Instrumental and Interpretative Methods in Evaluating Urban Programmes

The turn within urban policy to address increasingly complex social, economic and environmental problems has exposed some of the fragility of traditional measurement models and their reliance on the rational paradigm. This article looks at the experiences of the European Union (EU) Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and its particular attempt to construct new District Partnerships to deliver area-based regeneration programmes. It highlights the need to combine instrumental and interpretative evaluation methods in an attempt to explain the wider contribution of governance to conflict resolution and participatory practice in local development. It concludes by highlighting the value of conceptual approaches that deal with the politics of evaluation and the distributional effects of policy interventions designed to create new relationships within and between multiple stakeholders.     

建筑节能施工技术探讨

社会经济发展的步伐越来越快，在建筑领域不但进展的同时，环保问题也备受重视。将城市建设与环保相结合，以建筑节能作为新篇章展开探讨，是本文所论述的核心。本文探讨了如何能够将节能施工技术完美的应用在建筑施工上，以供大家参考。     

Labour migration and freedom of movement in the European Union: Social exclusion and economic development

There are many reasons why freedom of movement is desirable, but one of the most persuasive arguments in its favour lies in its potential to combat social exclusion by bringing supplies of labour into the places where a demand for labour exists. In fact, there is very little evidence that the dismantling of internal obstacles to migration within the European Union (EU) has created the sort of migration flows which would suggest that free movement is working in this way. It is also apparent that existing migration patterns within the EU are not of the type that would do much to ameliorate patterns of social exclusion, but even if they were there is a risk that—if not properly planned and managed—such movements might exacerbate problems of social exclusion. This paper concludes with a discussion of the confused and ambiguous relationships between migration, exclusion and economic development.     

Independent economic regulation: A reassessment of its role in sustainable development

The established ‘standard’ model of economic regulation is characterised by independent economic regulators undertaking specialised tasks. There is a clear perception that the roles and responsibilities of regulators are and should be reduced to the execution of the core function, i.e. economic regulation. We argue that this needs to be reassessed in the context of sustainable development in which the integration of economic, social and environmental policy objectives are fundamental. The established model is particularly confronted by problems of regulatory policy indivisibility (social, economic and environmental matters are intertwined at technical levels) and information asymmetry (regulators often have more knowledge of environmental and social effects of economic regulation than government). We propose a ‘revised standard’ model in which economic regulators are more clearly integrated into the regulatory state's system of governance. Economic regulators retain their independent core specialism but at the same time are encouraged to use their knowledge and expertise to address the social and environmental implications of their core decisions. This is achieved not by extending their decision making powers but by encouraging and facilitating a direct engagement by regulators with the appropriate public authorities on social and environmental decision making. The onus is not only on regulators to engage but also on government which should welcome and encourage such engagement. Although there is some evidence in Britain that the model reflects actual practice, it needs to be more deeply and widely embedded and institutionalised. This can be achieved by high level governmental commitment including specification in sustainable development strategies and principles of good regulation.     

A Tale of Two Cities: Public participation and sustainability in decision-making on water systems in two Polish cities

Like all transition countries in Eastern Europe, Poland after 1990 faced the problem of how to deal with a legacy of poor or non-existent water and wastewater systems, which required large-scale investment to meet environmental and consumer concerns. It faced this problem, along with rising public pressure and, later, the external factor of European Union standards, whilst undergoing a radical economic and political transformation. This paper looks at two Polish cities, Gdańsk and Łódź, and compares and contrasts their experiences in meeting these challenges, drawing on reports carried out for the European Union-funded WaterTime project.     

荷兰的社会住宅：明确的传统与未知的将来

在荷兰,社会（公有）出租的住房的比重占到了35％——是欧盟范围内这一比例最高的国家。这一部门是在1901年住房法确立的公共框架下由独立经营的住房协会所主导的。本文阐述了住房协会在1995年“总收益与收支平衡实施办法”执行前后的历史渊源和发展变化。自从这一办法实施以来,住房协会不再扶政府接受实物补贴。但是．它们却变得愈加富有。这一点将会影响住房协会的社会形象。由于结合了社会与市场行为,在坚实的公共框架下运作、并经营高品质多样化的住宅,荷兰的社会住宅可为其他欧盟国家、俄罗斯和中国提供借鉴。     

Green regions and local firms' innovation

Technological innovation is essential to achieve simultaneously economic, environmental and social goals (i.e., the green growth). Indeed, many studies found that environmental innovation spurs overall innovation. However, this topic has not been investigated by taking into account the geographical context. Therefore, our paper seeks to investigate whether ‘green regions’, with an increased public and private commitment in environmental issues, are related to innovation of local firms. Using data on Spanish manufacturing firms and regions, we find that environmental technologies (especially in green energy), environmental investments, and environmental management at the level of regions are positively associated to local firms' innovation.     

