On the Question of Using the Concept ‘Slum Tourism’ for Urban Tourism in Stigmatised Neighbourhoods in Inner City Johannesburg

Since 2012, there has been a significant growth in tourism in inner city Johannesburg. Some of this tourism materialises as walking tours in disadvantaged and relatively poor inner city neighbourhoods, some of which were until recently considered no-go areas. In a paper published in Urban Forum in 2014 (Frenzel 2014), I have analysed this new phenomenon in the context of slum tourism. I define slum tourism as such forms of tourism where poverty and associated signifiers become central themes and (part of the) attraction of the visited destination. Following a broad empirical research project, Hoogendoorn and Giddy (2017) have questioned whether the concept slum tourism should be used when discussing tourism in inner city Johannesburg. This paper forms a response to the paper of Hoogendoorn and Giddy (2017).     

Valuing Social Resources or Capitalizing on Them? Limits to Pro-poor Urban Governance in Nine Cities of the South

Drawing on research in nine cities of Africa, Asia and Latin America, evidence of local-level networks and associational life is analysed, to assess where benefits accrue when they are harnessed in the interests of city governance. Adopting a critical approach to the concept of social capital, it is concluded that the social resources of the urban poor (family, kinship, social networks and community-level organization) are as much an asset for urban development institutions and processes as they are for the poor themselves. Although urban government and other development agencies may draw upon the social resources of poor communities and benefit from or respond to public action, this does not mean that they depend on them. Although public action is important to ensure local democracy, social capital, it is concluded, does not guarantee pro-poor governance.     

Review of the Research on Urban Social Problems in Recent Years

In the last 10 years, China has madeconsiderable progress in urbanization withincreasing numbers of both city and urbanpopulation. This has played a positive rolein promoting the country's political, eco-nomic and cultural development. However,the process of urbanization has broughtalong new problems and contradictionswhich require theoretical exploration.Against this background, urban sociology, a     

Where is the ‘Social’ in Constructions of ‘Liveability’? Exploring Community,Social Interaction and Social Cohesion in Changing Urban Environments

Ongoing changes in the urban environment have renewed interest in the transformation of cities and suburbs as liveable places. This article examines the limitations inherent in a functional (objective) notion of liveability that commonly underpins government policy directions. Through an examination of key debates in the literature we consider how the delivery of the social (subjective) dimension of liveability, linked to community, social interaction and social cohesion, poses unique challenges for policy makers, urban planners and developers. We argue for a deeper understanding of the social constructs of liveability that acknowledges the complexity of changing urban environments in contemporary society.     

Urban,suburban or rural? Understanding preferences for the residential environment

ABSTRACT

There are two ongoing trends that lead to changing preferences for the built environment. One concerns a demographic transition into more but smaller, and older, households. The other concerns greater possibilities to satisfy residential preferences due to rising incomes and technological advances. The current study explores the preference for the type of residential environment and the underlying motivations. The smaller municipality is most preferred (36%), followed by the city edge (32%), a rural area (13%), the city centre (11%) and no preference (7%). The city centre is preferred because of amenities, ambiance, liveliness and activities. The city edge is preferred because of peace and quiet and easy access to the dwelling. Social contact was rarely mentioned. In contrast, respondents who preferred a smaller municipality frequently mentioned social contact. Furthermore, feeling safe/secure and wellbeing were important items. Finally, respondents with a rural preference mentioned freedom and peace and quiet.     

Urban land expansion and the floating population in China: For production or for living?

There is a large amount of population moved from countryside to cities in China during its urbanization in the past two decades. The majority of these people have no formal qualifications for city residency, and they are so-called ‘floating population’. The increase of this group of people has induced the pressure of land use in cities, and the contradiction between the demand and the supply of urban land has been intensifying particularly in those developed regions in China. This paper examines the impacts of floating population on urban land by presenting the interrelations between floating population and urban land expansion from the perspective of production land and living land. Structural equation model (SEM) is employed in conducting the analysis. The result shows that the floating population alone does not have direct effect on urban land expansion, but have indirect impacts through engaging in the production or living process. It is particularly interesting that floating people's living conditions have no direct positive effect on the increase of construction land. Based on the research results, suggestions are offered for improvements in government policy towards a more sustainable and integrated urbanization, including the provision of housing support, the formation of more urbanized society and sustainable development.     

