Building local communities: Place-shaping as nation-building

Steven Walle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
7 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Lyons Inquiry into Local Government has introduced the English local government community to the concept of ‘place-shaping’. Place-shaping refers to the new role for local governments in promoting the well-being of communities and citizens. The processes of place-shaping are remarkably similar to the processes of nation-building. This paper uses Stein Rokkan’s thinking on nation-building in Western Europe to analyse place-shaping. It focuses on the penetration and standardisation processes and underlines the importance of integrating peripheries, defining boundaries, and creating identities. In essence, it is argued that place-shaping is really about the repolitisation of English local authorities.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)23-33
Number of pages11
JournalLex Localis - Journal of Local Self-Government
Volume8
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Research programs

  • ESSB PA
  • EUR ESSB 25

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