!contestation!over!the!outlet!project!is!inherently!political.!A!development! on!the!city!periphery!creates!political!tension!between!the!growth!strategies!of!local! states,!the!social!consequences!of!peripheral!development,!and!political!coordination! at! various! levels! of! government! (Phelps! et! al.! 2010).! Moreover,! the! set! of! actors! in! retail!developments!is!typically!different!from!other!types!of!developments,!because! the! stakeholders! can! include! multiple! retailers,! while! society! at! large! is! often! not! seen!as!having!an!important!interest!(Evers!2004).!The!conflict!is!mainly!between!the! government!and!developer!on!one!hand,!and!the!opposing!vested!business!interests! of! the! inner! city! and! other! governmental! jurisdiction! on! the! other.! This! planning! debate!in!the!public!sphere!is!centered!on!the!moral!question!on!what!is!best!for!the! public.! Notions! of! ‘public! good’! for! the! polis! are! always! contested! and! the! general! view!changes!over!time,!making!it!difficult!to!pin!down.!It!is!an!unstable!notion!that! develops! during! the! process! and! not! stable;! it! “emerges! in! the! course! of! planning! itself,!and!its!concrete!meaning!is!constantly!evolving”!(Friedmann!1989:!75).!
When!we!assume!there!are!diverse!and!conflicting!views!among!the!actors,!this! soIcalled! ‘wicked’! landIuse! problem! (Rittel! and! Webber! 1973)! cannot! be! solved! by! techne!(technical!knowledge),!so!the!process!of!decisionImaking!becomes!essentially! political.! Because! these! projects! have! various! opposing! parties,! the! conflict! can! be! described! as! a! policy! contestation! in! the! planning! process.! This! is! in! contrast! to! policy!disagreements,!which!involves!disputes!between!parties!that!can!be!settled!by! examining! the! facts.! These! controversies! (the! termed! used! by! Schön! and! Rein)! are! immune!to!factual!resolutions!and!are!to!some!extent!intractable.!Policy!controverI sies!are!disputes!of!parties!in!conflict,!who!hold!conflicting!views,!or!frames,!of!realiI ty!(Schön!and!Rein!1994).!So!costIbenefit!or!feasibility!studies!cannot!create!a!genI eral!public!consensus,!aside!form!their!different!interpretations.!This!does!not!imply! that!arguments!cannot!include!fact!claims;!regardless!of!what!this!truth!is,!factIbased! claims!enjoy!the!power!of!rationality.!However,!political!actors!construct!this!reality,!
because! rationality! is! not! objective! and! fixed! (Flyvbjerg! 1998).! Friedmann! urged! planning! theorist! to! incorporate! dimensions! of! power! into! their! conceptual! frameI works,!because!they!are!typically!reluctant!to!do!this!(1998:!252).!In!terms!of!politics,! planning!and!policy!arguments!are!closely!related!to!the!exercise!of!power!and!the! power!relations!between!various!parties!in!society!(Fischer!&!Forester!1993).!In!westI ern! democracy,! using! rationalities! of! communication! to! reach! consensus,! can! turn! into! the! postpolitical! mode! with! the! use! of! populist! tactics! (Swynedouw! 2011).! The! discourses!in!the!planning!process!are!analyzed,!as!they!evolve!in!the!course!of!acI tions,! and! are! constrained! by! the! socially! constructed! families! of! meaning,! which! shape!the!view!on!reality!concerning!the!project!(Hajer!1995).!The!scope!of!this!study! is!the!power!relations!and!human!interactions,!manifested!in!discourse.!
!
The project
In!February!2016!the!city!council!of!Assen!approved!a!largeIscale!peripheral!Factory! Outlet! Center! (FOC)! development! near! the! city’s! motorsport! racetrack! along! the! highway,!together!with!an!agenda!to!improve!the!weak!inner!city.!This!project!would! be!the!fourth!outlet!in!the!country,!like!various!other!plans!utilizing!this!retail!conI cept!that!at!the!time!of!writing!are!being!discussed.!In!order!to!build!these!shopping! centers,! because! of! the! decentralization! of! the! planning! authority,! provinces! also! have! to! decide! and! often! change! (or! reinterpret)! their! current! policy,! which! most! regional!authorities!have!been!reluctant!to!do.!After!the!announcement!of!the!develI opment!in!Assen!a!regional!debate!was!sparked,!with!the!decision!of!the!city!council! at!its!center.!Plans!for!an!outlet!in!the!region!of!North!Netherland!have!been!around! for!almost!a!decade,!and!are!centered!on!an!essential!component!of!modern!life.! Traditionally!the!marketplace!of!the!monocentric!city!is!located!in!the!center,! where!commercial!activities!concentrated!and!have!proliferated.!Max!Weber!looked! at!the!economics!of!society,!and!observed!that!commerce!is!the!most!essential!aspect! of!the!city.!In!The!Nature!of!the!City!he!defines!the!city!as!“a!settlement!the!inhabitI ants! of! which! live! primarily! off! trade! and! commerce! rather! than! agriculture”! (1921:! 23).! This! is! somewhat! in! contrast! to! the! perspectives! provided! by! Karl! Marx,! who! focused!rather!on!the!modes!of!production!for!defining!the!city.!City!planning!paraI digms!shifted!due!to!the!mobility!made!possible!by!motorized!commercial!and!perI
sonal! transportation.! The! living! environment! could! be! spread! over! larger! areas,! creating!the!garden!cities,!or,!in!other!words,!the!suburbs,!which!are!often!framed!as! ‘urban!sprawl’!because!they!create!problems!on!various!spheres.!Also,!retailers!made! use! of! the! benefits! of! increasing! scales,! like! the! expansion! of! hypermarkets! like! Walmart.!In!addition!to!the!daily!grocery!stores,!the!market!for!periodic!purchases,! like!clothing!and!electronics,!have!also!changed.!Beginning!in!the!States!around!the! 1960s,!shopping!malls!became!more!and!more!prevalent,!and!are!essential!to!underI stand!contemporary!cities!around!the!globe.!! Factory!outlets!are!shops!or!shopping!centers!that!are!usually!managed!by!the! manufacturing!brand,!and!sell!their!leftovers!and!dated!items!directly!to!their!cusI tomers! (Evers! et! al.! 2011).! FOCs! can! be! contrasted! to! shopping! malls! or! centers,! which!are!mainly!different!for!the!supply!chain!(without!middleman)!and!how!the! factory! outlets! are! advertised! (high! discounts).! FOCs! may! be! seen! as! a! type! of! ‘megamall’,! and! is! defined! as! a! large! scale,! gated! and! conditioned! shopping! and! leisure!center!with!a!typical!design,!which!are!strategically!located!and!built!to!serve! consumers!beyond!the!region!(Van!Schuppen!2010).!
The!retail!sector!is!marked!by!the!increasing!importance!of!web!shopping,!inI creasing!scale!and!number!of!franchises,!greater!amount!of!floor!space!and!the!imI portance! of! brandIindividual! relations! through! imaginary! experience.!Furthermore,! we!see!the!decrease!of!purchasing!power!and!to!some!extent!the!importance!of!tradiI tional!types!of!local!stores!with!a!sentimental!relation!of!intimacy!(Evers!et!al.!2005;! Gianotten!and!Haringsma!2006).!These!developments!make!the!Dutch!retail!sector! an!interesting!industry.!The!Minister!of!Economic!Affairs!Henk!Kamp!wants!to!conI trol! new! retail! floor! space,! since! in! 2015! and! 2016! (up! until! April)! at! least! a! dozen! retail!chains!including!V&D,!Manfield,!Aktiesport!and!Scapino!filed!bankruptcy.!This! wave!of!collapsing!enterprises!can!threaten!and!deteriorate!city!centers,!according!to! Kamp,!so!we!need!to!take!measures!to!decrease!the!quantity!of!retail!space!and!inI crease!the!quality,!with!the!use!of!soIcalled!RetailDeals!(AD!2016).!A!new!mall!in!the! periphery!seems!a!departure!from!the!minister’s!statements.!Nonetheless,!the!analyI sis! is! not! on! the! spatial! desirability! or! effects,! but! this! study! rather! describes! the! discursive!strategies!of!actors!to!persuade!political!decisions.!
2. Theoretical framework
This!chapter!provides!an!overview!of!relevant!literature,!with!theories!on!power!and! politics,!and!the!discursive!‘turn’!in!planning!and!discourse!analysis.!Then!we!discuss! various! perspectives! of! retail! development,! through! economic,! social! and! environI mental!lenses,!to!position!them!in!theory.!
!
