Ismael Blanco
Biographic Data
| ID | 1438155 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ismael Blanco |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ismael |
| FAMILY NAME | Blanco |
| SIGNATURE | BLANCO I |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2191-5712 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 338 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Shared challenges, divergent practices. The impact of institutional frameworks on area-based initiatives in Barcelona and Paris
In recent decades, the persisting inequalities in European cities have spurred the implementation of area-based initiatives (ABI) in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This paper investigates how the interplay between diverse institutional frameworks and housing ownership regimes influences the design and execution of ABI policies in France and Spain. Focusing on the specific cases of Pla de Barris in Barcelona and Contrat de Ville in Paris, …
Acción colectiva frente a la vulnerabilidad urbana. Análisis y propuestas a partir de la experiencia del área metropolitana de Barcelona
La sucesión de crisis como la Gran Recesión, la pandemia de la Covid-19, la crisis energética y el cambio climático da lugar a un escenario de incertidumbre y transformación acelerada. Estas crisis profundizan las desigualdades socioespaciales, especialmente en entornos urbanos vulnerables, donde la segregación y la precariedad social se intensifican. Frente a ello, la acción colectiva de la ciudadanía juega un papel clave, tanto en la denuncia y…
El apoyo mutuo en tiempos de crisis
La pandemia Covid-19 ha puesto en evidencia las vulnerabilidades sociales, económicas y ambientales de nuestras sociedades. Al mismo tiempo han evidenciado la importancia de los sistemas públicos de bienestar y la capacidad de organización de la ciudadanía. Así, la crisis sanitaria y social ha comportado la eclosión de una miríada de iniciativas solidarias en todo el mundo, que han resultado esenciales para hacer frente a la expansión y a los efe…
Understanding institutional dynamics in participatory governance
Participatory governance is institutionalised to the extent that it shapes the behaviour of decision-makers and citizens. Participation policies that do not change established behaviour have limited, if any, impact. But what are the mechanisms whereby participatory governance becomes institutionalised? Using a case study of Barcelona, the paper analyses the relationship between formal rules, informal practices and narratives. Drawing on 90 interv…
Urban governance and political change under a radical left government
Local elections in May 2015 represented a major shift in the political history of Barcelona (Spain). The Barcelona en Comú candidacy, born in January 2015 under the impetus of a set of progressive social and political organizations, became the first municipal political force in the city. This article analyzes the cycle of creation, electoral victory, and government action of Barcelona en Comú during the current legislature (2015–2019). In so doin…
La innovación social, ¿prácticas para producir autonomía, empoderamiento y nueva institucionalidad
A partir del análisis del caso de Cataluña, este artículo contribuye al debate en torno a la innovación social, ofreciendo una visión general sobre el desarrollo de las prácticas socialmente innovadoras y preguntándose por su potencial transformador en tres dimensiones: 1) la creación de espacios de autonomía social; 2) el empoderamiento ciudadano (particularmente de colectivos y en territorios de especial vulnerabilidad social), y 3) el desarrol…
Facing the Great Recession in Deprived Urban Areas
Research suggests that some communities are more resilient than others in the face of the same external stress. Both the local effects of and local responses to the 2008 financial collapse and economic recession have been geographically variegated. Drawing upon two case studies in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (Spain), this paper aims to understand why some historically deprived neighborhoods are proving more resilient than others in facin…
El nuevo municipalismo
El artículo ofrece en primer lugar una perspectiva general sobre la era urbana, entendida como un nuevo tiempo global donde las ciudades juegan un papel central, en tanto que espacios que producen y reflejan las grandes dinámicas vertebradoras de las primeras décadas del siglo XXI. Ello permite situar un segundo elemento de discusión: lo común y la proximidad como posibles respuestas donde generar proyectos colectivos de protección y reconocimien…
Social innovation, reciprocity and contentious politics
Taking one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Barcelona as a paradigmatic case, the aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which contestation organised by sublocal grassroots movements in the context of the current urban crisis operates, both in terms of content and form of protest. Our thesis is that resident mobilisation in the neighbourhood of Ciutat Meridiana is expressive of a new cycle of (urban) social mobilisations in Spanish cities. I…
Austerity urbanism
