Investigating the Social Dimensions of Transport Disadvantage—I. Towards New Concepts and Methods1

This article is the first of two papers that engage critically and productively with the relationship between the socio-economic transformations of cities, the differentiation of vulnerable groups within urban space and the distribution of transport services. This article undertakes a comprehensive review of the major conceptual and methodological approaches by which scholars and policy researchers have sought to address the connection between social disadvantage and access to transport. The article critically assesses the relative merits of various spatial analytical methodologies in illuminating social–transport links. The study finds that there is a need for greater sophistication in the use of analytical methods in transport research as well as an imperative for greater sensitivity to social differentiation within urban areas and relative to infrastructure and services. The article concludes by developing a method for combining spatial social and transport service data that is then deployed in the empirical case study reported in the second paper.     

Investigating the Social Dimensions of Transport Disadvantage II: From Concepts to Methods through an Empirical Case Study

This article is the second of two papers that review the field of spatially sensitive social scientific research into the links between social status and transport disadvantage. The first paper undertook a comprehensive review of the social scientific and transport planning literature to mark the level of development in the field and identify conceptual and methodological issues and constraints in this field of inquiry. The present article supports the advancement of socially and geographically sensitive transport research by opportunities for the development of more sophisticated spatial analytical methodologies. The approach we present is able to account for factors not previously addressed in either social or transport planning research, in particular the temporal dimensions of transport service accessibility. The article articulates the methodology through an empirical case study of socio-spatial transport disadvantage within the Gold Coast City. The article demonstrates that there are important theoretical and practical lessons to be gained for researchers and policy makers in addressing the social dimensions of transport and infrastructure provision. Further, the article argues that an attentiveness to new ways of combining and representing social and transport data-sets can promote policy relevant empirical social inquiry. The article also contributes in a productive way to the empirical knowledge of Australia's sixth-largest metropolitan area, which is often overlooked by urban scholars.     

Investigating the Social Dimensions of Transport Disadvantage II: From Concepts to Methods through an Empirical Case Study

This article is the second of two papers that review the field of spatially sensitive social scientific research into the links between social status and transport disadvantage. The first paper undertook a comprehensive review of the social scientific and transport planning literature to mark the level of development in the field and identify conceptual and methodological issues and constraints in this field of inquiry. The present article supports the advancement of socially and geographically sensitive transport research by opportunities for the development of more sophisticated spatial analytical methodologies. The approach we present is able to account for factors not previously addressed in either social or transport planning research, in particular the temporal dimensions of transport service accessibility. The article articulates the methodology through an empirical case study of socio-spatial transport disadvantage within the Gold Coast City. The article demonstrates that there are important theoretical and practical lessons to be gained for researchers and policy makers in addressing the social dimensions of transport and infrastructure provision. Further, the article argues that an attentiveness to new ways of combining and representing social and transport data-sets can promote policy relevant empirical social inquiry. The article also contributes in a productive way to the empirical knowledge of Australia's sixth-largest metropolitan area, which is often overlooked by urban scholars.     

转型期城市社区资源配置的社会分异研究——基于广州的实证

社会经济体制综合转型以来,市场机制逐步取代行政指令成为我国城市(社区)公共服务设施配置的主体方式,其空间分布形态也与转型前截然不同。本文以广州为例,基于城市公共服务设施专项调查、城市居民交通出行数据及问卷调查数据,对城市社区资源的空间配置进行社会生态学分析,研究结果表明:转型期广州城市社区资源配置呈明显向高收入地区聚集的特征传统条件下的空间均衡分布模式被市场经济条件下高收入地区指向的集中布局模式所取代;但受地理区位、开发时序及功能定位影响,社区地位与公共服务设施配置并非完全一致;不同阶层社会群体聚集区的公共服务设施配套及其可达性差异明显,社区资源配置的社会分异特征显著。     

大城市社会空间结构演变研究--以上海市为例

随着中国市场化改革的深入,当代中国大城市社会空间结构正呈现重构与分异的演变趋势.这种演变趋势是社会分异与空间分异等一系列空间过程互动的结果.通过中外城市社会空间结构比较,并在探讨城市社会空间结构演变效应的基础上,提出了城市社会空间治理的一些对策建议.     

