Shaping the discourse of worker health in the UK construction industry

The UK construction industry is in poor health, statistics show rates of occupational illness significantly higher than for workers in any other industry. Recently, the scope of occupational health management on large sites has increased as public health has become included within the organizational remit. Concerns have been raised around the consequences of this development, its close relationships to Corporate Social Responsibility, and how this is now shaping the wider discourse. To explore this phenomenon, a critical discourse analysis of UK “construction worker health” has been carried out, using the public-facing data of ten large UK contractors. Findings show that “public” has now overtaken “occupational”, the latter restricted to legal compliance presented as corporate citizenship, the former championed as evidence of benevolent organizational values. Yet public health concerns are limited to those of lifestyle and individual responsibility, whilst more complex issues around the social determinants of health as associated with work are missing from the discourse, separating organizations from the impacts of their work on their workers. A contemporary mapping of “construction worker health” is developed for consideration by industry and academics to support future health initiatives and research.     

Conserving Rental Housing A Policy Analysis

Conserving the existing stock of rental housing is a key part of any policy to house low-and moderate-income people and to revitalize their neighborhoods. Local governments, with their limited resources, have growing responsibility for the conservation efforts. But they have little information about what programs actually result in better maintenance and repair of rental housing. This article, based on studies of landlords' investments in repairs to their buildings, outlines policies for shaping effective programs to conserve rental housing. It focuses on six crucial issues: how to divide public actions between those that directly support housing improvements and those that indirectly encourage rehabilitation by improving neighborhood conditions; how much assistance to provide, and where to concentrate it geographically; how to involve other private parties, especially lenders; which owners to assist; what level of rehabilitation to support for a given building; and how to balance the use of “carrots” and “sticks.”     

The effects of cohousing on the social housing system: the case of the Threshold Centre

This work aims to assess whether cohousing communities might generate positive effects in terms of social housing. Cohousing projects are “supportive” communities where many types of informal support networks arise, referring to the concept of sharing spaces, facilities, but also properties, the decision-making process, and experiences. The costs of the sites and construction are often higher than a “normal condominium” (especially if they are resident-led communities), and sometimes, they might be responsible for the failure of the groups: inhabitants of those communities born spontaneously, without any kind of public aid, are mainly from a medium–high socio-economic status. However, in the UK, where cohousing follows mainly a grassroots model, some communities are able to keep the costs down, in particular by the creation of mixed tenure systems, collaboration with Housing Associations and self-building processes. The Threshold Centre in England allocates 50 % of the residential units for social housing. The collaboration with a Housing Association produced a “good housing” model, which allowed both a reduction in construction time and a guarantee of the creation of a heterogeneous group (but with a compact identity), as well as the inclusion of socio-economically vulnerable people.     

东日本大地震灾后住房重建对策与启示研究

2011年3月11日东日本大地震灾后,日本东北地区成千上万套毁损住宅的重建工作所遇困境、创新政策与恢复状况的经验,为灾后住房重建实践提供借鉴。基于东日本大地震灾后10年内日本东北地区官方地震灾后重建文件、二手文献和实况记录等资料,梳理分析,总结归纳。发现日本东北地区灾后住房重建对策具有多样性、宽松性、针对性、统一性等特点。日本东北地区灾后住房重建中的多目标、新思路、弹性参与、重主体选择等先进经验对于正面临老龄化加剧、新生率缓行双重社会背景的中国具有重要启示意义。     

Mortgage-equity release: the potential of housing wealth for future Dutch retirees

Interest in the use of housing wealth for future retirees is a topic of growing interest amongst policymakers and scientists. Owner-occupiers who are outright owners have lower housing expenses than tenants do, and they have substantial nest eggs. Mortgage markets leapt on this development and offers special products for the elderly, with which they could release their housing wealth. The question in this paper involves the extent to which households build housing equity (i.e. wealth) that could be released. This question is particularly interesting for the Netherlands, the country with the highest mortgage debt per capita in the European Union. This paper aims to combine two different theoretical debates: the debate on “the trade-off between owner-occupation and the welfare state” and the debate on the “life cycle theory”. It introduces the concept of the equity-to-value ratio, which is derived from the trade-off theory, and reveals the extent to which the people in the Netherlands accumulate housing wealth. This ratio shows that households do build equity. Further analysis indicates that this equity is not built as much by repaying the loan as it is by taking advantage of house price increases.     

