The economic development strategies of new towns: A multiple case-study on the used economic development strategies of Almere (Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China)

(1)

The Economic Development

Strategies of New Towns

A multiple case-study on the used economic development strategies of Almere

(Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China)

Laura Janssen, BSc.

Master thesis ‘Economic Geography’ Faculty: Nijmegen school of Management Radboud University Nijmegen

July 5, 2016 Words: 28117

(2)

(3)

The Economic Development

Strategies of New Towns

A multiple case-study on the used economic development strategies of Almere

(Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China)

Colophon

Author: Laura Janssen Student Number: S4156587

Email address: laurajanssen267@hotmail.com

Date: July 5, 2016

Educational Institution: Radboud University Nijmegen Educational Program: Economic Geography

Supervisor: Dr. Roos Pijpers

(4)

Preface

Dear reader,

Before you lies my master thesis, I am really proud that after nine months, I finish the master Human Geography with this final piece. During my six-month internship at Royal HaskoningDHV, I did not only focus on the subject of this thesis, I also experienced being part of the urban development team and supported several projects which I really enjoyed. Being part of the urban development team of Royal HaskoningDHV helped me with the process of my master thesis because my colleagues inspired me with their knowledge and experience about this subject. This internship really helped me with the execution of this research. Besides this added value for my research, I really had a nice time during this internship.

Conducting this research was not always that easy. The choice to research two non-westerns in Ghana and China brought some limits I did not really expect at forehand. Cultural differences, language barriers and less digitalized data in these countries made it more difficult to analyze these cases. Even though, these aspects limited the research, it was also a learning experience; not everything goes according to your additional plan.

Like with every written thesis, there are some persons I want to thank for their support, inspiring words and knowledge sharing during the process of this research. First of all, I would like to thank my two super visors at Royal HaskoningDHV, Bart Brorens and Jacques van Dinteren. I want to thank them because of their help, knowledge, experience and critical reflection on the subject of this thesis. In addition, I want to thank my super visor at the Radboud University Nijmegen, Roos Pijpers. I want to thank her for her guidance during this process and for her help, critical notes and interesting discussions. Thanks to Michelle Provoost who was not only one of my interviewees during this research, she also helped me with getting in contact with several other respondents of this research. I also want to thank all the people who took part in this research as interviewee. Due to them, this research has been made possible. Thanks to my other colleagues at Royal HaskoningDHV for the great time during my internship. Finally, I want to thank my friend Kim Hoeks. She helped me several times with the grammar and content of this master thesis.

Laura, July 5, 2016

(5)

(6)

Abstract

In 2011, for the first time in history, the world population reached a number of 7 billion inhabitants of which more than a half lived in urban areas. Urbanization on a global scale will continue at high speed wherefore local and national governments face real challenges as it comes to the development and planning of cities. As a response to these challenges, various countries develop and have developed new towns. New towns are cities designed from scratch and mostly based on a political decision taken by a local or national government. Different aspects are important when it comes to the success and failure of new towns. One of these aspects is the used economic development strategy which is the main focus of this research. It is important to inquire amongst other processes of economic development and used strategies because the development of new towns seems to be more about the design of new towns than processes which make these cities lively entities. In this research, the following main question is stated: ‘What can we learn from the economic development

strategies of existing new towns and their phases of economic development to get a better understanding of the economic development strategies to be used during the planning of new towns?’

During this research, a multiple case study is used to find answers to the main and sub-questions. The cases that have been selected are Almere (Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China). Different experts on the cases are interviewed during this research and scientific literature is used to find out the different used economic development strategies in the new towns and their economic development.

During this research, different learning lessons for the development of new towns are uncovered. First, planners should be aware that by a fast growing population as is the cases in many new towns, a service sector or basic firms do almost develop itself. Second, even though the creation of employment is maybe the most important aspect of an economic development strategy, planners should not forget that the development of new towns is more than the creation of economic sectors. Besides this, planners should also watch out for a miss-match between the chosen housing typologies and the investment in economic sectors. Finally, the goal of being an independent and self-sustaining new town should become less important during the planning of new towns.

(7)

1. Introduction

1.1 Project Framework

In 2011, for the first time in history, the world population reached a number of 7 billion of which more than a half lived in urban areas. Urbanization on a global scale will continue at high speed. It is expected that this number will increase to 6.3 billion people living in urban areas in 2050 [ CITATION Sin15 \l 1043 ]. ‘It is projected that the population living in urban areas is to gain an additional 2.6

billion during 2011–2050 and will reach 6.3 billion. While the proportion of people living in small cities is expected to decline, the million-plus cities accounting for about 40 % of the total urban population in 2011 is expected to increase to 47 % by 2025.’ (Singh, 2015, p. 5)

The urban growth of cities is mainly due to three causes. Rural-urban migration causes, and will cause, a significant portion of urbanization. The economic growth in cities in the developing world motivates people to leave the rural area. The shift from rural to urban will be the main demographic transformation of the 21st century (Miklian & Hoelscher, 2014). Second, the natural growth of the urban population increases the number of people living in cities. Finally, rural settlements can be redefined as urban when they pass a certain threshold, like population size or density. The area will get a new administrative boundary and rural characteristics will slowly disappear [ CITATION Men15 \l 1043 ].

Unfortunately, this increase is not evenly distributed; there is a large difference visible between countries in the global North and the global South. ‘The population in urban areas in less

developed countries will grow from 1.9 billion in 2000 to 3.9 billion in 2030. In developed countries, the urban population is expected to increase very slowly, from 0.9 billion in 2000 to 1 billion in 2030.’

(The United Nations, n.d, p.1)

This immense population growth in urban areas causes real problems for the development and planning of cities. Living in an urban area would normally provide a better quality of life, but many cities in the developing world are surrounded by informal housing settlements. It is an immense challenge for local and national governments to provide all these new urban dwellers public services like housing, education and jobs [ CITATION Buh13 \l 1043 ]. Since these informal housing settlements do not always provide a better quality of life and are not planned by professionals, for some planners it is questionable whether these slum areas can be recognized as real urban.

