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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
161

Consumption and advertising in urban China: the construction and pursuit of a middle class way of life.

January 2001 (has links)
by Chu Sheng Hua. / Thesis submitted in: December 2000. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-134). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / "List of Map, Tables and Figures" / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Consumption: The Prism of Contemporary China / Chapter I. --- Introduction: Consumption in China --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Material Conditions under Communist China --- p.3 / Chapter III --- . The Advent into a Consumer Society --- p.4 / Chapter ■ --- Increase in the Level of Affluence / Chapter ■ --- De-regularisation of the Marketing System / Chapter ■ --- Emergence of a Capital Owning Class / Chapter ■ --- Explosion of Consumption Information / Chapter ■ --- Change in Consumption Structures --- p.11 / Chapter IV. --- Guangzhou: Center of Consumption / Chapter ■ --- Location / Chapter ■ --- One Step Ahead --- p.15 / Chapter V. --- Objectives of Study --- p.17 / Chapter VI. --- Organisation of Thesis / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Sociological Theorising of Consumption: Thematic Issues / Chapter I. --- The Acknowledgement of Consumption: From Production to Consumption --- p.19 / Chapter II. --- Consumption as Communication --- p.21 / Chapter III. --- Consumption as Distinction --- p.22 / Chapter ■ --- Veblen: Leisure Class and Conspicuous Consumption / Chapter ■ --- "Bourdieu: Habitus, Taste and Cultural Capital" / Chapter ■ --- Lamont: Symbolic Boundaries / Chapter IV. --- Consumption as Pleasure and Play --- p.27 / Chapter V. --- "Consumption, Advertising and the Symbolic" --- p.28 / Chapter ■ --- Postmodernism and Baudrillard / Chapter ■ --- Consumption and the Symbolic: Theorising Lifestyle / Chapter ■ --- The Polemics / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Research Design / Chapter I. --- Conducting China Studies --- p.32 / Chapter II. --- Data Sources --- p.32 / Chapter ■ --- The Unobtrusive Method / Chapter ■ --- Sources of Data / Chapter III. --- Data Analysis --- p.35 / Chapter ■ --- Content Analysis / Chapter ■ --- Semiotic Analysis / Chapter ■ --- Symbolic Reality and Objective Reality / Chapter IV. --- Data Sampling --- p.39 / Chapter V. --- Analysing Advertisements --- p.42 / Chapter ■ --- Advertising Categories / Chapter ■ --- Advertising Formats / Chapter ■ --- Covert Advertisements / Chapter Chapter 4 --- "Advertising, Consumption and the New Middle Class" / Chapter I. --- The Re-birth of Advertising in China --- p.47 / Chapter ■ --- From Political to Marketing Tool / Chapter ■ --- Advertising Boom / Chapter II. --- A New World of Goods and Dreams --- p.49 / Chapter ■ --- Forms and Contents of Advertisements: From Product-oriented to Consumer-oriented / Chapter ■ --- Ownership of Goods / Chapter III. --- Market Segmentation: Locating the Middle Class and Their Consumption Patterns / Chapter ■ --- Market Segmentation and the New Middle Class / Chapter ■ --- Economic Capital and Consumption Patterns / Chapter ■ --- Cultural Capital and Taste / Chapter ■ --- Advertising and Consumption Categories / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Cultivating Differences I: Constructing the Ideal Home / Chapter I. --- Housing Reform and Rising Demand for Commodity Housing --- p.66 / Chapter II. --- Housing Advertisements --- p.68 / Chapter III. --- Advertising Themes: Alluding to the Middle Class Aspirations --- p.70 / Chapter ■ --- Establishing Class and Status Distinction / Chapter ■ --- Emphasis on Superiority/Luxury / Chapter ■ --- Desire of Naturalism / Chapter ■ --- Sports-oriented and Health-conscious / Chapter ■ --- Foreign Lifestyle / Chapter ■ --- Cultural Taste / Chapter ■ --- Education and Learning / Chapter IV. --- Ownership of Lifestyle --- p.84 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Cultivating Differences II: Consuming Technologies / Chapter I. --- Modernisation and Good Life --- p.87 / Chapter II. --- The Modern Home Electrification --- p.89 / Chapter ■ --- Wither Tidal Wave Consumption? / Chapter ■ --- The Making of a Modern Home / Chapter III. --- Deciphering Information and Communication Technologies --- p.93 / Chapter ■ --- The Latest Gadgets / Chapter ■ --- Fashionable Lifestyle and Aesthetic Qualities / Chapter IV. --- Private Cars: Riding on the Tide of Consumerism --- p.99 / Chapter ■ --- Car Ownership / Chapter ■ --- Who are the Owners? / Chapter ■ --- Status Symbols / Chapter ■ --- Car as Person: Intelligent but Reserved / Chapter ■ --- Desire for Freedom and Touristic Experience / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Conclusion: Beyond Consumption / Chapter I. --- "Consumption, Advertising and Beyond" --- p.106 / Chapter II. --- Social Stratification and the Cultivation of Differences: Towards the Construction and Pursuit of a Middle Class Way of Life --- p.109 / Chapter III. --- New Sensibilities & Outlook --- p.111 / Chapter ■ --- "Stylisation, Aestheticisation and the Cultivation of a Lifestyle" / Chapter ■ --- Cultural Refinement and Sophistication / Chapter ■ --- Cosmopolitanism / Chapter IV. --- The Politics of Consumption --- p.116 / Chapter V. --- Consumption with Chinese Characteristics --- p.119 / Chapter VI. --- Suggestions for Future Studies --- p.122 / Bibliography --- p.126
162

