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1 – 10 of over 20000Kirsi Mäkinen, Paula Kivimaa and Ville Helminen
The purpose of this paper is to examine spatiality of transitions by combining aspects of urban form to policy analysis. It aims to increase understanding of how urban form…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine spatiality of transitions by combining aspects of urban form to policy analysis. It aims to increase understanding of how urban form relates to potential effects of transport policies on urban mobility transitions.
Design/methodology/approach
Novel analytical framework combines concepts of path dependence, path creation and path destabilisation to three urban fabrics (walking, transit and car cities), to study the transition potential of recent transport policy measures influencing the Helsinki region in Finland.
Findings
Analysis showed that the potential effects of single policy measures often reach over all three urban fabrics. A policy measure may simultaneously contain elements of both path dependence, i.e. support for fossil-fuel based private motoring in the car city and path creation, i.e. stimulation of innovations in transit or walking cities. Policy outcomes are often conditional on implementation of other policy measures. For transition governance, this indicates that policy mixes should both destabilise car cities and enforce path creation in walking and transit cities.
Research limitations/implications
Findings are based on potential rather than evaluated impacts and a limited sample of policies.
Practical implications
Findings support previous research on the importance of policy coherence: multiple policies and coherence across domains are important. They demonstrate the usefulness of analysing recent or planned policies from the transition perspective.
Originality/value
The paper provides novel insights by combining policy analysis to the spatial model of overlapping urban fabrics. In addition, it applies the concepts of path dependence, path creation and path destabilisation in a new way.
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Zhao Chen, Xiaofeng Liu and Ming Lu
This paper aims to answer the following questions concerning rural‐to‐urban labor migration in China: What is the impact of discrimination against non‐Hukou in urban public…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to answer the following questions concerning rural‐to‐urban labor migration in China: What is the impact of discrimination against non‐Hukou in urban public service provision? Will such discrimination disappear in the future within the current policy‐making framework? What is the result of such an endogenous policy change as far as urbanization and economic growth are concerned?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors build a theoretical model of rural‐urban migration, taking into account the cost of social conflict due to discrimination against urban non‐Hukou in local public service. The possibility of endogenous policy change is also considered by numerical simulation.
Findings
The authors prove that, in the early stage of urban economic growth when the losses of potential conflicts are relatively small, the exclusive urban public service provision may be beneficial to them, but the losses under such unequal public service provision policy increase in the process of urban growth, and after a certain stage of development, opening public service access equally to the immigrants will be a better choice, even if only the natives' utility is considered. Such an endogenous policy change not only decreases the within‐city inequality and conflicts, but also advances the urbanization and urban economic growth.
Research limitations/implications
The authors only consider two extreme cases of local public service provision, that is, the urban non‐Hukou residents have equal access to public service or they are totally not entitled. The possibility of partial access to local public service is not considered in the model.
Originality/value
The authors investigate impact of social conflicts on within‐city inequality, urbanization as well as urban economic growth due to unequal social public service within urban residents. The model also shows an endogenous policy change during rural‐urban labor migration.
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This paper aims to identify relevant innovations in Tokyo’s spatial articulation of infrastructure, building and public space, intertwining large-scale networks with local scale…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify relevant innovations in Tokyo’s spatial articulation of infrastructure, building and public space, intertwining large-scale networks with local scale urban fabrics, to inform urban management towards sustainable urban transitions.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used a methodological combination of literature review, relevant case identification and analysis, on-site survey and photography, morphological interpretation through cartographic analysis and urban space and architectural redrawing and discussion under the conceptual framework.
Findings
Under Japan’s cultural construct, public/private thresholds are blurred and layered, defining a public space network which includes not only large-scale urban objects, such as railroad and commercial hubs but also small scale, hybrid and rather aweless forms of urban space, which can be of interest to the challenges of sustainable urban transition.
Research limitations/implications
Adaptations in urban management and design need to consider the multi-scalar embeddedness of urban networks in local fabrics, considering public space structure and socio-cultural specificities. Limitations to growth-oriented rationale require increasingly decentralized networks and more hybrid spatial configurations in buildings, infrastructures and public space.
Originality/value
Tokyo represents an example of how a network-dependent metropolis, accommodates highly adaptive, inconspicuous and decentralized forms of basic service provision with an impact on the perception, use and management of public space. The main argument lies in the potential that these spatial arrangements hold as references for contemporary urban management and design in what pertains to societal challenges, low-carbon transition and network optimization.
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This paper aims to discuss the nexus between two societal (sub) systems of housing and energy supply to shed new light on the key institutional barriers to socio-technical energy…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the nexus between two societal (sub) systems of housing and energy supply to shed new light on the key institutional barriers to socio-technical energy transition in the built environment. The key research question is to explore if and how key patterns of institutional elements associated with energy retrofit and energy supply are combined, co-evolved and played out in the housing system, leading to an alternative energy transition pathway in the built environment.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparative case study of residential buildings in the Swiss cities of Basel and Sion is conducted to map retrofitting policies and practices in a wide range of buildings (e.g. multi-family and single family) that each requires a particular constellation of institutions, actors and artefacts.
