Land-centered urban politics in transitional China – Can they be explained by Growth Machine Theory?

With the emerging land-centered urban politics in China, can western Growth Machine Theory (GMT) explain local dynamics in Chinese cities? This paper argues that three major interest groups exist in a local land market: the central government, the local government, and local developers. Economic coalitions are expected to form between a local government and developers, and political coalitions are expected to exist between the central and local governments. To test this hypothesis and to examine the existence of local economic coalitions, this paper uses Suzhou and Shenzhen as case studies. It shows that individual land-related local interest groups are emerging and economic coalitions exist in both cities, but with varying degrees.     

IDEOLOGICAL DEVELOPERS AND THE FORMATION OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY: THE CASE OF INNER‐CITY PRESERVATION IN TEL AVIV

ABSTRACT: This article studies the role of ideological developers (IDs) in the formation and implementation of local development policy. The IDs are developers whose motivation is ideological as opposed to financial, and they initiate ideas rather than plans and projects. Based on a case study regarding inner‐city preservation, we claim that in Tel Aviv, IDs have much leverage on local decision making. The IDs are individuals with high personal capital, who focus on an issue that it is not championed by existing civil groups. As the IDs seek out influential routes to policy makers, they build circumstantial coalitions. Through these limited and conditional partnerships with administrators and other influential actors, the IDs apply pressure and advance their specific cause.     

FUNDRAISING COALITIONS IN OPEN SEAT MAYORAL ELECTIONS

ABSTRACT: Mayoral candidates need to assemble a fundraising coalition so they can raise sufficient funds to be competitive. What is the nature of those coalitions? Are they narrow partnerships of like‐minded interests, or are they broad alliances encompassing many different groups? Also, are the coalitions assembled by opposing candidates fundamentally different, or do most candidates receive their funds from the same sources? This article explores these questions through an analysis of five open seat mayoral elections in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. Most candidates assemble broad coalitions of many different groups, and because of this breadth candidates often have internally inconsistent coalitions (especially labor‐backed candidates). Further, the fundraising coalitions of opposing candidates are usually quite similar. The results show that mayoral elections are not characterized by competing coalitions of donors and that voters who desire to use financial backing as a factor influencing their decision have limited choices.     

城市流动性的量化与诊断——基于网络地图数据和可达性模型的方法研究

城市流动性问题的科学诊断能够帮助城市规划在解决城市问题特别是交通问题时更好地对症下药。现有的针对城市可达性或流动性的模型由于受到数据来源和运算条件的限制,更多停留在静态分析和局部分析的层面,缺乏对城市整体流动性的量化描述。研究利用互联网数据和算法程序,提出了覆盖城市所有节点两两之间可达关系的城市流动性标准模型,并在此基础上建立以城市中心、最近商业中心、最近公园以及对外交通设施节点为参照的参照系模型。最后以上海市中心城区为例,运用参照系模型和网络地图数据对城市的整体流动性以及其空间布局情况进行了分析诊断,揭示了上海中心城区在整体可达性上存在的内高外低、东西差异、指状放射等结构特征,并指出了流动性需要改进的主要节点。     

Examining geographic and occupational mobility: A loglinear modelling approach

Abstract.  This article attempts to develop a set of loglinear models that synthesise gravity models of interregional mobility and loglinear models of occupational mobility. The development of the model is progressed from a simple two-way mobility table analysis to a three-way analysis that controls for one aspect of mobility while investigating another and eventually to a four-way analysis that simultaneously assesses the joint effect of occupational and geographic mobility. An example based on data from the 1970 United States census demonstrates that the models can effectively capture the joint effect of occupational and geographic mobility. The results show that interregional movers may not necessarily have strong occupational persistence. With regard to female dominated clerical occupations, interregional migration is positively associated with upward occupational mobility, and the propensity for upward mobility was consistently greater for males than for females.     