As a response to these challenges, various countries develop and have developed new towns. New towns are cities designed from scratch and mostly based on a political decision taken by a local or national government (Miklian & Hoelscher, 2014). ‘A new town is a settlement with

(10)

authority decides on the purpose, role, location, and the physical characteristics of the new settlement, the implementation measures and funds, and the means to attract population, employment, and various other activities, the prerequisites of urbanity.’ (Kafkoula, 2009, p. 428)

The design and construction of the new towns we know today is originally a phenomenon from the West. After World War II, many new towns are developed in European countries to decentralize a projected overflow of the population. For example in London; between 1946 and 1949, eight new towns were designed for this reason [ CITATION Placeholder1 \l 1043 ]. In the 60s and 70s of the 20th_{century, other cities outside Europe took the lead in the planning of new towns and urban} extensions, where they used Western urban planning models and expertise as a guideline. Especially spatial components were comparable with the spatial strategy of Western urban planning. Social components on the other hand, became less important than they were in the Western tradition (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011).

Nowadays, an enormous amount of detailed master plans for new towns are developed, presented and implemented in countries or cities that experience economic growth. The development process of these master plans brings great challenges for urban planners. Mostly these plans are focused on the highest building, the biggest landmark or the most beautiful architecture. Sometimes it is forgotten that the planning of cities is more than building houses, planning infrastructure and providing jobs. One day, the influx of people and the development of the urban shape should coalesce to a specific urban culture (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011). This urban culture must make sure that people feel connected with the place; that they have a sense of place. But the creation of an urban culture in new towns is easier said than done; new towns often face the problem of a lacking identity [ CITATION Har09 \l 1043 ]. It is not the case that the process of assembling urban shape and people ensures a strong identity; to make the development of new towns a success, it is amongst other things crucial to compile communities and foster a sense of place (Reynolds, n.d.). Researchers are also challenged by the development of new towns. While the development of Western new towns is part of the Western history, in the developing countries it is a slightly new phenomenon. As a result of this, literature about the development of these new towns is less present and the development of these new towns is less unraveled. But with the knowledge and experience obtained over the years, Western urban planning can help with the development and understanding of these ‘new’ new towns. As Provoost & Vanstiphout (2011, p. 23) state: ‘20th_{-century Western urban}

planning provides us with tools to analyze the latest tendency.’ But using the Western urban planning

principles and guidelines for the development and the analysis of non-Western new towns can also be a risk. ‘It determines the political and ethical criteria by which we assess these cities.’ (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011, p. 23) Even though planners are familiar with this risk, it is inescapable that

(11)

about Western new towns that can be used for future development of the ‘new’ new towns

(Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011). There are

different aspects that play an important role in the succes or failure of new towns. As earlier mentioned, the lack of identity in new towns is causing problems concerning the sense of place and the belonging to that certain place by inhabitants. Another aspect, which is important for the development of new towns, is the used economic development strategy. The creation of productive economic sectors is one of the most important steps during the development of a new city. Therefore it is important to use the right economic development strategy [ CITATION Har09 \l 1043 ]. Next to this, economic motives are one of the main reasons for the planning of new towns. ‘Economic

motives are dominant in the case of almost all of the New Town initiatives; it is always a question of stimulating the urban or national economy through urban design.’ (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011,

p.35) For example, new town development can stimulate the modernization of a city or country and therefore its economy. Tema, one of the cases that have been selected in this research, is a typical example where economic motives are underlying the development of the new town.

Besides this, economic development in cities became more important in the last 30 or 40 years for both the planner and researcher; debates have emerged about the appropriateness of development strategies from governments to stimulate growth. Since then, the strategy for economic development became more important in cities and new towns. But to figure out what the best practice is in terms of an economic development strategy, is easier said than done (Fitzgerald & Cox,

2007). So in

the case of new towns, both identity and the economic development strategy are important factors for success and failure. But because the urban development department of Royal HaskoningDHV is more interested in the economic development strategies that are being used during the planning of new towns and their economic development process, this research will focus economic development strategies and the aspect of identity, even though it is a very interesting subject, will be largely

omitted. Several

theories about economic development strategies have been developed like the New Growth Theory and the Theory of Coordination Failure. The new growth theory emerged during the 1990’s and tries to explain poor performances of many less developed countries which implemented strategies as prescribed in neoclassical theories. The theory of coordination failure is the idea that the market may fail to achieve coordination among complementary activities like for example when firms do not manage to coordinate their actions wherefore they achieve a less desirable equilibrium than possible [ CITATION Dan15 \l 1043 ]. Because these theories do not describe mechanisms of economic development, these are less useful for this research. Another well-known theory is the cumulative causation theory of Gunnar Myrdal. The basis of his cumulative causation theory is that circular

(12)

relationships sustain a cumulative upwards process and is largely caused by agglomeration economies and advantages of scale, which increases polarization between the center and periphery [ CITATION Tal93 \l 1043 ]. In this research, his model will be used as explanation for the economic development in the cases that have been selected in this research. In chapter 2, the cumulative causation model will be explained more extensively.

(13)

1.2 Research Objective

This research tries to contribute to the urban development debate and the planning of new towns. Studies about 21st non-Western new towns are less present but the development of these cities is booming (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011). Therefore it is important that more research will be conducted on different non-Western cases; it is important to expand the existing knowledge about these cities. This can make the future planning of these new towns more convenient. This research will try to contribute to the planning of new towns by uncovering insights about the economic development strategies and economic development phases of three existing new towns.

The main goal of this research is (1) to unravel the different economic development strategies used during the planning process of existing new towns and (2) to gather information about the economic development phases of these new towns and make the planning of future new towns more convenient (by doing a multiple case study).

1.3 Research Questions

Following from the objective stated above, the next main question will be central in this study:

What can we learn from the economic development strategies of existing new towns and their phases of economic development to get a better understanding of the economic development strategies to be used during the planning of new towns?

To support and solve this main question, sub questions are formulated. The sub questions uncover the main characteristics of the central question [ CITATION Doo07 \l 1043 ]. In this research, these questions focus on three existing new towns namely: Almere (Netherlands), Songjiang New City (China) and Tema (Ghana). By comparing, analyzing and discussing these cases, information will be gathered and therefore contribute to the development process of new towns.

1. How has the process of new town development evolved over time?

2. How does Myrdal explain economic development in his model of cumulative causation and what are the most important mechanisms (of cumulative causation) distinguished in this model?

3. Which strategies are used for the economic development of the cases? 4. How did the cases economically develop over time?