Divergent development in South African cities: Strategic challenges facing Cape Town

Conclusion There is a gulf between Cape Town’s impoverished townships and its affluent areas, which appears to be widening in important respects. Development trends are tending to reinforce spatial divisions and fragmentation rather than assist urban integration. The consequences are costly to the poor majority through separation from economic and social opportunities. There are costs too for the wider urban economy and society arising from inefficient transport patterns, social disruption linked to concentrated poverty, and lost investment and jobs as a result of crime and insecurity. There is an urgent need for practical policies and concrete actions in pursuit of urban integration. The new Unicity authority offers considerable scope for an invigorated approach. There is useful experience to build upon within the city, including strategic planning frameworks and expertise in project implementation. This needs to be drawn together, reviewed in several important respects and given stronger political backing, financial muscle and technical support. The concept of a metropolitan development vision could be used to promote common city-wide interests and generate greater commitment to spatial, economic and social integration. The idea of urban transformation projects could provide the focus and stimulus to mobilise the efforts of diverse actors around practical schemes with long-term progressive potential.     

Does exposure to richer and poorer neighborhoods influence wellbeing?

Geographical differences in wellbeing have attracted increased attention in the science of happiness literature and recent research has become particularly interested in high-resolution spatial differentiation within cities. This study contributes to this literature by analyzing the relationships between subjective wellbeing and relative income at the neighborhood level using activity-travel survey data from 2010 in Hong Kong. In contrast to previous studies, the analysis concentrates not only on life satisfaction but also on pleasure derived from daily activities in the city, and considers relative income in people's residential neighborhood and the neighborhoods where they conduct different types of daily activity. The results suggest that social comparisons with regard to income matter to life satisfaction as well as emotional wellbeing, that the effects occur for both the residential neighborhood and the urban places where daily activities are undertaken, and that downward income comparisons tend to have stronger effects on wellbeing than upward comparison. One theoretical implication that follows from the analysis is that the impact of social comparison in the science of happiness needs to be theorized as dynamic, mobile and contingent upon people's daily trajectories through time and urban space.     

社会公平视角下广州市城市公园可达性研究

基于中国市场经济转型与住宅市场急剧分化的背景,城市绿色空间的社会公平问题成为亟待研究的重要议题。选取广州作为案例城市,从人口统计学特征、社会经济地位和社会空间结构这3个维度划分目标人群并进行相关性分析。针对不同社会群体公园可达性的空间格局,采用空间集聚分析评估其相似性和差异性,并利用独立样本检验评判人口特征与公园可达性的相关性,从社会公平的视角揭示城市公园的空间不均衡和社会空间分异之间的关系。研究表明,低收入群体在公园可达性方面并不像预想中的那样处于劣势地位,城市绿色空间规划策略取得了良好的成效。然而低端从业者仍然是公园资源统筹调配过程中的弱势群体,需要给予更多关注。     

国土空间规划背景下城市生态空间研究进展

生态系统服务综合管理是保障城市生态安全和优化国 土空间格局的重要途径。城市中心城区生态空间稀缺、生态环 境压力大、居民需求多样,面临着生态系统服务供需空间分异 大、生态管控复杂的问题。因此,量化城市生态系统服务供给 和需求,识别生态供给与居民需求的空间分布差异,是提升生 态系统服务供给效率的重要途径,也是支撑城市用地空间进行 科学规划管控的关键。以桂林市中心城区为例,利用生态系统 服务供需比测度城市水源涵养、降温效益、雨洪调节、碳汇服 务、土壤保持、生物多样性保护和游憩服务7项生态系统服务供 需水平,并基于聚类分析识别了5类生态系统服务供需簇,耦合 供需匹配与失衡区、生态保护区,划定三级生态保护与管控区 和两类生态修复与功能提升区。依据分区的生态本底特点、分 区内各类服务供需水平等,提出分级分类的管控指引和优化策 略,以期为城市生态空间的规划与管理提供参考。     

不同尺度弱势群体对公园绿地潜在供给 与实际游憩服务获得的响应差异及其影响 因素

社会分层和空间异质性加剧使得弱势群体获得公园 游憩服务的公平性问题日益凸显,探究弱势群体的公园绿地潜 在供给和实际游憩服务获得的差异仍是一项重要任务。选择中 国武汉市24个具有明显社会层级和空间异质性的小区,从居住 区和个人2个尺度研究了不同弱势群体获得公园绿地潜在供给 和实际服务的公平性差异,并分析了2个尺度中弱势因素对获 得游憩服务的交互影响,以及影响游憩服务获得的主要因素。 结果显示,老旧小区的公园绿地潜在供给以及实际游憩服务与 新小区没有显著差异,但生理弱势是影响居民获得游憩服务差 异的主要因子,而不同尺度的非生理弱势因素交互则会明显削 弱居民可获得的单次游憩服务量。此外,居住区尺度小区周边 设施对居民可获得的公园游憩服务的影响大于小区内部条件和 居民个人社会经济特征。研究结果明确了城市建成环境对不同 弱势群体获得公园游憩服务的公平性影响差异,对快速城市化 地区弱势群体公平获得公园游憩服务的改善具有重要帮助     

Assessing and mapping ecosystem services to support urban green infrastructure: The case of Barcelona,Spain

