Ecological Networks: Connecting environmental,economic and social systems?

Ecological networks for different spatial scales (international to sub-regional) are being defined and realized throughout Europe. Historically they have been focused on nature conservation, but they may offer a mechanism whereby a holistic, integrated and long-term approach to regional and sub-regional sustainable development can be promoted. Economic, social and environmental factors operate at different spatial and temporal scales, presenting challenges to those wishing to develop an ecological network. A case study based on the development of an ecological network for Cheshire, a sub-region of the European Region-North West (UK), demonstrates how environmental issues might be integrated with social and economic drivers of change. A framework for an ecological network is proposed by combining an outline model of the socio-ecological system within Cheshire with a checklist that can be used to assess the sustainable management of a landscape.     

Building social mix by building social housing? An evaluation in the Paris,Lyon and Marseille Metropolitan Areas

In France, social housing is perceived as an instrument for promoting social mix. In particular, there is an expectation that introducing social housing into wealthy areas will bring in low-income households and lead to greater coexistence between lower and higher socio-economic groups. However, several factors tend to hinder the pro-mix effects of social housing: financial constraints that reduce the number of new buildings, especially in high-income neighbourhoods; Not in my backyard attitudes in wealthy areas; allocation practices by social landlords who seldom rent dwellings in expensive neighbourhoods to poor households. Previous experiments with social housing have often proved disappointing in their impact on social mix. What about today’s experiments? Has the social housing built in recent times increased social mix? The empirical evaluation we carried out in Paris, Lyon and Marseille shows that recent social housing developments have stimulated social mix but the impact measured is very small.     

“Third places” and social interaction in deprived neighbourhoods in Great Britain

This paper explores social interaction in local ‘public’ social spaces such as local shops, pubs, cafés, and community centres in deprived neighbourhoods. More specifically, it examines the importance, role and function of these places, which have been described by Oldenberg and Brissett (Qual Sociol 5(4):265–284, 1982), Oldenburg (Urban design reader. Architectural Place, Oxford, 2007) as being “third places” of social interaction after the home (first) and workplace (second). It does so by drawing on data gleaned from in-depth interviews with 180 residents in six deprived areas neighbourhoods across Great Britain, conducted as part of a study of the links between poverty and place funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The paper notes that local third places are an important medium for social interaction in these areas, although their importance appears to vary by population group. It notes that shops appear to be a particularly important social space. It also identifies some of the barriers to social interaction within third places and concludes by highlighting some of the key implications for policy to emerge from the research.     

A human-scaled GIS: measuring and visualizing social interaction in Barcelona’s Superilles

Social interaction is a key component of urban sustainability, but its spatial measurement is difficult using existing off-site GIS data. This paper reports on a new method of measuring social interaction using a combination of mobile technology and parametric software, which was tested on two of Barcelona’s new semi-pedestrian superilles. The research is introduced within a theoretical framework for social interaction and cohesion adapted from a broader index of sustainability. It shows how on-site data collection can be used to measure the capacity of urban spaces to support social interaction. It is argued that the combination of mobile technologies, GIS data, and predetermined indicators of the capacity of spaces to support positive human experiences offers an important complement to more traditional methods of recording and measuring the qualities of urban spaces.     

Los Angeles housing models and neighbourhoods’ role in supportive housing residents’ social integration

Social integration is an indicator of programmatic success in supportive housing, yet is an ongoing challenge for residents. This study examines varying supportive housing models’ (i.e. congregate, single-site, scatter-site) and neighborhoods’ (i.e. Skid Row, Downtown Los Angeles [DTLA], Other) differential impact on social integration outcomes- measured by residents’ social networks (i.e. size, diversity, social support). Participants were formerly homeless English or Spanish speaking unaccompanied adults (N=405), aged 39 years or older, living in supportive housing for 3 months. Housing model and neighborhood were examined separately with social network measures in controlled multivariable linear regression models. Compared to Skid Row residents, DTLA residents reported less emotional support and less tangible support, while residents in Other neighborhoods reported less emotional support and less instrumental support. Findings suggest overall differing housing models may be less influential in social integration, while neighborhoods may facilitate social support.     