(14)

1.4 Societal Relevance

In 2000, the millennium development goals (MDG) were set by the United Nations to banish extreme poverty worldwide. Eight concrete goals had to be achieved within a period of 15 years. One of these goals was to ensure a sustainable environment, where amongst other things, the number of people living in slums had to decrease (United Nations, 2015). In 15 years, the proportion of people living in slums dropped by almost ten percent. ‘The proportion of urban population living in slums in the

developing regions fell from approximately 39.4 per cent in 2000 to 29.7 per cent in 2014.’ (United

Nations, 2015, p.7)

Economic growth in developing countries triggers rural dwellers to move to urban areas because cities represent a better quality of life. This is quite often misjudged since these people in cities live most of the time in worse conditions than before moving. According to a world-wide estimation, around 800 million people are living in slum conditions and the absolute number of people will continue to grow. The rapid growth of urban dwellers can hardly be managed by local and national governments. They have problems with planning the city and to provide access to public services (United Nations, 2015). These problems could be opposed by the development of new towns. New towns could provide a decent living environment and a better quality of life for many people. Due to amongst other things rapid urbanization processes all over the world, new towns emerge in many different countries. However, the development of new towns, when bad strategies are used, can also have a downside. Because some of these new towns do not become flourishing lively cities but stay empty; there are recent examples of some projects turning into so-called ghost-cities. For example in China, properties have a price that an average family cannot afford; roughly 64 million properties in China remain unoccupied (n.a., 2014). Besides this, lots of properties in China are only bought for speculation and not for living (den Hartog, personal communication, March 13, 2016). Though it is expected by some that because of different reasons such as immigration, the demand for housing will grow in the number of square meters per person and ghost towns will eventually disappear (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011).

A similar example could be found near to the capital of Angola where a new district is developed; Nova Cidade de Kilamba. Dozens of schools and shops are built for half a million people who have to live in Kilamba. But in 2011 there was one problem: lots of Angolans live from no more than 2$ a day and one property costs $120.000 - $200.000; the houses were simply just too expensive [CITATION Boo12 \l 1043 ]. In February, 2013, the situation of Kilamba changed. Selling procedures became easier and lower prices were published. In July 2015 it was announced that Kilamba was inhabited by more than 80.000 people [ CITATION Bui14 \l 1043 ].

(15)

misused and that these cities become ghost towns. Used strategies to make these cities lively and flourishing did not work out. Changing strategy, as they did in Kilamba, can turn tides. In China, it is uncertain what will happen; it may indeed be the case that properties will be sold in the future because of the growth of the population. Besides this, there are many new towns examples that are successful. For example Astana in Kazakhstan. This new town is regarded as successful by its inhabitants, certainly compared with neighboring countries that are struggling towards modernization (Keeton, 2011). So where some new towns are not successful, there are much more examples that are and therefore no specific attention in this research will be paid on the phenomenon ghost towns, even though it is a very interesting subject.

1.5 Scientific Relevance

This research contains an exploration of new towns and their economic development strategy. It turns out that education about new towns disappeared from Western architecture and planning schools. ‘The construction of entirely new, integral urban systems, the writing of technocratic and

ideological books on how to build new cities has all disappeared from architectural education and publications in Western architecture and planning schools.’ (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011, p. 32) In

the 21st_{century, building new towns is no longer the ultimate horizon. As a result of this, the problem} arises that reflection on existing new towns is lacking and the development of non-Western new towns is more about, as earlier mentioned, the highest building and the most beautiful architecture instead of creating a lively urban entity. Therefore, research about the learning lessons we can get

from existing new towns becomes even more important. Next

to this lack of reflection, most existing planning schools are at the moment established in Western parts of the world, which makes the examples of Western new towns more present than others. Even though an increase of non-Western examples is expected in the future, non-Western examples are still lacking in the literature about new towns. That is why this research will build further on the existing literature about new towns and will include non-Western cases to broader the knowledge about new towns and their economic development strategy (Keeton, 2011). Another important aspect of this research will be the contribution of learning lessons from other new town planning experiences. In the period between the 1950’s and 1970’s, many new towns have been developed in order to control urban growth in European and American cities. Nowadays, these problems are also seen a lot in developing countries. However, lots of these Western new towns are nowadays considered as failures in economic and social terms. So for future development it is important to not make the same mistakes as planners did with Western new towns. It is useful to learn from experiences and build further on the existing literature about new towns to improve

(16)

choosing the economic development strategy as the object of research is pretty new. As chapter three will substantiate, existing planning literature is mainly focused on the design of cities and not their motivations. Next to this, as earlier mentioned, economic motives are dominant in mostly all of the new town cases (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011).

1.6 Reading Guide

This research is composed as follows. Chapter two describes the history of the Western planning and the emergence of the new towns we know today. Next to this, the theory of cumulative causation from Myrdal is discussed. Also in chapter two attention will be paid to the conceptual model and the typologies of new towns. In chapter two, sub-question one and two are answered. In chapter three, the used methodology of this research is discussed; the used research method, the collection of data, the process of data analysis, and the selection of the cases and the used respondents of this research. In chapter four, the used economic development strategy of each case is discussed, compared and analyzed. In the conclusion of that chapter, sub-question three is answered. In chapter five, the economic development phases of the three cases are discussed, compared and analyzed. In this chapter sub-question four is answered. In chapter six, the conclusion of this research is described. What are the learning lessons to better understand the economic development of new towns? In the conclusion, an answer is formulated to the main question. Besides this, chapter six does also pay attention to the problems which are encountered during this research and will present recommendations for future research about this subject.

(17)

2 Strategies of New Towns in Urban Planning and Economic Geography

2.1 Western Planning History

The object of interest in this theoretical framework is the Western urban planning history and economic geography. This object is chosen because the Western planning history serves as the origin of new towns; the development of new towns we know today is created by Western planning and therefore important to discuss [ CITATION Ale09 \l 1043 ]. In this framework, the portrait of the planning history starts at the end of the 19th_{century and finishes in the 20th century. This moment in} time is chosen because in the 20th century, planning became professionalized (INTI, 2010). Because ideas and ideals developed in the 20st century are a reaction to the 19th_{century city, this overview} will start there. However, it is important to keep in mind that some thinking can be traced even further back in time (Hall P., 2002).