Politics and power
It!has!historically!been!recognized!that!the!practice!of!planning!has!a!pivotal!relation! with!the!power!congealing!strategies!of!political!actors,!even!though!this!is!not!much! discussed!(Campbell!2001).!Long!(1959:!168)!stated!that!it!is!not!about!the!question! on! whether! planning! represents! politics,! but! rather! “whose! politics! it! reflects”! (in! Savini! 2013).! The! wellIknown! sociologist! Karl! Mannheim! rejected! the! idea! of! mass! society! and! argued! for! rational! planning! by! a! small! group,! using! socialIscientific! intelligence! to! overcome! unreason! and! outIofIcontrol! irrationality.! This! stands! in! contrast! to! Karl! Popper,! who! defended! intellectual! and! moral! credibility! of! social! planning,! and! was! committed! to! change! society! through! democratic! debates! and! critical! involvement! of! people! with! different! political! beliefs! and! assumptions! (Friedmann!1987).!Robert!Dahl!supported!the!latter!view!and!criticized!the!concept! of!the!‘ruling!elite’,!which!claimed!the!power!of!decisionImaking!is!exclusive!to!parI ticular!groups!(e.g.!old!families!or!bankers).!Dahl!argued!that!these!claims!of!scholI ars!like!C.!Wright!Mills!were!empirically!ungrounded,!since!in!reality!political!deciI sions!do!not!necessarily!serve!the!interest!of!the!elite!(Dahl!1958).!In!pluralism,!deciI sionImaking!is!the!outcome!of!various!interest!groups!(e.g.!unions,!companies)!that! are! competing! to! get! their! way,! and! the! government! serves! as! mediator! between! these!various!parties!in!society!(Dahl!1961).!
Bachrach! and! Baratz! (1970)! proposed! the! notion! of! nondecisionImaking,! in! which!they!incorporating!the!less!visible!face!of!political!power.!It! involves!the!caI pacity! of! elite! groups! to! regulate! the! boundaries! of! decisionImaking;! exclusively! focusing! it! on! the! relative! ‘safe’! issues,! while! more! important! issues! are! ignored.! According!to!Domhoff!(1978),!the!national!upper!class!that!controls!corporate!capital! has!the!ability!to!set!the!agenda!of!the!public!debate!and!retain!the!public!ideology!
for!their!interest.!One!of!Lukes’!(2005)!dimensions,!in!rationalizing!power,!is!agenda! setting,!which!at!the!same!time!can!shed!light!on!the!capacity!to!keep!things!off!the! agenda.! This! comes! forth! out! of! the! idea! of! nondecisionImaking.! In! the! postI positivist!interpretative!tradition,!this!can!be!explained!as!the!potential!to!‘frame’!the! agenda,!looking!at!the!way!issues!are!presented!in!the!process!(Metzger!et!al.!2016).! This!relates!more!to!the!actor!network!theory!(ANT),!which!views!power!as!someI thing!that!is!never!in!one’s!possession!and!can!only!attained!in!potential.!According! to!this!concept,!power!appears!only!as!effect!and!never!as!cause!(Latour!1988).!Here! connectivity!and!power!are!intertwined,!focusing!on!the!association!between!actors.! Relations!of!power!are!not!the!starting!point!in!ANT;!it!is!achieved!by!actors!in!the! course!of!planning,!and!is!not!a!permanent!condition!(Cressman!2009).!
Throgmorton! (1993)! suggests! planning! is! rhetorical,! and! planning! tools! (such! as! surveys,! forecast! and! digital! models)! are! rhetorical! tropes,! in! which! figures! of! arguments!provide!persuasive!power!to!the!larger!narrative.!There!is!thus!no!neutralI ity!and!general!‘truth’,!and!planning!tools!are!inherently!contested.!One!of!the!criI tiques!of!his!study!on!electric!power!planning!in!Chicago!argues!that!what!matters!is! power!and!not!storytelling.!For!instance,!Flyvbjerg!(1998)!argued!for!the!importance! of!the!alwaysIpresent!power!relations,!which!cannot!be!done!away!with!by!commuI nicative! rationality.! For! him! it! is! power! that! creates! the! notions! and! realities,! and! shapes!the!limit!of!actions!(Campbell!and!Fainstein!1996).!For!Throgmorton!(2003)! the!critique!is!insignificant!to!the!wider!argument,!due!to!the!fact!that!both!scholars! stress!the!importance!of!persuasion!in!the!political!realm.!
!
Discursive ‘turn’ in planning
Jürgen! Habersmas’! discourse! ethics! and! communicative! rationality! formed! a! great! counterweight! against! technocratic! (topIdown)! planning,! and! focused! on! more! communication!in!the!planning!process!for!the!benefit!of!civil!society.!Works!of!this! critical!theorist!from!the!Frankfurt!school!became!leading!in!planning!theory!in!the! late!1980s!and!1990s,!and!underlie!the!ideas!of!collaborative!governance.!CollaboraI tive! planning! theory! is! more! than! just! more! participation! of! stakeholders! in! the! planning! process;! it! attempts! to! use! communicative! rationality! for! deliberate! deciI sionImaking!(Healey!1992;!Innes!and!Booher!2000).!Although!Habermas!seemed!to!
see!barriers!to!reaching!the!idealistic!situation,!he!focused!on!normative!principles!to! optimize!communication!in!planning.!The!‘ideal!speech’!situation!requires!topIdown! normative!principles,!while!this!approach!is!based!on!the!bottomIup!knowledge!that! improves! the! planning! process! and! decisionImaking,! something! that! is! somewhat! contradictory.!His!theory!of!communicative!rationality!is!criticized!for!being!a!utopiI an! process! for! which! he! has! no! solution! and! for! his! failure! to! dealing! with! power! relations! (Flyvbjerg! and! Richardson! 2002).! Habermas’! orientation! is! towards! episG teme! (theoretical! knowledge),! derived! from! universals! and! theories! to! empowering! the!least!politically!capable!in!society.!
This! orientation! can! be! contrasted! to! Michel! Foucault’s! focus! on! phronesis! (every!day!judgment,!or!practical!knowledge),!which!seeks!to!understand!the!actual! practice!of!power!relations!in!a!specific!context,!where!‘power!is!always!present’.!For! Foucault! rationality! is! not! universal,! but! contingent! and! infiltrated! by! power.! HaI bermas! describes! his! genealogical! historiographies! as:! “relativistic,! cryptonormative! illusory!science”!(1987:!276).!This!argument!is!logical!when!we!view!it!as!critique!of! relativism.!However,!Foucault’s!norms!are!not!universal;!rather!they!try!to!challenge! the!abuse!of!power,!whoever!the!involved!parties!are.!The!discourse!shoulc!be!charI acterized!by!resistance!and!struggle,!given!his!argument!thta!consensus!is!a!threat!to! any!system!(Flyvbjerg!and!Richardson!2002).!Where!Habermas!(1987)!advocates!the! better!argument!in!communicative!rationality,!according!to!Bernstein!(1992)!empiriI cally!the!‘better!argument’!is!an!empty!concept,!and!like!Foucault!he!points!to!the! importance!of!conflict!in!the!analysis.!Habermas!may!seem!the!exact!opposite,!but! both!theorist!are!focused!on!the!rationalization!and!misuse!of!power,!and!see!this!as! one!of!the!most!important!problems!society!faces.!The!difference!between!the!two! philosophers! is! rather! the! means! by! which! to! address! this! problem,! and! Foucault! concentrates!on!‘what!happened’,!defined!by!Flyvbjerg!(1996)!as!‘realrationalität’,!or! realIlife!rationality.!
After! the! upsurge! of! communicative! theory! in! planning,! powerIrelated! issues! gained! more! attention,! influenced! by! the! work! of! Michel! Foucault! (Flyvbjerg! 1998;! Fischer!2003).!In!critical!planning!studies!Foucault’s!work!became!one!of!the!domiI nant!ways!of!looking!at!power.!His!view!of!power!is!more!related!to!the!ANT,!where! actors!can!only!obtain!it!in!potential!and!is!never!as!a!cause.!The!focus!is,!moreover,!
on!how!particular!actors!have!influenced!the!planning!process!through!the!discourse! of!power.!Foucault!emphasizes!the!importance!of!power!in!the!creation!and!control! of! discourse,! the! forming! of! knowledge! and! the! social! manufacturing! of! spaces.! In! this!light,!Swyngedouw!(2011)!warns!of!state!agencies!that!can!mobilize!the!commuI nicative!planning!paradigm!to!maintain!existing!power!relations,!through!which!they! promote! market! agendas! and! minimize! the! potential! for! counterImovements.! The! process!can!turn!into!the!postpolitical!condition!of!governance,!instead!of!the!delibI erative! outcomes! which! communicative! planning! aims! for.! This! postdemocratic! condition!is!contrasted!to!‘the!political’,!which!is!based!on!public!debate,!opposition! and!disagreement.!With!respect!to!the!environment,!the!political!is!avoided!by!techI nologies!of!governing,!using!populist!political!tactics.!This!runs!parallel!to!the!surge! of! neoliberal! governmentality,! according! to! Swyngedouw! (2009).! Thus! in! societies! where!communicative!consensus!building!is!well!incorporated,!populist!strategies!to! govern!by!framing!what!is!desirable!become!more!relevant!for!critical!analysis.!Power! shapes!social!transformation!by!the!competing!constructions!of!meaning.!