Stuck in the middle? Danish social housing associations between state,market and civil society

This article analyses the political future of the social housing movement in Denmark. It argues that the social housing sector has lost the political identity, and hence legitimacy, derived from being a central party in post war welfare state building. It now needs to revise its political identity in order to survive in a changing political, social and economic environment. The article argues that the sector is caught in a cross fire between state, market and civil society regulation. In developing active, rather than re‐active, future strategies it therefore has to take a three dimensional dependency relation into account.     

Reframing social mix in affordable housing initiatives in Italy and in the Netherlands. Closing the gap between discourses and practices?

European countries are facing rising demand for affordable housing by a widespread and differentiated audience. Both in Italy and in the Netherlands policy-makers and practitioners address this emerging need by implementing new social housing projects targeting diverse social groups – such as students, young households, welfare dependents, and refugees – which results in a fine-grained social mix. This paper discusses the development of these initiatives within wider trends in housing policies and in relation to the domestic debate on social mix in the two countries. Drawing on Magic Mix and Housing Sociale projects as case studies, respectively in the Netherlands and in Italy, we aim to explore and unfold the contemporary meanings and the practices attached to the idea of social mix. In so doing, this paper paves the way for a new conceptualization of social mix in the current post-crisis and hyper-diversified European scenario. We discuss traces of continuity and discontinuity between these forms of social mix and the mainstream idea of tenure mix, which has been a cornerstone of area-based urban renewal policy in many European countries. This paper contributes to the existing literature by offering insights into new practices of social mix in housing sphere.     

Mobilizing social capital: Which informal and formal supports affect employment outcomes for HOPE VI residents?

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examines the relationship between informal social support and formal support services and employment outcomes among residents of a public housing development relocated as part of a HOPE VI project in Charlotte, North Carolina. Informal social supports are resources accessible through family and friends within a neighborhood and formal support services are provided by case managers and service providers. We find that when former public housing residents are enrolled in case management longer and have high satisfaction with their case manager, this leads to better employment outcomes. In addition, having strong bonding ties among public housing neighbors has a negative influence on employment. This study sheds light on how case managers play a role in promoting economic mobility by mitigating social and economic crises and providing bridging capital for poor families.     

Anti-social or intensively sociable? The local context of neighbour disputes and complaints among social housing tenants

The prevalence of neighbour disputes among social housing tenants is often seen as the outcome of social residualisation and the physical characteristics of social housing. While such explanations have usefully drawn attention to the structural sources of problem neighbours in the social housing sector, rather than reduce them to the anti-sociality of tenants, this work has been disconnected from a consideration of the social and interactive contexts of neighbouring more broadly and its influence on how neighbour problems emerge and are managed in specific situations. In response, this paper examines the conditions that lead to the formation of a distinct style of neighbouring among social housing tenants, one that is prone to conflict and tension because of its intensively sociable, as opposed to anti-social, nature. Drawing on mediation data from Dispute Resolution Centres in Queensland, Australia, this paper illustrates how intensive modes of neighbouring combine with disadvantage and close physical proximity to create the conditions for neighbour problems to arise.     

When social assistance reproduces social inequality: intimate partner violence survivors’ adverse experiences with subsidized housing

This study examined women’s experiences using priority-subsidized housing programs for intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Interviews with 10 women highlighted that subsidized housing programs, although very important, can impede women’s efforts to safely escape abuse. Our analysis explored three negative accounts: subsidized housing programs as stigmatizing, difficult to access and qualify for, and controlling. Results have important implications for improving practices and policies of subsidized housing programs and suggest that: (a) subsidized and nonsubsidized housing should be integrated; (b) eligibility should not be based on extent and timeframe of abuse; and (c) women should be permitted to choose their own housing.     

