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This chapter aims at providing insight into how social mixing plays out in the Transvaal neighborhood in Amsterdam — a neighborhood which has gone through various rounds of urban renewal — in the context of nationwide polarization between native-Dutch and Moroccan-Dutch.

This chapter is based on research with a neighborhood focus — daily interactions, urban renewal, and use of public space — which took place during 2007–2010. Methods used include participant observation, semistructured interviews, and focus groups.

The physical renewal implies renovating and pulling down social housing, and building new social or owner-occupier housing. This study provides insight into how residents of different ethnic and income backgrounds live together in the neighborhood, also taking into account the impact of social polarization at the national level.

By knowing how people with different ethnic and class backgrounds live together in Transvaal neighborhood, it contributes to the formulation of evidence-based policies for the improvement of social cohesion, livability, safety of the neighborhood, and social capital of local residents.

This study looks at social mix in the context of national-level social polarization between native-Dutch and Moroccan-Dutch. This creates a new viewpoint seen against how the general literature on renewal and social mixing tends to do two things: firstly it usually explicitly or implicitly is also a tenure mix strategy, and secondly the policy focus of the social mix is usually around class issues, that is, the mixing of poor social housing tenants with richer owners.

The Retrofit State of the Nation Survey has tracked the perceptions of social housing sector professionals’ views of retrofit since 2010. It has taken the form of three surveys conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2015. Here, the authors bring together the three surveys to specifically address the adoption and perceived effectiveness of retrofit technology in social housing projects. The purpose of this paper is to identify the changing perceptions of social housing professionals over a period of significant policy change within in the sector.

The research takes the form of a cross-sectional attitudinal, self-completion survey, covering sections considering the adoption levels and perceived effectiveness of different retrofit technologies. The target sample was medium to larger scale registered social housing providers. The surveys were conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

In terms of effectiveness, the reliance on tried and tested technologies is apparent. Emerging or more complex technologies have declined in perceived effectiveness over the period. It is clear that social housing has adopted a wide range of technologies, and the larger providers, with whom this survey is undertaken, potentially represent a significant pool of UK retrofit experience.

The survey provides a record of the changing attitudes of social housing providers to specific technologies over the period of 2010-2015, which has seen significant changes in the energy and social housing policy. The findings show the link between policy instruments and adoption, with policy instruments mapping to adoption in the sector. Perceived effectiveness reflects a preference for more established technologies, an issue that is highlighted in the recent Bonfield Review.

This paper gives an account of the development and pioneering management practices of a community‐owned and managed agency, Walterton and Elgin Community Homes (WECH), locating these in the context of continuing concerns and emerging aspirations over the role of social housing, with developing UK national policy and a proposed statutory “Right to Transfer” for tenants.

This report provides a narrative of the recent development of social housing policy development and the evolving practice of WECH. This is the essential historical and social policy background to a recent study into the health and well‐being benefits of empowerment through community ownership of social housing. This first paper refers to and discusses the wider implications of the data collected during the well‐being research and literature review, indicating that the population of the WECH estates experience a sense of belonging, and of being involved, which contrasts markedly with statistics for comparable populations in comparable areas of deprivation. Further analysis of the key findings of the original study will be published in Part two.

The benefits of more community‐owned services include the more efficient and holistic management of properties. Community‐based, resident‐controlled housing associations offer a secure foundation for building in additional services as part of the continued drive to devolve public services to the local level, including hosting of a substantial range of community services, for example the reintegration of the Police into the community. The principle of community ownership of council estates is also valuable in its own right for informing the direction of housing management and policy and where to target effort. The experience and practice of WECH supports the proposition that community ownership of social housing may be an exceptionally effective means for improving and sustaining wellbeing in poor neighbourhoods.

This paper argues that Government policy should actively support mass mutualisation as a means for improving wellbeing on council/social housing estates and for empowering poorer communities to take greater responsibility for their welfare. Regardless of the extent of mutualisation, many of the practices involved are transferable to non‐mutual social landlords, and may be seen as markers of good practice for agencies intending to taken on social housing via transfer.

There is continued interest in the transfer of social housing stock to new provider agencies. WECH has been the only large‐scale statutory transfer until now of council housing in England and Wales to a mutual, community‐owned housing association. WECH's experience is especially relevant for evidencing the significant advantages governments could obtain through encouraging many more transfers of council estates to community housing associations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, confirm and validate a model appropriate to capture the interrelationships between different variables to develop and improve social housing quality, adequacy, provision and residents’ quality of life (RQOL).