In!policy!studies!Schön!and!Rein!(1994)!contributed!to!the!analysis!of!political! decisionImaking! in! terms! of! framing.! This! concept! is! to! an! extent! comparable! to! discourses,!but!at!the!same!time!covers!less!analytically,!depending!how!it!is!defined.! In!social!mobilization!actors!are!viewed!as!engaging!actively!in!the!production!and! maintenance!of!mobilizing!and!the!counterImobilizing!of!meanings!(Snow!and!BenI ford!1988).!Schön!and!Rein!make!a!distinction!between!at!the!one!hand,!policy!disaI greements,!which!are!“disputes!in!which!the!parties!in!contention!are!able!to!resolve! the!questions!at!the!heart!of!their!disputes!by!examining!the!facts!of!the!situation”.! On!the!other,!they!defined!policy!controversies!as!“immune!to!resolution!by!appeal! to!the!facts”.!In!the!latter!case!frames!determine!what!the!‘facts’!are!(1994:!3I4).!In! the!case!of!factory!outlet!developments,!the!feasibility!and!effect!of!the!center!cannot! be! determinant,! and! the! discussion! is! limited! to! assumptions! and! prognoses.! FurI thermore,!these!apparent!‘facts’!do!not!have!to!potential!to!settle!the!debate!or!creI ate!a!consensus,!because!controversies!are!disputes!of!parties!to!a!struggle!who!hold! conflicting! views,! or! frames,! of! reality.! To! persuade! the! public! to! agree! with! the! government’s!policies,!framing!is!actively!and!openly!used.!Countering!the!dominant! policy!frame!is!termed!‘reframing’!(Schön!and!Rein!1994).!
To!challenge!the!theory!of!communicative!rationality,!which!aims!for!deliberaI tive! consensus! building,! the! cases! of! struggle! become! relevant.! Opposing! policy! change!is!a!conservative!practice!and!is!reactionary!to!transformation.!Resistance!is! expressed!by!ways!of!thinking!and!acting,!of!being!against!the!current!preference!of! the! system! (Duncombe! 2007).! These! ‘systems’,! however,! often! exclude! and! repress! the!individuals,!because!they!do!not!feel!heard.!Baudrillard!wrote!that!citizens!have! developed! a! new! resistance! strategy,! because! states! often! govern! in! the! interest! of! political! consent! (or! consumer! attraction).! He! argues! that! in! populist! politics! an! inflation!of!the!will!to!engage!in!resistance!developed,!meaning!the!masses!formed! ‘apathy’!(Baudrillard!1985).!!
Larner!(2000)!urged!researcher!to!focus!their!empirical!studies!on!the!contestI ed! nature,! on! the! one! hand,! of! official! governmental! discourses,! and,! on! the! other! hand,!local!opposing!parties.!These!studies!highlight!the!dominant!images!and!the! resistance!to!them.!Instead!of!viewing!it!as!‘resistance’,!Leitner!et!al.!(2007)!uses!the! term! ‘contestation’,! which! is! understood! as! something! that! exceeds! neoliberalism.! This!concept!is!drawn!from!other!contexts,!and!not!a!reaction!to!neoliberal!princiI ples.! Scholars! have! argued! that! under! recent! politicalIeconomic! governance! local! organizations!are!constrained!in!their!capacity!to!influence!political!decisionImaking! processes!(Peck!and!Tickell!2002).!The!more!nuanced!view!adds!to!this!concept!that! opposing! parties! do! not! necessarily! resist! governmental! practices,! but! use! imagiI naries!to!create!more!resilience!and!to!rework!the!position!of!authorities.!In!practice! the! contestation! is! reflected! in! a! range! of! (verbal)! images! and! practices,! which! are! not! necessarily! opposed! to! a! project;! it! is! more! than! just! a! fight! for! hegemony! (Thompson!2011).!
!
Discourse analysis
The! term! ‘discourse’! can! have! various! definitions! in! the! theoretical! literature,! and! there!is!no!consensus!of!this!so!defining!it!is!an!important!step.!Beyond!the!simplisI tic! definition! of! discourse,! which! implies! that! everything! that! is! said! or! written,! Healey!defines!discourse!as!“a!system!of!meaning!embodied!in!a!strategy!for!action”! (1997:! 277).! The! discourse! then! is! something! more! than! the! text! alone,! in! which! policy! can! be! seen! as! a! collection! of! metaphors! that! shapes! the! planning! process.!
Moreover,! some! concentrate! on! the! multiples! of! discourse! that! compete! with! each! other!and!how!policy!balances!on!their!force.!This!relates!to!the!plurality!of!powerful! actors!in!the!political!process.!How!issues!are!defined!is!viewed!in!such!analysis!as!a! reflection!of!the!power!of!the!dominant!discourse.!For!example,!congestion!can!be! seen!as!a!problem!of!economics,!but!it!is!also!an!environmental!problem!(Mazza!and! Rydin!1997).!In!Foucault’s!interpretation,!discourse!is!a!complicated!body!of!strategy,! ideology,! language! and! practice.! The! dialectical! relation! between! power! and! knowledge! form! these! realms.! Foucault! argues! that! the! struggle! between! different! discourses!creates!the!social!and!physical!world,!and,!on!the!other!hand,!discourses! also!construct!individuals.!Hajer’s!definition!is!one!of!the!most!recognized!by!planI ners;! he! suggests! discourse! as! an! “ensemble! of! ideas,! concepts! and! categories! through! which! meaning! is! given! to! social! and! physical! phenomena,! and! which! is! produced! and! reproduced! through! an! identifiable! set! of! practices”! (Hajer! and! VerI steeg! 2005:! 175).! For! him! discourses! are! bias! and! patterns! in! the! discussion,! which! together!form!the!discourse!coalitions.!
Social! constructionists! look! at! the! subject! as! positioned! in! a! historical,! social! and! cultural! context.! Therefore,! (inter)national! institutional! structures! have! major! impact!on!the!policies!of!local!government’s!policies.!Concepts!do!not!have!merely!a! factual! explanation,! or! ‘truth’,! which! is! implied! by! topIdown! organization,! but! are! contested! and! conflict! exists! over! their! meaning,! perception! and! implementation! (Sharp!and!Richardson!2001).!The!critical!stance!towards!truth!looks!for!consistent! and!coherent!explanations!for!events!(Jacobs!1999:!208).!Policy!documents!or!public! meetings! are! expressions! of! the! dominant! discourse! and! indicate! their! existence.! Moreover,!economic!powers!are!not!overlooked,!as!it!also!includes!discursive!interI actions!between!state!and!firm,!and!the!approach!thus!covers!many!aspects!related! to!power!(Hajer!1995).!
Discourses! do! not! only! manifest! in! written! or! spoken! texts,! but! also! have! an! important! institutional! dimension.! When! discourses! (over! time)! start! dominating! the!way!certain!social!actors,!like!business!organizations!or!governments,!conceptuI alize!the!world,!this!is!termed!discourse! structuration.!In!the!case!of!FOC!developI ments,! this! happens! for! example,! when! the! discourses! ‘consumer! preference’! and! ‘regional! gains’! dominate.! When! discourses! get! translated! into! institutional! arI
rangements,! we! call! this! discourse! institutionalization! (Hajer! 2009).! The! formal! approval!for!the!landIuse!procedure!is!the!starting!of!this!institutionalization.!
The!focus!on!the!argumentation!helps!the!researcher!analyze!how!problems!are! defined,! disagreements! are! played! out! and! coalitions! of! meanings! are! formed.! The! aim!of!analysis!is!to!better!understand!how!discourses!at!some!moment!dominate,! while!other!understandings!are!(partly)!rejected.!Looking!at!the!actor!who!is!speakI ing,! his! agency! and! the! institutional! context! sheds! light! on! the! strategies.! It! is! the! responsibility! of! the! analyst! to! explain! how! actors! secure! the! reproduction! of! their! discursive! strategy! in! a! policy! controversy.! Hajer! refers! to! the! approach! as! socialI interactive!discourse!theory.!Here!persons!are!not!separately!seen!from!the!role!they! take! and! always! make! sense! of! reality! from! their! point! of! view,! assuming! the! imI portance!of!both!the!routinized!understanding!of!the!issue,!but!also!the!(notional)! choice!of!the!subject.!The!antiIessentialist!ontology!makes!the!assumption!that!there! are! various! socially! produced! realities,! instead! of! one! single! truth! (Hajer! and! VerI steeg! 2005).! The! focus! is! on! the! argumentative! struggle,! as! actors! fight! for! victory.! Subjects! are! seen! as! actively! involved! in! forming! and! transforming! discourses! in! interpersonal!communication!(Hajer!1995).!
In! the! struggle! for! discursive! dominance! in! the! action! of! the! debate,! the! dyI namics!are!determined!by!three!characteristics!of!the!actor.!First,!the!acceptability!of! an!argument!implies!that!subjects!view!the!proposed!position!as!needed!or!an!attracI tive! offer,! like! the! urgency! of! climate! change! or! the! chance! an! investor! is! offering.! The! second! is! the! credibility! of! the! argument,! which! requires! actors! to! believe! the! discursive!position!is!meant!for!them,!and!is!consistent!with!their!standards.!Actors! might!not!have!any!affinity!for!shopping,!so!discounts!stores!or!shopping!experience! have!no!meaning!to!them.!And!thirdly,!trust!can!be!granted!when!doubts!are!supI pressed! or! when! uncertainty! is! viewed! as! given,! which! secures! confidence! in! the! position.! This! can! be! achieved! by! indicating! that! the! discourse! was! based! on! the! correct!records,!or!by!referring!to!the!practice!through!which!a!rationalization!of!the! truth! was! attained! (like! the! deliberative! process).! Politicians! might! point! to! the! information!they!have!received,!through!presentations!and!research!documents,!and! the!extensive!debates!they!had!in!meetings.!!Dominance!of!the!discourse!is!seen!here! as!socioIcognitive!product,!and!the!arguments!are!based!on!some!aspects!which!the!
counterargument!does!not!enjoy.!This!seemingly!‘plausibility’!is!not!a!pure!cognitive! process,!but!rather!the!outcome!of!persuasion!(Hajer!1995;!2009).!