Time‐dependent construction social costs model

Negative impacts of construction works on local traffic, environment and business have been pointed out by previous researchers. However, little work has been conductd on the quantification of such costs. A time‐dependent construction social costs (COSCO) model is developed for quantifying the negative impacts that result from construction operations during the field execution phase. The COSCO model is a simplified but practical model that calculates the construction social costs in a conservative way. A roadwork construction project is used to show the applicability of the COSCO model. It is found that the daily social cost was US$18?188–5.52 times the project construction cost. This is a striking illustration of management techniques for mediating the social costs of construction projects.     

Connecting physical and social dimensions of place attachment: What can we learn from attachment to urban recreational spaces?

This paper is concerned with the ways in which people form attachments to recreational spaces. More specifically it examines the relationship between recreational spaces associated with sporting activity in urban neighbourhoods and place attachment. The focus is on the ways in which changes to these spaces exposes the affective bonds between people and their surroundings. The paper applies a qualitative methodology, namely focus groups and photo elicitation, to the case study of Parkhead, a neighbourhood in the East End of Glasgow. Parkhead has historically been subjected to successive waves of redevelopment as a result of deindustrialization in the late twentieth century. More recently redevelopment associated with the 2014 Commonwealth Games involved further changes to neighbourhood recreational spaces, including refurbishing of existing sports facilities and building new ones. This paper reflects on the cumulative impacts of this redevelopment to conclude (a) that recreational sports spaces provoke multi-layered and complex attachments that are inextricably connected to both temporal and spatial narratives and (b) that research on neighbourhood recreational spaces can develop our understanding of the intricate relationship between the social and physical dimensions of place attachment.     

Urban consolidation process and discourses in Sydney: unpacking social media use in a community group’s media campaign

Community resistance to urban consolidation has been the subject of much research. However, dialogue through social media between citizens and planning agencies is rarely captured and analysed. Using discourse analysis we explore the discourses employed by local government, a state planning agency, an independent expert panel, journalists and a self-organised community group to either support or oppose a proposed development. Due to the significant use of social media by the community group and other stakeholders, we include Twitter dialogues in our discourse analysis. Three key findings emerge; first, a central strategy mobilised by all stakeholders was the tendency to appropriate the arguments of other stakeholders in order to support their own arguments. Second, the community group’s knowledge of the planning process improved to the extent that they developed a strong awareness of a larger planning system which broadened the scope of their social media strategy. Third, social media’s provision to the public of an open and expeditious channel of communication strained the internal processes of a planning agency.     

Going too far in the battle against concentration? On the balance between supply and demand of social housing in Dutch cities

In the second half of the 1990s, Dutch urban housing policy shifted from urban renewal to urban restructuring and the creation of more socially mixed neighbourhoods. Motives for restructuring stem from the ongoing debates on concentration, segregation and social mix. Here, we focus on the main instruments of urban restructuring, that is, the demolition of social housing and the construction of more expensive rental and owner-occupied housing. Continued restructuring may eventually lead to a shortage of social rented dwellings for low-income households, the target group of social housing. An important political question is therefore whether the dwindling supply of social housing still matches the potential demand in the target group. We addressed this question with an analysis of three Dutch cities: Rotterdam, The Hague and Breda. The results indicate that, although demolition has brought about substantial changes, the share of social rented housing remains high in most restructuring neighbourhoods and restructuring has not resulted in concentrations of social rented housing in other, non-restructuring neighbourhoods in any of the three cities. In Rotterdam, which had a very large social housing stock at the beginning of the restructuring operation, there are still sufficient affordable homes for lower income households. However, in The Hague and Breda, restructuring has tightened the supply of social rental housing. The municipal authority in The Hague has attempted to remedy the situation by entering regional agreements to secure sufficient levels of affordable housing.     