This research adopted a quantitative approach to examine the research objectives of this study. The proposed conceptual framework was tested using primary data collected from a survey of 418 residents of the new urban center of Hamla. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and exploratory factor analysis through SPSS. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was performed using AMOS before validating the measurement model and testing the hypotheses through structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results of SEM indicated acceptable high goodness-of-fit indices. The results revealed that three out of six hypotheses were supported. Consequently, residential quality and housing adequacy appeared to have a vital role in the conceptual framework, as it influenced social housing provision and RQOL and was influenced by socio-economic characteristics.

The present study illustrates the interrelationships between the proposed variables using SEM analysis. In addition, by understanding the direct relationships between the selected variables, the findings would be useful for the concerned authorities to ameliorate and upgrade the social housing quality and adequacy along with surpassing the current shortage, which would enhance and contribute to the amelioration of the RQOL and throughout Algeria.

This paper aims to establish, examine, validate the relationships and develop a conceptual framework in the context of Algerian social housing that contributes to the assessment and amelioration of social housing.

This study compared the gentrification processes in Cihangir and Tarlabasi. The dynamics of the gentrification process in Cihangir is compared with the vastly different gentrification process in Tarlabasi. Interpretations of gentrification are also included in this paper.

The study analyzed the dynamics of the gentrification process in Cihangir, Istanbul (Turkey) to determine the extent of change during the process. Characterization of the Cihangir neighborhood, which distinguishes Cihangir from other gentrified urban areas, is another aspect of this study. The transformation of Cihangir is currently underway; it involves the revolution and renovation of land and buildings, which is known as gentrification. The gentrification process in Cihangir is affected by socio-economic and socio-cultural transformations. This paper examines gentrification in the Cihangir neighborhood, which has occurred spontaneously and supports the perpetuation of social diversity, which occurs in many urban areas. Although Istanbul’s Tarlabasi region exhibits geophysical characteristics that resemble the geophysical characteristics of Cihangir, Tarlabasi is affected by a completely different gentrification process, which is known as planned gentrification.

In the context of this study, scholars question whether gentrification is “erasing the social geography of urban land and unique architectural pattern,” or if gentrification represents “the upgrading and renaissance of the urban land.” (Smith, 1996)

The notion of sustainability broadly builds upon the development of the present without hampering the needs of the future generation. Accordingly, the contemporary development programmes, in general, emphasise on minimising the adverse bearings of climate change and arresting the irreversible ecological degradation following the implementation of the growth-oriented economic models. While such idea of sustainable development is expected to be applied across different sectors, the traditional urban development projects such as the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) (1979), the Mega-City Scheme (1993), and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) (2005) focussed mainly on physical infrastructure with inadequate emphasis on the ecological aspects and sustainability. However, with the experiences of globalisation and the negative impact of changing climate, the recent urban development initiatives across the world have gone through considerable redesigning, and the idea of eco-city, compact city, sustainable city, etc., have taken the central place in the project proposals. In this connection, the Smart City Mission (SCM) (2015) of the Government of India has emerged as an important initiative to facilitate improvement in the standard of living along with economic growth through the development of urban infrastructure and integration with intelligent technologies. This chapter attempts to understand how the projects under the SCM have incorporated various ecological aspects to transform the cities into liveable and sustainable ones for the future generation. Using secondary data and carrying out a comparative analysis of selected smart city proposals, this chapter finds that there is still a lack of adequate emphasis on ecological sustainability in many smart city proposals. This chapter suggests revisiting the smart city proposals, and initiatives should be made towards the development of urban areas in a sustainable way.

This study aims to develop an evaluation model for public managers in Hong Kong to assist in the procurement of best value consultants for professional housing maintenance services as part of the privatisation process.

The model developed is termed the “strategic evaluation model”, in which the strategic objective of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of resources through privatisation is used as the basis for evaluation. A value for money (VFM) ratio can represent both efficiency and effectiveness. This ratio refers to the output service quality versus the input costs, which are assessed independently. Production and transaction costs are quantitative figures, and as such the key issue in the analysis is the forecast of the output quality. It was hypothesized that there was a correlation between output quality and input management and economic factors. A triangulation methodology was used to develop and test out the correlation whereby the literature review and qualitative interviews with the maintenance consultancy management practitioners of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) were used to generate the hypothesis, which was then tested by quantitative regression, using data from the maintenance consultancies of the Authority. The hypothesis was validated, and hence an authentic, objective evaluation model was substantiated.

The main hypothesis was “In evaluating the competitive consultants for providing professional services for housing maintenance, the decision approach to ensuring the optimum use of resources can be determined by an objective comparison of the value for money of the respective services”. The sub‐hypotheses considered the relationships between output service quality and individual input factors of competition level, past performance, project leadership and quality benchmarking. The results of the qualitative and quantitative studies confirmed and validated the hypotheses, and hence substantiated the strategic evaluation model which is based on objective VFM assessment.