Findings
The key finding is that the regulative institutions support energy transition in each urban form/housing type. However, the co-evolution with normative and cultural-cognitive institutions does not play out very clearly in the housing system. One reason is that the norms and cultures are deeply rooted in the practices exercised by business community and households and therefore they need a longer time frame to adapt to a new regulation.
Research limitations/implications
The policies and actions to increase the rate of housing retrofit are discussed in the specific socio-political context of Switzerland. Therefore, the results of this study might not be applied in other contexts with different conditions, limiting the possibility for analytical generalization. The case study can generate only context-specific knowledge, which might be valuable only to cities with similar conditions. This paper addresses theoretical, methodological and policy challenges in scaling-up retrofit projects by taking a holistic and integrated approach to the systems of housing and energy supply.
Practical implications
It would have been necessary to find out how the introduction and enforcement of new energy policies and regulations (regulative institutions) have changed the norms and building practices (normative institutions) used by actors from housing industry and the attitudes and energy consumption behaviour of the households (cultural-cognitive institutions). Nevertheless, information about normative and cultural-cognitive institutions require more primary data in the form of interviews with organizations and households, respectively, which goes beyond the scope and resources of this study.
Originality/value
Insights from different strands of literature (institutions and sustainability transition) are combined to understand if and how retrofitting practices go along with other elements of urban sustainability including architectural, technical, socio-cultural and economic factors.
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The purpose of this paper is to question the appropriateness of current lab types for addressing wicked problems. A new lab type, a Systemic Innovation Lab, is proposed which…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to question the appropriateness of current lab types for addressing wicked problems. A new lab type, a Systemic Innovation Lab, is proposed which combines the features of existing labs that are suited to addressing wicked problems.
Design/methodology/approach
Characteristics of initiatives that are considered appropriate for addressing wicked problems and existing lab types that contain any of these characteristics are identified. These lab types are Social Innovation Labs, Living Labs, Urban Living Labs, Urban Transition Labs and Public Sector Innovation Labs. The proposed new lab type is reasoned by combining the features of existing labs that are suited to addressing wicked problems. How the new lab would work in practice is illustrated with a case study.
Findings
When addressing wicked problems, labs need to take a systemic design and not a service design approach. They also need to focus on addressing complex problems, take a place-based and transition approach, enable coherent action by diverse actors, involve users as co-creators, support a networked governance approach and recognize government as an enabler of change.
Practical implications
This paper provides a new lab type designed specifically for addressing wicked problems. This new lab supports practitioners that take a systemic design, solution ecosystem and systemic innovation approach. Systemic design is based on a core set of principles that are a crossover between design and complexity theory.
Originality/value
For the first time, this paper analyzes different lab types to determine their appropriateness for addressing wicked problems. It also proposes a new lab type whose sole purpose is addressing wicked problems.
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Development of urban-rural integration is essential to fulfill sustainable development goals worldwide, and comprehension about urban-rural integration types has been highlighted…
Abstract
Purpose
Development of urban-rural integration is essential to fulfill sustainable development goals worldwide, and comprehension about urban-rural integration types has been highlighted as increasingly relevant for an efficient policy design. This paper aims to utilize an unsupervised machine learning approach to identify urban-rural integration typologies based on multidimensional metrics regarding economic, population and social integration in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The study introduces partitioning around medoids (PAM) for the identification of urban-rural integration typologies. PAM is a powerful tool for clustering multidimensional data. It identifies clusters by the representative objects called medoids and can be used with arbitrary distance, which help make clustering results more stable and less susceptible to outliers.
Findings
The study identifies four clusters: high-level urban-rural integration, urban-rural integration in transition, low-level urban-rural integration and early urban-rural integration in backward stage, showing different characteristics. Based on the clustering results, the study finds continuous improvement in urban-rural integration development in China which is reflected by the changes in the predominate type. However, the development still presents significant regional disparities which is characterized by leading in the east regions and lagging in the western and central regions. Besides, achievement in urban-rural integration varies significantly across provinces.
Practical implications
The machine learning techniques could identify urban-rural integration typologies in a multidimensional and objective way, and help formulate and implement targeted strategies and regionally adapted policies to boost urban-rural integration.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to use an unsupervised machine learning approach with PAM for the identification of urban-rural integration typologies from a multidimensional perspective. The authors confirm the advantages of this machine learning techniques in identifying urban-rural integration types, compared to a single indicator.