Repackaging the poor? Conceptualising neoliberal reforms of social rental housing

This paper considers the need for conceptual renewal in comparative housing research. Since the mid-1990s, Kemeny’s model of ‘unitary’ and ‘dualist’ rental markets and Harloe’s classification of ‘mass’ and ‘residual’ social housing provision have been repeatedly recycled in comparative studies of ‘social’ and ‘public’ housing provision. Amidst international neoliberal policy mobilities, their models based on liberal welfare regimes wield particular power. Conceived during neoliberal cutbacks of public services, Kemeny’s ‘dualist’ rental market and Harloe’s ‘residual’ model of social housing similarly depict state-subsidised rental housing provision as bureaucratic, and targeted to the poor. Despite empirical change, these models are still used to describe liberal welfare regimes, and to theorise international policy convergence. Based on a review of recent market-oriented reforms of state-subsidised rental housing provision in the US, Australia and England; original neoliberal ‘sites of production’, this contribution asks whether these conceptual models still reflect the empirics. Findings diverge from the models, undermining their assumptions about how neoliberal reforms progress.     

Bridging the social divide? reflections on current Dutch neighbourhood policy

Current Dutch urban policy has opted for a focused approach to solve urban social problems. The Minister of ‘Housing, Neighbourhoods and Integration’ aims at tackling social deprivation and liveability problems in a limited number of neighbourhoods. Several assumptions underpin the policy ambitions: e.g., a strong interrelationship between social deprivation and liveability; a clear social and spatial divide in Dutch society; and extra negative effects of problem accumulation. In this paper, these assumptions are tested. It is concluded that the two types of problems are in fact unrelated; targeting a limited number of neighbourhoods does not effectively address social deprivation. Furthermore, there is yet insufficient research to support the idea that there would be extra negative effects associated with an accumulation of social deprivation and liveability problems.

Embedding built environments in social–ecological systems: resilience-based design principles

Globalization, the process by which local settlements and ecosystems are becoming linked in a global network, presents policy scientists and planners with difficult design challenges. Coping with either natural or built environments in isolation is extremely challenging in its own right (e.g. built environments at different scales: a single building, a collection of buildings, a neighbourhood or a city are in themselves very complex). In the Anthropocene era, where human activities shape the planetary system in which built and natural environments are becoming more tightly linked across scales, these complex systems need to be considered as elements in a global network, i.e. as a coupled social–ecological system (SES) at the global scale. In the context of this spiralling complexity, multi-scale and multilevel processes become more important and design/management problems become extraordinarily difficult. Preliminary ideas are explored for how research on this multilevel design problem might proceed. Specifically, based on combining insights from a collection of theories and models based on resilience and robustness concepts, the basic elements of a new approach are presented that recognizes the importance of self-organizing processes at multiple scales and emphasizes the use of feedbacks to link these processes across scales.     

“It's all about power and you have none:” The marginalization of tenant resistance to mixed-income social housing redevelopment in Toronto,Canada

Mixed-income redevelopment has become a go-to approach for restructuring post-war public housing in advanced capitalist nations. In Regent Park, Canada's first and largest project, revitalization is underway to create a mixed-use, mixed-income community — with rebuilt public housing, condos, and a redesigned landscape. While tenants face negative impacts related to relocation, displacement and gentrification, there has been a void of organized opposition to the project. This article tells the story of revitalization in Toronto and identifies five inter-connected factors that have worked as barriers to tenant organizing. These include: (1) a successful effort by the public housing authority to build support for revitalization by successfully branding it as tenant-driven, (2) a consultation process designed to limit collective interaction among tenants, (3) the co-optation of some critical voices, (4) fear of reprisal among tenants for speaking out, and (5) an internalized sense of powerless and un-deservingness among tenants. These factors have emerged in a context that does not foster resistance, as tenants are desperate for new housing, forced to come up against a popular revitalization approach, and suffering from attrition in numbers over a long development timeline. Despite these barriers to resistance, the limited opposition that has emerged in Toronto has been surprisingly successful, indicating the political potential tenants have to mount a fundamental challenge to mixed-income redevelopment, and to demand investment that is not tied to gentrification and displacement.