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Loose threads: The translocal making of public space policy in H anoi
Author(s) -
Söderström Ola,
Geertman Stephanie
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
singapore journal of tropical geography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1467-9493
pISSN - 0129-7619
DOI - 10.1111/sjtg.12027
Subject(s) - public policy , space (punctuation) , public space , meaning (existential) , politics , perspective (graphical) , sociology , work (physics) , motion (physics) , urban space , political science , economic geography , regional science , geography , epistemology , law , computer science , engineering , architectural engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , artificial intelligence , operating system
This paper analyses the recent developments in public space policy in the city of H anoi, V ietnam. It has three aims. The first is to look at a potentially progressive urban policy in contrast to most work on ‘policies in motion’ that has primarily been concerned with neoliberal policies. The second is to put the process of public space policymaking in H anoi in historical and cultural perspective. We therefore describe public space in H anoi as historically constituted by different layers of meaning and physical urban patterns. The paper's third aim is to analyse the translocal connections involved in a policy that is still in the making, and therefore characterized by a series of ‘loose threads’. We show how different types of connections – policy mobility, topological relations and inter‐referencing – relate H anoi to multiple locales elsewhere. The conclusion reflects on the ‘politics of reception’ showing how analysing a policy in the making develops a critical analysis of policies in motion.