Learning while participating in public planning, and having fun : Testing a method of using focus groups and a vision of a sustainable future neighborhood, that ‘pushes the limits’

Anneborg, Anne-Maja January 2018 (has links)
We are facing the problems of climate change, the unfair share and over use of Earth’s resources. Global North overuses, Sweden has an ecological footprint of four planets. The challenge is to change our lifestyles. This thesis is trying out a method to diffuse ideas of sustainable development (SD) and for citizen participation. I created a future vision of a sustainable neighborhood inspired by Jane Jacobs and the concept of densification. This I presented to three homogenous focus groups: the next-door neighborhood, home owners and people in rentals. Free discussion then followed, and then a questionnaire. The findings where that the participants, fifteen of sixteen, thought the method gave them new ideas, allowed them to share their knowledge, and that it was a good method for participation. I thought that it was a ‘fun’ method. Focus groups research works more the way people normally interact, as did the literature show. I could see the learning process, that Patsy Healey describes, the creation of cultures, and also how the issue of SD was explored. It was time consuming to recruit participants. The tendency was that volunteers liked to talk, had an interest in planning, although not all in favor of SD. Many resembled me, in age and cultural background. The method could be useful to deepen dialog with citizens, especially in an early stage of planning. The vision should be ‘daring’ to spur good discussions, that may land in a compromise on SD. / Vi står inför klimatförändringar, den ojämna fördelningen och överanvändningen av jordens resurser. Nord överanvänder, Sverige har ett ekologiskt fotavtryck på fyra planeter. Utmaningen är att ändra vår livsstil. Denna uppsats prövar en metod för att sprida idéer om hållbar utveckling och för medborgardeltagande. Jag skapade en vision för ett hållbart grannskap inspirerad av Jane Jacobs och begreppet förtätning. Denna presenterade jag för tre homogena fokusgrupper: de i närmsta grannskapet, de som ägde sitt boende och de som hyrde. Sedan följde fri diskussion och sedan en enkät. Resultatet blev att deltagarna, femton av sexton, tyckte att metoden gav dem nya idéer, tillät dem att dela sina kunskaper och att det var en bra metod för deltagande. Jag tyckte att det var en ’rolig’ metod. Forskning med fokusgruppers fungerar mer som man vanligen umgås, vilket även litteraturen visade. Jag kunde se lärandeprocessen, som Patsy Healey beskriver, skapandet av kulturer och också hur begreppet hållbar utveckling undersöktes. Det var tidskrävande att rekrytera deltagare. Tendensen var att de frivilliga gillade att prata, var intresserade av planering, men inte alla positiva till hållbar utveckling. Många påminde om mig, i ålder och kulturell bakgrund. Metoden kan vara användbar till att fördjupa dialogen med medborgare, speciellt i ett tidigt stadie av planering. Visionen ska vara ’vågad’ för att sätta igång bra diskussioner och landa i en kompromiss i hållbar utveckling.
163

SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES - AN EXPERIMENT IN LIVING WELL : Northern European examples of sustainable planning

