A NEW URBAN CONSERVATISM: The Case of Hartford,Connecticut

ABSTRACT: A new urban conservatism has developed in Hartford, Connecticut, one of the US' poorest cities. Over one-quarter of its population lives below the poverty level, and every modern urban problem exists within the city. Since 1993, the local government has been controlled by a bipartisan coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats that has set a distinctive tone in local governance, responding heavily to business elements over the poor. Three controversies that illustrate this conservatism are analyzed: (1) an attempt at private management of the school system; (2) the utilization of zoning to curtail social services in the city; and (3) the limiting of public participation and oversight of city council activities. These developments suggest that a new type of urban conservative regime may be developing, stemming from a new ethos of privatism and the emerging global economy.     

Historic Preservation Policy and Regime Politics in Atlanta

Stone and others described historic preservation policy in Atlanta as a failure because of the inability of preservation advocates to participate effectively in the governing regime. Yet in 1989, Mayor Andrew Young approved a comprehensive new preservation ordinance that reflected a shift in priorities by the city's business and political leaders to recognize the importance of preserving and reusing older buildings. The enactment of this new preservation‐based redevelopment policy was the result of a process of social learning by Atlanta's regime participants. This research examines the development of the new historic preservation policy, its effects on neighborhoods and commercial areas, and its connections to regime theory. Rather than being a failure, historic preservation policy in Atlanta succeeded in balancing the interests of developers, property owners, and preservation advocates.     

HUGH GOVERNS? Regime and Education Policy in Charlotte,North Carolina

ABSTRACT: Motivated by concerns about economic development, business leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, have been intimately involved in education policy for the past 25 years. In the 1970s, they played a key role in implementing a landmark busing plan. Support for busing was an important aspect of the business elite's alliance with the leadership of the black community. That alliance, decisive in mayoral elections from the 1960s to 1987, was a defining characteristic of Charlotte's regime during this period. However, the growth facilitated by that regime helped undermine both it and the busing plan by bringing to Charlotte many newcomers with minimal economic and ideological attachments to the city's desegregation accomplishments. Fearing that future development would be jeopardized, Charlotte's long-time business leaders threw their support behind the dismantling of the busing plan and its replacement by magnets. Additional reasons for business involvement in education are also discussed, as is the extent of business influence on education policy.     

The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City,the Underclass,and Public Policy

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes the main issues and arguments contained in The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy, by William J. Wilson (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987) and takes issue with several methodological aspects of the book. Although Wilson's emphasis on the specific problems of inner city residents is generally insightful and useful, his adherence to a traditional liberal public policy approach limits the practically, applicability, and consistency of many of his themes. A more pluralistic approach may provide a more methodologically fruitful avenue for analyzing the problems of the underclass and the inner city while yielding more effective policy categories such as liberal and conservative, scholars and analysts can better acknowledge the relative roles of both institutional and subjective elements in the urban environment.     

城市公共政策与城市规划政策概论--城市总体规划实施政策研究

本文阐述了城市规划政策与城市公共政策之间的关系,并在揭示了城市公共政策特征的基础上,对城市规划政策的组成及其实施的保障机制等方面进行了探讨.     

Slumlords and Public Policy

Noting the relative scarcity of macro studies of planning, this research focuses on differences in the professional development of municipal planning agencies. That phenomenon is measured with statistics on both planners and planning organizations. We hypothesize that the more professionalized the municipality's planning agency, the greater the agency's output of planning products, such as plans, technical studies, and zoning regulations. We also hypothesize that certain aspects of the socioeconomic context of municipal planning affect planning outputs. These aspects are resources that suggest a fiscal capacity for planning and social conditions that suggest a need for it. In fact, only the first hypothesis is supported by our data. Correlation and path analysis indicate that only agency professionalism affects planning outputs. Tentative explanations for this result are offered, and specific subjects for additional macro analysis of planning are discussed.     

POLICY REVIEW - Regime Shifts in Dutch Housing Policy

Since the early 1980s many Western governments have been faced with the challenge of dismantling their unwieldy social policy systems. In the Netherlands, housing policies were one of the first fields to undergo the shift from the previous patterns of direct 'governmental' intervention to the new regimes of 'governance'. The social and political aspirations of housing policy were not put aside however. Instead, they are now being pursued by establishing rules which determine the relations between social and governmental actors in another way (the new regime of 'order' rules). The author analyses the emergence of the rules of the new regime and discusses some of the institutional and distributive implications.     

