Urban Studies
Volume 51, Issue 16, December 2014
1. Title: What Happened to and in Detroit?
Authors:John F McDonald.
Abstract:The paper describes the fiscal status of the city of Detroit leading up to its filing for bankruptcy on 18 July 2013. Then the economic history of metropolitan Detroit and the city of Detroit from 1950 to the present is examined in an effort to answer these questions: Why did Detroit file for bankruptcy – not some other major city? And why now and not earlier? The paper concludes that, while Detroit and several other cities in the northeastern region suffered major population and employment losses and went through a long period of urban crisis between roughly 1970 and 1990, the severity of Detroit’s problems compared with other cities did not emerge fully until the most recent decade.
2. Title:Ethnic Residential Segregation and Immigrants’ Perceptions of Discrimination in West Germany
Authors:Verena Dill andUwe Jirjahn.
Abstract:Using survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this study shows that immigrants living in segregated residential areas are more likely to report discrimination because of their ethnic background. This applies to both segregated areas where most neighbours are immigrants from the same country of origin as the surveyed person and segregated areas where most neighbours are immigrants from other countries of origin. The results suggest that housing discrimination rather than self-selection plays an important role in immigrant residential segregation.
3.Title:Regional Cultures Attracting Interregional Migrants
Authors:Jochen Hirschle andTuuli-Marja Kleiner.
Abstract:This study develops a theoretical concept of how regional cultural values develop, manifest, and become visible in regional images. Moreover, it tests the impact of regional images on attracting interregional migrants. Specifically, we test whether the values held by inhabitants of particular regions can explain variances in intra-country migration. Analyses are conducted on data collected from official statistics and from the European Social Survey on the level of European NUTS 2 regions. Cultural values are measured using a selection of items from the Human Value Scale developed by Shalom Schwartz. Analyses show that independent from unemployment rates, economic prosperity, and the degree of urbanization, net migration rates are dependent upon the cultural values held by the inhabitants of a region. Individuals are more likely to migrate to regions where inhabitants adopt hedonistic values and a certain degree of ‘social indifference’.
4. Title:Flexible Relations, Frail Contacts and Failing Demands: How Community Groups and Local Institutions Interact in Local Governance in the Netherlands
Authors:Mandy de Wilde, Menno Hurenkamp, and Evelien Tonkens.
Abstract:This paper explores the way community groups, central to new systems of local governance, are related to local institutions and how those relations influence them. We draw from two theoretical approaches – behavioural and institutional – that offer different answers to the question: what makes community groups thrive? Based on an analysis of 386 community groups in the Netherlands, we distinguish four types of groups: feather light, cooperative, networked and nested groups. Then, in a neighbourhood case study we focus on the relations between groups and local institutions to gain a deeper insight into the institutional dynamics of urban governance. Moreover, we combine the findings of both studies claiming that different groups need different things from local institutions, and that in the current NPM-driven world only the higher educated community groups have productive relationships with local institutions, while others are somewhere in between frail contacts and failing demands.
5. Title:Alterations in Scale: Patterns of Change in Main Street Networks Across Time and Space
Authors:Sergio Porta, Ombretta Romice, J Alexander Maxwell, Peter Russell, and Darren Baird.
Abstract:This paper presents a morphological study of 100 main street networks from urban areas around the world. An expansion in the scale of main street networks was revealed using a unique heuristic visual method for identifying and measuring the lengths of main street segments from each of the study areas. Case studies were selected and grouped according to corresponding urban design paradigms, ranging from antiquity to present day. This research shows that the average lengths of main street segments from networks of historic (i.e. ancient, medieval, renaissance, baroque and industrial) and informal case studies are much smaller relative to those from networks of more contemporary case studies (i.e. Garden City, Radiant City and New Urbanism). This study provides empirical evidence in support of prior, observational claims suggesting a consistent pattern in the smaller scale of main street networks from traditional urban areas, termed the ‘400-metre rule’. Additionally, it makes the case for further empirical research into similarly recursive spatial patterns within other elements of urban form (i.e. plots, blocks, etc.) that, if discovered, could aid in future urban design efforts to help provide the framework for more ‘human-scale’ urban environments.
6. Title:Do Parental Perceptions of the Neighbourhood Environment Influence Children’S Independent Mobility? Evidence from Toronto, Canada
Authors:Raktim Mitra, Guy EJ Faulkner, Ron N Buliung, and Michelle R Stone.
