Can global cities be ‘age-friendly cities’? Urban development and ageing populations

Understanding the relationship between population ageing and urban change has become a major issue for public policy. An emerging theme has concerned the need to develop supportive urban communities for older citizens. This paper provides a critical perspective on what has been termed the development of ‘age-friendly cities and communities’ by exploring such policies in the context of urban change arising from globalisation, urban regeneration and austerity. A key argument is that research and policies on age-friendly cities require stronger integration with analyses of the impact of global forces transforming the physical and social context of cities. This theme is developed by examining: first, the arguments behind the development of the ‘age-friendly’ approach; second, the pressures affecting urban environments, and their relevance for the ‘age-friendly’ debate; and third, challenges for improving the urban environment for older populations. The article concludes by discussing the need to combine a conceptual model of ‘age-friendliness’ with analysis of the economic and social forces transforming urban environments.     

Rural living in city and countryside: Demand and supply in the Netherlands

Rural living has great appeal among urban residents in the Netherlands. It echoes the rural idyll. Furthermore, there is a demand for rural living in or near urban areas, in the so-called pseudo-countryside. This paper investigates the demand for rural living. In addition, this paper seeks to find out how and to what extent suppliers in the housing market accommodate that demand. Besides building rural residential environments, suppliers try to influence preferences for rural housing through marketing techniques. Where possible, developers build certain types of houses for which they know there is a demand, as that yields the highest profits. Yet the supply of rural residential environments does not meet the demand. The tension between the two components can partly be explained by restrictive government policies. The creation of a pseudo-countryside, a residential environment with the characteristics of the countryside but not located there, might be a compromise.     

建成环境满意度对乡村新型社区居民自评健康的影响分析——以成都市远郊 4 个社区为例

在健康城市研究领域,对健康城市社区建成环境的研究居多,而对健康乡村社区建成环境的研究不足,将个体自评健康应用到健康乡村的研究对促进健康村镇研究具有积极意义。选取四川省成都市蒲江县4个新村社区作为乡村新型社区典型案例,开展以村民个体为单位的问卷调查,获取411份问卷样本数据。基于此,分析乡村新型社区居民自评健康结果的特点,探析建成环境对居民自评健康的影响。研究显示,在乡村新型社区建成环境中,显著影响居民自评健康的环境感知指标为：住房质量、交通条件设施、体育健身设施、幼托设施、村庄内绿化和卫生环境的满意度。结合田野调查和深度访谈,从健康角度提出了乡村社区规划设计的建议。     

Everyday life patterns and social segregation of expatriate women in globalizing Asian cities: cases of Shanghai and Seoul

Shanghai’s ‘planned’ and Seoul’s ‘evolved’ expatriate communities represent contrasting approaches to housing the highly skilled professionals and their families. The study shows how the two distinctive environments produce different spatial patterns in everyday life, and also how they affect the social segregation of the expatriate women in the two cities. Shanghai’s gated compound entails an introverted, self-contained lifestyle with little contact with the local people. Seoul’s naturally evolved community is integrated with local neighborhoods leading to the wider range of daily destinations and more everyday contact with local people. Although the inter-expat social relations appear stronger within Shanghai’s walled residential areas, the daily interaction with host city locals is more pronounced in Seoul’s mixed foreign quarters. The study suggests that, among expats and locals, residential form which allows small-scale, everyday routine social interactions may be more conducive to building a sense of community in increasingly globalizing Asian urban centers.     

The flora of selected urban land-use types in Berlin and Potsdam with regard to nature conservation in cities

Part of this investigation is the flora of three different urban land-use types which represent typical biotope characteristics of Berlin and Potsdam. The majority of these urban land-use types is located in the former GDR territory of East Berlin and Potsdam, which were almost unexplored and are therefore of special botanic interest. The focus lies on the inventory of wild-growing vascular plants, their diversity, richness, and value for nature conservation.The first investigated land-use type are the landscape parks of Potsdam with their plant communities of meadows and lawns which differ from many other grasslands of today in having unique plant species due to their historic garden design and the continuous way of extensive garden management. Second, the residential areas of the 20/30s in Berlin and their diversity of wild-growing vascular plants and planted trees which reflect the original garden management and the gardening traditions of this decade are presented. The third urban land-use type is the area of the Berlin wall with urban wasteland communities. It will be shown that also in the inner city with a high population density a special variety of species makes urban wastelands worthy for nature conservation.     

