Is inequality in the distribution of urban facilities inequitable? Exploring a method for identifying spatial inequity in an Iranian city

Achieving spatial equity in the distribution of public facilities has been explored over the last two decades. The direction of these attempts was to offer an integrated index of spatial equity to decrease inequalities between cities. This study seeks to explore an integrated model for spatial inequity measurement (SIM), with a particular focus on inequalities resulting from a) mismatch of population demand (need) and population that can be supported by a facility; b) spatial mismatch of population distribution in relation to facility distribution; and c) mismatch of human deprivation in relation to spatially located “nonenjoyment.” The SIM was examined in 15 kinds of facilities together with different service areas in Hamadan city by integrating geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analysis models. This model identifies and calculates spatial inequities in all city units, in regard to whole facilities, distinct sets of facilities, or an individual facility; it then maps these facilities to determine the areas and the extent to which they experience inequity, for rational prioritization of the distribution of facilities in future planning. The results show that the majority of the city population experienced “nonenjoyment,” indicating a widespread spatial inequity among different groups of people. They also indicated the importance of public facilities in determining the level of inequalities and subsequent deprivation of the poor that can occur from inequitable spatial distribution. This model is an integrated spatial analytical tool that is capable of determining and mapping the level of spatial inequity of all facilities in a disaggregated and aggregated manner for an urban area.     

Impacts of land use/cover changes on carbon storage in Beijing 1990–2010

According to the data sets of land use/land cover (LULC) in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010, and carbon pools of each LULC category, we estimated the carbon storage of Beijing and each district from 1990 to 2010 by InVEST model. The results indicate that the carbon storage of Beijing ranged from 1.29?×?10⁸ t C to 1.23?×?10⁸ t C over the last 20 years, and decreased 5.6?×?10⁶ t C. The carbon storage is mainly located in suburbs. The cropland turned into construction land causes the continual depletion of carbon storage, which is accompanied by continual urbanization.     

Is private rental an option for urban housing provision in Hungary?

By 1998, 91 percent of all housing units in Hungary were occupied by owners –an extremely high percentage by international standards. Today's Hungarian housing politicians, whose anti-rental convictions stem from the experience of the previous regime, tend to disregard arguments about the consequences of this bias: the negative impact on mobility, the creation of a rigid housing market (lack of adaptability to the housing market), hardships in addressing social problems, conflicts between generations (obligations borne by elder generations) as well as the `compulsory' purchase of housing by younger generations and the drain of subsidies. There is extensive evidence that current Hungarian regulations are hostile to rental housing. With subsidies channeled to the ownership sector (housing construction benefits, interest subsidies, local subsidies, employer subsidies) as well as tax relief (purchase of privately owned housing, savings-linked subsidies, imputed rents), it is more expensive for households to rent than to buy or build housing. This leads to a distorted economic structure and a distorted use of society's resources. A housing policy based on modern economic theory pursues neutral subsidy and tax policies concerning ownership. Thus, from an economic point of view, there is no reason to prefer owner-occupied housing to rental housing. This paper explains why the private and public rental sectors are so small. But at a deeper level, the question is why private rented housing exists at all. The paper also explores related questions: who tend to rent out their units, why, for how long and how much; and who tend to rent these units, why do they rent them, and at what prices? The key policy issue is to define the basic impediments to the sector's expansion. On this basis, a new housing policy program can be formulated.     

Particulate matter in the atmosphere: which particle properties are important for its effects on health?

Whilst epidemiological studies have consistently demonstrated adverse effects of particulate matter exposure on human health, the mechanism of effect is currently unclear. One of the major issues is whether the toxicity of the particles resides in some particular fraction of the particles as defined by chemical composition or size. This article reviews selected data on the major and minor component composition of PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter showing quite major geographic variations in composition which are not reflected in the exposure-response coefficients determined from the epidemiology which show remarkably little spatial variation. The issue of particle size is more difficult to address due to the scarcity of data. Overall, the data presented provides little support for the idea that any single major or trace component of the particulate matter is responsible for the adverse effects. The issue of particle size is currently unclear and more research is warranted.     

Is time really important for research into contracting out public services in cities? Evidence for urban water management in Southern Spain

Local governments are responsible for the supply of important public services in cities. On many occasions the management of those services is externalized. There is extensive literature analyzing the explanations for the governance option taken by local governments, aiming to ascertain the reasons why the management of certain services is externalized. Recent research has highlighted the fact that time has not been contemplated by research dealing with explanatory factors in the decision to contract out municipal services. This is a key issue in order to identify the real reason behind policymakers’ decisions about the management of the services in cities. This paper tests the importance of taking into account time in the research into contracting out. This is undertaken by means of two methodological tests in the design of variables from a dataset containing 744 municipalities in Southern Spain. Using this empirical analysis as a basis, it is concluded that considering time contributes towards enhancing the specification of the model and that omitting this aspect could lead to misunderstanding the motivation behind such decisions.     

Can we implant an artist community? A reflection on government-led cultural districts in Korea

This paper aims to broaden knowledge on policy governance of cultural districts, particularly those utilizing artist communities for urban revitalization. With the rise of the cultural economy in post-industrial cities in South Korea, cultural strategies have become key components in almost every urban regeneration project. The tactic of encouraging groups of community artists to work and live in distressed neighborhoods has been regarded as a low-budget and easy-to-implement tool for urban revitalization. Over the past few years, however, these strategies have failed to meet expectations and have often resulted in conflicts between artists and the government. To understand the factors behind the strategies' positive and negative consequences, this paper examines three projects with different degrees of government intervention: the Totatoga project in Busan City, the Daein Art Market project in Gwangju City, and the Changdong Art Village project in Changwon City. The analysis focuses on the mode of government intervention in the relationships among the government, artists, intermediary agencies, and local citizens. By putting the mode of government intervention in the context of social relations of related players in the cultural districts, this paper tries to understand how similar policy schemes created different consequences.     

