The neighbourhood unit adequacy: An analysis of the case of Gaza,Palestine

Urban planning in the Gaza Strip faces several challenges as a result of rapid population growth and limited available resources. Planning for housing development in Gaza is based on the neighbourhood unit concept. However, it is not clear to what extent this trend is responsive to local housing needs, and what should be done to improve it. This paper presents the results of a survey of local housing specialists followed by a real-time case study of neighbourhood planning. The study concludes that the use of neighbourhood unit concept as a planning base is appropriate for the Gaza Strip, considering the social context and the limited size of the local housing projects, which requires an incremental development policy. However, several challenges remain, including the absence of a national housing policy and unified legislation, fund shortages, and land limitations. The study recommends to policy makers that adequacy of this social-oriented planning model should be investigated considering the principle of localisation instead of standardisation. This is essential in avoiding the absolute rejection or adoption of this model on the one hand, and in ensuring a subjective process of reinventing rather than mere borrowing on the other one.     

Housing activism in urban China: the quest for autonomy in neighbourhood governance

Abstract

The creation of a neoliberal housing regime triggered extensive housing activism during the last decade by middle class homeowners who were protecting their rights to their neighbourhood. Yet such actions also signify the quest for autonomy from the ubiquitous control of the local state as the vanguard of political power hegemony at the grassroots level. Yet there is evidence of an escalation in “non-peaceful” actions in the richest cities in China despite the tight control of the authoritarian state. With data taken from official documents and interviews as well as from news reports about neighbourhood disputes in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, this article gives an analytic account of the disputes and actions of homeowners in residential neighbourhoods while making their claims as well as on the strategies used by the local state in controlling the homeowners' associations. The article is able to enrich our understanding of housing activism in a non-democratic regime.     

Contestation and conservatism in neighbourhood planning in England: reconciling agonism and collaboration?

Neighbourhood planning was formally enabled as a statutory part of the English planning system under the Localism Act 2011. This element of formal planning has generated significant interest as it actively requires local communities to lead on producing a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) and is widely recognised as formalising co-produced planning. The paper reflects on research undertaken with a sample of neighbourhoods active in producing a neighbourhood plan, and develops a critical discussion about the experience of those participants. The findings highlight that existing power relations, national priorities, the framing of neighbourhood planning regulations, local political tensions and local resource constraints affect the emerging practices of neighbourhood planners in England. Many groups have adopted conservative positions or are finding their NDPs are being limited by consultants, local authorities or examiners, often concerned with how the NDPs will fare in the contested environment of planning and development in neo-liberal times. While some have contended that neighbourhood planning can form part of a progressive localism and there is some hope for such participatory spaces, our view is that innovation is being constrained if not entirely suppressed. We conclude that reform to neighbourhood planning is needed if it is to realise the ambitions of inclusive, empowered and responsible planning at the very local scale.     

Planning for affordable rural housing in England and Wales

This paper explores some of the problems faced by planning‐led rural housing initiatives since the issuing of government guidance in 1991 and 1992 (i.e. the 1991 Circulars and PPG3/PPG3 Wales). A range of difficulties have undermined confidence in the strategy and a key problem has been the lack of certainty resulting from poor development plan coverage in England and Wales. This uncertainty has fuelled debate surrounding the legitimacy of the strategy and its potentially negative impact on development control. However, in 1991, local planning authorities were given new legally‐defined responsibilities for producing local plans and evidence from the DoE/WO monitoring surveys shows that plan coverage will have increased markedly by the end of 1996. Improved plan coverage and evidence that planning and housing departments are developing better working practices are encouraging signs. If greater certainty can be generated, the planning system may be able to make a more positive contribution to the supply of affordable rural housing.     

Housing Rural Communities: Connecting Rural Dwellings to Rural Development in Ireland

This paper explores the interaction between rural development policy and planning policies for rural housing within the context of Ireland. Drawing on an interpretive approach to policy analysis, the paper examines competing narratives of ‘the rural’ within the policy arena that underpin a fragmented approach to rural sustainable development. The evidence points to a disconnection between these spheres of public policy marked by a strained relationship between rural communities and regulatory planning, not least with regard to the preferred shape of the rural settlement pattern. It is argued that any housing policy for rural areas must give full regard to the social, economic and cultural attributes of rural life and not just the criteria of environment and landscape. In this context, partnership based local planning processes would enable the exploration of competing rural narratives to be re-orientated towards local needs, capacities and the perspectives of local people and the adoption of cultural, environmental and community values within the policy process.     