QUANTIFYING THE CARBON STORAGE CAPACITY AND ITS SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF GREEN SPACES IN A METROPOLITAN AREA: A CASE STUDY OF SEOUL,SOUTH KOREA

As a significant habitat type in cities, green spaces can provide various ecosystem services. Among them, the carbon storage of green spaces would effectively alleviate greenhouse effect, which is particularly important under the global warming. Due to difficulities in accessing high-resolution spatial data, previous research has summarized green spaces into different land use types to calculate carbon storage. However, since different vegetation communities have different characteristics, carbon storage capacities of green spaces vary. Focusing on the Seoul City, South Korea, this research aims at exploring the carbon storage capacities of varied green spaces and its distribution patterns. Based on the high-resolution habitat data of Seoul City in 2005 and 2015, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model is used to estimate and visualize the carbon storage capacities of 17 types of green spaces to reveal the distribution patterns of carbon storage of different communities in the city’s green spaces. This study not only provides a scientific basis for ecological protection practices and sustainable land planning and management in Seoul and other similar regions, but also offers a reference for urban ecosystem service assessment and green space renewal strategy development in China.     

The Local Impacts of Urban Consolidation in Sydney

The processes of urban consolidation are described, detailed and reviewed in three local government areas in Sydney since 1980. This provides an integrated account and analysis of how market forces and planning policies have actually delivered dwelling stock on the ground. Distinctive aspects of urban consolidation in each local government area are reviewed.     

Coming soon to a service station near you

The processes of urban consolidation are described, detailed and reviewed in three local government areas in Sydney since 1980. This provides an integrated account and analysis of how market forces and planning policies have actually delivered dwelling stock on the ground. Distinctive aspects of urban consolidation in each local government area are reviewed.     

The pattern of landscape patches and invasion of naturalized plants in developed areas of urban Seoul

Fragmented developed areas usually support source-sink patches for invasive organisms in urban landscapes. Invasive plants that have a different origin than the spreading source have an important role in artificial landscape restoration in degraded areas. However, many alien plant species have invaded the original habitat or ecosystem of native plants; sequentially their fast growing populations colonize neighboring ecosystems easily. Biological contamination sometimes occurs, unbalancing biodiversity in the natural landscape system. Therefore, long-term monitoring for dynamic communities after restoration in urban areas is indispensable for establishing a strategy for sustainable urban management. Under this principle we have examined the spreading of representative naturalized plant species according to recent land use changes. In this study, we have selected two representative invasive plants, Robinia pseudoacacia and Eupatorium rugosum. Their distribution pattern and patch characteristics of population were identified by the data of Seoul Biotope Map and a field survey. As a result of GIS-aided analysis of landscape patches, these two species often occurred in the same place. Concentration patterns of population distribution were found in forest edges disturbed by development of roads and human settlement. Especially, Eupatorium rugosum had extended to inner forest patches although the individuals were scattered. Distribution patterns of those species were partly related to landscape indices such as patch size and shape of the forest edge.     

当前我国新城规划建设的若干讨论——形势分析和概念新解

针对当前我国新城建设热潮 ,分析我国新城发展中出现的各种类型 ,对比英国、美国的新城建设 ,从形成机制、区位环境、建设过程、影响程度、内城发展的问题几个方面比较研究国内外新城建设的实践。指出 ,综合我国新城发展的实际情况 ,借鉴国外新城发展的实践经验 ,新城的定义可为 :位于大城市郊区 ,有永久性绿地与大城市相隔离 ,交通便利、设施齐全、环境优美 ,能分担大城市中心城区的居住功能和产业功能 ,是具有相对独立性的城市社区。并针对性地提出适合我国国情的新城类型及相关概念的新定义     

Reprint of “An ‘unceasing war’ on land development on the urban fringe of Beijing: A case study of gated informal housing communities”