The book ‘Cities of Tomorrow’, written by Peter Hall, will be used as the main guideline to describe the Western urban planning history. This book provides a clear and structural overview of the Western urban planning history. Though, using Hall’s book as directive brings some limitations into this chapter. When Hall describes the planning profession and its history, he describes familiar themes, nevertheless important themes, like for example slum reform, the city beautiful-movement, the garden city and the automobile city. He combines these themes with ideas of a few visionaries who made a difference and it is for sure that the described key figures did this in their own way, but it seems that he totally forgets the importance of other actors in the planning history. The key figures described in his book are mostly white men. But we must not forget that other groups such as women and (ethnic) minorities also contribute to city and community building, planning and research [ CITATION San98 \l 1043 ].

Another limitation of Hall’s book can be found in his explanation of the remained poor status of the underclass during time. Their situation did not improve over time although the ideas and visions of some planners were so great. According to Sandercock (1998, p. 5) Hall just accepted the existence of an underclass. ‘Uncritically accepting the concept of an underclass and of

the undeserving poor, Hall's work ultimately reinforces the conservative tradition of blaming the victim by stigmatizing her or him. By looking in such a way to this problem, Hall forgets patterns of

discrimination, inequality and policies which also contribute to their social economic status [ CITATION San98 \l 1043 ].

Despite these critical notes, Peter Hall provides a clear and useful guidance through the Western urban planning history which is not accomplished by many others and that is why his work is used in this research (Sandercock,1998).

(18)

In the 19th_{century, living conditions of the urban poor were depressing in many Western cities. As a} result of industrialization, low income groups moved to the city centers. Families with sometimes more than six children lived together in one room with walls full of crud and where hardly any light could enter the room. The event of baby deaths was common and many women and girls from the age of 12 years worked in whorehouses. The problems had an economic cause; these people received miserable loans and were just too poor to live somewhere else. Therefore they had no other option than living as close as possible to their work (Hall P., 2002). The problems brought with industrialization and urbanization led to multiple new ways of thinking and are indirect the cause of the existence of the new towns we know today. Around 1900, the development of new towns was aimed to provide better housing and a better quality of life for people in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Since then, the development of new towns can be found in several planning movements (Alexander, 2009). One of these movements is social mobilization. This movement emerged in the 1820’s as a reaction to the social unrest and inhumane situation for the working class caused by the industrial revolution. The central idea of this movement is social emanicipation, which is the effort to obtain economic, social and political rights or equality and should be obtained by change from below; it is the people themselves that determine the political practices. The critique on the current situation, on the social arrangements which restrain the society, are the starting point of this planning movement [ CITATION Fri87 \l 1043 ].

The social mobilization movement contains three main reasonings; utopianism, social anarchism and historical materialism. In the utopian movement you can find two key figures; Frenchmen Charles Fourier and the Scottisch Robert Owen. These two founding fathers envisioned intentional communities which followed blueprints for perfection. Without governmental support, on the basis of ideas, moral persuasion, volutarism and human determination, these intentional communities came into being [ CITATION Fri87 \l 1043 ] and were envisioned as followed. ‘The typical

utopian community is small and engaged in agricultural as wel as industrial production. The community would look after the basic material needs of its membership and, in doing, limit contact with the outside world. Public and private spheres would merge. The design of the physical space for a communitarian life is of the utmost importance.’ (Friedmann, 1987, p. 251)

Social anarchism in some ways resembles utopianism. Both movements accuse the existence of politics and want to banish any form of authority. In social anarchism you can find two main branches which differ in their road to anarchy. The first branch accomplished an anarchist order by peaceful cooperation. The second route uses physical violence, revolution and the demolition of the physical infrastructure to demolish the capital state. Anarchy for both is seen as the ultimate political progress [ CITATION Fri87 \l 1043 ].

(19)

The major founders of this movement are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The main goal of this movement is to develop a classless society based on cooperative wealth and increase the all-round development of the individual [ CITATION Fri87 \l 1043 ]. Banish the bourgeoisie as the ultimate enemy and a classless society organized from above are two of the main purposes. The bourgeousie, by controlling the production, have estalished themselves as the dominant class in the capitalist society and can be blamed for the unhumane situation of the working class[ CITATION Fri87 \l 1043 ]. The three theories of social mobilization are more or less abstract theories which represent social and political ideals of how society should look like. There are a few examples of these ideal communes but the ideas stayed mostly visions. For example, social anarchists had brilliant visions of how anarchy must be reached and how it should look like, but it seemed they did not think about the day after. That is why in the planning practice, these movements did not have much meaning. It was the social aspect of these movements which changed the urban planning practice [ CITATION Fri87 \l 1043 ]. The next two movements (the garden city movement and the city beautiful movement) on the contrary, brought their ideas into practice and became more visible in space. The city beautiful movement (1900-1945) was a reaction to the dense apartment buildings which were built to provide the urban poor better shelter. The movement wanted to destruct the breeding places of diseases, discomfort, moral aggrevation and socialism and wanted to create order. The city beautiful movement has it origins in the boulevards and promenades of the European metropolisses and became popular after Daniel Burnham, who was an architect and director of the Washington D.C. design at the beginning of the 19th_{century [ CITATION Rus01 \l} 1043 ]. The essence of the city beautiful, as you would presume, was to introduce beauty in the urban environment; the architecture of the city would serve as a theatre for its inhabitants. ‘Every street in the city should be made as beautiful as it can be, and every building, as

far as possible, should cohere with the general plan; then we will have a beautiful city and not otherwise.’ (Nus, 1975, p. 191) Critics commented that supporters of the city beautiful movement

only intended to make the city more beautiful and that they had the strange idea that a beautiful city will turn its citizens automatically into better inhabitants. For example Daniel Burnham, founding father of this movement, was criticized for his designed Chicago plan where he did not pay any attention to housing, education and sanitation; his main concern was planning a beautiful city [ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. Around the world different manifestations of the beautiful city arose. These planned cities from scratch, built to control growth and create order, are maybe the first physical appearences of new towns which we know today.