Impacts of risk allocation on conflict negotiation costs in construction projects: Does managerial control matter?

The negotiation costs for project participants to resolve conflicts significantly undermine the project performance, but how to reduce these costs remains largely unexplored. This study proposes that risk allocation in the contract between the client and contractor will impact the conflict negotiation costs and managerial controls of the client will moderate this relationship. Hypotheses were tested with a sample of 226 projects collected from Chinese construction firms. The results show that conflict negotiation costs will increase with more risks allocated to the contractor. Moreover, behavior control of the client strengthens this positive relationship but outcome control weakens it. These findings offer a nuanced understanding of how conflict negotiation costs occur and contribute to the project governance literature by exploring how ex-post governance (managerial control) aligns with ex-ante governance (risk allocation). Practitioners can benefit from this study by understanding how to formulate risk allocation strategies and exercise different managerial controls.     

Does spatial configuration matter? Understanding the effects of land cover pattern on land surface temperature in urban landscapes

The effects of land cover composition on land surface temperature (LST) have been extensively documented. Few studies, however, have examined the effects of land cover configuration. This paper investigates the effects of both the composition and configuration of land cover features on LST in Baltimore, MD, USA, using correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions. Landsat ETM + image data were used to estimate LST. The composition and configuration of land cover features were measured by a series of landscape metrics, which were calculated based on a high-resolution land cover map with an overall accuracy of 92.3%. We found that the composition of land cover features is more important in determining LST than their configuration. The land cover feature that most significantly affects the magnitude of LST is the percent cover of buildings. In contrast, percent cover of woody vegetation is the most important factor mitigating UHI effects. However, the configuration of land cover features also matters. Holding composition constant, LST can be significantly increased or decreased by different spatial arrangements of land cover features. These results suggest that the impact of urbanization on UHI can be mitigated not only by balancing the relative amounts of various land cover features, but also by optimizing their spatial configuration. This research expands our scientific understanding of the effects of land cover pattern on UHI by explicitly quantifying the effects of configuration. In addition, it may provide important insights for urban planners and natural resources managers on mitigating the impact of urban development on UHI.     

Chemical composition of rainwater at a coastal town on the southwest of Europe: what changes in 20 years?

Rainwater was collected at the Portuguese west coast between September 2008 and September 2009, and analysed for pH, conductivity, and Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, and NH₄⁺ concentrations. Results of rainwater chemical composition were compared with those obtained at the same site between 1986 and 1989. In both collection periods rainwater was predominantly (≈ 80%) associated to oceanic air masses. The rainwater concentration of H⁺ was in the same range as twenty years ago. A clear decrease of non sea salt sulphate (NSS-SO₄²⁻) was observed in 2008-2009 relatively to 1986-1989, not only in samples with origin in central and northern Europe, but also in samples from Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean. This decrease indicates that SO₂ emissions were reduced, which may be due to a lower content of sulphur in oil by-products. A decrease was also observed in NH₄⁺ concentration in 2008-2009. On the contrary an increase of NO₃⁻ concentration was observed for samples of all origins in 2008-2009 relatively to 1986-1989, which was particularly high (more than 3 fold) for samples with origin in Atlantic Ocean, suggesting the incorporation of this ion by rainout at the sampling site. The contribution of local sources is indeed suggested by the moderate negative correlation of NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and NSS-SO₄²⁻ with rainwater volume. The high increase of NO₃⁻ concentration can be attributed to the increase of local vehicular and industrial emissions in the sampling area.     

Is there an endogeneity problem between health and apartment value? Gender differences and the impact of obesity on property self-evaluation

Journal of Housing and the Built Environment - Background Numerous studies have compared self evaluation and market values of apartments by employing hedonic regressions. Most of these studies...     

Arsenic in soils and plants of woodland regenerated on an arsenic-contaminated substrate: a sustainable natural remediation?

Plant As accumulation at three As-polluted sites where spontaneous re-vegetation has taken place is examined. Each site had a different source of soil As (coal fly ash, LeBlanc process waste, canal dredging). Plant analysis indicates that soil-plant As transfer is poor at each site. Any mobile As is retained in root tissues, with little transfer to shoots. Bryophytes, pteridophytes, herbaceous and woody plants sampled at each site predominantly showed As concentrations of <3 mg kg(-1) dry wt, whilst total soil As ranged between 50 and 220 mg kg(-1) dry wt. Risk associated with food chain transfer at these sites is low when compared to other routes such as direct ingestion/inhalation of As-contaminated particulates re-entrained from an unvegetated or unstable substrate.     

Is there suitable housing near work? The impact of housing suitability on commute distances in Montreal,Toronto, and Vancouver

This paper makes a novel contribution by examining the impacts of housing suitability on the commute. Smart Growth and related planning policies have contributed to higher residential densities with the aim to reduce commute distances and enhance urban sustainability. While important in terms of alleviating sprawl, reductions in space accompanying increases in densities may not be suitable for larger households. If households instead commute longer distances, the sustainability objective of minimizing commute distances is undercut. We operationalize housing suitability at the household level in different ways, analysing the characteristics of housing available near the place of work in relation to the housing suitability needs based on household characteristics. Regardless of the measure used, the better the match between workers’ housing suitability needs and the housing stock available near work, the shorter the commute. The paper uniquely highlights the importance of explicitly considering housing suitability in planning for sustainability.