基于“情感唤起”理论的景点组织方法研究

本文从风景区规划景源撷取及组织环节中存在的普遍问题入手，在分析现状景点撷取与组织问题的基础上，提出了基于“情感唤起”理论的规划设计思路，旨在使景源情感魅力在景点空间的重新组织中得以延续。     

Residential inequality in Sweden: A conceptual distinction

This article focuses on two concepts that have been used to study the living conditions of different social groups in Sweden, “residential segregation” and “housing market segmentation”. Distinctions between the two concepts are made in reference to four areas. Although the relation of the groups in question to a basic social inequality is a point of contention in the tradition of residential segregation, when it comes to housing market segmentation the literature more clearly points to a basic inequality in society. Both concepts imply a certain physical hierarchy associated with the residential living of specific social groups. In reference to both concepts one can point to additional attributes that make one or more residential areas or particular form of tenure more advantageous or attractive than others. Finally in reference to residential segregation one would generally assume that the extra benefits from living in a higher quality area would cost more. A similar assumption, however, cannot be made using the concept of housing market segmentation. The attempt to highlight questions of housing tenure by considering them under a separate concept has clear merits. The next step is to explore how these two phenomena, in some circumstances, interact with each other.     

Rights to Housing: Reviewing the Terrain and Exploring a Way Forward

Exacerbated by the specificity of housing as a welfare good, debates on housing, citizenship and rights are complex and often confusing. This article attempts to clarify the debate on rights-based approaches in the field of housing, shelter and homelessness. It focuses on the philosophical distinction between “natural” and “socially constructed” rights, and suggests that a plausible “third way” may be found by using Martha Nussbaum’s “central human capabilities” approach as a foundation for universal human rights. “Citizenship” is proposed as a conceptual bridge between the philosophical discourse on rights and its practical application in specific political contexts. For this purpose, T.H. Marshall’s classic division between “civil” and “social” citizenship rights is translated into a distinction between “legal” and “programmatic” rights to housing. The article demonstrates that it is possible to object to the notion of natural and/or human rights in the housing field, and still be in favour of clearly delimited legal rights to housing for homeless people and others in acute need. Conversely, one may be in sympathy with the discourse of universal moral rights, but be sceptical about the allegedly “atomizing” implications of individually enforceable legal rights.     

企业项目群协同管理组织模式构建

随着社会经济的不断发展，以“群”为单位的多项目协同管理模式逐渐成为企业运营的趋势，对传统以单项目为中心的组织管理模式提出了新挑战。为深化企业项目群协同管理，发挥多项目协同效应，构建了企业项目群“纵横”协同的组织管理模式:通过组织层级划分构建了“企业战略—项目群—项目”的多级纵向协同组织模式；分析了项目群构成组件间的要素、流程与职能协同模式，提出了项目间的横向协同组织模式；基于信息化平台融合“纵横”协同特征，构建了企业项目群的综合协同管理组织框架，为企业应对项目群协同管理、构建科学管理组织提供了理论参考和借鉴。     

Interstitial Space and Everyday Housing Practices

Abstract

This paper explores the role of interstitial space and everyday housing practices at the domestic scale. Interstitial space is often framed as “empty” or “in-between” space located in the shadows of conventional built form and everyday practices. In this paper, we focus on interstitial space as a site of often undervalued or taken-for-granted housing possibility. We begin the paper by outlining the contours of interstitial space as a theoretical concept before highlighting two cross-cultural examples of domestic housing storage practices within the Australian context: (1) “under the house” in the Queensland vernacular and (2) “close to the wind-break” in a remote Aboriginal community in the centre of Australia. We conclude by drawing attention to the importance of interstitial spatial practices for housing theory and practice and offer suggestions for further research.     

Decentralisation in the public housing sector in Sweden

In 1981 SABO (The Swedish Association of Municipal Housing Companies), which is the interest organization for housing companies in the public housing sector in Sweden, launched a new policy for organization and working methods in housing management. The core of the new ideas was decentralisation and reduced distance between the management of housing companies and tenants. However, SABO companies decide on their own internal affairs. This paper examines organizational developments in the sector in the early eighties. The research problem is to study whether any structural changes have taken place in accordance with the new policy. The material consists of a questionnaire to the companies. The analysis shows that major structural changes have taken place. In addition an explorative study is made of various factors which may have contributed to the process. The authors suggest an interpretation of the development in a motive‐means perspective in which the exposed position of the sector and the evident shortcomings of earlier working methods were the companies’ motives for change and in which new knowledge and new ideas were their chief means.     

The Big Society and the Conjunction of Crises: Justifying Welfare Reform and Undermining Social Housing

Abstract

The idea of the “Big Society” can be seen as culmination of a long-standing debate about the regulation of welfare. Situating the concept within governance theory, the article considers how the UK coalition government has justified a radical restructuring of welfare provision, and considers its implications for housing provision. Although drawing on earlier modernization processes, the article contends that the genesis for welfare reform was based on an analysis that the government was forced to respond to a unique conjunction of crises: in morality, the state, ideology and economics. The government has therefore embarked upon a programme, which has served to undermine the legitimacy of the social housing sector (most notably in England), with detrimental consequences for residents and raising significant dilemmas for those working in the housing sector.     