The existing literature about informal development in China's cities is dominated by studies of conventional informal housing in urban villages, while a new type of informal housing, gated informal housing communities, has rarely been studied. The paper aims to contribute to the existing literature by discussing why and how these gated informal housing communities were developed, looking at the case of Beijing. The results of the analysis show that institutional discrimination against rural areas with respect to land use rights, revenue redistribution, policymaking procedures and the hukou-related social welfare system the major drivers of development of informal communities. In particular, informal development is influenced by the ways land value is captured by, compensated for and allocated to the state government rather than rural villagers in the process of its transfer from rural to urban land. For future policy, more institutional innovation or reform is imperative in order to adequately deal with the emergence of gated informal housing communities. Institutionally inclusive land and housing policies, rather than intense top-down control, are needed in China.     

基于实景图片的恢复性环境空间类型及特征研究

恢复性环境健康绩效的相关研究 表明,自然环境和城市建成环境在健康影响 方面存在差异。然而,不同环境空间类型的 恢复性效能差异还未能得到充分研究。通过 实景图片环境模拟,本研究对不同类型的恢 复性环境的效能进行了比较,分析恢复性环 境的空间特征。结果显示,山景、农田、水景 空间的恢复性显著高于其他类型空间,人群 对水景空间的偏好大于绿色空间,空间开敞 度、复杂度与恢复性有显著相关关系。研究 结论揭示了不同的空间类型及其空间特征,可为健康景观的设计实践提供理论支持。     

Creative communities and the cultural economy — Insadong,chaebol urbanism and the local state in Seoul

Creative communities that arise in a cultural milieu of place-based social relationships are being targeted for cultural economy strategies to revitalize cities in Asia. The dominance of a small number of family owned conglomerates, chaebol, in the economy and politics of South Korea represents an extreme case of the corporatization of citymaking that drives cultural economy policies. The experience of the historic district of Insadong, Seoul, illustrates the resulting loss of vernacular heritage, gentrification and commodification of creative community life-spaces under the cultural economy banner. At the same time, democratization and the rise of civil society have provided openings for grassroots organizations to seek to protect and support local cultural spaces as sites for creative engagements in urban life. Recent success of grassroots mobilizations in countering corporatization by electing an activist as mayor of Seoul points to the need to give greater attention to role of the local state in sustaining creative communities.     

城市绿地植物群落与空气负离子空间 分异特征相关关系研究——以北京奥林 匹克森林公园为例

城市绿地对于提高城市人居环境质量、维护居民公共健康具有重要作用。空气负离子是评价城市空气清洁度的基本参数之一。以北京奥林匹克森林公园绿地为例，选定典型植物群落结构、群落类型及典型景观环境样点，基于多年连续动态持续测定并选取典型年度数据(2020年)，分析和阐释该公园绿地区域空气负离子空间的分异特征。结果表明，在公园绿地中不同植物群落结构区域的空气负离子浓度：复层>双层>单层、乔草>乔灌>灌草；不同植物群落类型区域的空气负离子浓度：落叶阔叶型>常绿针叶型>草本地被型>针阔叶混交型>灌丛；不同典型景观环境中的空气负离子浓度：滨水植物群落>复层/单层植物群落>滨水广场；公园绿地空气负离子浓度与郁闭度、叶面积指数呈现显著的相关关系。研究结果为基于循证设计的功能型城市绿地规划设计及更新优化提供基础科学依据。     

Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Problem, research strategy, and findings: A growing number of cities, especially those outside traditional immigrant gateways, have sought to leverage immigrant resources to promote local economic development in recent years. Although some cities have explicitly included immigrant entrepreneurship as a focal area in their plans, we know little about the breadth and depth of such strategies. In this research we explore the current landscape of local small business development policies toward immigrant entrepreneurship. We conduct a detailed review of the program documents of 16 selected welcoming cities and derive 20 specific programs across five broad types: information, language, business service, financial support, and place-based approaches. Their popularity, however, varies among the case cities given the number of adoptions. For example, all 16 cities adopted information hub–related strategies, whereas only 2 considered immigrant-friendly financing programs. In comparing these policies with immigrant entrepreneurs’ needs and barriers, we find their service gaps are addressed to different extents.