Bratel, Yael January 2012 (has links)
This study examines the concept of sustainable lifestyles. It is concluded that the concept of sustainable lifestyles is derived from the bigger term sustainable development and that the concept sustainable lifestyles exists as an antipode to unsustainable lifestyles. Sustainable lifestyles are still a new concept within the academic field of urban planning and design and some confusion regarding the definition remains. Three case studies were made investigating urban planning for sustainable lifestyles. The sites were Houthaven in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Royal Seaport in Stockholm Sweden and Western Harbour in Malmö, Sweden. Urban planning for sustainable lifestyles was explicitly carried out in the Royal Seaport, in the other two cases the concept of sustainability was approached more generally but nonetheless the methods used were quite similar in all three cases. How people in the society of today are seen as responsible for e.g. buying ecological food, driving ecological vehicles and living a sustainable lifestyle, are analysed through the approaches of governmentality and biopower. There has been a shift from a centralised governing of sustainability implementations to a decentralised one where the individual responsibility stands in focus. There are different views of what a sustainable behaviour and lifestyle could incorporate. According to the technocentric approach, technical solutions to environmental problems are sufficient, but according to the ecocentric approach, behavioural changes are needed in order to obtain sustainability. This has implications for the planning of sustainable lifestyles. In some cases technical solutions are favoured in front of behavioural ones and the other way around. The two tracks of understanding leads to two different pathways of sustainability and a need to recognize and comprehend the differences are crucial in planning for sustainable lifestyles. Sustainable behaviour and habits relate to actions, which e.g. minimizes the use of natural resources or incorporates the switch from an unsustainable habit to a sustainable one. Sustainable behaviour is often referred to as pro-environmental behaviour and circles around consumption. There are several ways of replacing unsustainable habits with sustainable ones discussed in this study. / <p>email: bratel@kth.se</p>
164

The Colorado Horse Park: promoting sustainability in the equestrian industry

Admire, Caitlin R. January 1900 (has links)
Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Laurence A. Clement / The word “equestrian” is generally not known to be synonymous with sustainability. Although there is a small progressive movement, sustainable design is currently not common practice in the horse industry and desperately needs promoting. Horsemen and women need to be made aware that these techniques exist as well as more information on how to implement them into the facilities that they own and manage. The Colorado Horse Park (CHP), one of the largest equestrian event venues in the nation, has great potential to become an example of successful sustainable design. As host to dozens of events and hundreds of visitors each year, the CHP presents the perfect opportunity to educate the horse community on sustainable practices. Using the Audubon Lifestyles Program and Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) as guides, I will promote the sustainable equestrian movement through the implementation of sustainable elements and an interpretive landscape at the CHP. The goal of this new design will be to educate site users on sustainable practices as well as motivate and inspire them to make changes to their own lifestyles and facilities. Using the theories established through research and precedent studies, a new design for the CHP was developed. There are three principles to this design: using circulation systems to make the facility more functional, implementing sustainable elements into the facility to serve as examples, and providing the visitors with educational opportunities in the form of interpretive exhibits. Function and safety are two major concerns at this type of venue, and are addressed through the re-organization of site elements and the establishment of a circulation system which creates separation between differing traffic types. Sustainable practices are applied in the forms of vegetated drainage ways, protection of riparian areas, xeric plantings, habitat restoration, and a manure composting operation. An interpretive landscape of signage and displays highlights each sustainable element and relates information on how visitors can incorporate sustainable techniques in their own facilities.
165

The intermediate decade : male homosexuality in American popular fiction of the 1930's

