Emerging Civic Urbanisms in Asia: Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei beyond Developmental Urbanization

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Posted on 1. March 2022 by Blaž Križnik

With Cho Im Sik and Jeffrey Hou (eds.)
Amsterdam University Press | Amsterdam | 2022 | ISBN 9789463728546

Emerging Civic Urbanisms in Asia In parts of Asia, citizens are increasingly involved in shaping their neighbourhoods and cities, representing a significant departure from earlier state-led or market-driven urban development. These emerging civic urbanisms are a result of an evolving relationship between the state and civil society. The contributions in this volume provide critical insights into how the changing state–civil society relationship affects the recent surge of civic urbanism in Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei, and the authors present eighteen cases of grassroots activism and resistance, collaboration and placemaking, neighbourhood community building, and self-organization and commoning in these cities. Exploring how citizen participation and state–civil society partnerships contribute to more resilient and participatory neighbourhoods and cities, the authors use the concept of civic urbanisms not only as a conceptual framework to understand the ongoing social and urban change but as an aspirational model of urban governance for cities in Asia and beyond.

Source: doi.org/10.5117/9789463728546.

Cultivating together: unearthing the transformative potential of community gardening as prefigurative collective action in Ljubljana

Posted on 9. May 2026 by Blaž Križnik

With Laura Mittermaier
Local Environment
Taylor and Francis | Oxfordshire | 2026 | ISSN 1354-9839 | 1469-6711

Community gardening as a form of collective action has the potential to drive transformative social change. Despite this, few studies offer empirical insights into how community gardening affects transformative social change in practice. This study aims to address this gap by examining the Onkraj gradbišča community garden in Ljubljana. Employing fieldwork with participant observation, exploratory and in-depth interviews, and a review of secondary sources as research methods, the study explores how community gardening enables and sustains transformative social change and how institutional support (or lack thereof) impacts community gardening as a transformative community strategy. The findings reveal that Onkraj gradbišča fostered key conditions of transformative social change, including inner transformation, collective leadership, community capacity building, and some scaling strategies. In contrast, scaling up strategies were ineffective and the absence of institutional support limited the impact of community gardening on enabling governance. These findings suggest that the transformative potential of Onkraj gradbišča to contribute to path-shifting urban sustainability transitions was limited. Nevertheless, as a form of prefigurative collective action, Onkraj gradbišča provided a tangible alternative for food production, community capacity building, land use management, and urban planning in the city. The study argues that performing a “vision of a better world” may be the main legacy of Onkraj gradbišča, highlighting the transformative potential of community gardening in Ljubljana.

Source: doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2026.2669757

Changing scope of gentrification in Seoul? Neighborhood transformation and displacement in Sangwangsimni and Changsin-Sungin industrial clusters

Posted on 7. October 2024 by Blaž Križnik

With Kim Kon
The Developing Economies
Institute of Developing Economies | Chiba | 2024 | ISSN 0012-1533 | 1746-1049

Gentrification and displacement used to be an integral part of neighborhood transformation in Seoul, contributing to its economic and urban growth. While direct displacement has recently declined, new forms of displacement are emerging. This study employs a qualitative, case-oriented research approach to understand gentrification in Seoul by comparing neighborhood transformation and displacement in Sangwangsimni and Changsin-Sungin industrial clusters. In Sangwangsimni, the property-led urban redevelopment contributed to the direct displacement of residents. In contrast, Changsin-Sungin residents were able to remain in place because of the state-led urban regeneration. However, the latter resulted in residents’ feelings of powerlessness, emotional distress, and alienation, which increased displacement pressure and contributed to their indirect displacement. The consequences of neighborhood transformation for displacement reveal not only the changing scope of gentrification in Seoul but also the enduring role of the state in facilitating capital accumulation through the class remaking of the city.

Source: doi.org/10.1111/deve.12420.

Emerging Civic Urbanisms in Asia: An Introduction

Posted on 26. August 2022 by Blaž Križnik

With Im Sik Cho and Jeffrey Hou
Emerging Civic Urbanisms in Asia: Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei beyond Developmental Urbanization, pp. 15-40
Im Sik, Cho, Blaž Križnik, Jeffrey Hou (eds.)
Amsterdam University Press | Amsterdam | 2022 | ISBN 9789463728546

Citizens and communities are becoming increasingly involved in shaping neighbourhoods and cities in Asia. These emerging civic urbanisms are a result of an evolving relationship between the state and civil society. The chapter introduces Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei as cases to explore how the changing state–civil society relation affects citizen participation in shaping the living environment and gives rise to the recent surge of civic urbanisms. It provides an overview of historical state–civil society relations and their impact on developmental urbanization across the region. Civic urbanism as an explanatory framework is introduced and contextualized here with a brief overview of each city. Finally, the chapter identifies the major themes of civic urbanism and introduces case studies discussed in this volume.

Source: doi.org/10.5117/9789463728546.