In! his! study! on! the! notion! of! ecological! modernization,! Hajer! (1995)! showed! how! this! discourse! implied! that! we! do! not! have! to! change! the! capitalist! system! to! become!more!environmental!sustainable.!The!system!could!be!tweaked!for!ecologiI cal!needs!without!restructuring!the!economics!of!society,!and!in!other!words!a!winI win!solution,!where!the!reduction!of!pollution!pays!for!itself.!When!we!look!at!the! FOC! discussion! the! local! government! might! argue! that! the! land! revenue! can! be! invested! in! the! city! center,! aiming! to! get! support! from! the! inner! city! protection! discourses.!This!can!be!contested!like!the!ecological!modernization!idea!of!a!winIwin! solution.! Behind! these! are! different! views,! which! through! argumentative! contestaI tion!can!become!intertwined!and!involve!various!rationalities.!This!approach!can!be! related! to! Friedmann! (1987),! who! had! argued! that! there! are! different! rationalities,! like! the! market! and! social! rationality,! which! can! be! quite! the! contradictory! and! intertwined.!Moreover,!Flyvbjerg!(1998)!showed!that!these!rationalities!are!not!static! or!objective,!but!rather!constructed!by!political!actors.! While!Habermas!is!leaning!towards!episteme,!and!Foucault!towards!phronesis,! according!to!Friedmann!(1989)!there!is!a!close!relation!between!planning!and!praxis! (moral!public!action),!because!public!action!changes!the!way!we!live,!so!it!raises!the! question!of!whether!this!change!is!‘good’!and!morally!defensible.!This!is!what!actors! are! discussing! with! respect! to! the! outlet! developments.! Following! this! view! of! Friedmann,!three!streams!of!‘moral!praxis’!can!be!distinguished.!Within!this!praxis,! the!moral!discourse!is!the!first!and!most!central!one,!meaning!the!ethical!choices!on! how!we!should!live!together,!such!as!building!new!space!while!other!space!is!vacant.! The!second!stream!is!the!technical!discourse,!which!focus!on!the!ways!to!effectively! present!means!to!ends,!like!the!study!of!the!financial!feasibility.!Utopian!discourse!is! the!last!stream,!which!concerns!dreams!of!the!‘good!life’,!as!the!attractive!images!of! branded! items.! These! streams! are! historically! interconnected,! and! a! lot! of! times! cannot!be!seen!apart!from!each!other.!For!instance,!technological!information!develI opments!are!strongly!related!to!the!morality!of!personal!privacy.!However,!at!times!it! is! suggested! that! they! manifest! separately! and! the! focus! might! be! on! just! one! disI course.!The!peculiar!virtue!of!planning!praxis!is!to!bring!the!streams!together,!says!
Friedmann!(1989),!and!this!means!that!an!imbalance!between!these!streams!of!disI courses!can!contribute!to!poor!decisionImaking!in!the!public!sphere.!Looking!at!the! outlet!developments,!the!focus!might!be!on!one!of!these!discourse!typologies,!while! other! are! (strategical)! left! out! of! the! debate,! because! the! participating! actors! are! practicing!debates!about!what!is!‘good’!public!action!and!praxis.!
Retail perspectives
Planning! policy! rhetoric! is! often! shaped! by! conflict! between! different! economic,! environmental!and!social!discourses!(Sharp!and!Richardson!2001).!As!explained,!the! analysis! of! various! discourses! can! help! the! understanding! of! contested! developI ments,! not! based! on! rationalIactor! ontology,! but! rather! to! a! specific! logic! of! arguI mentation!that!actors!contribute!to!the!discussion.!Before!I!further!elaborate!on!the! framework!for!analysis!in!the!next!chapter,!first!various!theoretical!backgrounds!of! potential!discourses!concerning!shopping!center!developments!are!discussed!here.!! !
Economics(
Shopping! centers! and! overall! commerce! are! essentially! an! economic! activity.! The! theory!promoted!by!economist!like!Milton!Friedman!is!that!the!state!should!miniI mize!or!withdraw!their!interventions!in!the!markets,!which!is!argued!to!be!best!for! all! individuals.! This! view! can! indeed! be! seen! as! one! of! the! dominant! international! discourses!since!the!1980s,!as!most!countries!curtailed!state!intervention!and!opened! trade!for!global!markets.!Neoliberalism!is!perhaps!the!most!used!term!in!theoretical! literature! to! describe! these! state! policies! (see! Harvey! 2005).! It! can! be! seen! as! the! main! theoretical! framework! for! more! ‘freedom’,! both! for! consumer! choice! and! the! supply! side! of! private! finance,! and! is! a! very! well! institutionalized! discourse! in! EuI rope,!although!actual!practice!often!differs!(nationalization!of!banks).!The!idea!of!a! stateImarket! dichotomy! is! promoted! by! most! of! the! leading! economists;! however,! Adams! and! Tiesdell! (2010)! challenge! this! idea! by! arguing! that! markets! are! not! a! given,! but! rather! are! socially! constructed.! They! argue! that! planning! bodies! do! not! have!to!become!‘market!actors’,!because!they!are!already!actively!involved!in!making! and!reImaking!of!commercial!property!markets.!
! Policies!that!were!intended!to!extend!the!discipline!of!the!market,!competition! and!commodification,!also!included!the!mobilization!of!interIstate!competition,!on! various!scales!(Peck!et!al.!2009).!Competition!is!seen!as!one!of!the!most!important! aspects! of! human! nature;! we! maximize! our! own! profit! and! natural! selection! filters! out! weaker! ones.! ! But! views! can! get! discursively! contaminated.! Darwin! used! the! sociological!term!‘competition’!as!metaphor!to!understand!natural!phenomena.!Later! Social! Darwinists! theorized! that! competition! was! the! main! nature! of! society,! proI moting! the! metaphor! of! ‘survival! of! the! fittest’! (Hajer! 1995:! 67).! But,! for! example,! biologists!argue!that!apes!show!altruism,!like!humans!show!empathy!(De!Waal!2011),! so! these! kinds! of! discursive! contaminations! impact! one’s! view! of! human! nature.! Economic!logic!is!often!used!to!explain!social!actions.!As!public!choice!theorists!like! Ostrom!(1965)!have!shown!with!the!metaphor!of!the!‘prisoner’s!dilemma’,!that!actors! operating!in!‘anarchy’,!regions!that!are!operating!in!‘anarchy’!(realist!view)!tend!to! compete!with!each!other!without!higher!authority!intervening.!
Viewing! urban! planning! in! terms! of! economics,! the! focus! is! on! positive! and! negative! externalities,! which! are! effects! on! neighboring! spaces! that! go! beyond! the! market.!Urban!planning!can!be!seen!as!successful!when!it!manages!to!include!poliI cies!that!minimize!the!negative!effects!or!stimulate!positive!externalities!(or!‘spilloI vers’).! Negative! externalities! are! more! sensitive! to! the! proximity! of! different! landI uses!than!are!positive!externalities.!The!role!of!spatial!planning!traditionally!creates! separate! functions! through! zoning! in! order! to! overcome! these! problems! (Evans! 2004),!based!on!the!extent!and!scale!of!the!social!implications!(Dewey!1927:!15).!!
Shopping!centers!and!malls!are!specifically!interested!in!the!positive!externaliI ties.! Some! brand! names,! like! Primark! and! Zara,! have! the! capacity! to! attract! these! consumer!flows.!One!of!the!ways!to!construct!and!preserve!the!monopoly!position! that!capitalist!prefer,!according!to!Harvey,!is!name!branding!for!monopoly!prices,!as! capital! is! “in! love! with! monopoly”! (2014:! 138I139).! Anchor! stores! can! be! the! end! of! smaller! stores! when! they! leave,! or! the! start,! when! they! arrive! (Parchomovsky! and! Siegeman!2012).!In!city!centers!the!spillovers!are!not!exclusive!to!shopping!or!comI mercial! activities,! as! cultural! buildings,! for! instance,! can! also! attract! people.! From! the!view!of!a!developing!market!party,!it!is!best!to!internalize!the!positive!externaliI ties,!so!they!do!not!lose!the!benefits!of!the!spillovers.!In!practice!this!means!that!the!
anchor!stores!in!shopping!malls!often!pay!less!rent!(Ostrom!et!al.!1961).!Also,!locatI ing!the!shopping!centers!in!the!city!periphery!can!create!a!spatial!monopoly,!favorI ing! the! market! party.! These! market! dynamics! and! strategies! are! important! in! the! debate!over!the!effect!of!largeIscale!development!for!consumption.!NorthIAmerican! cities!did!not!take!fully!into!account!the!workings!of!positive!externalities!and!this! has! been! one! of! the! reasons! central! districts! have! often! been! hollowed! out! (ParI chomovsky!and!Siegeman!2012).!According!to!Harvey!(2016)!we!have!built!cities!to! invest!in,!rather!than!cities!to!live!in,!because!often!the!social!‘costs’!are!not!included! in!economic!discourses.!
