Policy and planning for the urbanized rural areas—The case of Sweden

The rural areas in Sweden are now facing an inevitable situation caused by forces which have become increasingly strong over time. National and international influences have become more dominant in economic, social as well as cultural respects. Rapid expansion of employment and new technology within the information sector are also significant inputs. The traditional role of rural areas as producers of raw materials will be retained, but production will be further automated and demand less employees. In several respects we can identify growing urban characteristics in rural areas, which to a large extent are the outcome of market‐based adjustment processes which have been supported by governmental policy and planning. We shall identify two different visions concerning the future of rural Sweden. Within the Parliamentary Delegation for Development of Sparsely Populated Areas (connected to the Ministry of Industry) a decentralisation strategy has been formulated aiming at consolidating the existing settlement pattern. We conclude, however, that in practice—considering the consequences of all governmental resource transfers—the government is promoting a strategy which focuses on the modernization of rural areas, so they will become increasingly integrated with other parts of the settlement system.     

The promotion of access legislation—A developing country perspective from Ghana

In Ghana, as in other developing African countries, there is growing awareness of the reality that some of the key constraints towards the participation of disabled persons in development programmes, are the physical barriers in the built environment, which inhibit the free movement of disabled persons to places of education, employment, commerce, recreation and worship. This paper discusses some of the local factors that have restrained the promotion of access legislation in Ghana, and recommends strategic actions for utilising existing institutional structures to pursue access legislation to safeguard the accessibility of the built environment to disabled persons.     

The reconstruction of housing in Palestine 1993–2000: a case study from the Gaza Strip

In the Palestinian Territories, housing is thought to be amongst the most difficult problems facing the National Authority (PNA) (Al‐Agha, 1997 Al‐Agha Z (1997) A national outlook for housing in Palestine in: A. B. Zahlan (Ed.) Reconstruction of Palestine, Urban and Rural Development (London, Kegan Paul)  [Google Scholar], p. 3). Increased Israeli settlements, the large size of Palestinian families, the deteriorating economic situation, the lack of national banks operating in the field of housing, the presence of refugee settlements containing over 1.2 million people, the Israeli state's policy of residential demolition and land confiscation have all combined to present a severe obstacle to urban reconstruction in the region. In an attempt to address these issues and to make some progress towards realising the estimated 180 000 housing units required by the Palestinian people, the Palestinian Housing Council (PHC) was established in 1992 (Abd Alhadi, 1994 Abd Alhadi, R (1994) Construction and Housing in the West Bank and (Gaza) Strip (Geneva, United Nations Commission on Trade and Development)  [Google Scholar]; Ziara, 1997 Ziara M (1997) The Palestinian Ministry of Housing. Challenging and opportunities in A. B. Zahlan (ed.) Reconstruction of Palestine, Urban and Rural Development (London, Kegan Paul)  [Google Scholar]). Although it has had some success, the organisation has been plagued by reports of internal dissent and disputes with its beneficiaries. This paper seeks to cast some light on these controversies by focusing on the PHC's role in the Elkarama Housing Project in the Gaza Strip during the period 1993 to 2000.1 Here it must be emphasised that this paper does not claim to provide an analysis of the current situation in Gaza. The authors acknowledge that conditions in Palestine are extremely fluid and have, to a great degree, overtaken the issues considered above. In examining this rapidly‐evolving environment, however, it is valuable to reflect upon recent changes and, while recognising the acute systemic problems that Palestinian administrators face, to offer critical assessments of domestic policy decisions and their outcome. View all notes It will first outline the broader context in which public institutions within the Gaza Strip operate before offering an account of the structure and background of the PHC. It will then consider Elkarama itself and will conclude by summing up the various factors that have determined the project's outcome. Finally, the paper will offer some tentative recommendations for improved housing provisions within the Gaza Strip in the future.     