Rural mobilization as rural development: exploring the impacts of new regionalism in Wales and Finland

In the current European context, ‘rural development’ is now a much over‐used and misunderstood term. Far from denoting a specific concern for the particular social and economic problems of ‘peripheral rural communities’, since the Cork Declaration of 1996, European policy making, both at central and regional levels, has more meaningfully adopted broader principles of ‘integrated rural development’. However, while many member states are beginning to move away from a sectoral ‘silo’ approach with regard to the management of their rural areas, in recent years the parallel arenas of environmental, cultural, regional and economic development agendas have all become much more vibrant. Looking at the rural regions of Wales in the UK and Ostrobothnia in western Finland, this paper examines some of these contemporary and parallel arenas with regard to their influence in shaping the nature of rural governance. While a rural development policy network is seen to be developing, major questions are raised about how this will position itself in the unfolding multi‐level governance structure.     

欧洲住房金融改革对中国的借鉴意义

自从1960与1970年代以来,更多的欧洲国家放松了它们的住宅政策。我们注意到从公共融资向私人融资的转变、从社会住宅向商业住宅的转变、从住房建设补贴向住房人头补贴的转变、从管制租金向市值租金的转变、以及从租赁房向自有房的转变。大部分这些转变都可以统称为＂私有化＂以及＂自由化＂这些定义不明的词语。然而,欧盟大部分国家的住宅金融体系仍然复杂而不合理,需要更多的住宅金融改革。我们将详述一种住宅金融改革的核心内容,包括如下几点：住房建设补贴、租户的住房人头补贴、自有房的税收优惠、房屋租赁政策、以及住宅联盟的角色。通过这种分析,我们勾画出欧盟国家住宅金融深入改革的轮廓。在不久的将来,中国也会考虑相似的住宅金融改革。     

Social exclusion in Europe: Context and policy

This paper analyses the contested concept of ‘social exclusion’, discusses the reasons for the concept's current prominence in discussions of public policy, and reviews recent European Union initiatives designed to tackle the problem.     

经济转型期城市设计作为公共政策的再思考

周期性经济变化与城市发展策略密切相关,这是由市场经济资本再生产的过程决定的。欧美国家的城市复兴实践活动亦证明了这种内在规律。论文分析了转型期中国城市发展方式的特征性转变,解读了城市设计体系中"空间规划"和"公共政策"两个维度的关系。提出我国的城市设计应围绕技术理性、经济理性与社会理性3个方面,充分发挥调控经济效率和社会公平的作用。城市设计是一个通过空间的变化影响各种社会关系的有力工具,通过引导投资去向、调动民间资本的经济策略,以及建构决策组织机构、保障公众参与的社会规制,城市设计学科有可能在转型期城市变革中起到关键作用。     

Assessing economic,social and environmental impacts on housing prices in Hong Kong: a time-series study of 2006, 2011 and 2016

Given Hong Kong’s unique high-density urban environment and limited land resources, more and more general public has been concerned about the living quality. Based on three waves of census data (2006, 2011 and 2016), combined with our spatial–temporal urban environmental database consisting of three local datasets of urban climate and air quality, this paper assesses the impacts of social, economic and environmental factors on the logarithm of housing prices in Hong Kong through linear regression analysis. Specifically, both supply- and demand-side economic factors have significant impacts on housing prices. Demographic factors are not as significant as expected in affecting housing prices. Transportation factors have more significant effects in the short run than in the long run. Environmental factors, including the number of hot night hours, Annual Air Quality Index (AAQI) of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulates with particle sizes less than 10 microns (PM₁₀), significantly affect housing prices over time. The results have important implications: current policy instruments to prevent housing price escalation are focused on increasing property tax or land supply (economic factors), while little attention is paid to social or environmental factors, which are geographically heterogeneous. Our findings suggest that housing provision in the New Territories may be a feasible solution to alleviate the housing crisis as its demographic pattern, transportation connectivity and air quality are significantly different from Hong Kong Island or Kowloon Peninsula. In regard to urban environmental problems brought by the high-density development in Hong Kong despite land-use saving, intensified urban infrastructure and promotion of public transportation, our study contributes to the understanding of its housing price dynamics from a more holistic perspective by comparing the impacts of economic, social and environmental factors.