!
Social(
Somewhat! parallel! to! the! move! of! production! from! the! developed! to! developing! countries!and!the!rise!of!the!service!economies,!(western)!societies!can!increasingly! be! seen! as! a! culture! of! consumption.! This! observation! of! consumer! culture! is! releI vant! to! shopping! malls,! or! centers,! as! they! are! ‘carnivals’! of! consumption! in! postI modern! society.! Featherstone! (2007)! has! identified! the! three! main! theoretical! perI spectives!on!consumer!culture,!of!which!the!first!is!arising!of!culture!and!space!for! capitalist! expansion! (Ewen! 1976).! According! to! Horkheimer! and! Adorno! (1972)! the! instrumental!rationality!found!in!the!realm!of!production,!is!also!noticeable!in!the! realm!of!consumption.!The!second!perspective!focuses!on!the!sociological!view!that! consumption! is! for! displaying! and! sustaining! social! differences! between! groups! or! individuals.!The!concept!of!‘cultural!capital’!is!concerned!with!the!use!of!consumer! goods! for! social! status! (Bourdieu! 1984).! The! third! view! points! out! the! emotional! satisfaction!related!with!dreams!and!desires,!in!images!and!spaces!of!consumption.! Benjamin!(1982)!viewed!new!department!stores!and!arcades!as!‘dream!worlds’.!!
Langman!(1991:!49)!lists!three!characteristics!of!shopping!malls.!First,!they!are! to!a!certain!degree!‘isolated’!from!the!larger!surrounding!environment.!Second,!these! centers!are!controlled!to!stay!based!on!spectacular!images!utilizing!fantastic!displayI ing! gratifications.! They! are! ‘reversed! prison[s]’,! designed! not! for! surveillance! or! to! suppress!fantasies,!but!rather!to!stimulate!dreams!as!promises!of!fulfillment.!Third,! the!fantasies!are!in!line!with!the!mass!distribution!of!‘image’!through!media.!
Some!theorists!are!critical!of!the!‘privatization’!of!public!space!on!the!basis!of! the! injustice! built! in! spaces! of! exclusion,! disparity! and! social! control,! which! are! observed!in!the!‘postmodern’!era!(Sorkin!1992).!Although!the!critiques!might!seem! interesting,!there!is!more!diversity!in!the!experience!of!public!space!than!is!suggestI ed!in!these!studies.!The!main!characteristic!of!privatized!space!is!the!focus!on!conI sumption,!leisure,!security,!social!control!and!imaginary!design!(Day!1999).! Furthermore,!shopping!centers!and!other!postmodern!developments!are!critiI cized!for!having!no!ties!with!the!area!and!being!‘footless’.!Augé!(1995)!used!the!term! ‘nonplaces’!as!a!concept!of!superImodernity!and!a!culture!of!excess,!where!localized! space!and!time!have!become!unnecessary.!This!can!include!changes!in!scale,!prolifI eration! of! imaginary! references! and! increased! importance! of! transportation! (OsI borne! 2001).! This! is! similar! to! Ritzer’s! (2003)! claims! of! increasingly! opening! up! of! international!markets!that!inflated!consumer!spaces,!which!he!defines!as!‘nothing’,! arguing! that! the! concept! of! McDonaldization! is! applied! to! other! retail! formats,! which!are!nonplaces.!These!spaces!are!centrally!controlled!and!focus!on!efficiency.! At! the! same! time! we! also! see! new! restaurants! popping! up! around! the! world! with! ethnic!and!luxury!foods,!which!could!indicate!the!opposite,!but!according!to!Ritzer! the! nonplaces! are! growing! faster! and! are! increasingly! taking! over.! On! the! other! hand,! there! are! the! more! traditional! stores,! which! theoretically! can! be! termed! as! ‘something’,!but!these!authentic!stores!are!becoming!less!evident!(Ritzer!2003).!!
For! Castells! (1996)! economic! logic! has! elevated! the! importance! of! networks! over! locality.! The! ‘spaces! of! flows’! are! (international)! network! interactions! made! possible!by!modern!information!technologies!and!transportation!linkages.!The!oppoI site! concept! of! Castells! is! ‘spaces! of! places’,! which! are! spaces! like! traditional! city! neighborhoods! that! are! well! connected! with! the! place.! The! growing! importance! of! social!interaction!that!is!rather!placeless,!instead!of!concretely!grounded,!was!already! noted!by!Webber!(1964),!using!his!concept!of!‘nonIplace!urban!realms’.!
One! of! the! main! advocates! of! high! density! and! mixIused! is! Jane! Jacobs.! DeI fending!community!life!and!local!innovative!economies,!she!‘attacked’!the!developers! and! city! planners! of! New! York,! mainly! for! urban! renewal! projects.! Her! concept! of! diversity!had!four!indicators:!mixed!use!at!various!times,!differing!ages!of!buildings,! high! density! and! pedestrianIfriendly! length! of! city! blocks.! She! argued! for! human!
measures!in!the!built!environment,!combined!with!stores!on!the!ground!floor!of!the! buildings,!and!mixing!the!old!with!the!new!and!the!expensive!with!the!cheap.!Her! discourse!favored!a!more!organic!growth!of!urban!development!(Jacobs!1961).!
!
Environment(
The! documentary! An! Inconvenient! Truth,! presented! by! Al! Gore! in! 2006,! tried! to! convince!policyImakers!and!politicians!that!climate!change!is!not!a!fairy!tale.!In!the! scientific!literature!there!is!a!general!consensus!that!climate!change!is!in!fact!hapI pening,!and!most!of!these!scientists!agree!that!the!actions!of!humans!contribute!to! climate!change.!Simons!(2014)!listed!three!fundamental!reasons!for!the!urgency!of!an! energy! transition:! limited! in! supply! of! fossil! fuels,! geopolitical! tension! and! global! warming.! The! term! ‘sustainable! development’! was! first! coined! in! influential! report! The! Limits! to! Growth! in! 1972! (Beatley! and! Wheeler! 2009).! In! scientific! debates! on! sustainable! development,! ecological,! economic! and! social! objectives! are! included! (Campell!1996).!Discourses!of!environmental!issues!are!never!straightforward,!which! is! partly! the! reason! discourse! analysis! is! used! quite! often! in! the! analysis! of! issues! with!regard!to!the!environment!(Sharp!and!Richardson!2001).!The!ecological!aspects! tend!to!dominate!the!sustainable!discourses!in!the!planning!profession!(Elliot!2009).!! Mumford!(1956)!addressed!the!situation!that!the!modern!city!has!the!tendency! to! weaken! the! relationship! that! connects! the! society! with! nature! and! to! cover! city! sites!with!artificial!environments.!This!development!intensifies!the!dominance!of!the! human!species!and!promotes!the!illusion!that!the!city!is!totally!separated!from!naI ture.!The!general!view!of!the!public,!urban!theorists!and!urban!practitioners!is!that! the!city!is!the!exact!opposite!of!untamed!natural!hinterlands!(Karvonen!2007).!One! of!the!theorists!who!are!concerned!with!this!dilemma!of!the!natureIcity!dichotomy!is! Harvey,! who! argued! there! is! “nothing! unnatural! about! New! York! City”! (1993:! 28),! provoking!an!academic!debate!about!the!meaning!of!‘nature’!in!urban!discourses.!
According!to!Breheny!(1996)!the!idea!of!sustainable!development!has!revived! the!forgotten!potential!and!urgency!for!large!scale!planning.!He!focuses!on!the!inI tensity! of! landIuse! for! sustainable! development! and! separates! three! theoretical! streams!of!thought!on!the!urban!compactness.!First,!the!centrist!belief!in!multifuncI tional! and! highIdensity! landIuse,! to! minimize! the! metaphorical! ‘donut’! city,! where!
the!center!is!‘hollowed!out’!(Davenport!2003).!Second,!the!decentrist!line!of!thought! that! started! with! the! bad! living! conditions! of! the! industrial! city.! This! idea,! introI duced! by! Ebenezer! Howard! (1902)! can! be! linked! with! garden! cities.! Thirdly,! some! urban! thinkers! propose! a! compromise,! combining! centrists,! and! decentrists! city! development! (Brehenhy! 1996).! Breheny! denied! the! accepted! notion! that! that! comI pact! planning! would! deliver! the! optimal! solution,! and! argued! that! wellIplanned! decentralized! urban! development,! could! be! just! as! sustainable,! considering! urban! transportation! and! energy! consumption! (Hall! 2003).! Salet! shares! this! view,! noting:! “the! spatial! way! towards! more! sustainability! does! not! necessarily! go! through! comI pactness”!(2014:!5).!Ideas!of!transitIoriented!developments!(TODs)!rather!than!carI oriented! urban! design,! integrates! land! use! and! transit! planning! to! control! urban! sprawl,!although!the!proof!is!not!conclusive!(Bertolini!2000;!Næss!et!al.!2011).!!