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Jelena Zlatar Gamberožić and Anđelina Svirčić Gotovac
Since the 1990s transition period and especially since 2000 public space in Croatia has repeatedly been violated by private interest. This is visible in coastal regions, rural…
Abstract
Since the 1990s transition period and especially since 2000 public space in Croatia has repeatedly been violated by private interest. This is visible in coastal regions, rural landscapes, urban green areas, parks, squares, and streets which have been completely or partly privatized. Urban actors (economic, political, civil, and professional) play different roles in these changes, and there is a hierarchy in their relations: economic and political actors are very powerful and have a prominent place in urban and suburban spatial transformations. Civil society actors and professionals, on the other hand, have very little control or influence. Urban actors have different interests and conflicting opinions. The results of our research (qualitative research method of semi-structured interviews with various experts) show that today spatial changes are mostly dictated by economic actors in a close alliance with political actors. It is therefore vital that in future we clearly define public space and public interest and educate society about their importance. Only then can inadequate private intervention in public space be prevented and a balance between private and public interest be restored with all actors making decisions together. This is, after all, a real, participatory democracy that all transition societies (including Croatia) aim to achieve.
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Veerabhadrappa Bellundagi, K.B. Umesh, B.C. Ashwini and K.R. Hamsa
India is facing a double burden of malnutrition, i.e. undernutrition and obesity. Women and adolescent health and nutrition are very relevant issues which have not received much…
Abstract
Purpose
India is facing a double burden of malnutrition, i.e. undernutrition and obesity. Women and adolescent health and nutrition are very relevant issues which have not received much attention it deserves in India, especially in the context of a girl child. Hence, the purpose of this study is to assess malnutrition among women and adolescent girls as well as the associated factors.
Design/methodology/approach
An attempt was made to assess malnutrition among women and adolescent girls and associated factors. The required data was collected from the north (616) and south transects (659) sample households of Bangalore constituting a total sample size of 1,275. The data was analyzed by adopting multiple linear regression and multinomial logistic regression analysis using STATA software.
Findings
The effects of this study simply confirmed that, urbanization had an instantaneous effect on dietary repute of women and adolescent girls, while transferring throughout the gradient from rural to urban with the growing significance of weight problems and obese. In adolescent girls, about 31% were underweight followed by normal weight and overweight across rural–urban interface of Bangalore. The factors such as education, consumption of meat and animal products, a dummy for urban, diabetes and blood pressure were significantly and positively influencing the nutritional status (Body Mass Index) of women across rural–urban interface. While consumption of vegetables, wealth index and per capita income had a positive and significant influence on the nutritional status of adolescent girls.
Originality/value
With limited studies and data available in Karnataka, especially in Bengaluru, one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Against this backdrop, the study was conducted to assess the prevalence of malnutrition among women and adolescents and its association with various socio-economic variables.
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Nicholas Wise, Özge Gökbulut Özdemir and Ian Fillis
While the theoretical interaction of the creative and cultural industries and entrepreneurship in business is gaining attention in the literature, such entrepreneurial practices…
Abstract
Purpose
While the theoretical interaction of the creative and cultural industries and entrepreneurship in business is gaining attention in the literature, such entrepreneurial practices are extending their role and position in the economy and in urban areas undergoing transformation. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to that literature by generating a model that links creative entrepreneurship with urban transformation as places see and expect continuous change and development.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a conceptual approach, embedded in a triple helix model, of creative entrepreneurship and urban transformation of the Baltic Triangle area of Liverpool, England. The authors inform this through a case study analysis, including qualitative interview data relating to the Baltic Creative.
Findings
The authors demonstrate the need for interdisciplinary research to assess value creation, value delivery and innovation as contributors to urban transformation based on creative entrepreneurship, while at the same time resulting in creative placemaking.
Research limitations/implications
This is a conceptual paper that will be used to frame future empirical research on generating additional insight by interviewing key actors to heighten understanding of innovation, value creation and value delivery process of placemaking, creative change and urban transformation.
Practical implications
This work can help inform creative policymaking, planning and development to achieve both social and economic impacts for a place and the wider region.
Originality/value
The authors both contextualize and show the transferability of the model, using the example of Liverpool’s Baltic Creative in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle area of the city, highlighting the impact of creative change.
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John William McKenna, Frederick J. Brigham, Melissa Parenti and Brittany Hott
Transition can be seen as the capstone of many if not most efforts of special educators on behalf of students with disabilities. Transition programs must build upon the foundation…
Abstract
Transition can be seen as the capstone of many if not most efforts of special educators on behalf of students with disabilities. Transition programs must build upon the foundation set by general and special education teachers to promote accomplishments that will support engagement in adult life. The assumption underlying transition policy is that classroom personnel are adequately trained and supported to promote such outcomes. We investigated that assumption through research on the perceptions of 17 graduate students or recent completers of an alternative certification program serving a large urban district in the northeast. Study participants were interviewed regarding the provision of special education services at their assigned schools, the manner in which they were utilized, the degree to which they felt prepared and supported to teach students with disabilities, and recommendations for improving special education services, teacher training, and support. All participants taught special education students in secondary settings and were assigned to different schools. Several themes were identified including stress due to professional demands, concerns with collaboration and the quality of special education services, and a need for additional special education training. Implications for transition are discussed.
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