     

郑州市快速公交的效益对比与分析

以郑州市快速公交系统为研究背景,通过将快速公交与轨道交通的对比,从经济、环境、社会、安全等方面进行了分析,从而得出快速公交是一种高品质、高效率、低耗能、低污染、低成本的公共交通形式。     

The impact of energy externalities on the cost effectiveness of energy efficiency measures applied to dwellings

European Union and UK energy policy recognise the potential contribution the domestic housing sector can make in reducing energy consumption. In the UK, improvements to existing dwellings are likely to play a critical role in realising such potential. The need to consider both the value and uncertainty of external environmental and social costs in developing effective policy is also made explicit.This analysis investigates the impact of such values and uncertainties on the relative performance of a range of insulation measures applied retrospectively to an existing residential dwelling.Results from a case study suggest that large variations in capital cost, energy saving potential and the value of externalities have a significant impact on the relative cost effectiveness of these measures. However, in general, current investment decision-making based on normal market energy prices and today's climate is likely to deliver solutions that remain effective under significant levels of uncertainty.     

福建省城镇民用建筑能耗与社会经济发展水平的关系测算

通过统计福建省2000年～2009年城镇民用建筑能耗的情况,剖析了福建省城镇建筑能耗与社会经济发展水平的关系,并建立了单位城镇住宅建筑面积能耗、单位城镇公共建筑面积能耗与衡量社会经济发展水平的各种指标的关系函数,为预测福建省城镇民用建筑的能耗发展、科学地规划建筑节能工作,提供了基础性的统计数据和有效的数学模型.     

江苏省村庄建设规划现状问题及规划思考

村庄是广大农民生产生活的载体,规划建设和管理好村庄是建设社会主义新农村的基础。针对江苏省村庄存在布局分散、土地利用粗犷、基础设施和公共服务缺乏的现象和苏南、苏中、苏北的区域差异,在新农村规划建设中,以科学合理的村庄规划为龙头,积极推进农民相对集中居住、完善村庄公共基础设施、加强村庄环境整治,推进农村经济、社会、生态环境等方面的和谐发展。     

Developing sustainable power systems by evaluating techno-economic,environmental, and social indicators from a system dynamics approach

The transition from fossil fuel-based energy systems to renewable energy systems (RES), especially in fossil-fuel-rich countries, is a challenging process requiring consideration of numerous factors, including technological feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and public acceptance. As governments play a crucial role in determining energy and environmental policy, developing practical policymaking tools encourages them to stimulate the adoption of renewable energy technology. This study proposes a novel framework to model an energy system transition focused on the power generation and its dynamic behavior of fossil-fuel-rich countries using the System Dynamics (SD) approach and then assesses the techno-economic and environmental impacts of various economic, technical, and environmental policies using the Multi-Criteria Decision-Analysis technique (MCDA). This study aims to compare the development of renewable technologies development versus improving the current technology efficiency under three different “business as usual,” “basic development,” and “advanced development” scenarios by assessing economic, environmental, and social indicators over the horizon of 2016–2040 in fossil-rich-fuel countries. The proposed framework was applied to Iran, a fossil-fuel-rich country. According to the case study results, in all of the defined policies under three scenarios, the improvement of fossil fuel technologies received the highest score indicating that improvement in the efficiency of the current energy system by utilizing combined cycle systems is an inevitable step. Taking into account the water shortage in Iran, the second crucial stage is the implementation of water-efficient renewable technologies.     

＂三旧＂改造背景下对广州历史风貌区保护的思考--以上下九步行街区为例

在把握历史风貌区保护相关概念及内涵的基础之上,思考“三旧”改造背景下广州历史风貌区保护中存在的经济平衡和高强度开发、传统城市空间尺度异化、历史遗存和场所精神丧失、交通压力和基础设施匮乏等问题,从旧城更新中的“减法”、历史空间的保护与完善、文化资源的延续与整合、步行网络与公交系统的有效衔接等多个层面探索基于社会效益、经济效益和环境效益均衡发展的历史风貌区保护模式。     

Toward a Northern Architecture: The Microrayon as Arctic Urban Prototype

During the twentieth century, two trajectories of urban development in the Arctic, Ralph Erskine's social and environmental project for a new town in Resolute, Canada, and the massive industrial city of Norilsk in the Soviet Union, converged on a set of ideas that define a unique typology of urban and architectural design in extreme northern climates. Best described as a microrayon—a Soviet planning concept that originated in the late 1950s—that has been adapted and transformed to accommodate environmental and social conditions in the extreme north, these two projects share many similarities despite their vastly different scales, and social, political, and economic contexts. Their evolution and development establishes an important precedent for urban design in extreme northern climates and future Arctic cities.