Since! 2012! the! establishment! of! the! Ladder! of! Sustainable! Urbanization! reI quires!planning!agencies!to!justify!developments.!In!three!steps!the!first,!required!to! show!the!regional!need!for!the!plan;!second,!if!there!is!the!need,!can!it!be!developed! in!the!existing!build!areas!(e.g.!empty!space,!reIdevelopments);!and!thirdly,!if!this!is! not! possible,! can! the! plan! be! implemented! at! nodes! with! multiple! transportation! modalities?!These!steps!provide!the!basis!to!demand!justifications!by!actors!in!socieI ty,!but!agencies!can!view!the!tool!as!just!another!protocol!to!develop!evidence!for!the! spatial!development!(Salet!2014).!
3. Methodology
As! stated! in! the! previous! chapter,! this! study! examines! discourses! that! influence! action,!which!in!this!case!is!the!local!and!regional!approval!of!factory!outlet!develI opments.!To!understand!the!dynamics!of!power!behind!the!observable!communicaI tions,! links! need! to! be! made! with! the! broader! context,! such! as! the! (inter)national! institutions.!It!can!be!argued!that!discourse!analysis!is!preferable!over!rationalIactor! analysis,!because!it!also!includes!the!same!aspects,!as!long!as!they!make!sense!to!the! actors,!and!are!manifested!in!communication!or!practice.!! The!units!of!analysis!are!the!strategies!that!are!played!out!in!the!conflict!over! the!development!of!FOCs,!looking!at!multiple!cases!in!northern!part!of!the!NetherI lands,!or!North!Netherland,!but!centering!on!Assen.!I!analyze!the!discourses!repreI sented!in!official!documents!from!the!local!government!and!in!various!sorts!types!of! media.!Moreover,!every!anticipated!discourse!is!further!examined!by!interviews!with! actors.!In!the!research!I!seek!to!explain!why!the!government!makes!certain!decisions! and!what!role!discourse!plays!in!influencing!these!decisions.!! !
Research questions
After! the! decentralization! of! spatial! decisionImaking! in! the! Netherlands,! governI ments!at!the!local!and!regional!level!decide!on!the!approval!of!spatial!developments! like!FOCs.!Some!of!these!governments!are!willing!to!cooperate!and!others!are!not.!In! most! of! these! cases! the! provinces! have! blocked! these! developments,! for! various! reasons.!Three!proposals!emerged!in!the!2000’s!and!recently!at!least!three!more!are! in!planning!stage,!like!the!case!of!Assen.!The!retail!concept!originates!from!the!UnitI ed!States,!and!because!the!large!scale!of!these!projects,!developer!proposals!tend!to! focus! on! peripheral! locations.! When! governments! agree! upon! the! plan! they! often! have!to!adjust!their!retail!planning!policy.!
! The!actors!(individuals!and!groups)!that!are!involved!try!to!persuade!the!city! council!and!provincial!parliament!to!act!based!upon!their!arguments.!These!strateI gies! need! to! be! observed! to! understand! the! power! of! discourse,! how! people! create! their!own!reality!based!on!ideas!and!notions,!and!how!all!this!is!manifested!in!pracI
tice.! These! discourses! interact! and! transform! over! time,! due! to! contextual! factors,! and!ultimately!discursive!coalitions!are!assembled.!! To!investigate!these!problems!I!formulated!the!following!research!questions:!!
1.!How!do!opposing!parties!use!discursive!strategies!to!realize!their!agenda,!in!the!
contested!planning!process!of!factory!outlet!centers?!
2. Who!are!the!main!actors!involved?! 3. How!are!the!(economic,!social!and!environmental)!discourses!constructed?! 4. How!do!the!discourses!interact/conflict!with!each!other?! 5. How!are!the!discursive!coalitions!formed?! !Operationalization
Actors! use! language! to! persuade! others,! which! can! be! done! on! the! basis! of! arguI ments! that! have! different! rationales,! like! focusing! on! either! economic! or! environI mental!impacts.!In!order!to!answer!the!central!research!question,!the!main!actors!in! the! planning! process! are! scanned! and! which! to! some! extent! categorized.! The! disI courses!represented!in!the!discussion!are!then!identified!on!the!basis!of!being!ecoI nomic,!social!or!environmental!discourses.!The!statements!are!also!divided!as!being! in!support!or!against!the!development.!Actors!use!framing,!metaphors!and!storylines! to! get! their! way.! Storylines! may! combine! multiple! discourses,! and! help! facilitate! coalitions!between!actors!over!time.!
! The!actors!that!are!involved!in!forming!the!discourse!of!the!planning!process! are! of! wide! variety;! anybody! can! be! included,! regardless! of! their! own! interest.! The! main! public! bodies! are! the! local! and! regional! governments.! Professionals! that! do! studies!for!the!government!or!other!parties!like!the!developer,!or!other!professionals! that!give!their!view!publicly,!like!academia,!are!grouped!together.!The!difference!in! the! market! between! the! businesses! located! in! the! region! and! FOC! developer! is! of! importance!because!the!former!tends!to!oppose!FOCs!due!to!the!peripheral!location.!!
The!concept!of!discursive!strategies!aims!to!address!coalitions!of!the!discourses! as!defined!in!the!framework!of!Table!1.1!The!findings!will!be!linked!to!greater!debates! in!planning!theory,!described!in!chapter!2,!which!are!based!on!contemporary!instituI tional!structures!and!changes!in!society.!One!aspect!of!this!analysis!is!the!concept!of! framing,! which! is! defined! as:! “structures! of! belief,! perception,! and! appreciation! which! underlie! policy! positions”,! by! Schön! and! Rein! (1994:! 23).! To! persuade! the! public!to!agree!with!the!government’s!policies,!‘framing’!is!actively!and!quite!openly! used.!Some!scholars!may!find!it!problematic!to!involve!the!concept!of!framing!into! the! discourse! analysis,! because! of! the! difficulty! of! empirical! separation.! Although! I! agree! with! this! critique! the! outcomes! of! the! study! will! not! be! affected.! This! study! uses!framing!as!basic!aspect!of!discourses,!and!I!also!find!the!concept!of!reIframing! extremely!helpful.!!
Categories! Pro!development! Contra!development! Economic! ‘Regional!opportunity’!discourse! I!Investments,!spillovers! I!Jobs! I!New!development! ! ‘Inner!city!protection’!discourse! I!Competition,!spillovers! I!Vacancy,!synergy! Environmental! ‘Sustainable!urbanity’!discourse! I!Sustainability,!centrist! I!Urbanity,!‘place’! Social! ‘Consumer!choice’!discourse! I!Demand,!flagship!brands! I!Accessibility!
Table 1: Theoretical hypothesis, partly based on chapter 2
Hajer! puts! forward! three! dimensions! that! can! be! used! to! operationalize! disI courses,!of!which!the!first!two!are!simple!elements!of!human!language.!First,!metaG phors!are!short!sentences!that!use!something!else!to!symbolize!an!idea,!like!stating! ‘the!heart!of!Assen!bleeds’.!Metaphors!express!the!experience!or!understanding!of!a! specific!thing!or!event!in!terms!of!another!(Hajer!2009).!Schön!argued!the!extensive! use!of!generative!metaphors!in!politics!as!creating!common!understanding!between! differing! discourses.! Chilton! argues! that! metaphors! “can! contribute! to! a! situation! where!they!privilege!one!understanding!of!reality!over!others”!(1996:!74).!For!Hajer! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!! ! 1!The!distinction!between!pro!development!and!contra!development!is!a!generalization;!as!for! example!pro!actors!also!use!‘inner!city!protection’.!Also,!the!table!suggests!that!the!pro!camp!uses! more!an!economic!notion!of!environmental!ideas,!and!the!opposition!more!a!social.!
the!(imaginary)!metaphors!are!essential!for!discourse!analysis,!as!they!are!be!linked! with!the!subject’s!ideology!(Hajer!1995).! ! Second,!storylines!are!a!sequence!of!expected!and!claimed!events,!which!argue! what!the!project!will!bring!in!the!future.!For!example,!an!actor!that!is!proIFOC!deI velopment!can!argue!that!the!project!means:!New!leisure!attraction,!consumers!will! come!from!far!away!because!there!is!demand,!they!will!spend!money!in!the!region,! total!spending!rises,!and!local!communities!will!ultimately!financially!benefit.!In!this! narrative,! the! ‘regional! gains! discourse’! and! ‘consumer! preference’! (see! table! 1)! are! linked!together.!The!speaker!actively!creates!a!sense!of!reality!through!this!type!of! argument!to!gain!victory!over!the!rival!views!on!the!project.!Hajer!defines!storylines! as!“a!generative!sort!of!narrative!that!allows!actors!to!draw!upon!various!discursive! categories! to! give! meaning! to! specific! physical! and! social! phenomena”! (1995:! 56).! Political!positions!can!change!according!to!storylines!and!reIorder!understanding!of! the!project.!The!latter!is!not!essential!but!an!important!aspect!of!storylines,!for!exI ample,! a! metaphor! like! “the! heart! of! Lelystad! bleeds”! can! be! used! by! the! proI development! parties! and! incorporated! in! their! storyline.! To! it! the! storyline! can! be! added!that!the!financial!gains!for!the!local!government!from!the!sale!of!the!land,!will! be!invested!in!the!inner!city.!So!instead!of!weakening!the!center,!the!FOC!will!actualI ly!strengthen!it.!