Another movement, which was also a reaction to the slum city, is Ebenezer Howard’s garden city (1900 – 1940). The garden city was the solution for the dual problem of the depressed and unpopulated countryside as well as the congested industrial

(20)

slums[ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. Howard’s plans were not that unusual, his ideas for the garden city are all linked to other well known figures; the garden city was far from original [ CITATION Als12 \l 1043 ]. Howard’s ideas of the garden city were mostly political. His initial plans from scratch engaged simple, schematic diagrams which showed the structure and administration of the new town. Beyond the incorporation of parks and garden in his plans, Howard did not care much about the design. Economical and social reform and especially land reform were more important for him. ‘Howard’s desire was to promote harmony and reconciliation

through genuine "Localism"—social control for the local community over both physical planning and decisions on limits to growth.’ (Hall L.., 2013, par. 4) His principle of the garden city was more than a

physical blueprint of a new town. Freedom and co-operation were de heart of his plans. It combined town and country and would bring new hope to peoples lives in the form of a new civilization. After half a century, Howards’s ideas of the garden city were developed all over the world. But his original vision could not be traced back; Howard provided the shell, but the substance dissapeared [ CITATION

Hal13 \l 1043 ]. One person who built further on the ideas of

Howard is Patrick Geddes. As a trained biologist, he laid the foundation for a new way of thinking in the urban planning practice; he introduced the region as object of planning (1900 – 1940). Geddes and Howard shared the idea that new urban forms could inspire social and spiritual transformation but developed different paths to this goal[ CITATION Par03 \l 1043 ]. Geddes ideas, like Howard’s, changed during the process of spreading; the true radical message of his ideas dissapeared [ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. Geddes is known for three ground-breaking ideas. First, he saw the city as a living being instead of a simple area where buildings and streets should be developed. This thinking does not seem new for us, but back in those days it was revolutionary. Second, Geddes saw the planning of cities as an integrated activity of theories and practices. For the first time in history, Geddes introduced the concepts of region and conurbation in urban planning[ CITATION Bat09 \l 1043 ]. At last, the idea of ‘survey before plan’ comes from Geddes. He first conducted a survey among the target group, thereafter he developed a plan. However, the region was more than a object of survey, the region was the basis of the total reconstruction of social and political life [ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. Although his ideas were ground-breaking, his thinking had little impact on the urban planning. Geddes was not capable to share his thoughts, he never could make himself audible. It were others, like members of the Regional Planning Association of America, who put flesh on the abstract skeleton Geddens gave them

[ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. During the period

from the 1920’ up to the 1960’s a whole new way of looking at cities was developed. Le Corbusier, by some seen as the architect of the 20th century, was a pioneer of modern high design and wanted to

(21)

generation of architects that followed. Ideas he developed in the 1920s in Paris, were applied in hundreds of other cities between the 1950s and 1960s. His vision of the city, comes together in his La Ville Contemporaine; a completely class-segregated city. In Hall (2002, p. 222) Le Corbusier states:

‘We must decongest the centres of our cities by increasing their density. In addition we must improve circulation and increase the amount of open space.’ Le Corbusier saw this resolved by high buildings

on a small area in a green park-like setting[ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. Despite his great influence, Le Corbusier’s own town-planning schemes remained most of the time a vision. In 1928, he and 23 other architects bundled their strengths together to fight traditional ideas of architecture and to promote their modern beliefs. The idea of the Congres International d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM) was that a modern design was right when its functional and unadorned[ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. Their theories were adopted by public housing builders in Europe and America. But not everyone was positive about these visions. Critics believed that Le Corbusier’s ideas isolated poor communities in dull high rise apartment buildings and therefore demotivated an integral development of social connections in society. One of his most famous critics is Jane Jacobs. In her eyes, functions should be combined and a common use of facilities have to be encouraged, in order to produce a lively, dynamic and local economy in the neighborhood. According to her, Le Corbusier’s separation of functions threatens the existence of an integral and lively neighborhood [ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ].

During 1950’s and 1960’s the urban planning practice flourished, caused by the sustained growth period of the capitalist economic system. Until that time, physical growth of the city was controlled and guided. But the great recession of the 70’s and 80’s caused that urban planning almost demolished itself (1975 – 1990). In this period, promoting urban growth became one of the main goals of planning; ‘Cities, the message rang loud en clear,were

machines for wealth creation.’ (Hall P. , 2002, p. 379) At that time, the manufacturing economy ended

and successes could be found in finding and creating a new service sector in the central city. As a result of this, cities centers got restored and offered a quality of life which was never seen before. Young urban professionals were the cause of gentrification processes in the ruined Victorian residential areas. Finally, this process would end up in a city that became a major attraction for tourists, which provided a new economic base for the city[ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. This shift also changed the way in which new towns were developed. During the 50s and 60s, nation states were very important; new towns represented their modernity and political market but during the 70s and 80s, new cities were developed to compete directly with each other on a global market [ CITATION Pro11 \l 1043 ]. From that moment on, economic development strategies emerged as an important issue for the urban planner and researcher. As a result, discussions about the right economic growth

(22)

strategies arose and are still important for the development of (new) cities[ CITATION Fit07 \l 1043 ].

2.2 The Emergence of Today’s New Towns

In the previous paragraph the Western planning history has been discussed serving as the origin of the new towns we know today; the development of today’s new towns was triggered by Western planning [ CITATION Ale09 \l 1043 ]. This paragraph will focus on the development/emergence of new towns and in the conclusion of this chapter, sub-question one, ‘How has the process of new town

development evolved over time?’ is answered.

The idea of new towns is almost as old as the city is. Throughout human history, there has been continuous interest in the concept of new towns. Excavations have shown that lots of cities have grown around existing cities, but they also have shown the existence of several new cities. In ancient Greece for example, every inland city was in the possession of a satellite at the coast. Another example is Teotihuacan (Mexico). This new town was developed during the 2nd_{- 6}th_{century B.C and} was until the 13th_{century the biggest planned city in the world. Despite these findings, some people} believe that the concept of new towns is a post war invention. But history has clearly shown that the existence of new towns can be traced even back further in time [ CITATION Dox73 \l 1043 ].

Because this research has a restricted time period, the researcher did only focus on the emergence of the new towns we know today. This means that the next paragraph will start with an elaboration of the garden city, since the new towns we know today are derived from this concept.

2.2.1 The Garden City

‘A town designed for industryand healthy living; of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life, but not larger; surrounded by a permanent belt of rural land; the whole of the land being in public ownership or held in trust for the community’ (TCPA, 2014, p. 3).

