THE POLITICS OF URBAN-GROWTH - BOOSTERISM AND NIMBYISM IN EUROPEAN BOOM REGIONS

In the 1980s the urban development process in many countries saw the emergence of new forms of corporatist relationship between developers, other businesses and local government. Parallel to this was a rise in anti-development protest by local residents' groups. A common strand running through these features is that of 'participation' in the planning process: how are individuals, residents' and community groups, businesses and other organizations involved in urban development? To explain some of these trends, a literature on 'growth coalitions' and 'urban regimes' has emerged. However, much of this research has tended to concentrate on pro-growth politics and most has been carried out in the USA. The paper contributes to this debate by focusing on pro- and anti-development politics in three contrasting European countries: Britain, France and Sweden.