! Third,!the!discourse!coalitions!are!the!outcome!of!a!struggle!between!discoursI es,!and!the!storylines!are!the!glue!that!holds!them!together.!This!relates!to!the!pluI ralist! view! in! urban! theory,! where! power! is! in! the! hands! of! various! interests! who! compete! with! each! other! (Dahl! 1961).! These! interests! in! this! thesis! form! discursive! coalitions!to!persuade!decisionImakers.!Following!Hajer!(2009:!60)!discourse!coaliI tions!consist!of!various!storylines,!the!actors!who!use!these!storylines!in!their!arguI ments!and!the!practical!ways!that!discourses!utilize!the!story’s!capability.!The!conI text! where! coalition! is! employed! is! important! because! it! recognizes! the! fact! that! some! actors! may! use! contradictory! statements.! Storylines! can! attract! actors! to! the! coalition,!and!the!explanation!of!the!problem!can!create!(new)!coalitions!in!politics.! Something! like! this! happened! in! Assen! when! part! of! the! Labor! Party! decided! to! support!the!FOC!development!(which!contributed!to!the!majority!of!council!votes),! partly! because! they! were! concerned! with! the! inner! city.! Discourses! might! form! a!
coalition!because!they!are!viewed!as!belonging!together,!they!sound!right,!and!have! affinities! with! each! other! (Hajer! 1995).! This! theoretical! hypothesis! (see! Table! 1)! is! based! on! various! literatures,! which! include! some! of! the! key! theorist! in! economics,! sociology!and!planning.!
! While! the! Foucauldian! approach! to! discourse! analysis,! informed! by! Hajer! (1995),!includes!practice!as!manifestation!of!discourse,!the!focus!in!my!analysis!is!on! communicative!discourses,!but!practices!are!included!like!political!decisions,!and!are! seen!as!part!of!the!discourse.!This!may!deviate!from!the!communicative!manifestaI tion,!from!which!conclusions!can!also!be!drawn.!To!further!grasp!how!convincing!an! argument!is,!and!the!actors!who!support!them,!the!three!aspects!acceptability,!credI itability!and!trust!are!used!in!the!analysis!(Hajer!1995:!59).! !
Case studies
When! analyzing! discursive! positions! of! actors! in! the! planning! process,! I! will! use! a! multiple! case! study! design.! Due! to! the! shared! characteristics! of! the! cases! I! draw! comparisons!based!on!the!method!of!differences.!Case!studies!have!the!potential!to! gain!inIdepth!knowledge!about!a!specific!(spatial)!framework,!in!which!the!context! of!the!phenomenon!can!be!studied.!The!research!will!mostly!be!descriptive!and!to!a! lesser!extent!explanatory!(Yin!2014).!By!looking!at!the!discourses!and!how!coalitions! are!formed,!we!gain!understanding!of!institutionalization!through!political!decisions.! !
Map 1. Locations of the three FOC case studies (Source: bing.com/maps, edited by auteur)
FOC!Assen!
FOC!Zuidbroek!
The! three! cases! of! Zuidbroek,! Windschoten! and! Assen! are! analyzed,! all! of! which!lie!in!the!northern!region!of!the!Netherlands!(see!Map!1).!These!debates!over! the! building! of! factory! outlets! in! this! region! have! persisted! for! almost! a! decade,! starting!with!a!project!along!the!A7!highway!near!Zuidbroek.!Later!debates!centered! on! Winschoten,! which! is! also! in! the! province! of! Groningen,! but! the! project! was! cancelled!in!April!of!2016.!This!happend!just!over!a!month!after!Assen!approved!the! proposal!to!start!the!protocol!to!change!the!zoning!plan!for!a!project!along!the!A28! in!the!province!of!Drenthe.!Although!discourse!can,!according!to!Hajer!(2009),!best! be!analyzed!over!a!period!of!ten!to!fifteen!years,!the!broader!case!of!North!NetherI land!spans!about!nine!years,!which!is!sufficient!enough.!Also,!the!three!projects!have! almost!exclusively!the!same!developer!(a!second!was!briefly!discussed)!and!involve! various!local!and!provincial!governments,!making!these!cases!intertwined!and!comI parable.! FOC!Assen!is!the!main!interest!of!this!study,!and!is!analyzed!on!the!basis!of!the! city! council’s! approval.! Differences! can! occur! due! to! the! particular! contextual! asI pects.! Dynamics! at! micro! level! can! reflect! countrywide! discourses! and! institutions.! The! ‘case’! is! factory! outlets! in! the! northern! region! of! the! Netherlands,! divided! in! three!objects!of!analysis!that!together!can!tell!something!about!that!region.!This!case! in! embedded! in! the! Dutch! context.! More! specifically,! the! units! of! analysis! are! the! discourses!on!the!developments!that!are!played!out!in!text!and!practice.!
!
Data collection
In! order! to! analyze! the! public! discourses! the! research! will! concentrate! on! official! documents,!articles,!various!types!of!media,!and!interviews!of!actors.!The!review!of! the!human!cognitive!aspects,!of!which!communication!is!the!main!object!of!study,! best!lends!itself!to!document!and!interview!analysis.!Hajer!(1995)!showed!that!analyI sis!of!discourses!uses!documents,!plans!or!programs.!All!digital!documents!and!tranI scribed!interviews!were!analyzed!with!the!use!of!the!Altas.ti!software.!This!tool!alI lows! the! coding! of! quotations,! and! the! organization! of! data.! Quotations! are! coded! multiple!times!in!two!categories.!Based!on!Table!2!there!are!six!possible!codes!and! some!quotations!can!be!coded!twice;!for!instance,!some!can!contain!both!social!and! economic!arguments.!Metaphors!and!storyline!are!coded!separately.!This!means!that!
every!quote!that!is!coded!under!one!of!second!criteria!is!a!frame,!while!other!stateI ments!are!coded!more!specifically!as!metaphors!or!storylines.!! First!criteria! Second!criteria! Metaphor! Storyline! ! Economic!! Social!! Environmental!! Table 2: The categories for coding in Atlas.ti
Media(
Analysis! of! the! debate! represented! in! the! media! is! done! on! three! scales,! namely! national,! regional! and! local.! For! the! national! level! various! sources! are! included,! because! the! amount! of! reports! are! minimal.! The! Dagblad! van! het! Noorden! (Daily! newspaper!for!the!North,!and!referenced!as!DvhN)!is!the!main!media!source!that!is! analyzed,! and! is! one! of! the! biggest! regional! newspapers! in! the! country,! because! it! serves! the! provinces! Drenthe! and! Groningen.! It! was! selected! because! this! daily! newspaper!has!the!most!readers!and!the!original!reports!(not!the!online!versions)!are! released!on!the!Web!(dekrantvantoen.nl)!one!month!after!publication.!These!articles! are!thus!the!actual!news!reports!the!citizens!of!the!region!have!read,!and!316!articles! are!analyzed.!For!the!metaphors!the!Asser!Courant!was!also!used!(75!articles).!A!list! of!the!121!referenced!articles!is!provided!in!the!appendix.! !
Interviews(
As! Foucault! has! shown! in! his! famous! studies! on! prisoners,! interviews! can! be! an! important!analytical!tool.!In!this!social!interaction,!the!researcher!can!ask!implicitly! how!people!view!the!issue!and!also!what!they!think!of!other!positions!and!thus!anaI lyzing! how! they! construct! reality.! Interviews! will! be! conducted! with! various! actors! having! different! (discursive)! positions,! such! as! city! officials,! politicians,! political! activists,!and!inner!city!storeowners.!At!least!one!person!per!categorical!position!of! my! theoretical! hypothesis! on! the! discourses! (see! Table! 1)! was! interviewed.! SemiI structured!interviews!help!explain!some!discourses!more!inIdepth,!while!at!the!same! time! the! structure! of! the! interview! aids! the! comparability! between! different! views,! since! similar! topics! were! discussed.! In! discourse! analysis! there! is! no! ‘natural’! data,! which! would! be! positivism,! so! the! problem! is! the! researcher! who! has! to! deal! with! data,!is!always!to!a!certain!degree!subjective,!but!this!is!also!true!for!other!kinds!of!
studies!(Fadyl!and!Nicholls!2013).!The!interviews!are!expert!interviews,!not!necessariI ly!because!the!participants!are!experts!in!the!field!of!planning!or!retail,!but!particiI pants! are! experts! on! their! own! view! of! the! issue.! Furthermore,! narratives! are! an! important!aspect!of!the!method,!because!the!experience!of!change!can!be!described,! like!the!adoption!of!(opposing)!discourses!in!storylines.!The!participants!are!part!of!a! discourse,! who! can! give! the! ‘story’! behind! the! statements! in! text,! which! may! shed! light!on!how!it!evolved!over!time.!These!can!be!notions!that!have!not!yet!emerged!in! the! discourse! or! are! somehow! unarticulated! or! hidden! in! available! texts! (Foucault! 1972).!Participants!were!not!specifically!informed!that!the!thesis!research!is!looking! for! ‘discourses’.! Interview! concentrated! on! factual! events,! the! process,! subjective! strategic!aspects,!explanations!of!texts!and!views!on!opposing!arguments.!See!Table!3! for!the!participants.!