Re-emerging Civic Urbanism: The Evolving State–Civil Society Relations in Community Building in Seoul

Posted on 10. July 2022 by Blaž Križnik

With Su Kim
Emerging Civic Urbanisms in Asia: Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei beyond Developmental Urbanization, pp. 196-94
Im Sik, Cho, Blaž Križnik, Jeffrey Hou (eds.)
Amsterdam University Press | Amsterdam | 2022 | ISBN 9789463728546

State and markets drove urban development in South Korea for decades, giving little voice to citizens. Recently, citizens have become increasingly engaged in shaping their living environment. While the enabling role of the state in expanding citizen participation is well acknowledged, the importance of community movements has been overlooked. The chapter explores community movements in Seoul and their relations with the state to better understand their contribution to the recent surge of civic urbanism in the city. Comparison of neighbourhood community building in Seoul shows that civic urbanism, while marginalized in the past, has re-emerged as an integral part of urban governance. The chapter also suggests that the growing institutionalization of civic urbanism can weaken its transformative potential to build inclusive and resilient neighbourhoods and cities.

Source: doi.org/10.5117/9789463728546.

Author’s copy is also available for download.

Beyond Construction Site, beyond informality?

Posted on 7. July 2022 by Blaž Križnik

With Aidan Cerar
Beyond small gardens: Beyond Construction Site community garden, pp. 72-79
Urška Jurman, Polonca Lovšin (eds.)
KUD Obrat | Ljubljana | 2021 | ISBN 978-961-95545-0-0

Beyond Construction Site community garden has been active for more that a decade. Located in Ljubljana city centre, it is well known to the public. As a successful case of urban gardening, food supply, community building and temporary land-use management, it has attracted considerable media coverage and experts’ attention. Less attention, however, has been placed on its importance for citizen participation in the city. The article discusses Beyond Construction Site community graden as a case of community building and citizen participation that can help building partnerships between residents, neighbourhood communities, civil society organisations and city government, and in consequence contribute to democratic neighbourhood management and sustainable urban development in Ljubljana. The article argues that the City of Ljubljana has so far failed to take this opportunity and expand citizen participation beyond Beyond Construction Site to urban gardening and community practices in the city.

More about the book on the Beyond Construction Site webpage.

Between the state and citizens: Changing governance of intermediary organisations for inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration in Seoul

Posted on 1. April 2021 by Blaž Križnik

With Kim Kon and Krystallia Kamvasinou
Land Use Policy, 105
Elsevier | Amsterdam | 2021 | ISSN 0264-8377

Cities across East Asia once experienced rapid economic growth and urban development under a strong interventionist state. The recent economic slowdown and political changes have pressured them to find alternatives to the previous state-led or market-driven urban development. New forms of participatory governance have been devised to mobilise citizen participation in decision-making. Citizen participation, however, is not simply about direct interactions between the state and citizens. It is also guided and facilitated by intermediary organisations that are state- or self-funded bodies working between the state and citizens. Seoul in South Korea is a case in point. Over the past decade, Seoul Metropolitan Government has institutionalised intermediary organisations to expand citizen participation in diverse areas of urban life. In urban development, a more inclusive approach has been put forward through new partnerships between government, intermediary organisations, and citizens. In this article, a case study of such partnership is critically examined.

Urban regeneration in the Changsin-Sungin Area shows two meaningful changes in the governance of the intermediary organisation. The first change occurred when the intermediary organisation recruited residents as staff members and helped them to create a new local cooperative. The second change happened when the local cooperative took over the role of the intermediary organisation. Analysis of these changes revealed that intermediaries have a contradictory role in urban regeneration. On the one hand, the intermediary intervention has expanded citizen participation and improved consistently the engagement of the community of practice. On the other hand, intermediary intervention has served to instrumentalise citizen participation and constrain the growth of an autonomous community of practice while helping the state to retain control over urban regeneration. In this sense, the intermediary-led participation contains seeds of yet-to-be realised potential, albeit with the current flaws, for more inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration, which this study recognises as an integral part of emerging post-developmental urbanisation in South Korea.

Source: doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105433.

Social mobilisation in localities and urban change in South Korea: The evolution of the Geumho-Haengdang-Hawangsimni community movement in Seoul

Posted on 8. January 2021 by Blaž Križnik

Asian Studies, 9(1), pp. 317-343
Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana | Ljubljana | 2021 | ISSN 2232-5131

South Korea experienced rapid economic and urban growth in the past that was driven by an interventionist state and speculative markets, and citizens were largely excluded from decision making. Urban change also used to be characterized by the large-scale demolition of poor neighbourhoods and forced evictions of the residents. As a result, different forms of social mobilization emerged in localities, aiming to protect the interests of the residents and local communities, and claim their collective right to the city. The article examines the evolution of the Geumho-Haengdang-Hawangsimni community movement in Seoul as a case of social mobilization in localities. The qualitative case study is based on a longitudinal analysis of causes for its emergence, aims, organization and practice of the community movement to better understand its importance for urban change in South Korea. The results of the study show that the community movement strengthened community building and contributed to urban change at different levels. They also reveal the contradictory relation between the state and community movements, which must maintain their financial, organizational and political autonomy while collaborating with the state to achieve their aims. In doing so, the Geumho-Haengdang-Hawangsimni community movement has successfully maintained its autonomy, for which it can be considered a good example of autonomous and sustainable community building in cities.

Source: doi.org/10.4312/as.2021.9.1.317-343.