Neighborhoods of Affinity

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Planners have traditionally focused on how the physical characteristics of neighborhoods influence people's activity and travel -patterns, overlooking an equally important factor: the social nature of neighborhoods. We focus on one kind of neighborhood characterized by strong social ties: gay and lesbian -neighborhoods of affinity. Gay men living in a neighborhood of affinity—those with a high percentage of coupled gays and lesbians—take shorter work and non-work trips. The mix of local activity sites and social connections results in some gay men conducting a substantial share of their lives within these neighborhoods and nearby. These results are independent of the design or density of the neighborhood. We do not, however, find similar results for lesbians, perhaps because they have less residential mobility.

Takeaway for practice: Gay and lesbian neighborhoods of affinity represent the kinds of supportive communities where local travel is possible for many activities, behavior that planners seek with so many public policies. Planners must explore how the social and physical environments of neighborhoods interact with one another when they focus on the impacts of physical design and infrastructure on community outcomes.

Research support: None.     

The temporary permanence of Dominican bodegueros in Philadelphia: neighbourhood development in an era of transnational mobility

The relationship between "neighbourhood" and "community" is contentious: while neighbourhoods are spatially based, communities are more amorphous institutions that are connected to local places through far-flung transnational networks. Dominican corner-store owners (bodegueros) in Philadelphia, USA, understand their role in their local neighbourhood community as a form of "temporary permanence" because their economic development model involves building networks between the US and the Dominican Republic. The mobility practices of grocers and interviews with community leaders in Philadelphia are used to make two propositions about constructions of place-based "neighbourhood communities" in the US: the mobility of the grocers highlights the spatial entrapment experienced by other urban residents and thus their embrace of place-based communities; and, in the mobility of the grocers and conversations with some neighbourhood leaders, we see actualised a more fluid and expansive understanding of the concept of a "neighbourhood community" which is embedded in transnational networks.     

“RE‐STATING” THEORIES OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT: THE POLITICS OF AUTHORITY CREATION AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL TRIADS IN POSTINDUSTRIAL CHICAGO

ABSTRACT: State governments and special‐purpose authorities, together with city governments and private‐sector actors, play a crucial role in building contemporary urban development partnerships, or intergovernmental triads. Such triads significantly shape decision‐making outcomes, and yet existing theories and case studies of urban development overlook these formal coalitions. Three cases from Chicago are examined in which the intergovernmental triad arrangement was utilized in attempts to reach development goals: the city's attempt to host the 1992 World's Fair, the construction of a new stadium for the Chicago White Sox, and Navy Pier's redevelopment. Using archival and interview data, the article traces events involving local and state governments that lead to the creation of special‐purpose authorities to manage development projects. The study concludes that current theories cannot explain such outcomes and must be adapted to account for the critical role of authorities and states.     

Phronetic planning research: theoretical and methodological reflections

One of the key agreements adopted at the Rio Conference in 1992 was the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Both in practice and research biodiversity has been mainly addressed in a non-urban context, often discussed in relation to issues such as the depletion of rainforests and desertification. However, as more than half of the world population are urban dwellers, it is increasingly urgent to discuss the application of the concept of biodiversity within an urban context. Issues approached in this article are: What does it mean to talk about biodiversity in an urban context? Is biodiversity a meaningful goal for urban politics and planning? Is there empirical evidence of implementing biodiversity in urban politics and planning. After an introduction, the article is organized into four sections. In the second section the concept of biological diversity is defined with special reference to its application in an urban context. Biodiversity and its relationship to urban governance is the topic of the third section, followed by a section analysing examples of how this relationship is practised in selected Swedish cities. The final section highlights five major conclusions with regard to the application of biodiversity in an urban context: (1) that all cities studied have adopted overall ‘green’ policies, including biodiversity as one component; (2) that local coalitions in favour of implementing biodiversity have been established between employees at different offices, between employees and politicians, and between employees and NGOs; (3) that there are in all cases tangible signs of spatial patterns and structures that are favourable to biodiversity; (4) that urban biodiversity, for its successful implementation, needs to be related, and accommodated to other values given priority in current policymaking, such as recreation; (5) that mainstream biodiversity analysis should be complemented by an urban landscape approach. Finally, the article returns to the more general question of what biodiversity could and should mean in urban planning.     