Caucutt, Jason Steven 31 January 2004 (has links)
In the short period between 1931 and 1934 a flurry of gay-themed novels was published which were blatantly marketed as novels exploring the "twilight world" of homosexual men. In the subsequent seventy-odd years these titles have received very little attention, being entirely forgotten or sometimes erroneously grouped with postwar gay pulp fiction. Furthermore, almost without exception, the 1930s novels portray a concept of homosexuality which does not quite fit into the postwar view of sexual orientation or gay isolation. Section I explores how titles like A Scarlet Pansy, Strange Brother, and Twilight Men, all show a view of homosexuality that was immersed in gender norms and class differences much more than psychology or the modern concept of sexual orientation. In many cases, masculine or feminine behavior denotes status more than does the actual gender of one's sexual partner. Words like "homosexual" and "heterosexual" had a "highly clinical" sound to most 1930s ears (to quote a character in Better Angel). That is not to say, however, the readership of these novels were unfamiliar with "the love that dare not speak its name". In fact, it seems many novels took for granted their readers' knowledge of urban, working-class "fairy culture" and were seeking either to shock or, conversely, elicit sympathy by depicting non-flamboyant protagonists as well as stock pansies. In contrast to postwar treatments, the novels of the 1930s never depict gay men as existing in confused isolation. Section II explores how the novels oflen treat the gay shadow world as an elite, artistic club-albeit one filled with sinful excesses and potential dangers. Finally, after 1935 the tone of gay-themed novels changed abruptly, as the public's "pansy craze" abated. Older notions of"gender inversion" and ''Nature's intermediates" faded and homosexuality became more associated with psychological affliction with societal implications / History / M.A.
166

Promoting lower-carbon lifestyles : the role of personal values, climate change communications and carbon allowances in processes of change

Howell, Rachel Angharad January 2013 (has links)
Climate change is a pressing problem and substantial reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions that cause it are necessary to avert the worst impacts predicted. The UK has targeted an 80% reduction from 1990 emissions levels by 2050. This thesis investigates how to promote behavioural changes that will reduce emissions associated with individuals’ lifestyles, which comprise a significant proportion of the UK total. The thesis begins by appraising whether and how climate change communications, specifically films, can succeed in changing attitudes and behaviour. The impacts on viewers of the film The Age of Stupid were assessed using a fourstage panel survey. Increased concern, motivation to act, and sense of agency felt immediately after seeing the film did not persist, but respondents reported some behavioural changes. The longer-term follow-up suggests that behavioural intentions do not necessarily translate into action, but also revealed issues concerning the reliability of participants’ causal attributions of their behaviour. These and other challenges of conducting longitudinal studies of behavioural change related to climate change communications are discussed. The thesis then uses a model of behavioural change transposed from health psychology to analyse the processes of change employed or depicted by four climate change films, in order to identify more generally the strengths and limitations of films as means to promote mitigation action, and to demonstrate the potential utility of the model in the field of proenvironmental behaviour change. The issue is then considered from the opposite angle, with an examination of what has motivated individuals who have already adopted lower-carbon lifestyles. Qualitative research reveals that protecting ‘the environment’ per se is not the primary value stimulating most interviewees’ action; typically they were more concerned about the impacts of climate change on people in developing countries. Although analysis of a survey instrument showed that biospheric values are important to the participants, they tended to score altruistic values significantly higher. Thus it may not be necessary to promote biospheric values to encourage lower-carbon lifestyles. The final element of the work involved researching the opinions of members of Carbon Rationing Action Groups, seeking to understand what can be learned from their experiences of living with a carbon allowance, and the implications that the findings may have for potential government policies, especially personal carbon trading. The thesis concludes that, given the scale of action required, the difficulties individuals face when considering whether and how to adopt lower-carbon behaviours, and the limited impact of initiatives such as Carbon Rationing Action Groups and The Age of Stupid beyond a relatively small circle of people who tend to exhibit particular traits (such as a preference for frugality), significant UK emissions reductions will necessitate far-reaching legislation that will impact on everyday practices and behaviour.
167

Adlerian Life Style and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Doss, Carol Rose 05 1900 (has links)
The possibility of a relationship between Adlerian life style, as measured by the Life Style Personality Inventory (LSPI), and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was examined by this research. The goal of this study was to clarify the relationship between these instruments to broaden the applicability of both instruments for both research and clinical endeavors. Life style is a concept which is vital to therapeutic intervention from an Adlerian frame of reference. Assessment of life style typically involves lengthy therapist interviews. Both the LSPI and the MBTI are questionnaires designed to measure personality variables. The 117 subjects for this study were solicited from individuals seeking counseling from an urban community counseling center. The individuals served by this agency are primarily those diagnosed with Adjustment Disorders. The LSPI and the MBTI were administered individually to each subject. Means and standard deviations were computed for the seven LSPI themes and the MBTI total. Due to a lack of research support for Theme 4 by the LSPI author, the data for this theme were disregarded. The same research indicated a strong bipolar relationship for Themes 7 and 8 (Displaying Inadequacy and Social Interest), which prompted the inclusion of Theme 8 in subsequent data analysis. A correlation analysis was developed. Using the correlation matrix, a factor analysis program was run using the SPSS-X statistical package. The principal components analysis extracted three factors which were refined by a factor rotation using the varimax rotation option. To clarify Factor 3, further analysis was performed with the MBTI data divided by continuum and a second factor analysis was run. Four factors emerged from the data with Factors 1 and 2 remaining unchanged. Factor 1 (Emotional Focusing) and Factor 2 (Confrontation) were loaded with the LSPI themes. Factor 3 (Temperament) and Factor 4 (External-Internal) were loaded with the MBTI scores. This study found that no apparent relationship exists between the variables measured by the LSPI and the MBTI. Questions were raised regarding the descriptive versus pathology-assessing nature of the themes on LSPI. Further research is suggested to define the focus of this instrument.
168