改革开放以来农村五保供养政策变迁的公共政策分析

后税费时代,我国农村五保供养政策实现了从集体救助向国家救助的变迁。通过组合修正后形成的渐进主义—多源流理论进行分析后表明:农村五保供养政策的问题源流源于我国发展战略和城乡关系的定位,政策源流源于学术建议和具体方案的推动,政治源流源于执政理念和社会理念的转变。源流的渐进发展开启了政策之窗并在政府情境认知和政党意志推动下实现汇合,从而最终促成了五保供养政策的变迁。     

Community Power,Public Policy Initiatives and the Management of Growth in Brisbane

Abstract

Partly in response to rapid population growth in south-east Queensland and a growing imbalance in demographic patterns between Brisbane City and surrounding shires, there is renewed activity in planning for the region by all levels of government. The Brisbane City Council, in 1990, engaged a consultant to produce its first large scale strategy plan for the city, and the State government, in 1991, established a regional planning advisory group to undertake a similar planning exercise for the south-east region. Moreover, it is anticipated that federal programs such as ‘Building Better Cities’ will provide financial support to the region for improved transport systems, urban renewal and infrastructure development.

The urban sociologist, Harvey Molotch (1976, 1987) has challenged the normative conception of planning as a rational activity by incorporating into his analysis the notion of power, in particular, a form of community power which he has called ‘the growth machine’. While a growth coalition of interests can be discerned in Brisbane, the extent to which they have influence in planning decisions needs to be measured against political influences such as the structure of government in Australia and the nature of intergovernmental relations, as well as the politics of party.     

华中地区公租房政策及规划建设研究

公共租赁房屋作为解决城市夹心层住房困难问题的主要解决途径,其规划建设和实施情况被广泛关注。公租房发展策略宜因地制宜,以人为本,借鉴成功地区的实践经验尤为重要。本文将概略介绍公租房内涵,再以重庆、香港、韩国三个成功实施地区为借鉴进行对比,分析河南、湖北、湖南三地公租房政策实施建设情况,为华中地区公租房规划和建设的科学有序发展提供建议。     

公共政策视角下的城市设计变革

本文从公共政策视角认为城市设计在快速城市化进程中,针对法定城市规划体系中二维城市总体规划,从三维乃至四维角度的控制和引导城市空间形态,成为沟通城市规划和建筑学的转换器。从公共政策视角通过对城市设计地位确立、内容形式、规划实施、政策保障等方面进行研究,发挥城市设计在城市特色化建设过程中的独特作用。     

Public Policy and Renewal of Old Housing: The Case of Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The rules and laws enforced in France in 1977 regarding the policy of old housing renewal have extended public intervention to the whole housing stock built before 1948. It came as a complement to the 1962 Malraux Law which exclusively concerned old city centres whose architectural value was preserved. Has the objective put forward to improve old housing by maintaining their residents (tenants and owner occupiers) been reached? The public policy of old housing renewal and its consequences on social occupancy are analysed in their relation to the ownership structure and to the property strategies of the actors who finance this rehabilitation. The paper examines Nord-Pas-de-Calais, one of the regions in France where the old housing stock is the lowest in quality. As for the social changes in the occupancy of these neighbourhoods, our 1995 study confirmed the results obtained in 1988. Four years after the end of the improvement programmes, these neighbourhoodshave retained a residential function for working-class occupants. However, two new trends emerged. On the one hand, despite a better integration of old housing in the policies implemented by local authorities since the 1982-83 decentralisation law, the incentive role of state aids to renewal is increasingly limited. On the other hand, property disinvestment has only been partially reduced. Some housing units remain unimproved and some buildings remain unoccupied. The housing supply is higher than the demand. Ownership of old housing is undermined by demand for housing estates in suburban areas.     

Public Policy and Small Towns in Arid South Africa: The Case of Philippolis

Internationally and in South Africa, small towns have been subjected to several external factors leading to their decline, with decentralisation processes placing increased pressure on them to develop locally based responses to these external realities. However, very little academic research has been conducted on the impact of national and sub-national public policies on small towns. Instead, the emphasis has tended to fall on policy frameworks and formulas which can be applied in blanket fashion across different settlement types. South African developmental policies have made no provision for coherent socio-economic developmental support strategies aimed at the more than 500 small towns and the numerous struggling local governance structures, which are virtually all fighting for long-term sustainability. This research is based on a review focusing on selected social, economic and governance policies. The aim is to investigate both the influence of some of these policies and the impact of their implementation in the context of the small town of Philippolis. It will be argued that these policies have not benefited Philippolis and/or that they have been applied inappropriately within this small town. Finally, a number of general recommendations will be made, along with certain policy-related considerations.

1965年以来香港公共交通发展与运输政策演进

本文回顾了1965年以来的香港公共交通发展与运输政策演进历史,分别从探索中的缓慢发展阶段,转型期的理性扩张阶段和面向未来的精明增长阶段对这一过程进行解读;揭示了香港公共交通发展与运输政策经历了从供给导向到需求管理和从单一目标到系统性解决途径的发展历程;进而讨论了对内地特大城市交通发展的借鉴意义。     

我国公共建筑节能政策设计原则与建议

基于当前的公共建筑节能工作情况,分析实施中存在的问题,指出公共建筑政策设计应坚持强制性节能与经济激励节能相结合、能耗总量控制与分项细化控制相结合、技术节能与行为节能相结合、政府引导与市场运作相结合的原则。在此基础上,提出进一步完善公共建筑节能政策的建议。