The garden city as described above is the new town idea of Ebenezer Howard; the founding father of the garden city. His garden city was an ideal planned city where town and country life were intertwined. In the theoretical framework, Howard’s garden city is already briefly discussed. But because his garden city laid the foundation of new towns, in this chapter the movement will be discussed in more detail. Later on in this research, a comparison will be made between the cases that have been selected and Howard’s garden city.

Howard laid the foundations for the developing principles of the British new town program and principles which affected the planning and building of new towns all over the world [ CITATION

(23)

Per73 \l 1043 ]. Howard’s ideas also had an immense impact on the physical planning practice; the garden city brought significant improvement in living conditions. On the other hand, the garden city was a failure in social terms (March, 2014) ‘Howard struggled with the central contradictions of

democratic planning, illustrating the difficulties of achieving social goals in planning framed by liberal

democracy.’ (March, 2014, p. 1) The

garden city was a solution for the depressing social situation of people in cities. Howard envisioned his garden city as a small town which was an antidote for the overcrowded and depressing conditions in large industrial and commercial cities[ CITATION Per73 \l 1043 ]. ‘He

objected the growth of the big city at the expense of the countryside, the crowding and the noisy slums, the increasingly long journey to work, and the rootlesness and social problems of the migrants from rural areas.’ (Perloff & Sandberg, 1973, p. 5)

Inspired by the utopians and reformers, who were looking for a way to improve the social situation of the lower classes, Howard developed the idea of the garden city. The visions of the utopians and reformers hardly effected the situation of

the poor. It was the garden city which had an enduring effect [ CITATION Mar14 \l 1043 ]. ‘The reason

lies in the particular nature of Howard’s response to the problems of the time and the means by which he, and others, sought its realization. Howard found a middle way of sorts, between seeking to modify the liberal system while using it as a vehicle to provide an alternative way of living and working away from established urban areas. Accordingly, his vision achieved much more than ‘the many previous schemes that had never progressed beyond the printed word’. (March, 2014, p. 410)

So the first ideas of new towns started with Ebenezer Howard’s garden city, around 1900. As a reaction to the depressing situation, Howard believed that there could be a better, more sustainable and more co-operative way of living. Therefore, Howard planned cities from scratch in which he combined the best elements or magnetic pulls of the town, such as jobs and social networks, with the best elements of the countryside, such as fresh air and nature (see figure 1). This combination would Figure 1: The three magnets of Howard’s garden city (Stav,

(24)

become a perfect new place. But the greatest achievement of the garden city movement is that it succeed to turn idealism into realism (TCPA, 2014, p. 4).

2.2.2 Differences Garden City and New Towns

It seems that garden cities and new towns are much of the same; it cannot be denied that new towns apply principles of Howard’s garden city. ‘Historians agree that the New Towns of the 20th century

share DNA that was first strung together by Ebenezer Howard.’ (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011, p. 12)

The garden city reflects ideas of spacious, self-sufficient and balanced economies, where people live and get old [ CITATION Mac74 \l 1043 ]. Also other principles like land value capture, attention to arts and culture, green infrastructure, community development and employment opportunities within a certain distance can all be found in principles of the garden cities and new towns [ CITATION TCP14 \l 1043 ]. Though they have much in common, there are also major differences between the two. The New Towns were essentially an evolution of the Garden City concept, up scaled in size of

population and strategic economic purpose, and with very different methods of delivery, reflecting the specific political and social contexts in which they were developed.’ (TCPA, 2015, p. 3) The main differences of these planned cities are at first, scale. Howard’s garden city was planned for a maximal of 32.000 inhabitants and later, 58.000 inhabitants for the center and its surrounding belt. When these numbers were reached, it was intended that the garden city would not grow further; these number represented maximum levels of growth. When the limit was reached, a new city would be developed at short distance away. When the limit in this new city was reached, another city at short distance would be developed and so forth. At the end, a network of small self-sustaining towns was created. The towns would have excellent connections via public transport systems. This network would provide all the benefits of an urban center in combination with easy access to the countryside. Howard’s network of connected towns is called ‘The Social City’[ CITATION TCP14 \l 1043 ]. However this ideal social city was stayed most of the time a vision. Some planners thought that these containing cities would fail. That is why new towns that are developed today are not necessarily self-sustaining entities; it depends on the purpose of the new town [ CITATION Per73 \l 1043 ]. Besides this, there are different examples of new towns today which have more than 58.00 inhabitants. Take for example Tin Shui Wai in China; this new town did have more than 292.000 inhabitants in 2014. Another difference is in the way they are established. Garden cities are funded by private, limited-profit development companies with start-up funds at very low rates of interest. New towns are developed by governments, using development corporations created for this purpose funded by loans which have to be paid back with interest (TCPA, 2014). The land ownership (in

(25)

on the increasing land values which result from development – known as ‘betterment’ – and from residential and commercial leaseholders (with uplift on reversion at the end of lease periods) would be used to repay the original development finance debts. As these debts were gradually paid off, and as land values rose, the money could be increasingly invested in community assets and services, building up what we might think of as the Garden City ‘mini-welfare state’. (TCPA, 2014, p. 6)

So some differencec can be found between the garden cities and new towns. The garden city was much more radical and powerful than a new town. They differ in scale; garden cities are intended for a much smaller scale, garden cities are a combination of town and country life with an integral cultural belt, they have permenantly defined built edges, are mini welfare states and are perfectly connected via public transport. Together this should offer more for the economic and social life than individual towns (TCPA, 2014). In section 4.2 ‘Spatial Design Strategies’, the garden city will be compared with the cases that have been selected in this research. Which aspects of the garden city are comparable with aspects of the cases that have been selected and where do they differ?