Participation in neighbourhood regeneration: achievements of residents in a Dutch disadvantaged neighbourhood

Despite the fact that resident participation has become central to the Dutch policy discourse on ‘good’ urban planning, it is unclear to what degree new participation mechanisms have created opportunities for residents to actually influence neighbourhood governance and contribute to the improvement of their neighbourhood. This paper explores how residents in the neighbourhood of Transvaal (Amsterdam) have been involved in regeneration since 1999. Although residents have been successful in putting everyday concerns about safety on the agenda and contributed to small-scale improvements of public space, they were unable to contribute to regeneration plans at the scale of the neighbourhood, in particular strategic decisions about state-led gentrification.     

The changing environment and neighbourhood satisfaction in socialist high-rise panel housing estates: The time-comparative perceptions of elderly residents in Prague

Population aging represents a significant trend in shaping contemporary urban areas, and research investigating various aspects of age-friendly cities and neighbourhoods has enjoyed increasing attention from urban scholars and practitioners. The neighbourhood transformations that have been taking place in socialist high-rise panel housing estates in the last 20 years raise concerns as to how they are experienced by local elderly populations. Although a number of studies have addressed recent developments in high-rise panel estates in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), little is known about the self-perceived residential quality of elderly inhabitants. This paper investigates the neighbourhood satisfaction of the elderly living in housing estates in Prague, the Czech Republic. The focus of this study is on their perceptions of the opportunities and barriers presented by the changing residential environments in relation to their daily independence. The paper takes a time-comparative approach based on face-to-face interviews with elderly adults from three different study areas. The findings suggest that neighbourhood satisfaction is influenced, among other factors, by the “life stage” of the housing estate, by the individual circumstances of moving to the neighbourhood and by the time to adapt to the new environment. Although the elderly evaluate housing estates as convenient places to live, the risks related to demographic aging and the deterioration of local facilities must be taken seriously.     

Changing neighbourhood character in Melbourne: point Cook a case study

In the past two decades, Melbourne has been subjected to diverse pressures due to its changing scale and function within the global system of cities. Among many other features of the new phase in Melbourne’s urban transformation are its new suburbs which have proliferated in large numbers at the city’s urban fringe. Characteristic of these suburbs is a new urban character which has evolved as a by-product of a pre-defined and controlled mechanism in planning, design and implementation of housing developments. The objective of this paper is to investigate the process that determines the evolution of this new character; examining the role of local planning authorities and developers in shaping the built environment. Firstly, the paper discusses the definition of neighbourhood character and its interpretation among academics, policy makers, planners, urban designers, developers and real estate agents. Then in a three-step process the nature, quality and style of neighbourhood character in Point Cook are investigated through analysis of Council policies and through review of developer statements on character building and place-making. Lastly to understand how the idea of character is constructed and enacted by local residents of Point Cook, a survey was administered for the residents.     

Livability in dense residential neighbourhoods of Dhaka

Prime cities in developing countries, like Dhaka experience haphazard and intense horizontal densification. The livability of dense neighbourhoods needs to be investigated, particularly, the role of housing and planning in mitigating density problems and capitalizing the advantages of high-density living. This article argues that housing form and planned community facilities giving respect to socio-cultural practices can significantly influence Dhaka’s livability. Also, a wider definition of housing should be adopted to facilitate improvements in livability. As well, an integrated approach of residential planning is important in intensified housing development projects or planning for dense areas, encompassing housing standards, community facilities, public transport, open space provision and socio-cultural habits. This paper recommends the Bangladeshi Government to ensure enforcement of residential plans, to establish density zones in Dhaka’s main urban areas to guide spatial and transport development and neighbourhood facility provision, and to give greater respect for cultural practices in neighbourhood planning.     