An Assessment of the Potential of the TWINSPAN Program of Multi-variate Analysis to Contribute to the Classification and Management of Village Landscapes,with Reference to Historical Features

The potential of Village Design Statements and other initiatives to achieve their stated objectives without a comparison between several villages is questioned. The basic premise is, therefore, that local decision making should be informed by analyses which show which features are common and which are confined to particular areas. The TWINSPAN (two-way in dicator species analysis) program is used to identify a number of village types within part of north-west England and these classes are shown to have historical and environmental meaning. It is, however, recognized that such analyses do not assign value, that such a step remains for the local community or the professional.     

An Assessment of the Potential of the TWINSPAN Program of Multi-variate Analysis to Contribute to the Classification and Management of Village Landscapes, with Reference to Historical Features

The potential of Village Design Statements and other initiatives to achieve their stated objectives without a comparison between several villages is questioned. The basic premise is, therefore, that local decision making should be informed by analyses which show which features are common and which are confined to particular areas. The TWINSPAN (two-way in dicator species analysis) program is used to identify a number of village types within part of north-west England and these classes are shown to have historical and environmental meaning. It is, however, recognized that such analyses do not assign value, that such a step remains for the local community or the professional.     

Queering Mobility in Urban Gauteng: Transgender Internal Migrants and Their Experiences of “Transition” in Johannesburg and Pretoria

Migration studies in post-Apartheid South Africa have maintained a strong focus on cross-border mobility while often narrowing health-related research to HIV/AIDS concerns and framing gender in woman-oriented approach with a gradually emerging area of research on migrant sex workers. This article offers to bridge certain gaps in migration research on health, internal mobility, and gender. It revolves around experiences of black unprivileged transgender internal migrants accessing medical services in the public health sector in urban Gauteng, in particular, Johannesburg and Pretoria. The article explores their experiences of migration focusing on analysis of their “transition”—both “gendered transition” (different medical interventions that alter/modify gender-related attributes of the body) and “spatial transition” (diverse mobility patters, relocation, renegotiation of place of living and belonging)—and ways they negotiate belonging. The analysis outlines challenges that transgender individuals face in the public health sector and affects these challenges have on mobility of transgender South Africans. Further, the article delves into exploration of transgender internal migrants’ experiences and understanding of “migration” that arises from sense of (non)belonging and ways to negotiate dynamic subjective sense of being (or not) part of physical (and sometimes imaginary) social groups and places, such as family/home, local (“host”) community, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and religion/spirituality.     

Plastic design of two-way structures and elements

This is an introductory paper outlining the background to the plastic design of two-way spanning systems such as (some) space frames, bridge decks and steelwork connection components. The approach draws on the now well-established British (Baker) methods for the plastic design of one-way systems and upon the Scandinavian (Johansen, Hillerborg) proposals for two-way systems. What emerges is a new concept for a stress-resultant to be called a ‘Bimoment’. Bimoments seem to have a significance for some two-way systems comparable to the significance that ordinary bending moments have for one-way systems. Thus they do permit comprehensive direct equilibrium relationship between total loads and stresses for portions of plates or grillages which are large in one or both directions.     

Does Policy Research Really Matter for Local Climate Change Policies?

This paper examines the role of policy-relevant research in climate change policy development. It attempts to address a practically important question: does policy research actually make a difference in the processes of formulating and institutionalizing local climate change policy? Two case studies from Central Java Indonesia are presented. The analysis focuses on the policy development processes in the cities of Semarang and Pekalongan, both of which were based on an urban climate vulnerability assessment. We discuss and compare the policy-making processes in terms of three analytic dimensions: the type of policy measures, agent, and policy approach. We examine the relationship between assessment outcomes and the efforts to institutionalize climate change policy in the two cities. These case studies show that although policy actors in both cities have developed strategies and policy measures for addressing climate change, the quality of policy-relevant research was a marginal consideration in the policy formulation processes. An established agenda within a policy network had greater impacts on policy-making than research outputs, which were articulated and used in the context of this agenda. Advocacy coalitions re-defined and re-interpreted what research has shown. Understanding this ability is key to ascertain why or why not policy-relevant research matters.     