Takeaway for practice: Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of current local government policies that aim at tapping into immigrants’ entrepreneurial potential for community and economic development and their adoption levels across cities. Existing policies are able to address immigrants’ information and language needs but are less targeted at developing their business skills and facilitating their access to financial capital. Place-based approaches may serve to connect immigrant-owned businesses to customers and market in the mainstream economy and thus expand their scope beyond ethnic neighborhoods. Because these programs require different levels of resources, planners and policymakers considering this agenda can assess their relative fit with local population demand in designing appropriate policies.     

KOREAN IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A Multivariate Analysis

This article provides a comprehensive explanation for Korean immigrant entrepreneurship by synthesizing the findings from previous studies. Ethnic ties and work ethic/frugality have been emphasized as central to the development of ethnic/ immigrant entrepreneurship. Researchers have generally interpreted these characteristics on the part of trading minorities as culturally implanted from the society of origin Ethnic ties and hard work/frugality have been found to be major determining factors for the success of Korean immigrant businesses as well This article, however, presents findings to show that not only Korean immigrants' Confucian heritage and Protestant background (cultural factors), but also their middle-class origin and immigrant situation contribute to their group ties and behavioral pattern. Furthermore, each of these three major causal factors…the Confucian heritage/Protestant ethic, middle-class background and immigrant situation…has a direct influence on Korean immigrant entrepreneurship. In addition, it analyzes racial segregation pattern in major American metropolitan areas and Korean-American trade relations as major structural factors that encourage Korean immigrant entrepreneurship. Finally, the article brings attention to the fact that Korean immigrant businesses reinforce Koreans' group ties and work ethic as much as the latter contributes to the former.     

Diversity in real estate developer behaviour: A case for research

The diversity of developer behaviour and its implications for the built environment require investigation. The paper illustrates this with six types of developer behaviour identified in two small but rapidly growing east coast Australian local government areas and comments on the their implications for the nature of urban development.     

太原市居住小区植物景观的应用

在现代化的城市当中,人们对居住环境的重视度越来越高,建筑行业也越来越关注居住环境,其作为城市当中与居民的距离最近、关系最密切的新型城市空间绿地,已经成为城市绿地系统中的重要的组成部分,结合太原市居住区景观的现状、典型社区和特点分析,提出适合太原市居住区植物绿化的发展方向.     

REDEFINING CIVIL RIGHTS IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INSTITUTIONAL REFORM*

This paper analyzes the preconditions for institutional reform in urban government. Using a political economy framework, it is argued that citizens obtain from their charter a set of civil rights in local government. But these rights change de facto under the influence of population migration and other exogenous forces in the environment of the municipality. This induces change, de jure, in the charier and in the institutions it describes. After outlining the theory, the history of the Reform Government Movement in urban America is briefly examined, and lessons both for those who are currently promoting reform and for scholars who study it are extracted. Hypotheses about the timing and extent of reform are derived from the theory and the most appropriate way to measure and evaluate it is examined. The goal is to be more precise in predicting when urban areas will experience reform.     

A copy is (not a simple) copy: Role of urban landmarks in branding Seoul as a global city

This paper examines the role of urban landmark designin Seoul, after the structural adjustment in the late 1990s, in branding Seoul's image as a global city. The topic of urban branding through the use of works of well-known architects has generated much debate, with many arguing that this practice involves a mere culture of the copy, or a thin veneer for a neoliberal urban redevelopment agenda. The case study sites examined in this paper—Some Sevit (Floating Island), Dongdaemun Design Plaza, and Seoullo 7017—are examples of the “free-form” architecture commissioned by the Seoul city government in the hope of generating a “Bilbao Effect,” and thereby promoting tourism in the area. This paper argues that although contemporary urban landmarks in Seoul have the potential to become brandscapes, they do not all stop short at becoming mere copies or a temporary fad. Rather, the conditions under which each landmark is reproduced are deeply situated, and the gap between aspiration and reality brings in different results.