Overview

Urban preservation is a complicated policy issue involving land, resources, and people. Among a variety of domestic and international actors that have impact on the policy process of urban preservation, government plays the most critical role. Despite the fact that almost every nation-state across the globe has recognized the importance of preserving its urban legacy, government performance varies significantly. Why do some governments allow their old buildings to perish whereas others successfully preserve their urban heritage? This dissertation develops a theory of political fragmentation to explain the uneven performance of political authorities in urban preservation. It defines three ideal-type political fragmentations: functional fragmentation, intergovernmental fragmentation, and territorial fragmentation. It argues that political fragmentation sets the structural constraints to facilitate or inhibit the government's processing of preservation initiatives. A preservation initiative is more likely to be processed into a policy output if it is within the boundary of one jurisdiction, and less likely so if it is situated across jurisdictional boundaries. For cross-boundary issues, different types of political fragmentation are associated with predictable patterns of policy processes and settlements, thus creating different patterns of urban preservation. By examining the policy processes of urban preservation in Beijing, Paris, and Chicago, this dissertation reveals the correlation between the type of political fragmentation and the pattern of urban preservation. In Beijing, the functional fragmentation among municipal agencies facilitates the preservation of historic monuments but leaves the protection of urban texture in no-man's-land. As a result, urban preservation has become increasingly symbolic. In Chicago, territorial fragmentation along ward boundaries often blocks preservation initiatives across wards. Without a city-wide preservation plan, preservation areas are like mosaics confined to individual wards. In Paris, intergovernmental fragmentation between the state and the municipality creates a model of contested yet shared control across jurisdictional boundaries. With compromise and collaboration between different political actors, urban preservation gradually changes from a state monopoly to a pattern that engages the powers of diverse levels of government. In a nutshell, this dissertation offers a typology of three governmental structures that can be adapted to show how political decisions for urban preservation are likely to be made in any city.

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9781243571342

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