中国房价涨势的需求拉动和溢出效应研究

基于 2006~2016 年中国 30 个省市的房价面板数据,运用固定效应模型和分位数回归从整体和局部的视角来探讨房价波动的影响因素。研究结果表明:从整体来看,收入和房价溢出水平拉动房价上涨的特征较为明显;在东部地区,人口因素对房价波动的正向影响强于其他因素;在中部地区,建设成本和房价溢出因素的变动对房价波动的影响最大;在西部地区,人口因素和房价溢出因素对房价涨势的影响最为显著。研究认为,应坚持贯彻“房子是用来住的,不是用来炒的”理念,遏制房地产的投机行为,使住房逐步恢复到原有的“居住”属性。     

人性化的医院空间环境——家居化的空间设计

从人性化的设计思想出发 ,在医院建筑环境中引入世俗化 (即家庭生活的各层面 )、家居化的设计概念 ,从购物中心、旅馆、住宅等日常活动场所中汲取素材 ,结合医院自身的特点 ,提出了“医院街”、“旅馆式”和“居住式”的医院建筑环境模式 ,必然引起医院建筑空间的构成与组织方式的变化和空间设计观念的变革     

粤港澳大湾区背景下建筑师负责制解读与思考

揭示粤港澳大湾区实施建筑师负责制存在的困难及政策文件解读,为业界人士参与大湾区建筑师负责制提供参考。对《粤港澳大湾区建筑师负责制指引（征求意见稿）》进行解读,结合问卷做现状研究,总结归纳。发现业界对建筑师负责制发展疑虑集中在收费、法律法规、责任保险、建筑师综合能力等方面,而《指引》对上述问题均做了详细规定。《指引》为大湾区实施建筑师负责制提供了有效政策基础,构建健康有序市场体系及建筑师培养体系,加强建筑创作和设计原创的知识产权保护是推动建筑师负责制实施的有效之举。     

建设项目组织文化与组织集成的相关关系研究

本文用实证研究的方法探讨建设项目组织文化与组织集成的相关关系,详细地讨论了关于中介变量"基于BIM的组织信息共享"与"信任合作"被引入解释项目组织文化与组织集成之间相关关系的理由。本文采用Pearson相关分析方法,用社会学统计软件SPSS11.50和结构分析软件AMOS18.0进行数据分析,分析结果充分验证了两个中介变量的解释作用,从而进一步揭示了项目组织文化与组织集成之间影响关系产生的机制。     

小产权房转为保障性住房的驱动因素分析

小产权房转为保障性住房,可缓解中低收入者无力购买商品房尴尬的景况、有效扩大保障性住房的来源,增加供给,平抑商品房价格、有效缓解城市化带来的人口在城市聚集的社会压力、有效遏制游离于国家政策控制之外小产权房的“地下市场”,意义非常重大。保持小产权房的小产权特性,是保持小产权房保障性住房功能的基本特征。在此前提下,构建了小产权房转为保障性住房后的流通和管理思路,可为小产权房问题的解决提供一定的借鉴意义。     

Promoting Responsibility,Shaping Behaviour: Housing Management,Mixed Communities and the Construction of Citizenship

This paper examines housing policies aimed at establishing mixed income communities. Based on stakeholder interviews and case study analysis in England and Scotland, the paper pays particular attention to the impact of interventions in housing management. The first part considers the policy context for mixed communities and considers the conceptual basis underlying contemporary housing management through discourses of culture and social control. The second part considers how this agenda has resulted in the adoption of intensive management strategies within mixed communities; illustrated in the development of allocation policies, initiatives designed to tackle anti-social behaviour, and proposals to develop sustainable communities. The main argument is that given that the concept of mixed communities is based on the premise of social housing failure, citizenship has been defined largely in response to private sector interests. This approach to management has been a contributory factor in the construction of social housing as a form of second-class citizenship.     

School district,education quality,and housing price: Evidence from a natural experiment in Hangzhou,China

The capitalization effect of the education quality on housing prices has been widely studied by scholars. This study considers Hangzhou, China as an example, and uses the housing data of 660 communities to establish hedonic price and spatial econometric models. Based on the idea of natural experiment, our study quantitatively assesses the influence of the quality of urban compulsory education on housing prices, and tests whether the related educational policies significantly affect the capitalization effect of education. Results show that the quality of basic educational resources has been capitalized in the surrounding housing prices and primary and secondary schools have significant school district effects. Moreover, “zero school choice” policy strengthens the effect of the school district and exacerbates the behavior of selecting a school by buying a house. Therefore, the simplistic educational policies pursuing equity, such as the “nearby enrollment” policy and “zero school choice” policy, cannot result in actual justice, but may exacerbate the division of residential areas in accordance with income and inequality of educational opportunities.