Loan‐to‐value ratios in Sweden. The impact of financial deregulation

We ask how financial deregulation in Sweden during the 1980s affected housing finance by studying data on loan‐to‐value (LTV) ratios for home owners who moved recently. Accounting for the impact of demographic and economic determinants we find that LTV ratios were higher between 1985 and 1987 than in earlier and later years. This time pattern suggests that the deregulation of the mortgage institutions and the removal of the loan rate ceiling on banks in 1983 and 1984 were more important than abolishment of the bank loan ceiling in late 1985. They also indicate a decrease in loan demand and/or supply as early as 1988, i.e., well before the banking crisis.     

The antecedents of co‐operative behaviour among project team members: an alternative perspective on an old issue

Poor project performance is generally attributed to a lack of co‐operation between project participants. Much work is directed towards understanding the structural and organizational antecedents of co‐operation, but little in understanding how socio‐psychological factors affect individual co‐operative behaviour. Using social identity theory, this study attempts to fill this research gap by arguing that individuals define their self‐concepts through the organizations with which they identify and that these identity‐based forces are the basis for the development of co‐operative behaviour. Empirical findings using responses from 398 senior executives of construction firms substantiate this argument, as individuals with strong organizational identity are indeed more psychologically predisposed to behave co‐operatively. There are grounds to propose that organizational identity should be used in conjunction with other tangible economic incentives as effective mechanisms for improving individual co‐operation. Therefore, rigorous attempts by construction firms to foster such identity may prove fruitful to overall project performance. Further research is needed to explore how it may impact on other important aspects of co‐operation such as decision making and problem solving processes within the construction industry.     

How market competitive is America's public housing? The case of Baltimore

This study estimates what would happen to one local Housing Authority (HA)-the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC), Maryland-if the public housing program were transformed to: eliminate certain key aspects of Federal government regulation, especially with respect to occupancy and rent rules; end Federal operating subsidies to HAs; provide current public housing residents with a portable housing certificate under the Section 8 Existing Housing program, permitting them to choose whether to use it in HA developments or in the private market; and require HAs to compete in the marketplace for residents and revenues. Martin Abravanel is a Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute. Terrence Connell is Manager of the Statistical Analysis Team, Real Estate Assessment Center, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Deborah Devine is a Social Science Research Analyst in the Program Monitoring and Research Division, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Debra Gross is Director of Research, Council of Large Public Housing Authorities. Lester Rubin is a Social Science Research Analyst in the Program Monitoring and Research Division, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.     

Movers and Stayers on the housing market in the post‐parental stage: The Swedish case

The 1987 reform of the system of Acts on physical planning in Sweden is often referred to as a decentralization from central to local government. A review of the historical changes in Acts on Planning and Building in Sweden illustrates, however, a more complicated picture of central‐local government relations. This review, which focuses upon the constitutional‐legal dimension of this relationship, indicates shifts that have most often put central government in a more powerful position vis‐á‐vis local government. In addition, the last legal reform eliminates local government's rights to put a veto on the localization of certain industrial plants, which might cause legitimation conflicts.     

How to approach consumers’ nonmonetary evaluation of electricity supply security? The case of Germany from a multidisciplinary perspective

Consumers’ preferences regarding the security of supply (SoS) of electricity are generally assessed through economic estimates of the value of lost load. However, this monodisciplinary approach typically builds on homo oeconomicus assumptions and neglects consumers’ nonmonetary evaluations of SoS. This can result in short-sighted regulation, especially in the context of a transition like Germany’s Energiewende. This paper provides a consumer-centered perspective on SoS employing psychological and sociological research on energy. German consumers’ strong involvement in the Energiewende and their strong commitment to it make them a fascinating case. To determine the practical implications, we explore under what circumstances altered levels of SoS could be acceptable to consumers.     