The ecosystem services approach provides an efficient way to support urban green infrastructure planning. Such an assessment, together with mapping, can effectively produce spatial analyses on a specific scale, helping to maintain multi-functional landscapes and plan urban green infrastructure. In turn, green infrastructure can offer a wide variety of ecosystem services, promoting landscape sustainability. This study develops a methodology for the planning of urban green infrastructure based on an ecosystem services approach that assesses the supply capacity of ecosystem services, and identifies possible spatial characteristic areas for interlinking urban green infrastructure within the study area. More specifically, from a landscape perspective, we use 32 ecosystem services (as X-axis) and different land use types (as Y-axis) to build an ecosystem service assessment matrix. We then take the municipality of Barcelona as an example, using the latter to assess and map ecosystem services within the city through ArcGIS, which shows the spatial distribution characteristics of ecosystem services provision. We identify possible spatial areas - which include ecosystem services provision, barren, and obstructed areas - by overlapping the ecosystem services assessment maps. Ultimately, the results provide a reference for urban green infrastructure planning by recognizing priority protected areas, new construction areas, potential areas, and renewal areas.     

(Re)Viewing Ethnic Residential Segregation in Southern European Cities: Housing and Urban Regimes as Mechanisms of Marginalisation

Housing and residential marginalisation in Southern European cities represents the most critical and controversial of urban conditions for the settlement and inclusion of immigrants. However, these issues are conspicuously under-researched in both the international and Southern European comparative literature. The complexity of ethnic housing hardship and segregation is often de-problematised and misleadingly attributed solely to market mechanisms or inevitable polarisation dynamics. This paper reviews the distinctive features of ethnic residential segregation within wider societal and urban contexts, drawing on an analysis of eight Mediterranean cities with a special focus on the role of housing systems and processes of ethnic and social differentiation. Problems and drivers are reconceptualised within an holistic, comparative framework. It is demonstrated that low levels of ethnic spatial segregation conceal a real problem of social residential marginalisation. This paradox predominantly originates from macro-scale mechanisms of differentiation rooted in the welfare redistributive arrangements and dualist housing systems. It is additionally reinforced by current urban renewal strategies.     

轨道交通衔接设施布局的无缝化应对策略——以广州市轨道交通近期线网为例

轨道交通及其衔接设施的无缝衔接是影响轨道交通水平的重要因素,交通衔接设施的设置应综合考虑城市空间发展需求与轨道交通运输特点两个方面。广州市轨道交通线网从城市空间层面,通过衔接功能区划建立与城市空间优化耦合的衔接设施;从轨道交通运输层面,通过设定零距离换乘的衔接标准、一体化的轨道交通衔接布局、人性化的换乘设计,实现轨道交通服务的无缝化。     

Strategic Use of Analytical Information in Transport Planning in China: How Is It Different from Western Democracies?

Theory on the strategic use of knowledge in planning large infrastructure projects is comparatively well-developed in the fields of public policy and urban/transport planning for Western democracies. But how policymakers make use of knowledge and what position policy analysts hold in non-Western countries still remains largely unknown territory in the literature. This article begins to explore this topic by studying two urban transport projects in the Chinese city of Dalian. Based on empirical evidence, the article concludes with a number of preliminary but notable differences between Western countries and China in terms of the administrative mechanisms underlying the strategic use of knowledge in policymaking. We found that Chinese institutional incentives with regard to cadre evaluation and promotion channels largely constitute the motivation of politicians to use knowledge strategically. Additionally, the wider social and administrative cultures in China, including a command-and-control tradition and a high level of power distance create a basis for the strategic use of information as well as the manipulation of analytical data.     

Exploring an integrated method for measuring the relative spatial equity in public facilities in the context of urban parks

This paper proposes a new integrated modeling framework that contributes to the evaluation of public facility distribution for spatial equity in urban development. The framework consists of two integrated models—accessibility and mobility—that, based on the gravity model, are integrated as a framework for measuring the relative spatial equities of urban public facilities. They are presented as geographic information system (GIS) and spatial analysis models. The models consider individual traffic behavioral abilities and simulate regional differences in the spatial equities of urban parks. The results show unequal regional spatial development that affects mismatches between urban park services. The accumulated travel time costs associated with different resident traffic mobility and urban park location types affect the access opportunities of residents. This integrated model could be a useful reference to help urban planners analyze, investigate, and adjust the distribution of public facilities in a more equitable manner.     