Postoje žáků staršího školního věku k pohybové aktivitě jako východisko pro tvorbu programu výchovy ke zdraví na základní škole / Attitudes of pupils older school age to physical activity as the basis for developing a health education on elementary school

Poklopová, Zuzana January 2013 (has links)
Title: The attitudes of pupils older school age to physical activity as basis for developing a health education on elementary school Author: Bc. Zuzana Pexová Department: department of pedagogy Supervisor: PaedDr. Eva Marádová, CSc. Abstract: This thesis deals with the attitudes of older school age students with a focus on physical activity. The aim of this work is based on the results of theoretical analysis and research to develop a specific training program applicable in health education. The theoretical part deals with lifestyle, physical activity, older school age. The practical part is divided into two parts. In the first parts educational program of selected schools is studied in terms of integrating educational area of Humans and health into school health education curriculum, in the other part results of the research are presented and a proposal of specific health support program is created in which health education is integrated into physical education. Keywords: lifestyle, healthy lifestyles, physical activity, sport, health education
169

Speculative futures of sustainable communities : Utilizing the resources of collective living to speculate sustainable futures.

Larsson, Sara January 2019 (has links)
The purpose with this report is to speculate how our neighborhoods could look like in the future, looking at modern collective living due to the housing crisis is Sweden today. This paper will look att different forms of collective housing, to challenge the conventional way of living. Connecting sustainability to the act of sharing space and resources, in creating a collaborative lifestyle. The research methods used in this speculative project looks at three case studies of collective housing to analyse and define different levels of sharing. During the design process one intervention was executed to challenging the norm of ownership, questioning what the act of sharing demands. The goal of this project is to change assumptions of collective living by rethinking space. To create an interlaced community, with hopes of becoming more resilient. The research and its findings worked along- side the report and developed into a zine. The zine was made with key insights from the study, as a tool to communicate the design proposal and can easily be distributed to the Swedish population.
170

Quand les promoteurs immobiliers produisent la ville de demain : étude de deux projets urbains de standing en France et au Mexique / The "city of tomorrow" by real estate developers : two Flagship urban projects in France and Mexico

