AESOP BEST PUBLISHED PAPER AWARD 2015
goes to
Mee Kam Ng
for the paper
Intellectuals and the Production of Space in the Urban Renewal Process in Hong Kong and Taipei
published in
Planning Theory & Practice, 2014, 15(1) 77-92
The link to the paper is kindly provided by the journal.
The AESOP Community warmly congratulates the author.
The final short list stands as follows:
Mee Kam Ng: Intellectuals and the Production of Space in the Urban Renewal Process in Hong Kong and Taipei; in Planning Theory & Practice, 2014, 15(1) 77-92.
Willem Salet: The Authenticity of Spatial Planning Knowledge; in: European Planning Studies, 2014, Vol. 22 (2), 293-305.
Libby Porter: Possessory politics and the conceit of procedure: Exposing the cost of rights under conditions of dispossession; in: Planning Theory, 2014, Vol. 13(4) 387–406.
Charlotte Lemanski: Hybrid gentrification in South Africa: Theorising across southern and northern cities; in: Urban Studies, 2014, Vol. 51(14) 2943–2960.
Max Nathan and Emma Vandore: Here be startups: exploring London’s ‘Tech City’ digital cluster; in: Environment and Planning A, 2014, Vol. 46, 2283 – 2299.
The Award Committee Statement
The paper by Mee Kam Ng discusses two different urban planning systems in a comparative way. It is regarded innovative by the committee in exposing the possible roles and limitations of critical experts and inside activists (referred to as ‘smugglers’) in challenging existing institutional settings in Asian cities. With the example of two urban renewal case studies the paper sheds light on the ways planning decisions may be altered by different actors in order to preserve existing communities. The stories presented in the paper by Mee Kam Ng are both embedded in a setting where redevelopment ‘land grab-style’ stands against the conservation of functioning local communities. The papers’ focus lies on the specific situation of Asian cities, and it is vividly displaying the various interests at stake in Hong Kong and Taipei. However, the committee acknowledges that the roles of experts inside and outside administrative structures mastering planning decisions and implementations as discussed in Mee Kam Ng’s paper can be traced in planning all over the globe, adding food for thought to the planning discourse.
The paper ranked second highest (by Willem Salet) was a close runner up in the committee discussions. The committee thus decided that paper should specifically be mentioned in the committee statement for discussing a topic of value for the planning profession.