广州市公园对比评价研究——基于社交媒体数据的文本分析

传统公园评价的研究大多集中在单个公园使用满意度方面,存在问卷样本量小、采集时间较集中等缺陷。大数据相关研究的快速发展为公园系统评价提供了新的契机。基于对社交媒体数据的文本分析,研究对比广州市 50 个公园的评价结果,同时探究公园评价与人口统计学特征、地理区位、评价时间以及公园属性之间的关系。研究发现, 1）公园正面评价主要集中在免费设施、环境和特色等方面,而负面评价多集中于公园卫生、交通成本、停车等管理服务方面,广州公园的管理服务水平亟待提升。 2）女性较男性更关注公园能否满足其对社交场所的需求,本地游客较外地游客更关注公园本身的服务质量而非公园的外部属性。 3）基干公园应更侧重其可达性和基本的服务功能,承担大众日常活动;特色公园应更注重满足特定人群的需求及特色打造;自然公园应更关注公园生态质量并能够承担需要较大场地的活动。 4） 2010—2018 年,人们越来越关注公园特色的打造,在公园中的活动类型也越来越多样,现代公园建设更应着力于文化服务质量的提升。研究突破传统公园研究方法的局限,将大数据的手段运用到多个公园的整体评价当中,有助于建立更普适、更有针对性的公园评价指标体系,具有较高的实践价值。     

Transport and mobility in sub-Saharan African cities: An overview of practices,lessons and options for improvements

Urban mobility is increasingly becoming one of the planning and development issues for cities in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. Sub-Saharan cities are growing fast, outstripping the current transport infrastructure. Despite the population and spatial growth, many cities are defined by inadequate planning, rapid urbanisation and deteriorating transport infrastructure and services. In most sub-Saharan African countries, modes of urban mobility are highly dependent on income. Transport options are limited. In fact, walking and cycling are often the main means available for the majority of city commuters. Little effort is made to develop a range of transport options or to improve bike or walking paths. Combined with traffic jams, poor governance and the increasing cost of living, public transport mobility in sub-Saharan cities is having a tremendous impact on their liveability and citizens development aspirations. This paper argues that inclusive and broad ranging transport planning must be prioritised in SSA cities to improve the capacity of citizens to participate in work opportunities as well as to fulfil their daily domestic needs. Using observations and comparing progress in other countries and regions, we note that the majority urban poor, women in particular, are often bearing the brunt of inadequate planning and transport provision. We note that urban planning and transport infrastructure should therefore be (re) designed with particular focus on the wellbeing of the poor. The paper thus ends with a range of suggestions on what planning, design and policy options might be available to better integrate various commuting modes into urban planning infrastructure. In doing so, the paper notes that safety and security are critical elements of improving urban and spatial transport planning in the sub-Saharan Africa region.     

A Broader Context for Land Use and Travel Behavior,and a Research Agenda

Problem: Planning studies of land use and travel behavior focus on regression analysis of travel as a function of traveler demographics and land use near study subjects’ residences. Methodological debates have tended to focus almost exclusively on the possibility that persons choose their residence based on how they wish to travel. This longer view steps back from the confines of the regression-based literature to explain the historical roots, methods, and results of the literature, and to assess how the land use–travel literature must be transformed to be more relevant to planning.

Purpose: There are many summaries and meta-analyses of the impact of land use on travel. The goal here is not to understand how we might better specify a regression or summarize the results of past studies, but rather to explain how a literature that has become fundamental to planning scholarship is failing to be sufficiently planning focused. At the same time, this longer view describes how the literature can be transformed to address the planning challenges of today and tomorrow.

Methods: This longer view summarizes over 100 articles, covering transportation methods from the dawn of the interstate highway era to topics that include program evaluation, land development, and cognitive aspects of travel behavior. The primary focus is on the land use and travel literature, but the review and analysis is broad ranging and places the literature and its challenges within the broader context of recent developments in the social sciences, planning, policy, and electronic data collection.