2.2.3 Further Development of New Towns

According to Howard, the development of garden cities must be done by its own inhabitants, if you had to wait for the government, you would be old before something was done. Because of inter alia this self-construction, the garden city disappeared over time. The garden city could not meet the housing needs of that time; the progress was just too slow [ CITATION TCP14 \l 1043 ]. In addition, the garden city was a social failure. As mentioned earlier, it seemed that garden cities, like for example the American ones, did not deal with the real problems of society. The green-belt towns excluded black people, local jobs were lacking, transportation links were bad and the units were expensive which made the settlements in garden towns beyond the reach of the poor. The garden city, was just as other developments of new movements, only accesible for the middle and high class [ CITATION Hal02 \l 1043 ]. The development of the new towns we know today is realized after World War II. The need for decentralization of overcrowded cities and housing shortages during and after the war, made the development of new towns important. Almere, one of the cases that have been selected, is an example of such a new town. But there were also other concerns which accelerated the development of new towns[ CITATION TCP14 \l 1043 ]. ‘Pollution caused by patterns of industrial

and housing development and traffic congestion were not only injurious to human health but were damaging the economic life of cities.’ (TCPA, 2014, p. 8)

So the period after the war is the period when Western new towns were built. At that time, it was the main assignment of architects and urban planners to construct complete new cities. The way that these cities were planned, was the beginning of the

(26)

expansion of the Western blueprint for new towns (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011). ‘The large scale

and the haste with which the urban expansion and the solution of the housing shortage were tackled led to blueprint planning with an urban model that was repeated all over the world.’ (Provoost &

Vanstiphout, 2011, p.24) Decolonized countries in Africa and Asia imported the Western urban planning models and expertise during the 1950’s and 1960’s. The newly independent states profitted from the presence of expertise and readiness accumulated by European and Amercian planners (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011). The use of Western planning practices by decolonized countries seems a bit paradoxal but there are two reasons for this. First, leaders of these countries would position their country as modern, progressive and free from colonial rule by using Western planning practices and by hiring Western architects. Next to this, during the cold war period, east and west tried their best to get the loyalty of third world countries in every possible manner (Provoost, n.d.). Though the use of Western planning by decolonized countries seems a bit strange. The decolonized countries are free from any Western domination but still use practices and expertise from their former colonizers as it comes to planning.

In the 60s and 70s of the 20th_{century, other cities} outside Europe took the lead in the planning of new towns and urban extensions, where they used Western urban planning models and expertise as a guideline. Especially the spatial component of these new towns is comparable with the of the Western urban planning, social components on the other hand, became less important than they were in the Western tradition (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011). Nowadays, detailed master plans for new towns are on daily basis developed, presented and implemented in fast growing economic countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. This is not surpising at all; there has always been a natural connection between economic growth and new towns (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011).

(27)

2.3 Typologies of New Towns

In this paragraph, the typologies of the selected cases Almere, Tema and Songjiang New City are explained. In the methodology, a selection of 20 cases is provided. All these cases are categorized in different typologies. These typologies of new towns are provided by the International New Town Institute (INTI) in Almere. This is a platform for research, education and knowledge exchange about new towns. The typologies provided by INTI are used as scientific criteria during the selection of cases. Because the selected cases are categorized as suburbanization (Almere), industrialization (Tema) and shelter city (Songjiang New City), only these three categories are explained in this paragraph. In Appendix A, an explanation of the other typologies can be found (eco, political, enclave and high-tech cities). The typologies are associated with some motivations. For example the motivation for a suburbanization town is population pressure. These motivations are not specifically provided by INTI but are added after multiple consultations by the researcher.

Suburbanization City - Population Pressure/ Over Population

After World War II, lots of Western cities were facing problems of congestion, housing shortages and overcrowded centers. New towns which are built during this time were aimed to decentralize inhabitants of overcrowded cities[ CITATION Her66 \l 1043 ]. Almere in the Netherlands is such a city. This city was planned because of overpressure in the Randstad and housing shortages. Nowadays, when increasing parts of the population do live in cities and megacities are becoming more usual, it is likely that new towns in the future will be more used for this purpose.

Economic City – Economic Growth In

Western history, new towns were mostly built to provide shelter for rural dwellers that were attracted by the economic growth in the city. Nowadays, the main motivation to build new towns is to speed up modernization and economic growth. So instead of tempering rural-urban migration, the function of an economic new town is to provide the process a helping hand; ‘strengthening the financial

capabilities of a region or state is always the top priority for these new towns. ’ (Keeton, 2002, p.235)

Examples are Magarpatta Township in India and King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia. In Arabian countries, new towns are built with the main goal of diversifying the economy with service oriented industries and anticipate on falling oil reserves. Some other cities are built because economic policies are forcing governments to create a x number of jobs, building a new town is a crucial part to achieve this goal; building new towns create lots of jobs for the building sector (Keeton, 2011).

(28)

Shelter City – Immigration

Shelter cities are built with the aim to provide housing for mass immigration such as Songjiang New City in China. Mostly people from the countryside immigrate to urban areas because they are hoping for a better job, fortune, freedom, safety and the chance to improve their life. Providing shelter for these people is the prior function of this city. The concentration of housing and the created facilities are all derived from this point. This leads to incredible differences in their qualities and characteristics. But a city which is only based on providing shelter will never succeed. That is why the shelter city provides luxurious facilities to attract middle and high classes to upscale the new town and prevent a pure concentration of apartment blocks built for the mass migration (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011).

(29)

2.4 Cumulative Causation and the Conceptual Model

As mentioned in the introduction, several theories that explain economic development have been developed. One of these theories, is the new growth theory which emerged during the 1990’s and tries to explain poor performances of many less developed countries which implemented strategies as prescribed in neoclassical theories. Another theory, the theory of coordination failure, is the idea that the market may fail to achieve coordination among complementary activities [ CITATION Dan15 \l 1043 ]. As mentioned, these theories are not used because they do not describe explain mechanisms which declare economic development in cities. The cumulative causation model of Myrdal on the other hand, describes a clear mechanism for economic growth in cities. In this research, his cumulative causation model is applied to the economic development of the three cases (see chapter 5). In the conclusion of this chapter sub-question two ‘How does Myrdal explain economic

development in his model of cumulative causation and what are the most important mechanisms (of cumulative causation) distinguished in this model? is answered.

Myrdal was one of the pioneers in the economic geography because in his approach he distinguishes aspects as institutionalism and theory of circular reasoning or causation. His theory is rooted in the contributions of his teacher Knut Wicksell. Myrdal developed the theory of cumulative causation because of his dissatisfaction with the modern theory of equilibrium which can be described as following [ CITATION Tal93 \l 1043 ]. ‘Equilibrium of an economic system exists when a

set of quantities of variables, upon which certain a priory constraints are imposed in terms of their attainments of certain range of values, determine the set of values of the variables which will have no usual tendency to move under the assumed parameters.’ (Talele, 1993, p. 76) What Myrdal found the

most objectionable of this theory is the idea that the equilibrium is the balance of the opposite forces. According to Myrdal in Talele (1993, p. 77) ‘The transportation of the idea of stable

equilibrium system and the laws of its motion with reference to time in terms of velocity and acceleration to a social or an economic system is a false analogy.