Treatment of wastewater from the meat manufacturing industry‐case study

Meat manufacturing mill wastewaters (MMM) originating from meat processing units are the most polluted wastewaters of the food industry. Discharged wastewater was characterized by high values of COD, BOD and TSS (6612, 2550 and 6220) mg/l, respectively. Moreover, the wastewater contains significant concentrations of oil and grease amounting to 4482 mg/l. Treatment processes namely, plain sedimentation, plain flotation, pressurized dissolved air flotation, chemical coagulation and biological treatment via a completely mixed activated sludge process, were chosen for this study. The results obtained revealed that plain sedimentation, column flotation and dissolved air flotation (DAF) exhibited good efficiency in removing flotation fats (93.5, 96, and 97.3%, respectively). Alum, ferrous sulfate and ferric chloride precipitation in‐combination with lime at their optimum operating conditions as minimal pre‐treatment procedures for the removal of organic matter contents exhibited good efficiency of COD, BOD, and oil and grease. The chemically treated effluent doesn't comply with the Law No.4/1994 (Egyptian Standards which regulating the discharge of industrial wastewater to the sewerage network). This is due to the high concentration of soluble organics. Activated sludge plant (ASP) with long aeration time (8hr) was suitable for the case under consideration. Results show that average residual COD, BOD, TSS and oil and grease were 270, 62, 78 and 9.8 mg/l, respectively. The biologically treated effluent is complying with Standards of discharge wastewaters to the sewerage network.     

The justification of planning solutions in ecological housing ‐ a case study of Viikki in Helsinki

Ecology and sustainability have produced new challenges to traditional argumentation in urban planning. In addition to the rhetorical approach informed by Perelman's ‘new rhetoric’, the recent changes can be analysed by using more traditional philosophical argumentation critique, which is also in line with recent developments in argumentation theory. The state of the art in planning is analysed in this article through a case study of an architectural competition for ‘ecological housing’ held in Helsinki in 1995. The analysis illustrates the way that environmentalism produces new discursive means of justification, but not necessarily new types of urban planning.     

Convergences and discrepancies between the policy of inclusionary housing and Norway’s liberal housing and planning policy: an institutional perspective

Inclusionary housing brings together housing supply policies and social housing policies. This article contrasts this combination of policies to a situation where the two policies are kept separate. Drawing on theory of institutional change, the article highlights constitutional, organisational and cultural aspects of inclusionary housing policy and compares this with the features of a policy where inclusionary housing is not adopted. The article seeks to assess similarities and discrepancies between the English version of inclusionary housing and Norway’s housing and planning policy. The planning law and practices, the policy for housing affordability, financial support systems, actors and organisations are assessed and compared. The article concludes that if Norway wanted to implement ICH, it would be possible to customise the planning practices and finance schemes, but new organisations would have to be established. On top of that, there are also cultural divergences between the policy regimes that would need to be regarded.     

Danish low‐rise housing co‐operatives (bofsellesskaber) as an example of a local community organization

This article gives a brief survey of the recent discussion among research workers in Scandinavia on the role of local communities today and in the future. Three different kinds of local community development are defined as the transferring of tasks to local community organizations from respectively the market economy, the public sector and the family. The Danish low‐rise housing co‐operative—called “bofællesskaber"—can be seen as a kind of a small local community organization in a housing area. These co‐operatives differ from other kinds of housing collectives by their size and by being based on co‐operation between nuclear families. The experience of bofællesskaber in connection with the discussion on local community development is that for different reasons they are difficult to establish, but after the establishment phase function well. How well they function, though, depends upon to what extent they succeed in establishing common tasks and activities that serve the fundamental material and social needs of the occupants in the housing areas.     

New goals and methods in connection with the reshaping of multi‐storey housing areas—The gellerup project

Despite the fact that many large housing estates of the 1960s and 1970s are well planned, they have run into a vicious circle of severe and mutually intensifying social, environmental, technical and economic problems. This article reports on an experimental project in one such area, Gellerupparken. Taking the everyday life and the resources of area residents as the point of departure, the project tried to develop residential life and resources through several sub‐projects involving the inhabitants of the area. A socio‐cultural and an environmental improvement project are described in some detail. The main experiences of the project are (a) that a flexible and integrated effort adapted to local conditions has the best chances of success in changing residential life and area image, and (é) that such changes will last and continue long after such an effort is finished.     