Results and conclusions: This longer view elucidates three research frontiers that will be necessary to move the land use–travel literature forward. First, behavioral models of land use and travel must expand to consider how land is developed, how places are planned, and how cities are built. Second, the land use–travel literature should build a robust retrospective program evaluation tradition, which is currently almost completely absent in a scholarly field dominated by cross-sectional hypothesis tests and forecasting models. Third, economic social welfare analysis must be carefully researched, including questions of preferences for neighborhood types and whether such preferences are fixed or malleable.

Takeaway for practice: Planning is about city building, and the literature and practice on land use and travel behavior should adapt to better support city building. This requires both a serious commitment to social science research and planning's characteristically broad view of context, problem, and place. In an era of climate change, and amidst debates about sustainability, the land use–travel literature must more aggressively examine the process of plans and place making, evaluate the increasingly innovative transportation policies being implemented at the local level, and develop methods that allow more informed discussion about the costs and benefits of transportation policies.

Research support: None.     

RECONNOITERING STATE-ADMINISTERED ENTERPRISE ZONES: What's in a Name?

ABSTRACT: Although the proposal was initially and unsuccessfully raised at the national level every year since 1980,30 states have come to adopt their own version of an enterprise zone system. This article reports the results of a 1985 mailed survey of the chief administrative officers of the state enterprise zone programs, analyzing how these officials: (1) rated the types of objectives that states have established for their programs, (2) evaluated the complexion of the political coalitions that led to the design of their programs, (3) described the degree of innovativeness and prior experience embodied within their state's initiative, and (4) characterized the nature of state level intervention into local government zone packages, and state intentions toward altering local public-private sector economic relationships through the use of their programs. The article concludes that the states are at it again—experimenting, adapting, sometimes disagreeing, but in particular innovating with a timely policy issue.     

THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF A LAND-BASED ELITE: The Case of the Failed Chicago 1992 World's Fair

ABSTRACT: Growth machine theorists argue that metropolitan development patterns represent the concerted activities of powerful growth coalitions who manipulate public agendas and guide local development, devoid of public accountability. This article investigates the organization and activities of the Chicago growth coalition which promoted a large development project—the 1992 World's Fair. Using interlocking directorates, it examines the corporate and institutional networks among coalition members and shows the constellation of interests that established this development agenda. As indicated by the extent of connections, this coalition is shown to be a corporate, civic, and social community. Although holding the potential for power as represented by the highly linked interests believed to hold sway in development issues, this coalition is unsuccessful in bringing this project to fruition. Changing political structures and dynamics diminished the power of the resources held by Chicago's growth coalition to bring in this project and altered the business-as-usual framework for growth coalition governance. A more open development politics combined with incompetent elite leadership and faulty project design contributed to this failure. This case study suggests that interlocking directorates and static studies of power are insufficient for understanding development outcomes and pro-growth strategy, success and failure. Studies of the resources held by those at the top must account for the politics that maintain local quiescence, support participation, or instigate local opposition This article also shows the large role that changing local political structures and government can play in mitigating power inequities over development and growth issues in urban areas.     

ECONOMIC GROWTH,ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY,AND SOCIAL SERVICES: Mapping the Potential for Local Positive-Sum Strategies

ABSTRACT: This study examines how local leaders in Boulder, Colorado, perceive the linkages among environmental quality, economic development, and social policy issues. The objective is to identify the extent to which declining resources create perceptions of a zero-sum situation forcing policy trade offs and the bases for potentially reframing these issues as a positive-sum agenda. The study utilized Q methodology and cluster analysis to identify different dimensions in participant viewpoints. The most notable finding is that there are more points of consensus than of conflict among leaders. These patterns appear relatively stable over time, but the introduction of social program issues fragments existing community coalitions. The local political context now appears more fluid, more complex, and more competitive with some indication of support across sectors for positive-sum policy strategies.