Towards the experiential meaning of milieu for neighbourhood regeneration: discussions on the institutional designation of milieu-valued areas in Tallinn, Estonia

This article analyses the constructive and strategic character of the milieu discourse in the planning of urban neighbourhoods in Tallinn, Estonia, that has an influence on neighbourhood regeneration. In the institutional designation of milieu areas, the concept of milieu area means the coherent historical housing environment as assessed by planning experts. The article argues that this milieu discourse has strategic aims in terms of preserving architectural housing heritage and acknowledging the traditional understanding of the heritage value. This has influenced, in the collective knowledge, the specific perception of the term ‘milieu’ that will in turn influence the change of a neighbourhood’s social structure and of its placemaking. For example, the concept of milieu area is used by real estate agents for selling and renting apartments in deprived neighbourhoods that are institutionally acknowledged as the neighbourhoods with the milieu value. The study concludes that the expert-based milieu discourse does not consider the socio-spatial neighbourhoods’ everyday life, which is significant in terms of viable neighbourhood regeneration. The reconstruction of the milieu term towards an experiential milieu approach is suggested, as the involvement of residents in neighbourhood regeneration is especially essential in the neighbourhoods of the dispossessed.     

The Planning System and the Provision of Affordable Housing in Rural Britain: A Comparison of the Scottish and English Experience

This paper compares recent experience in the use of the planning system to facilitate the provision of affordable housing in rural areas of Scotland and England. Following an introduction summarising key issues arising from the relevant literature, the paper first sets out the scale of need for rural affordable housing in the two countries and then summarises the differing planning policy frameworks. Scale of delivery is then addressed and an attempt is made to establish the extent to which differences in performance reflect variations in policy, delivery mechanisms or differing housing markets. The hypothesis is advanced that Scotland, although a more rural country, has made less use of planning policy to tackle issues relating to the need for rural social housing. In both countries scale of provision has lagged behind perceived need and a major reason for this would appear to be the tensions in planning policy between environmental and social sustainability objectives, with the scales so far weighted towards the environmental rather than the social imperative.     

Whites' neighbourhood racial preferences and neighbourhood racial composition in the United States: evidence from the multi‐city study of urban inequality

Within the housing segregation literature major disagreements have developed over two fundamental issues: (1) the role that whites' aversion to racially mixed neighbourhoods plays in causing modern segregation in the US; and (2) the factors that underlie this aversion, including the effects of inter‐racial contact on whites' neighbourhood racial preferences and whether these preferences reflect neighbourhood stereotyping as opposed to pure racial prejudice. Extant evidence on these issues is either old or indirect. This paper provides direct evidence on these issues using new data from the Multi‐City Study of Urban Inequality. The results suggest that (1) whites' neighbourhood racial preferences play an important role in explaining the racial composition of their neighbourhoods; (2) inter‐racial contact in neighbourhoods and workplaces leads to a greater willingness among whites to live with blacks; and (3) although younger and more educated whites express a stronger taste for integration than other whites, the magnitude of these differences leads to only a small increase in the black percentage of the neighbourhood. In addition, the results provide no evidence in support of the hypothesis that whites stereotype black neighbourhoods rather than blacks per se.     

Does satisfactory neighbourhood environment lead to a satisfying life? An investigation of the association between neighbourhood environment and life satisfaction in Beijing

Associated with the dramatic expansion of Chinese cities are the unprecedented scale and pace of changes to urban living environment. There is an imperative to assess residents' perceptions of neighbourhood environment and the impacts on life satisfaction. Drawing on a large-scale residential satisfaction survey conducted in Beijing in 2013, we examine the fine-grained spatial distribution and determinants of residents' life satisfaction. A multilevel ordinal response model is employed to investigate the roles of neighbourhood satisfaction, perceived relative income, socio-demographic characteristics, and contextual factors in predicting life satisfaction. Results show that satisfaction with key neighbourhood characteristics including safety, physical and social environments, and travel convenience is statistically significantly associated with life satisfaction. Income relative to that of peers in local areas or to that in the past is a more important predictor of life satisfaction than absolute income. Other individual-level variables, such as age, family structure, hukou status, health, commuting time, and housing-related variables including housing tenure and floor space, are significant correlates of life satisfaction.     

