Friday, October 8 12-2pm
Neil Brenner and David Wachsmuth: Territorial Competitiveness: Lineages, Practices, Ideologies
Since the 1980s, the notion of territorial competitiveness has become one of the foundations of mainstream, “entrepreneurial” approaches to local economic development. This chapter explores the lineages of territorial competitiveness discourses within and beyond the field of urban planning, their intellectual basis, and their implications for public policies oriented towards promoting local economic development. We argue that, despite its contemporary pervasiveness, the concept of territorial competitiveness is premised upon flawed intellectual assumptions, and serves primarily as a means of ideological mystification in the sphere of local policy development.