The Politics of Citizen Opposition to Urban Development

Introduction

A central conflict in urban politics lies between those who want cities to change, physically, by embracing ambitious urban development projects, and urban conservationists who oppose such changes. The outcome of this struggle has important implications for some of the most contentious issues and concerning developments in contemporary politics.

Role of Local Public Opinion

Since urban planning is often under local democratic control, local public opinion plays a central role in determining whether cities embrace or reject urban development. However, while we know much about what makes particular urban development projects more or less popular, we do not have a theory that can explain why opposition to urban development varies across individuals or cities.

Research Agenda

This project advances a new research agenda to study public opinion on urban development. The project breaks new ground by developing a novel theoretical model which argues that when housing prices in an area increase, so does opposition to urban development among its residents.

Methodological Innovation

The project is also pioneering methodologically, combining quasi-experimental and survey-experimental research designs with cross-city surveys that explore and explain public opinion on urban development.

Empirical Contributions

As key empirical contributions, the project:

1. Develops a new survey instrument that quantifies opposition to urban development.
2. Implements this instrument in a survey of citizens in 200 cities across Western Europe and the US.
3. Connects these survey responses to a series of innovative causally credible research designs that provide evidence on how the housing market shapes citizen opposition to urban development across cities, residences, and individuals.

Conclusion

The project will significantly improve our understanding of a salient conflict in urban politics that shapes the future of cities. Timely and innovative, the project will help us understand how and why current political conflicts over urban development will be settled differently in different cities.