Underrated transformations in the open space—The case of an urbanized and multifunctional area

The open space in Flanders is subjected to different transformation processes. These processes are related to dynamic interactions within an urbanizing society and to competition for space by an increasing number of functions. Despite the acknowledgement of dynamic land use demands, the current categorizations of land use and land cover are not always able to catch transformations related to e.g. newcomers in land use, ecosystem services and multifunctionality in mixed urban–rural areas. Remote sensing tools and census data are insufficient when studying a complex and intensively used space. This research therefore aims to identify underrated transformations in the study area Flanders (the northern part of Belgium) using two main sources: (i) open expert interviews and (ii) three case studies. The interviews serve to formulate a renewed framework that can be used to describe transformations in the open space. The transformation processes that emerge from the interviews and case studies are compared to those defined and recognized in the current spatial planning policy and in existing monitoring data, in order to identify bottlenecks and options for future spatial planning policy. The major conclusions of this paper are (i) a critical view on the analysis and categorization of functions and open space as it is currently practiced in land use monitoring and land use planning programs, (ii) additional data needs to encompass transformation processes in the open space and (iii) the need for a more integral vision for open space.     

Independent regulation of government-owned monopolies: An oxymoron? The case of electricity distribution in Australia

The network component of household electricity bills served by government-owned network service providers in Australia more than doubled between 2007 and 2013. Their regulated assets and profits more than tripled over this period. These outcomes have been delivered under a similar system of price cap regulation that has delivered quite different outcomes in Great Britain, and in Victoria (Australia) to the privately owned network service providers in that state. We conclude that changes in operating conditions, demand, customer numbers or reliability do not explain this. Rather we find that government ownership has undermined the authority and independence of economic regulation. The Australian experience in the regulation of government-owned electricity distributors casts doubt on the assumption that regulation can be entirely independent of government ownership, or would operate in the same way as for an entity in private ownership.     

Non-profit housing,a tool for metropolitan cohesion? The case of the Vienna–Bratislava region

Non-profit housing has a long history both in Austria and in Slovakia, even if recent socio-economic and political transformations question this model born in the nineteenth century. This type of housing is considered as affordable housing according to a generalist conception in Austria and a residual one in Slovakia. But in spite of divergences in their national housing policies, both countries are facing common challenges which are epitomised in the Vienna–Bratislava region. This article analyses the role of non-profit housing in bringing more cohesion to a growing but fragmented metropolitan region.     

The construction labour market skills crisis: the perspective of small–medium‐sized firms

Reports abound of the detrimental effect of the construction skills crisis on the performance and future development of the UK construction industry. The industry's continued growth in output, coupled with its unpopularity as a career choice, has led to extreme pressure on its labour market capacity. There remains, however, a paucity of empirical research into the nature of its highly complex labour market. In particular, very little attention has been paid to the impacts being felt by the smaller firms who account for the vast majority of the industry's economic output and employment. This paper reports on research that has explored the perspectives of smaller employers with respect to the skills crisis. Using an inductive methodology, this research canvassed the opinions of representatives of small‐ and medium‐sized (SME) firms in order to establish the impact of skills shortages on the operational efficiency of the industry. The paper reveals the complex interplay of factors which have combined to shape the industry's skills crisis in recent years and uncovers the practical implications for firms attempting to operate in increasingly tight labour market conditions.     

The effect of temperature on the emission of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from laminate flooring — case study

The effect of temperatures of 23, 29, 50°C on formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission from laminate flooring Type A (with particleboard as substrate) and Type B (with high density fibre (HDF)) was examined. At 23 and 29°C the measurements did not show any emissions of formaldehyde and very low emissions of VOCs. At a temperature of 50°C, Type A showed a high initial emission of formaldehyde and VOCs, which decreased with time. The emission from Type B was much lower. In conclusion, some laminate flooring may affect the chemical contamination of indoor air with the use of floor heating.