!
Interviewee! Function! Date!(2016)!
Anita!Meijering! FOC!marketing!specialist! May!26! Maurice!Hoogeveen! Alderman!of!Assen! May!28! Willem!Gispen! Civil!servant!of!Assen! May!11! Alie!Dekker! SP!city!council!Assen! May!11! Martin!Sagel! PvdA!city!council!Assen! May!22! Ronald!van!Velzen! CityWorks!consultant! May!25!
Ward!Frielink! DTNP!consultant! April!29!
Nico!Vanderveen! Warehouse!Vanderveen,!MKB!Assen! May!28! Table 3: Interview participants
In! the! research! the! analysis! sheds! light! on! decisions! of! governmental! bodies.! The! focus!is,!as!explained,!not!on!whether!the!development!is!good!or!bad,!the!interests! of!actors,!or!what!the!effects!are.!Looking!at!the!subjective!view!of!reality!does!not! involve! a! search! for! the! ‘real’! truth,! but! rather! analyzes! how! the! ‘truth’! is! socially! constructed.!It!is!a!story!of!internal!and!external!(contradiction)!realities!of!actors,! on!the!question!‘what!public!action!is!the!best?’.!
4. Case of North Groningen
Ideas!for!building!a!center!of!factory!outlet!shops,!like!the!role!model!of!Batavia!Stad,! in!this!area!of!the!country!is!around!for!at!least!ten!years,!and!just!before!the!finanI cial! crisis! and! after! political! decentralization,! in! 2007! the! first! initiative! was! pubI lished.! In! this! chapter,! two! concrete! plans! in! different! local! states! are! analyzed! in! chronological!order.!First,!Zuidbroek!in!the!municipality!of!Menterwolde!is!analyzed! and!secondly!Winschoten!in!Oldambt,!both!in!the!province!of!Groningen!(Map!2).!
!
Map 2. Roughly the three debated locations in North Groningen (Source: bing.com/maps, edited by auteur)
Table 4. Relevant actors FOC North Groningen
Actor! Specifics! Developers! Redema!Groep:!Ruud!Sanders!! Later!Revascom:!Ben!Kolff!and!Raymond!Coronel! Spokesman!Revascom:!Jaap!Oudendijk! Municipality!of!Menterwolde! ! Municipality!of!Oldambt! Mayor:!Eduard!van!Zuijlen! Alderman:!Markus!Ploeger,!Jan!Velthuis! Alderman:!Laura!Broekhuizen! Province! Representative:!Marc!Calon!(I2009)! Representative:!William!Moorslag! Retailers! MKB!Noord,!Kamer!van!Koophandel!(Chamber!of!ComI merce),!CBWIMitex,!H&N!Gerrit!Sluiskes!(in!Winschoten)! VastGoud! Revascom! Redema/Revascom!
FOC Zuidbroek discourses
Redema(
In!February!of!2007!the!regional!newspaper!announced!‘megastores’!next!to!the!A7! highway.!The!town!Zuidbroek!is!located!in!the!municipality!of!Menterwolde!(see!left! in! Map! 2),! and! wanted! an! outlet! center! like! the! metaphorical! Batavia! Stad! in! LeI lystad,!to!fill!up!the!industrial!business!area!Gouden!Driehoek!in!‘one!hit’.!The!offiI cial! discourse! of! the! province! of! Groningen! stated! in! their! spatial! policy,! however,! was! against! these! developments,! but! alderman! Markus! Ploeger! was! hoping! for! an! exception!(see!Table!4!for!the!relevant!actors).!He!explained!that!in!this!region,!jobs! were!not!‘up!for!grabs’.!This!has!historically!been!the!case,!and!the!recent!handsIoff! policy! of! the! national! government! might! be! related.! Almost! immediately! after! the! ambitions!in!Menterwolde!were!made!public,!surrounding!towns!and!entrepreneurs! used!economic!discourses!to!make!their!concerns!know.!They!emphasized!that!the! province!had!restricted!these!developments!for!a!reason,!and,!moreover,!the!jobs!are! not!net!outcomes,!as!some!of!the!jobs!will!simply!‘shift’.!Moreover,!some!worry!that! the!smaller!stores!in!the!surrounding!towns!will!‘collapse’!if!the!FOC!was!going!to!be! built.!Ploeger!refuted!this!logic,!and!pointed!at!two!other!largeIscale!retail!concepts:! the! electronics! store! Media! Markt! and! the! furnisher! store! Ikea,! which! also! have! negative! consequences! for! the! smaller! retailers,! pointing! at! other! deregulations! suggesting! that! ‘things! change’.! He! would! like! to! see! a! ‘stream’! of! visitors! in! the! direction! of! Zuidbroek.! Ruud! Sander,! which! is! the! director! and! owner! of! Redema,! says!the!project!will!deliver!500!extra!jobs!in!NorthIGroningen,!especially!for!lower! educated! residents! (DvhN! 1,! 2,! 3,! 4,! 5).! For! the! local! authority! such! an! increase! in! ‘jobs’!makes!other!negative!consequences!acceptable,!but!opposing!actors!reframed! the!loss!of!jobs,!as!a!result!of!the!FOC,!as!the!main!problem.!It!seems,!moreover,!that! the!discussion!concentrates!on!technical!specifics!of!the!outcomes,!centered!on!jobs.! ! Towards!the!end!of!the!year!2007!the!province!of!Groningen!was!not!convinced! by!the!research!presented!by!the!developer,!as!it!claimed!the!outlet!would!provide!up! to!one!thousand!jobs.!The!provincial!representative!Marc!Calon!was!disappointed!by! the!report,!because!it!failed!to!include!the!‘cannibalizing’!effects!of!the!new!shopping! center!on!the!area’s!retail!sector.!He!had!no!trust!in!the!success!of!the!project!and! pointed!to!the!uncertainties.!The!board!of!representatives!thought!the!outlet!would!
‘hit’!the!retailers!in!the!region,!but!a!study!of!the!effects!could!possibly!take!Calon’s! uncertainties!away.!Two!studies,!one!of!the!consultancy!firm!Arcadis!and!the!other! of! the! University! of! Groningen! followed,! and! both! concluded! the! location! in! MenI terwolde! was! problematic! and! suggested! other! locations! as! more! ‘suitable’.! The! surrounding! municipalities! (like! HoogezandISappemeer! and! Scheemda)! and! the! province!focused!on!other!locations,!which!would!be!included!in!another!new!study.! The! plans! seemed! to! come! to! an! end,! but! the! developer! and! the! local! government! kept!faith!in!the!idea,!signing!a!contract!of!intentions.!Redema!Groep!promised!to! coIfinance!an!infrastructure!project!to!double!the!N33!motorway!to!2x2!(with!a!conI tribution!of!1.4!million!Euros),!if!the!developer!was!allowed!to!build!the!outlet!cenI ter.!The!total!investment!was!65!million!Euros,!and!was!in!the!media!compared!with! McArthur!Glen!Designer!Outlet!in!Roermond,!which!opened!in!2001.!Director!Marc! Bauwens!argued!that!the!storeowners!in!Roermond!were!first!apprehensive,!but!later! during!the!new!extension!no!complaints!were!filed.!This!was!because!there!are!virtuI ally! no! negative! (and! positive)! effects! for! the! retailers! in! the! city! center.! Ploeger! could!not!understand!Calon’s!uncertainty,!and!argued!that!the!private!party!would! not!invest!in!something!that!is!not!‘viable’.!The!local!government,!used!mainly!the! regional! opportunity! discourse,! and! had! fait! in! the! market.! MKBINoord! and! the! Kamer! van! Koophandel! (Chamber! of! Commerce),! in! contrast,! advised! the! governI ment!to!not!improve!if!they!had!any!doubts.!They!distrusted!the!project,!and!stated! that!the!outlet!could!easily!become!a!‘regular’!shopping!center!over!time!(DvhN!6,!7,! 8,!9).!With!this!statement!they!acknowledged!the!particularity!of!FOCs.!
! Near! the! end! of! 2009,! the! provincial! representative! William! Moorslag! is! still! not!convinced,!while!he!finds!the!protection!of!the!city!center!most!important.!He! then!consulted!the!provincial!parliament!regarding!the!issue!whether!to!stop!it.!This! was!a!response!to!the!call!of!various!political!parties!in!the!parliament,!in!order!to! discuss! and! decide! on! the! matter! as! soon! as! possible.! Mayor! Eduard! van! Zuijlen! (Menterwolde)! reacted! furiously! to! the! position! of! Moorslag,! who! was! at! the! time! supported!by!the!surrounding!municipalities!Veendam,!Pekela,!Scheemda!and!WinI schoten.! They! agreed! that! the! development! (somewhere! in! the! region)! might! be! ‘acceptable’,!because!of!the!new!‘jobs’!it!would!provide.!The!province!reacted!that!it! would! look! at! the! case! if! the! development! could! be! located! with! another! leisure!