Living in and leaving poor neighbourhood conditions in England

Current neighbourhood renewal and urban policies in the UK seek to improve neighbourhood conditions in poor areas and achieve greater residential stability. Using one of the few longitudinal housing datasets available in the UK, this paper analyses the influence of residential perceptions on house moving behaviour in poor and other areas. It is found that residential dissatisfaction is notably higher among residents of poor areas, and they respond to poor neighbourhood conditions in the same way as the general population. Dissatisfaction with the home itself, and unhappiness with disorder in the immediate surroundings both significantly increased the odds that someone would move home. Perceived neighbourhood decline was also found to increase the odds that someone wished to move home but to reduce the likelihood that they would actually do so. Residential mobility was found to be a particular problem for owner occupiers in declining neighbourhoods and for residents in deprived parts of inner London.     

Determination of neighbourhood housing amenities: Asymmetric effects of consumers’ choices and multiple equilibria

This paper studies the sizes and rents of housing determined as a result of the choices of consumers whose utility depends on the level of housing amenities in their neighbourhood. The level is, in turn, determined by the sizes of housing there. It is shown that there emerges a possibility of multiple equilibria if the effect of each consumer's choice upon neighbourhood housing amenities is asymmetric.     

西部贫困地区农房建设困境调查分析

基于对我国西部地区农民住房情况的实地调查和研究分析,阐述了西部贫困地区农村的社会主义新农村建设、危旧房改造工程的现状和发展,对当前农村工作开展中遇到的问题和困境作出深刻的分析和研究;并从西部农村建房的规划、选址、结构体系、建房材料和抗震措施等方面探讨了农村住房的抗震脆弱性,对危旧房改造工程中关于调整政策扶持力度、加强专业技术管理、提高房屋抗震性能和加大西部农房的研究力度等方面提出了合理化建议。     

Homo Economicus in a Big Society: Understanding Middle-class Activism and NIMBYism towards New Housing Developments

Abstract

Problems of housing supply and affordability in England have long been recognized by policy-makers. A key barrier to supply is seen to be community activism by so-called not-in-my-back-yard activists (NIMBYs). The localism policy agenda, or devolving decision-making down to the local level, is central to how the UK coalition government seek to overcome this opposition. This conceives NIMBYism as a demonstration of homo economicus – of the rationality of economic beings seeking to maximize their utility. In this view, residents would not accept large urban extensions in suburban areas because they took on localized costs with no obvious benefits, unless incentivised appropriately. In this paper, we use analysis of British Social Attitudes Survey data as well as the results of the first review of middle-class activism in relation to public services to identify the likelihood of residents being incentivized by this version of localism to accept new housing. We conclude that the evidence on the individual and collective attitudes suggests that it is unlikely that localism will deliver new housing. Importantly, the political power of affluent and professional groups means they can ensure that their opposition is heard, particularly in the neighbourhood plans delivered through localism. The paper argues that planning for housing needs to understand communities as homo democraticus – as actively engaged in negotiating between complex interests with respect to support for new housing.     

The other disadvantaged neighbourhood: income related effects of living in rural peripheries

Abstract

In this article, we argue that similarly to the literature on urban neighbourhood effects, the idea of disadvantaging residential environment can be used to explain the socio-economic disadvantage of residents in rural peripheries. We present arguments as to why it is appropriate to consider the effects of the residential environment in a micro-regional perspective and outside of metropolitan areas. These effects are empirically analysed using income related data from the Czech Republic. We ask whether income is negatively affected by housing in peripheral micro-regions. The results confirm that the concept of residential disadvantage is also relevant in rural areas, and that in the Czech Republic residence in remote rural areas with limited educational levels and a high concentration of low-pay jobs has negative yet weak contextual effects, whereas increased levels of deprivation and social exclusion, typical also of many urban regions, are not decisive. A stronger negative impact of living in peripheries has been found on higher-skilled workers and women.     

Coveting your neighbour’s house: understanding the positional nature of residential satisfaction

Abstract

Do the characteristics of our neighbour’s house affect how we view our own home? In this paper, I examine the importance of local comparisons in housing assessments by testing whether the size of one’s home relative to others in their neighbourhood influences their housing satisfaction. I use a unique feature of the 1993 American Housing Survey, in which the US Census Bureau randomly surveyed 988 housing units around the country and a cluster of approximately 10 of their nearest neighbours. I use these data to test whether a unit’s relative size in its neighbourhood influences the occupant’s housing satisfaction while controlling for a series of occupant and unit characteristics. I find evidence that relative position matters. Those living in comparatively small houses are more likely to express dissatisfaction with their home than people living in units that are large relative to other houses in their neighbourhood cluster.