El equipo de desarrollo

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The model M1 of a conventional process for the development of a new area reveals three possible root causes for the practical problem examined in this thesis. The first root cause is related to deficiencies in the steering effect of the vision and goals, the second points to discontinuities in the transfer of knowledge across stages in the process, and the third is linked to the lack of attention given to the use and maintenance of the new area.

At this point, I raise the following main research question for my thesis: What are the critical characteristics of an innovative process of networked development for a new urban area, able to override the above-mentioned deficiencies identified in the conventional urban development process?

To my knowledge, this question still remains largely unstudied and unanswered. I argue that a clear research gap related to the existing knowledge in the field of urban development and the question presented above thus exists.

The nature of these questions suggests that theories generally applied in urban planning studies may not be the most appropriate in the search for answers.

Therefore, I am curious to find out whether certain new approaches could offer theoretical tools suitable to solve the problems highlighted above. The questions posed above clearly indicate my interest in how the process under

investigation and the corresponding network could be better managed through all the stages until implementation. Furthermore, questions were raised in respect of innovations in the process and their implementation. Finally, the inclusion of the use and maintenance of the area into the process point to the need for service thinking in urban development.

In the selection of theories deemed relevant for this study, guided by the keywords introduced above, it became clear that the management sciences were likely to be a viable choice. The long tradition of the management sciences ensures that there is a wide spectrum of scientifically interesting theories available. While remaining fully aware of the essential differences between urban development processes and business processes many similarities can nevertheless be found in these outwardly rather disparate activities. In both processes, for instance, visions and goals are set, new ideas are generated, the network of stakeholders has to be committed to common targets, plans have to be turned into actions and customers and end users, ultimately, must be satisfied. Irrespective of these similarities, the potential applications of new theories to urban development have to be examined with careful consideration.

The selection of the theoretical approaches used in the context of this study is justified below.

Why use the process approach? Process management deals with needs, goals and timing - all relevant aspects for this study. The sequentially divided planning process may create uncertainty in goal setting and difficulty in identifying user needs in the different phases of the process. In the planning phase, the emphasis is on satisfying the needs of tomorrow's unknown customers, whereas in the implementation phase, the first customers are already present in the new urban area, and they perceive but also affect the quality of the built environment. Could this be better managed through process management? Could process management provide a solution to the often-repeated question of how to shorten substantially the total duration of the process, and produce the desired value to the end customer? Related to this, it is useful to consider that planning and implementation are both basically aimed at satisfying the needs of end users. This gives reason to presume that the interests of these two processes, often seen as opposed, could be combined by adapting a joint process view with new ways of working and new roles in a renewed network.

Why the network approach? Urban planning has long lasting effects on the quality of life and the environment in the community. It consists of many professional, social and political processes spanning the decades, and involves in its many phases wide networks of public and private actors in the planning, decision making and in concrete actions to develop the urban area. Urban planning can thus be conceptualised as a complex, networked innovation process that is transformed structurally over time. How could this network be steered in the direction indicated by the vision and goals, and by whom? Could network management thinking generate new understanding in respect of this issue?

Why the innovation approach? Companies have already learned that change requires continuous innovation in both products and processes. This is achieved by the dynamic alignment of two contradictory objectives: operational effectiveness through existing configurations that satisfy today's customers' needs and simultaneous strategic flexibility to develop new configurations for tomorrow's customers (Smeds & Boer 2004). New product development and urban development share both the same interest in knowledge creation and in gathering and managing knowledge. In the search for ways to enhance innovation in urban development, the assumption made in the context of this thesis is that innovation management could be used to propose new and useful viewpoints concerning both product and process innovations.

In the course of this study it became evident that the focus of recent innovation studies has shifted from product to service innovation. In accordance with this, a fourth approach was added to the theoretical framework. Thus, the potential for service development theories to contribute to the analysis of urban development will also be studied.

To sum up: The analysis of urban development as a network of political, social, professional and architectural processes at different levels of action, striving towards the realisation of an innovative urban area, providing a high quality of life and value for the end-users, requires a novel theoretical background. In this study, urban planning is therefore examined through the lens of process and network management. In addition, the theories of innovation management and service development are applied to gain new understanding of the successful renewal of processes and practices.

However, while applying these theories, the research has to be sensitive to the context of urban development. Typically the new ideas in business management spill over into the public realm, albeit with a certain time delay, irrespective of the differences in their values and logics of action (e.g. recent development in the healthcare sector). Related to this transfer, the concern in this study is to evaluate the contribution of the above-mentioned theories to the development of urban areas.

The four theoretical approaches identified above will be presented in Chapter 4 through a literature review.

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As justified at the end of Chapter 3, urban development will be examined through the lens of four theoretical approaches. In this Chapter, a focused literature review of these approaches is presented, guided by a research question (RQ1-RQ4) concerning the applicability of each approach to the research problem of this thesis. At the end of each section, the main elements of each theoretical approach are condensed into the form of a table, in order to match the theory elements to their application potential in urban development. These tables will be applied in Chapter 7 as frameworks for the theoretical analysis of the case studies.