This paper explores neoliberalisation and its counter-currents through a six-case study of austerity urbanism in Spain and the UK. Applying Urban Regime Theory it highlights the role of urban politics in driving, variegating and containing neoliberalism since the 2008 crash. Variegated austerity regimes contribute to strengthening neoliberalism, but with limits. Welfarism survives austerity in felicitous circumstances. And, where contentious poli…
Between democratic network governance and neoliberalism
Yes, You Can
Situating the local in the neoliberalisation and transformation of urban governance
The local state, and more broadly the logic of the local, remains divorced from accounts of urban governance. Addressing this omission, this article examines how a focus on the local opens up new avenues of enquiry in urban governance. It first discusses the interactions of the ‘urban’ and the ‘local’, analysing the significance of both to an understanding of neoliberalism in action. It then evaluates the opportunities and challenges that emerge …
Geographies of governance
Neoliberal accounts of local governance have paid insufficient attention to variation in the forms of urban governance and urban policies across local regimes. On the basis of a comparison of eight deprived neighbourhoods in Catalonia (Spain) where the same regional programme of urban regeneration has been carried out, this paper explores the significance of place when it comes to understanding the adoption of different models of urban governance…
From networks to hegemony… and back to networks
Políticas urbanas en España
This paper examines the main transformations of urban policies in Spain and the challenges they have to face in a context of crisis and structural shift like the current one. Prior to this analysis, it presents and discusses briefly the notion of urban policies ―relatively unknown in our country. Later on, the expansion of urban policy agendas in Spain is observed, as well as the shifts of governance modes in the frame of an institutional context…
Urban governance and regeneration policies in historic city centres
In this article we seek to analyse and compare the models of regeneration of the city centres of Barcelona and Madrid in the light of the transformation of urban governance in Spain. New ways of network governance are emerging in European cities and Madrid and Barcelona are no exception. Urban policies are evolving towards the creation of more integrated strategies for regeneration that involve not only multiple public stakeholders, but also priv…
Policy Networks and Governance Networks
Networks are central to both the practice and understanding of contemporary governance. But there is a tendency to conflate and confuse different concepts. Concepts of ‘policy network’ (PN) and ‘governance network’ (GN) are often used interchangeably, with an assumption that the latter has evolved from the former. Such indiscriminate borrowing fails to recognise the different antecedents, and distinctive analytical offer, of specific network theo…
Does a ‘Barcelona Model’ Really Exist? Periods, Territories and Actors in the Process of Urban Transformation
The so-called 'Barcelona Model' of urban regeneration is known world-wide as a 'success story'. Amongst the most frequently mentioned features of this 'model' are: the use of major events – such as the Olympic Games – as catalysts for great urban regeneration; the adoption of a relational mode of urban governance based on the collaboration between different tiers of government, public and private bodies; the political and administrative decentral…
Social exclusion, area effects and metropolitan governance
As a first step towards the exploration of the particularities urban social exclusion in Spain, the research presented here evaluates the significance of the urban territorial factor at neighbourhood level in order to develop relevant conclusions for the design of urban policies. After comparing the structure and dynamics of socio-spatial inequalities in five large Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville and Murcia), we analyse how dif…
Procedural legitimacy and political trust
During the past few years, new mechanisms of citizen participation in decision making have been introduced into local governance frameworks in many countries around the world. One of the basic objectives of these mechanisms is to bridge the gap between citizens and politicians or, in other words, to build political trust. In Spain, citizen juries are one of the main manifestations of this trend towards local democratic innovation. Their contribut…
Les jurys citoyens en Espagne
Urban governance and political change under a radical left government
Local elections in May 2015 represented a major shift in the political history of Barcelona (Spain). The Barcelona en Comú candidacy, born in January 2015 under the impetus of a set of progressive social and political organizations, became the first municipal political force in the city. This article analyzes the cycle of creation, electoral victory, and government action of Barcelona en Comú during the current legislature (2015–2019). In so doin…
Austerity urbanism