Social Participation in the Context of the Urban Public Space Renewal： The Case of Lagarteiro Neighborhood in Oporto

In 1980, Giancarlo de Carlo wrote in the Perspecta： Yale Journal, ＂An Architecture of the Participation＂. Carlo, proposed a sequence of procedures： the problem definition, the solution and the results evaluation, in all the three steps, the social communities should be integrated in as part of a share and dynamic process. This text corresponds to a new way of understanding the importance of the social communities in the architecture definition. From de Carlo＇s text, the main goal of this paper is to present the results of an intervention in public space renewal of the Lagarteiro neighborhood （in Oporto city） and the relation of this process with the participation of the resident population. The urban context of Lagarteiro＇s neighborhood presented before the intervention the typical and classic signs of disqualification of environmental and urban peripheral areas of resettlement. The term ＂disadvantaged areas＂ is associated with these areas in urban or peri-urban case, was framed in a specific Portuguese policy, called Initiative Critical Neighborhoods. Being a recent intervention, the renewal of the public space in Lagarteiro is a complete case study that allows comprehending the participation phenomenon in nowadays, at the same time that seduces a reflexion about technical and architectural solutions for ＂critical＂ neighborhood.     

Half-Full or Half-Empty? Planning for Women's Safety in Victoria,Australia

Over the past two decades there has been an emerging international consensus that locally coordinated efforts are effective in addressing violence and insecurity. Promoting “women's safety” has become a recognized international planning and governance strategy. There are, however, concerns about how the “women's safety” approach can address intimate partner violence, incorporate diversity between women from different cultures, and integrate a gender mainstreaming approach to male on male violence. Finally, there are challenges in evaluating these initiatives. The paper will use the Gender, Local Governance, and Violence Prevention (GLOVE) research project in Victoria, Australia as a case study to examine these tensions.     

Preparation for the Urban Transport Development of China in the Twenty—First Century

Urban transport construction of thosedays should provide favourable conditionsfor cities to enter the twenty-first century.Itshould not be considered as too early to dis-cuss this issue now.What will our cities looklike by the turn of the century Based on thestrategic goal of developing our socialisteconomy in three phases,we shall have at-tained the objectives set for the secondphase by the end of this century:our peoplewill have enjoyed fairly good living stand-     

Vegetation in the early landscape art of the Sydney region, Australia: accurate record or artistic licence?

With its relatively short European history, Australia's earliest paintings may provide information on both the pre-European landscape and changes since first settlement. The pictorial record is examined as historical documentation of natural landscape, particularly vegetation, by considering artistic depictions of the region around Sydney, New South Wales, from initial settlement in 1788 to the early 1850s. Critical comment relating to the accuracy of the landscape paintings is examined by reference to the pictures and to Sydney's dramatically varied geology that shaped the landscapes and the vegetation communities that artists painted. There are few detailed studies of Australian landscape painting and much of the critical comment is found to be generalized and only partly accurate, including the persistent criticism that artists misrepresented Australian environments for a multitude of reasons. The pictorial record displays consistent observation of the real variation in landscape character, and in vegetation structure, communities and species. It also appears to provide interesting evidence of differential impact of fire, indicating different pre-settlement fire regimes in different landscape types.     

Urban Digital Strategies: Planning in the Face of Information Technology?

A growing number of cities around the world have now developed urban digital strategies to speed up the pace of change, and more importantly to move their digital planning and policymaking from ad-hoc to an integrated and strategic approach. The paper provides a cross-national comparative study, based on recently developed urban digital strategies in Brisbane, Australia and Vancouver, Canada. The aim is to understand if and how urban digital strategies align with broader strategic planning in the two cities. To do so, the paper combines policy analysis with interviews of a selection of stakeholders in both cities. The lessons learned can be transferred to all cities interested in integrated digital planning for successful strategic urban outcomes.     

Does City Governance Matter for the Urban Poor?

Decentralization has focused attention on city government but, at the same time, the growth of civil society means that urban governance is not limited to city government. Little attention has been paid, either in the literature or in practice, to the institutional and political processes which determine whether and how the poor benefit, or how the poor can influence the agenda of city governance. Drawing on studies of nine cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, this paper identifies three broad areas which are of importance: a political system in which the votes of the poor count; a city government system with some capacity to deliver; and a dynamic civil society which can press the case of the poor. After reviewing what is involved in each of these areas, the paper identifies a number of specific policies and practices which impact on the urban poor.     