While the model was developed in the context of housing maintenance in the Hong Kong Housing Authority, it can form the baseline from which further research can build to provide an evaluation model for procuring property management and construction professional and contractor services in many other public‐ and private‐sector settings.

The weighted quality and price assessment method previously used is unable to obtain value services. This combined assessment method should therefore be replaced by the strategic model in order to achieve an optimum use of resources.

This paper establishes an evaluation framework for public managers to obtain best value services and hence ensure optimum use of resources in outsourcing of those facilities management (FM) services.

This chapter analyzes the role of new local planning frameworks in the development of urban megaprojects (UMPs). It argues that the way projects are integrated with existing planning controls and statutory procedures influences how its costs and benefits are distributed. Drawing on the case studies of the Special Hudson Yards District in New York City, the “Zone d’Amenagement Concerte Clichy-Batignolles” in Paris and the Operacao Urbana Agua Branca in Sao Paulo, it compares how the legislative reforms and strategic plans enacted in each city impacted development programs, implementation process, and public benefits delivered by each project. This is a comparative case study analysis using quantitative and qualitative data collected through planning documents, press articles, interviews, and field research on the planning process of the three case studies, their administrative and institutional frameworks focused combined with quantitative analysis of the development proposals and outcomes of each project. The research shows how the articulation between the new plans and the underlying zoning districts as well as willingness by the city to commit public funds to finance the required upfront investments influence the ability of cities to extract public benefits from urban megaprojects and improve integration with surrounding neighborhoods, transport infrastructure, and regional policy. Based on a succinct review of the related literature the chapter illustrates the evolving role of public agencies and land-use regulation in the development of UMPs, illustrates the material expression of strategic planning on legislative reform and policy statements, provides a comparative analysis of contrasting legal systems, and suggests policy formulations that can improve the “public return” generated by UMPs.

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology developed on the basis of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) notion applied for the city of Cuenca in Ecuador. The identification of cultural values – among all the actors involved in the city – draws up a series of sustainable urban development strategies.

This methodology is based on the city analysis from the local community and multiple disciplines such as geomorphology, environment, urban planning, historic cartography, architecture, archaeology, anthropology, and economy. Further qualitative data collection methods included 16 workshops with 168 citizens, specific surveys, mapping, and on-site observations. The challenge of this methodology is not only its implementation in the world heritage city of Cuenca in Ecuador, but also the integration of the management of the historic centre within the overall city development plan.

The application of the HUL concept has allowed the identification of a series of strategies for the urban development where the points of view coming from different stakeholders were gathered. The project reveals the existence of values and attributes, so far overlooked in the actual heritage management system. In addition, a Geographic Information System database has been created with all the information related to Cuenca with the possibility of making it available for the community in the future.

The project has been developed within one year with scarce economic resources: that is the reason why the planned activities took longer than expected.

Social participation has played a key role in the development of the project.

This research process in Cuenca has led to its incorporation as a Latin-American pilot city for a programme developed by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region.

The objective of this paper is to present different perspectives on building “trust” among supply chain participants working on construction projects.

A case study methodology was adopted; with five construction projects selected as five case studies for the trust in construction project on the basis a selection criteria devised for the research project. Over 40 interviews were conducted with participants operating at different levels in their respective organisations and at different point in the supply chain.

The information provided by the multiple informants was, to a large extent, consistent with much of the academic literature relating to the importance of and barriers to trust. Specifically, the case studies highlighted: what people within the construction industry understand by trust, reliance, and honest professional relationship; the key factors that contribute towards building trust and factors that result into breakdown of trust; and organisational and project related factors that influence trust and relationships among people within the industry.

The findings from this study are limited due to: a small number of case studies undertaken, focused within the North West Region of England, and limited time and resources available. However, the ideas proposed for ways to develop trust in construction projects as seen from project findings have important implications for not only the clients but also for the main contractors and sub‐contractors who need to pay greater attention to build trusting and long‐term relationship as part of an integrated supply chain in order to deliver the continuous demand for services especially from public sector clients.

If more businesses operating in the construction sector gave more thought to the importance of trust in construction projects then this could have a significant impact on contract design and over all procurement strategy. Specifically the repetitive work carried out by the local authorities in the UK, such as school building and maintenance, social housing stock improvement, etc., can be subcontracted to the contractors on a longer term basis resulting into long term supply chain relationship among organisations and cost savings.

The research is among the first attempts in response to Latham report published in 1994, in order to explore the role of trust in construction projects, from the perspective of multiple stakeholders. The paper provides insights into the practical issues that prevent the widespread development of trust within the construction industry, which is a challenge that clearly warrants further attention from academics and practitioners.