This paper explores neoliberalisation and its counter-currents through a six-case study of austerity urbanism in Spain and the UK. Applying Urban Regime Theory it highlights the role of urban politics in driving, variegating and containing neoliberalism since the 2008 crash. Variegated austerity regimes contribute to strengthening neoliberalism, but with limits. Welfarism survives austerity in felicitous circumstances. And, where contentious poli…
Policy Networks and Governance Networks
Networks are central to both the practice and understanding of contemporary governance. But there is a tendency to conflate and confuse different concepts. Concepts of ‘policy network’ (PN) and ‘governance network’ (GN) are often used interchangeably, with an assumption that the latter has evolved from the former. Such indiscriminate borrowing fails to recognise the different antecedents, and distinctive analytical offer, of specific network theo…
Procedural legitimacy and political trust
During the past few years, new mechanisms of citizen participation in decision making have been introduced into local governance frameworks in many countries around the world. One of the basic objectives of these mechanisms is to bridge the gap between citizens and politicians or, in other words, to build political trust. In Spain, citizen juries are one of the main manifestations of this trend towards local democratic innovation. Their contribut…
Situating the local in the neoliberalisation and transformation of urban governance
The local state, and more broadly the logic of the local, remains divorced from accounts of urban governance. Addressing this omission, this article examines how a focus on the local opens up new avenues of enquiry in urban governance. It first discusses the interactions of the ‘urban’ and the ‘local’, analysing the significance of both to an understanding of neoliberalism in action. It then evaluates the opportunities and challenges that emerge …
Does a ‘Barcelona Model’ Really Exist? Periods, Territories and Actors in the Process of Urban Transformation
The so-called 'Barcelona Model' of urban regeneration is known world-wide as a 'success story'. Amongst the most frequently mentioned features of this 'model' are: the use of major events – such as the Olympic Games – as catalysts for great urban regeneration; the adoption of a relational mode of urban governance based on the collaboration between different tiers of government, public and private bodies; the political and administrative decentral…
El nuevo municipalismo
El artículo ofrece en primer lugar una perspectiva general sobre la era urbana, entendida como un nuevo tiempo global donde las ciudades juegan un papel central, en tanto que espacios que producen y reflejan las grandes dinámicas vertebradoras de las primeras décadas del siglo XXI. Ello permite situar un segundo elemento de discusión: lo común y la proximidad como posibles respuestas donde generar proyectos colectivos de protección y reconocimien…
Between democratic network governance and neoliberalism
Social innovation, reciprocity and contentious politics
Taking one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Barcelona as a paradigmatic case, the aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which contestation organised by sublocal grassroots movements in the context of the current urban crisis operates, both in terms of content and form of protest. Our thesis is that resident mobilisation in the neighbourhood of Ciutat Meridiana is expressive of a new cycle of (urban) social mobilisations in Spanish cities. I…
Geographies of governance
Neoliberal accounts of local governance have paid insufficient attention to variation in the forms of urban governance and urban policies across local regimes. On the basis of a comparison of eight deprived neighbourhoods in Catalonia (Spain) where the same regional programme of urban regeneration has been carried out, this paper explores the significance of place when it comes to understanding the adoption of different models of urban governance…
Understanding institutional dynamics in participatory governance
Participatory governance is institutionalised to the extent that it shapes the behaviour of decision-makers and citizens. Participation policies that do not change established behaviour have limited, if any, impact. But what are the mechanisms whereby participatory governance becomes institutionalised? Using a case study of Barcelona, the paper analyses the relationship between formal rules, informal practices and narratives. Drawing on 90 interv…
La innovación social, ¿prácticas para producir autonomía, empoderamiento y nueva institucionalidad
A partir del análisis del caso de Cataluña, este artículo contribuye al debate en torno a la innovación social, ofreciendo una visión general sobre el desarrollo de las prácticas socialmente innovadoras y preguntándose por su potencial transformador en tres dimensiones: 1) la creación de espacios de autonomía social; 2) el empoderamiento ciudadano (particularmente de colectivos y en territorios de especial vulnerabilidad social), y 3) el desarrol…
Facing the Great Recession in Deprived Urban Areas