Peynichou, Lorraine 04 May 2018 (has links)
Les entreprises de promotion immobilière sont devenues depuis plusieurs années des acteurs importants de l’aménagement urbain. Elles s’orientent progressivement vers de nouveaux secteurs et enjeux de la production de la ville. Ainsi seraient-elles passées de leur métier d’origine à celui « d’opérateurs urbains ». Cette évolution se situe au croisement de l’exigence d’une compréhension des évolutions du marché de l’aménagement des villes, liée au retrait ou au changement de mode d’intervention des acteurs publics, et d’une rentabilité financière qui structure l’action de ces entreprises. Cela représente un changement de paradigme, pour certaines entreprises de promotion immobilière, dans leur façon de penser et d’appréhender la production la ville ainsi que dans leur positionnement au sein des organisations qui se structurent pour aménager les villes. Dans le champ de l'aménagement urbain, ce positionnement s’organise souvent au travers de la mobilisation des notions d’innovation et d’expérimentation. Cette mobilisation peut s’élaborer dans le cadre d’organisations spécifiques de l’action collective où les promoteurs immobiliers sont régulièrement présents. C’est le cas, par exemple, des consortiums publics-privés réunissant des acteurs institutionnels, des grands groupes internationaux de promotion immobilière, des startups et des experts, entre autres. Ces organisations qui sont elles-mêmes présentées comme novatrices s’organisent pour produire un ensemble de dispositifs dits innovants, qui vont du think-tank au projet urbain. Nous nous intéressons en particulier au projet urbain, car l’investissement des promoteurs immobiliers y est singulier : il s’articule de plus en plus couramment autour de la fonction de coordinateur du projet lors de ses différentes phases. Nous avons étudié des projets urbains présentés, par les promoteurs immobiliers, comme innovants en France dans la commune d’Issy-les-Moulineaux et au Mexique au sein de la délégation Miguel Hidalgo. Les façons dont l’innovation et l’expérimentation sont mobilisées, au sein de ces contextes, traduit des ambitions et des perspectives tout à fait différentes. À Issy-les-Moulineaux, le discours de la collectivité territoriale et des promoteurs immobiliers de l’écoquartier du Fort s’articule plutôt autour de la référence aux multiples variantes de la ville intelligente et des nouvelles technologies alors qu’à Miguel Hidalgo, il s’agit avec le projet Plaza Carso, d’un renouvellement de la rhétorique sécuritaire autour du concept, déjà bien connu, du « all included ». Ce que nous avons également pu observer, en France comme au Mexique, c’est que ces projets ont le plus souvent vocation à être positionnés sur le segment de marché du haut de gamme afin, entre autres, d’amortir les investissements qu’ils ont engendré. Ainsi, nous les identifions comme des « projets urbains de standing ». Il s’agit d’opérations qui, au travers de leurs ambitions, de leur médiatisation et des moyens financiers mobilisés par les acteurs du projet, se distinguent des autres modalités d’intervention sur le territoire. Nos questions de recherche reposent sur l’idée que les projets urbains de standing sont des analyseurs des transformations à l’œuvre dans la façon de concevoir et de gérer la ville, car ils reposent sur un investissement important des grandes entreprises de promotion immobilière, sur une évolution de leurs relations avec les responsables politiques locaux et, plus généralement, sur l’ambition de capter des comportements émergents et de commercialiser des produits innovants. On assiste à un processus qui relève en même temps d’un phénomène marketing et d’une évolution des enjeux et des normes de la production du projet urbain. Celui-ci, envisagé comme un laboratoire in vivo, participe, en France comme au Mexique, du développement d’un urbanisme dérogatoire dont l’une des finalités et de libérer l’action de certains opérateurs privés de l’aménagement urbain / Real-estate companies became important stake holders within the city planning process. They moved to new stakes and spaces of urban planning. We suggest that one of the reasons of these new challenges is that some big real-estate companies are focused the themes of innovation and experimentation and are more and more characterized by their involvement within the public – private organizations. This search for innovative proposals has led several organisational transformations within the mix of urban project stakeholder groups. The hegemonic tendency of the real-estate companies can be organized around several phases of urban projects: conception, construction, monitoring, management, etc. Its means that some real-estate companies are not only in charge of the construction phase of urban projects – like they use to be – because they also conquered new phases that participate to the elaboration and to the operational process of urban projects. This recent evolution is linked with strategic views, coming from these companies, on the way they think about urban planning and on the notion of quality of life. It represents, for this type of companies, a change of paradigm in the way of conceiving the production of urban space, but it also represents an evolution of the internal organization of public – private partnership. As several members of a French real-estate companies put it during our interviews, this change involves a new title: they evolve from real estate developers to “urban operators”. We saw, in our fieldwork, that it has led to various developments, such as: a change of temporal perspective, from short term commitment they move towards mid or long-term outlooks. Being “urban operators” also means that they have to be very cognisant about new lifestyles, new kinds of behaviours and needs, because it affects their marketing power. Thirdly, companies are sensitive and even greedy about information that concerns how people react to their proposals. This has led to several organizational transformations with, for instance, the emergence of new kinds of “research and development” areas, specific investments funds, contracts with social science researchers, etc. We studied two contexts in particular: flagship urban projects within the urban renovation process in France and in Mexico. With two cases: Plaza Carso in Mexico and the eco neighbourhood du Fort in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris. The ranking of flagships projects is a strong trigger for innovation. Plaza Carso and the Fort are characterized by a very strong involvement of real-estate companies that rebuilt the relationship with the local authorities. In both situations, real-estate companies had benefitted from legal specificities, and even legal liberalization in the Mexican case, to develop the project

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