Abstract:Children’s independent mobility (CIM), or a child’s freedom to explore their neighbourhood unsupervised, is important for their psychological development and potentially enables daily physical activity. However, the correlates of CIM remain under-studied particularly in terms of the influence of the neighbourhood environment. Within this context, children’s independent mobility in Toronto, Canada, was examined using linear regression and ordered logit models. Findings demonstrate that a higher level of CIM was correlated with more physical activity. Parental perceptions related to neighbourhood safety, stranger danger and sociability were associated with CIM. A child’s independent mobility was also correlated with age, sex, language spoken at home and parental travel attitudes. Interventions to increase CIM should focus on enhancing the neighbourhood social environment. Increasing the independent mobility of girls and of children with diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds are also worthy of particular research and policy attention.
7. Title:Impact Of Slum Formalization on Self-Help Housing Construction: A Case of Slum Notification In India
Authors: Shohei Nakamura.
Abstract:This paper investigates the extent to which slum notification, a tenure formalization policy that officially recognises settlements as slums and ensures the occupancy rights of the residents, has stimulated housing investment by the households in India. In using a nationally representative data set, propensity score methods are employed to reduce selection bias. This paper finds that given the observed household characteristics adjusted by propensity scores, slum notification will increase the average amount of money spent on housing construction, though the proportion of households who would improve their houses is estimated to be higher in non-formalized settlements. The findings suggest that not only formalizing slums but also supporting self-help efforts by the residents of non-formalized slums would be effective for improving their housing conditions.
8. Title:Transition to Low Carbon? An Analysis of Socio-Technical Change in Housing Renovation
Authors:Ralph Horne andTony Dalton.
Abstract:Across the westernised world, concerns about climate change and resource scarcity point to the need for widescale changes in housing renovation. Through the exploration of social interactions of eco-renovation businesses on the ground, the paper presents evidence for the emergence of an ‘eco-renovation niche’ consisting of both traditional and new types of housing industry businesses. However, this niche is not clearly bounded, stable or homogenous, and so generalised ideas about how it may grow in scale or size are problematic. Niche participants typically wish to stay small. Also, complex household relations are involved, and hands-on experimentation is a feature of the industry participants. For policy purposes, this suggests a need to focus on strategic intermediaries in industry and professional associations, licensing bodies and regulators, who could in turn support programmes that more adequately recognise the modus operandi of the industry, households and civil society organisations.
9. Title:The Willingness to Pay for Green Apartments: The Case of Nanjing, China
Authors: Hong Hu, Stan Geertman, and Pieter Hooimeijer.
Abstract:Faced with the challenge of developing sustainable cities, the Chinese government sets green construction as part of the national strategy to reduce energy consumption. However, the consumer market has shown limited response to such policies. To upscale green building, it is crucial to understand the market demands for green apartments. This article employs a conjoint model to estimate the willingness to pay for green dwellings versus accessibility to metros and jobs and neighbourhood quality by different socio-economic groups in Nanjing, China. Results show that the socio-economic status of homebuyers determines their willingness to pay for green attributes. Only the rich are prepared to pay for green apartments to improve their living comfort. To all, the notion of health is appealing as consumers are willing to pay for an unpolluted environment and for non-toxic construction materials used in buildings in good locations.
10. Title:Mutations of Real Estate Actors’ Strategies and Modes of Capital Appropriation in Contemporary Phnom Penh
Authors: Gabriel Fauveaud.
Abstract:The importance of large-scale real estate projects in Phnom Penh’s contemporary development has been stressed in recent research. However, an important part of the local real estate actors, such as small and medium developers, or the emerging elite, has been overlooked. In consequence, important aspects of the reorganisation of the urban spaces production processes after 1980 remain unknown. Using a cross typology of both real estate actors and modes of real estate capital appropriation, I underline the evolution of developer’s actions and strategies since the 1980s. I argue that local real estate actors represent the core of Phnom Penh’s transformations, and have to be studied through a socio-historical perspective. I further argue that an actor-centred approach is necessary to identify the domination structure of the real estate activity. Finally, the article stresses the emergence of new groups of interest (associations of professionals), which will certainly participate to transform power relationships in Phnom Penh’s real estate sector.
以下是书评：
11. Title:Cities and Nature
Authors:Laura Barraclough.
Abstract:The article reviews the book “Cities and Nature” byLisa Benton-Short and John Rennie Short.
12. Title:Demystifying Doha: On Architecture and Urbanism in an Emerging City
Authors:Samer Bagaeen.
Abstract:The article reviews the book “Demystifying Doha: On Architecture and Urbanism in an Emerging City” byAshraf M. Salama and Florian Wiedmann.
13. Title:Social Justice and the Urban Obesity Crisis: Implications for Social Work
Authors: Caren J Frost.
Abstract:The article reviews the book “Social Justice and the Urban Obesity Crisis: Implications for Social Work” byMelvin Delgado.
14. Title:Escape from New York: The New Negro Renaissance beyond Harlem
Authors: Robert Cassanello.
Abstract:The article reviews the book “Escape from New York: The New Negro Renaissance beyond Harlem” byDavarian L. Baldwin and Minkah Makalani.