儿童友好视角下城市公园品质与可达性研究 ——以巴塞罗那学龄前儿童为例

具备可进入的绿色空间、游乐场地是儿童友好城市衡量中的核心指标,也是城市公园提供的必要服务之一。聚焦对城市公园需求度和使用率较高的学龄前儿童,尝试建构综合考虑城市公园品质和可达性的分析及评估方法。选取联合国儿童友好城市——西班牙巴塞罗那为案例,基于实地调研、开源地图、官方统计数据等,使用儿童友好的公园品质指数（QUINPY）和空间句法可达性模型开展综合评价,并结合学龄前儿童人口密度分布,提出有针对性的改善建议,基于不同的需求和现状,选取改善城市交通步行环境、合理增加结构性设施或者鼓励分时段及立体化拓展空间使用可能性等适宜性创新措施。以期为我国儿童友好导向的城市公园发展建设提供参考。     

Exploring zoning scenario impacts upon urban growth simulations using a dynamic spatial model

Dynamic spatial models are being increasingly used to explore urban changes and evaluate the social and environmental consequences of urban growth. However, inadequate representation of spatial complexity, regional differentiation, and growth management policies can result in urban models with a high overall prediction accuracy but low pixel-matching precision. Correspondingly, improving urban growth prediction accuracy and reliability has become an important area of research in geographic information science and applied urban studies. This work focuses on exploring the potential impacts of zoning on urban growth simulations. Although the coding of land-use types into distinct zones is an important growth management strategy, it has not been adequately addressed in urban modeling practices. In this study, we developed a number of zoning schemes and examined their impacts on urban growth predictions using a cellular automaton-based dynamic spatial model. Using the city of Jinan, a fast-growing large metropolis in China, as the study site, five zoning scenarios were designed: no zoning (S0), zoning based on land-use type (S1), zoning based on urbanized suitability (S2), zoning based on administrative division (S3), and zoning based on development planning subdivision (S4). Under these scenarios, growth was simulated and the respective prediction accuracies and projected patterns were evaluated against observed urban patterns derived from remote sensing. It was found that zoning can affect prediction accuracy and projected urbanized patterns, with the zoning scenarios taking spatial differentiation of planning policies into account (i.e., S2–4) generating better predictions of newly urbanized pixels, better representing urban clustered development, and boosting the level of spatial matching relative to zoning by land-use type (S1). The novelty of this work lies in its design of specific zoning scenarios based on spatial differentiation and growth management policies and in its insight into the impacts of various zoning scenarios on urban growth simulation. These findings indicate opportunities for the more accurate projection of urban pattern growth through the use of dynamic models with appropriately designed zoning scenarios.     

GATED COMMUNITIES AND SPATIAL INEQUALITY

ABSTRACT: In this article we analyze gated communities as a nexus of social and spatial relations within the context of urban inequality. We apply Tickamyer's (2000) sociological framework for incorporating space into the study of inequality, which allows us to substantiate the arguments that the process of gating increases urban inequality. The contributions of this article are three: (1) We generate a new systematic theoretical approach toward the study of gated communities, which we consider as middle range theory; (2) We argue that gated communities reproduce the existing levels of social stratification and that they also define a new, permanent differentiation order in the spatial organization of cities in the United States (in this respect we also arrive at six hypotheses, which can be tested in future research); (3) We introduce the term “gating machine,” where the combination of the interests and actions of local governments, real estate developers, the media, and consumers suggest that prevailing structural conditions assure the future proliferation of gated communities.     

HOMELESSNESS IN AMERICA

ABSTRACT: A second wave of books on homelessness in American has emerged since the crisis was first documented in the early 1980s. A dozen of these books are reviewed in this article. One conclusion of the review is that the urban dimensions of homelessness have yet to receive adequate treatment. An agenda for research on urban homelessness is offered, emphasizing the need to study the role of place in the lives of homeless people, the forces creating urban spatial reorganization, differences in social networks across homeless subpopulations, and the changing geographic organization of shelter and services targeted to the homeless.     

Geography and public finance: planning for fiscal equity in a metropolitan region

The provision of public services is a major function of local governments. The capability of local jurisdictions to fulfil this role depends upon the relationship between fiscal capacity and expenditure needs. The extent of the capacity–needs gap varies between jurisdictions in response to a host of economic, social and political factors. Such differences can lead to major socio–spatial disparities in levels of public service provision and in the quality of life for residents of different jurisdictions. These variations are particularly acute within metropolitan regions of advanced capitalist societies in which there is a geographical mismatch between increasingly extensive functional urban regions and politically constrained urban administrative units. This research examines the geography of public finance at the metropolitan level with particular reference to the Glasgow metropolitan region of west central Scotland, identifies major spatial variations in fiscal health among metropolitan local authorities, and evaluates possible strategies to promote fiscal equity. It is concluded that achieving fiscal equity in metropolitan regions will require a new form of fiscal politics informed by the existing fiscal geography but propelled by the goals of territorial and social justice.