Research suggests that some communities are more resilient than others in the face of the same external stress. Both the local effects of and local responses to the 2008 financial collapse and economic recession have been geographically variegated. Drawing upon two case studies in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (Spain), this paper aims to understand why some historically deprived neighborhoods are proving more resilient than others in facin…
Políticas urbanas en España
This paper examines the main transformations of urban policies in Spain and the challenges they have to face in a context of crisis and structural shift like the current one. Prior to this analysis, it presents and discusses briefly the notion of urban policies ―relatively unknown in our country. Later on, the expansion of urban policy agendas in Spain is observed, as well as the shifts of governance modes in the frame of an institutional context…
Les jurys citoyens en Espagne
Procedural legitimacy and political trust
During the past few years, new mechanisms of citizen participation in decision making have been introduced into local governance frameworks in many countries around the world. One of the basic objectives of these mechanisms is to bridge the gap between citizens and politicians or, in other words, to build political trust. In Spain, citizen juries are one of the main manifestations of this trend towards local democratic innovation. Their contribut…
Social exclusion, area effects and metropolitan governance
As a first step towards the exploration of the particularities urban social exclusion in Spain, the research presented here evaluates the significance of the urban territorial factor at neighbourhood level in order to develop relevant conclusions for the design of urban policies. After comparing the structure and dynamics of socio-spatial inequalities in five large Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville and Murcia), we analyse how dif…
Does a ‘Barcelona Model’ Really Exist? Periods, Territories and Actors in the Process of Urban Transformation
The so-called 'Barcelona Model' of urban regeneration is known world-wide as a 'success story'. Amongst the most frequently mentioned features of this 'model' are: the use of major events – such as the Olympic Games – as catalysts for great urban regeneration; the adoption of a relational mode of urban governance based on the collaboration between different tiers of government, public and private bodies; the political and administrative decentral…
Urban governance and regeneration policies in historic city centres
In this article we seek to analyse and compare the models of regeneration of the city centres of Barcelona and Madrid in the light of the transformation of urban governance in Spain. New ways of network governance are emerging in European cities and Madrid and Barcelona are no exception. Urban policies are evolving towards the creation of more integrated strategies for regeneration that involve not only multiple public stakeholders, but also priv…
Policy Networks and Governance Networks
Networks are central to both the practice and understanding of contemporary governance. But there is a tendency to conflate and confuse different concepts. Concepts of ‘policy network’ (PN) and ‘governance network’ (GN) are often used interchangeably, with an assumption that the latter has evolved from the former. Such indiscriminate borrowing fails to recognise the different antecedents, and distinctive analytical offer, of specific network theo…
From networks to hegemony… and back to networks
Políticas urbanas en España
This paper examines the main transformations of urban policies in Spain and the challenges they have to face in a context of crisis and structural shift like the current one. Prior to this analysis, it presents and discusses briefly the notion of urban policies ―relatively unknown in our country. Later on, the expansion of urban policy agendas in Spain is observed, as well as the shifts of governance modes in the frame of an institutional context…
Situating the local in the neoliberalisation and transformation of urban governance
The local state, and more broadly the logic of the local, remains divorced from accounts of urban governance. Addressing this omission, this article examines how a focus on the local opens up new avenues of enquiry in urban governance. It first discusses the interactions of the ‘urban’ and the ‘local’, analysing the significance of both to an understanding of neoliberalism in action. It then evaluates the opportunities and challenges that emerge …
Geographies of governance
Neoliberal accounts of local governance have paid insufficient attention to variation in the forms of urban governance and urban policies across local regimes. On the basis of a comparison of eight deprived neighbourhoods in Catalonia (Spain) where the same regional programme of urban regeneration has been carried out, this paper explores the significance of place when it comes to understanding the adoption of different models of urban governance…
Between democratic network governance and neoliberalism
Yes, You Can
Social innovation, reciprocity and contentious politics