Because of his dissatisfaction with this theory, he developed in his eyes a more realistic analysis of social change. The basis of his cumulative causation theory is that circular relationships sustain a cumulative upwards process. This is largely caused by agglomeration economies and advantages of scale, which increases polarization between the center and periphery [ CITATION Tal93 \l 1043 ]. Myrdal developed a connection between regional differences of economic development and the production environment of these regions. Myrdal assumes that companies in a prosperous region possess more advantages than companies in less prosperous regions. The size of the market is bigger which brings them advantages of scale. Next to this, in prosperous regions, the labor force is higher educated and possibilities for innovation are better. As a result of this, increasing

(30)

differences will arise between the prosperous region and its periphery because of a better competitive position [ CITATION Lam97 \l 1043 ].

The process of cumulative causation operates as follow and is illustrated in figure 2. When a region (1) increases its production, the (2) local employment will become bigger and the share of basic firms will increase. Basic firms in this research are firms which provide services to the population. You can think of schools, healthcare, shops and healthcare for example, these kind of businesses do follow the growth of the population. Employment opportunities make the prosperous region (mostly cities) more attractive. Workers from other places, when there is no unemployment, will be attracted by the opportunities in the prosperous region. This (3) migration process increases the (4) total population of the region. There is a strong possibility that among the new population are high educated; it is well known that labor migration is selective in character. A higher portion of high educated, changes the (5) production environment. It is conceivable that this higher amount of educated people (6) attracts new companies, in this research, these companies are called non-basic firms. These kind of businesses do have most of the time a propulsive character and do not provide services for the population. These new companies focus on high educated labor forces which brings (7) new economic activities. The coming of new companies can also be devoted to the connection which companies have with a relative big company, which was present first. Also in this case, the cumulative causation is applicable (Lambooy et al., 1997).

In chapter five, the model of cumulative causation and the different aspects mentioned in figure 2, are applied to the cases and their economic development. Is the mechanism of circular relationships which sustain an upwards process also present during the economic development of the cases? And which elements of the conceptual model are also visible in the economic development of the cases?

(2) Local Employment (basic firms) (1) Production

(4) Total Population (3) Migration processes

Migration Process

(5) Change Production Environment (6) Attraction New Companies (non-basic firms)

(7) New Economic Opportunities

(31)

So is the cumulative causation of Myrdal a mechanism which can assert the economic development in the new towns of this research or are there only a few elements which are present in both?

2.2.4 Conclusion

In this chapter is amongst others the development of new towns and the cumulatvive causation of Myrdal discussed. In this section, sub-question one and two are answered. First the question ‘How

has the process of new town development evolved over time?’ is answered.

2.2.5 New Town Development over Time

New towns are almost as old as the city is, excavations have shown the existence of these new cities far back in time. But the idea of the new towns we know today has its roots in the Western planning. The garden city of the Howard laid the foundations for the developing principles of the British new town program and principles which affected the planning and building of new towns all over the world [ CITATION Per73 \l 1043 ]. So it cannot be denied that new towns do apply some principles of Howard’s garden city, but at some points they also differ.

After World War II de development of new towns in Europe was realized. Decentralization of overcrowded cities and housing shortages were the main reasons for this, it was the beginning of the expansion of the Western blueprint for the development of new towns. Lots of non-Western decolonized countries in Africa and Asia, during the fifties and sixties, profited from the expertise of their former rulers and copied the way new towns were developed and planned. In the sixties and seventies of the 20th_{century, other cities outside Europe took the lead in the planning of new towns,} where they used Western urban planning models as a guideline. Nowadays, detailed master plans for new towns are developed, presented and implemented in fast growing developing countries in Africa,

Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. The

development of new towns started in Western Europe. Nowadays developing countries are using the guidelines of the Western planning for the development of new towns, but it seems that this Western influence will decrease during the coming decades. ‘The writing of technocratic and ideological books

on how to build new cities, has all but disappeared from architectural education and publications in Western architecture and planning schools.’ (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011, p.32) Next to this, the

importance of planning and design seems to increase in for example Asia. As a result of this, we can expect in the future an increase of new concepts in the design and planning related to the development of new towns. This will probably end up in a decrease of originally Western concepts in the planning process of new towns (Provoost & Vanstiphout, 2011)

(32)

2.2.6 Economic Development Explained with Cumulative Causation

In this section sub-question two ‘How does Myrdal explain economic development in his model of

cumulative causation and what are the most important mechanisms (of cumulative causation) distinguished in this model?’ is answered.

The basis of Myrdal’s cumulative causation model is that circular relationships sustain a cumulative upwards process which will end up in economic growth in a city or region. The economic growth will lead to increasing differences between the prosperous region and the peripheral region; the economic growth in the city goes at the expense of the periphery.

In the cumulative causation model, different aspects do influence each other which will end in economic growth of a city or region. The first aspect which Myrdal mentions is (1) production. Growth of the production in a city will let the number of (2) basic firms increase which results in more local employment. As a result of more local employment opportunities, people will be attracted by this region which will end up in (3) labor migration streams towards the prosperous region whereby the (4) total population increases. According to Myrdal, labor migration is often selective by which he means that there is a strong possibility that the new population does have a higher proportion of highly educated. The selective character of labor migration (5) changes the production environment. It is conceivable that the increased population with a higher proportion of highly educated will (6) attract more non-basic firms. Finally, this increased number of non-basic-firms will make (7) new economic opportunities possible. As a result of this, (1) the production in the city or region will increase and the upwards process of economic growth will start again.

The economic development strategies of new towns: A multiple case-study on the used economic development strategies of Almere (Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China)

The Economic Development

Strategies of New Towns

A multiple case-study on the used economic development strategies of Almere

(Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China)

The Economic Development

Strategies of New Towns

A multiple case-study on the used economic development strategies of Almere

(Netherlands), Tema (Ghana) and Songjiang New City (China)

Colophon

Preface

Abstract

Contents

1.

Introduction

2 Strategies of New Towns in Urban Planning and Economic Geography