Narratives of Spatial Division： The Role of Social Memory in Shaping Urban Space in Belfast

The paper examines the role of shared spaces in divided cities in promoting future sustainable communities and spaces described as inclusive to all. It addresses the current challenges that prevent such inclusiveness and suggests future trends of its development to be of benefit to the wider city community. It explains how spaces in divided cities are carved up into perceived ownerships and territorialized areas, which increases tension on the shared space between territories; the control of which can often lead to inter-community disputes. The paper reports that common shared space in-between conflicting communities takes on increased importance since the nature of the conflict places emphasis on communities＇ confidence, politically and socially, while also highlighting the necessity for confidence in inclusion and feeling secure in the public domain. In order to achieve sustainable environments, strategies to promote shared spaces require further focus on the significance of everyday dynamics as essential aspects for future integration and conflict resolution.     

Public Cities,Public Scholars? Questioning Urban Policy and Research in Australia

This review examines relationships and tensions between urban research and policy impact, drawing on the inaugural Public Cities Lecture at the State of Australian Cities Conference 2015 in honour of the late Paul Mees. It examines the different ways Australian urban researchers are questioning, engaging with and contributing to public policy—and the relative influence of this work in relation to the range of other sources of information now seeming to dominate public debate. Despite a desolate funding environment and a hollowing of demand from government and political leaders for independent research, the varied forms of public scholarship canvassed in this review do suggest an evolution rather than atrophy of urban research in Australia. The question is how we advance, and equally importantly, critically evaluate our changing roles and contributions beyond the usual metrics of academic citations, to help inform, and reform, the parameters of policy debate and action.     

Urban questions in the countryside? Urbanization and the collective consumption of electricity in early twentieth-century Belgium

This paper studies the early phases of the process of electrification in Belgium in order to shed light on the emergence of a distributed model of urbanization. The paper argues that the policies developed to extent the supply of electricity to each and every corner of the national territory is part and parcel of a distributed urbanism which reproduced itself in different forms throughout the twentieth century. Detailed analysis of the policies developed by three Belgian provinces to support the electrification in the interbellum period brings into view the ambiguity of the Belgian policy of dispersion. On the one hand, this analysis shows an eagerness to advance industrial production over the entire territory by making use of existing, rural collective resources. On the other hand, the policies of dispersion, despite their anti-urban motivations, in time produced (a need for) collective structures that facilitate processes of accumulation and differentiation that over time may be characterized as urban.     

Two Strategic Diversions in the Urban Development of Beijing

In view of a good deal of problems which arise in thespeedy urban development of the Beijing Municipality and demand forprompt solution,this article puts forward two strategic diversions in theurban development of Beijing,i.e.the diversion of the stress of urban de-velopment from the urban districts to the outer suburbs and the diver-sion of the development of urban districts from concentric sprawl tooverall readjustment and transformation.This is also a strategic guidingideology for the revision of the General Planning.The article puts for-ward tentative ideas in detail.     

A Review of Urban Planning in China in the 1980s

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Pragmatism or idealism? An urban perspective onto the politics of interurban cooperation for sustainability in the EU

European cities have been committed to achieve urban sustainability, participating in interurban networks dealing with socio-ecological issues. By examining the incentives derived by the involvement in these networks and the municipal political milieu where the decision about network participation is taken, this article seeks to understand the motivations for European cities to take part in sustainability networks. To do so, a small-N qualitative analysis was undertaken. The results show that cities’ participation in socio-ecological urban networks (SEUNs) is motivated by the economic, political and formative incentives that membership provides, and is influenced by institutionalised values, political agency and previous cooperative experience.     

Social representations of children in higher density housing: enviable,inevitable or evil?

Abstract

An increased focus on housing diversity in planning policy, international flows of capital and changing lifestyle preferences are resulting in increased higher density housing often marketed towards professional singles, couples without children and ‘empty nesters.’ Despite this, families with children currently dwell in higher density housing, either by choice or by necessity. This research identifies the social representations surrounding children in higher density housing in Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane. It does this by analysing newspaper media published between 2007 and 2014 and through 46 interviews with residents and built-form professionals from Brisbane. The research finds four key representations; that children belong in the suburbs; increasing support for wealthy families in higher density housing; an economic argument for the lack of family-appropriate apartments; and an increasing acceptance of medium-density housing for younger households. This research draws attention to the winners and losers in housing debates and the ‘common-sense’ assumptions that impact housing outcomes.