Taking one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Barcelona as a paradigmatic case, the aim of this paper is to explore the ways in which contestation organised by sublocal grassroots movements in the context of the current urban crisis operates, both in terms of content and form of protest. Our thesis is that resident mobilisation in the neighbourhood of Ciutat Meridiana is expressive of a new cycle of (urban) social mobilisations in Spanish cities. I…
Austerity urbanism
This paper explores neoliberalisation and its counter-currents through a six-case study of austerity urbanism in Spain and the UK. Applying Urban Regime Theory it highlights the role of urban politics in driving, variegating and containing neoliberalism since the 2008 crash. Variegated austerity regimes contribute to strengthening neoliberalism, but with limits. Welfarism survives austerity in felicitous circumstances. And, where contentious poli…
Facing the Great Recession in Deprived Urban Areas
Research suggests that some communities are more resilient than others in the face of the same external stress. Both the local effects of and local responses to the 2008 financial collapse and economic recession have been geographically variegated. Drawing upon two case studies in the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona (Spain), this paper aims to understand why some historically deprived neighborhoods are proving more resilient than others in facin…
El nuevo municipalismo
El artículo ofrece en primer lugar una perspectiva general sobre la era urbana, entendida como un nuevo tiempo global donde las ciudades juegan un papel central, en tanto que espacios que producen y reflejan las grandes dinámicas vertebradoras de las primeras décadas del siglo XXI. Ello permite situar un segundo elemento de discusión: lo común y la proximidad como posibles respuestas donde generar proyectos colectivos de protección y reconocimien…
Urban governance and political change under a radical left government
Local elections in May 2015 represented a major shift in the political history of Barcelona (Spain). The Barcelona en Comú candidacy, born in January 2015 under the impetus of a set of progressive social and political organizations, became the first municipal political force in the city. This article analyzes the cycle of creation, electoral victory, and government action of Barcelona en Comú during the current legislature (2015–2019). In so doin…
La innovación social, ¿prácticas para producir autonomía, empoderamiento y nueva institucionalidad
A partir del análisis del caso de Cataluña, este artículo contribuye al debate en torno a la innovación social, ofreciendo una visión general sobre el desarrollo de las prácticas socialmente innovadoras y preguntándose por su potencial transformador en tres dimensiones: 1) la creación de espacios de autonomía social; 2) el empoderamiento ciudadano (particularmente de colectivos y en territorios de especial vulnerabilidad social), y 3) el desarrol…
Understanding institutional dynamics in participatory governance
Participatory governance is institutionalised to the extent that it shapes the behaviour of decision-makers and citizens. Participation policies that do not change established behaviour have limited, if any, impact. But what are the mechanisms whereby participatory governance becomes institutionalised? Using a case study of Barcelona, the paper analyses the relationship between formal rules, informal practices and narratives. Drawing on 90 interv…
El apoyo mutuo en tiempos de crisis
La pandemia Covid-19 ha puesto en evidencia las vulnerabilidades sociales, económicas y ambientales de nuestras sociedades. Al mismo tiempo han evidenciado la importancia de los sistemas públicos de bienestar y la capacidad de organización de la ciudadanía. Así, la crisis sanitaria y social ha comportado la eclosión de una miríada de iniciativas solidarias en todo el mundo, que han resultado esenciales para hacer frente a la expansión y a los efe…
Shared challenges, divergent practices. The impact of institutional frameworks on area-based initiatives in Barcelona and Paris
In recent decades, the persisting inequalities in European cities have spurred the implementation of area-based initiatives (ABI) in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This paper investigates how the interplay between diverse institutional frameworks and housing ownership regimes influences the design and execution of ABI policies in France and Spain. Focusing on the specific cases of Pla de Barris in Barcelona and Contrat de Ville in Paris, …
Acción colectiva frente a la vulnerabilidad urbana. Análisis y propuestas a partir de la experiencia del área metropolitana de Barcelona
La sucesión de crisis como la Gran Recesión, la pandemia de la Covid-19, la crisis energética y el cambio climático da lugar a un escenario de incertidumbre y transformación acelerada. Estas crisis profundizan las desigualdades socioespaciales, especialmente en entornos urbanos vulnerables, donde la segregación y la precariedad social se intensifican. Frente a ello, la acción colectiva de la ciudadanía juega un papel clave, tanto en la denuncia y…
Political science (20 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Corporate governance (11 works) · Economics (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Public Administration (10 works) · Urban Planning and Governance (10 works) · Geography (9 works) · Law (8 works)