Common Ground in Australia: An Object Lesson in Evidence Hierarchies and Policy Transfer

Developed in New York City in 1990, the Common Ground model of supportive housing has recently been embraced in Australia as a high-profile solution to chronic homelessness. Combining on-site support services with a congregate housing form accommodating ex-homeless people and low-income adults, Common Ground is presented as an innovative model which permanently ends homelessness, enhances wellbeing, and strengthens communities. This article critically examines the process of transferring the model into Australia's social housing sector, drawing on the perspectives of the high-level stakeholders closely involved. It argues that, despite official commitments to evidence-based policy, the ‘advocacy coalition’ driving this international policy transfer employed a ‘knowledge hierarchy’ wherein professional intuition and personal experience were afforded a higher status than formal evaluative evidence. The article provides an example of the contested nature of what ‘counts as evidence’ in housing and homelessness policy, and considers what role academic research – as well as other knowledge sources – should play in the policy development process.     

Work–life fit: identification of demand and resource typologies within a systems framework*

Work–life fit occurs when people have the resources required to meet demands such that role performance (both at work and in non-work life domains) is effective. Interviews were conducted with 59 construction workers based in Melbourne, Australia to explore how demands and resources were experienced. Using a systems framework, data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results identified two demand typologies associated with demand-to-demand interaction. Demands operating as ‘influencers’ have a major impact on the conditions of the interdependent demand, while demands operating as ‘creators’ generate a new demand and shape the conditions of that demand. One resource typology related to resource–demand interaction was identified. ‘Enabling resources’ enable an individual to manage multiple demands across multiple domains, and may also enable an individual to manage multiple demands within a single domain. A new conceptual contribution is made to an area in which theory is under-developed, by adopting a systems approach to understanding the dynamic interactions between demands and resources. A lack of fit is damaging for the individual; therefore, it is useful to know that demands and resources are interdependent and these interdependencies will vary according to individuals. Using a systems approach to understanding demands and resources will be helpful to organizations seeking to support workers to achieve optimal work–life fit.     

Adoption of increasing block tariffs (IBTs) among urban water utilities in major cities in China

Increasing block tariffs (IBTs) have been officially endorsed by the Chinese government since 1998, but by the end of 2013, fewer than half of the country’s 36 major cities had adopted IBTs as the tariff structure for their water utilities. Our study examines the main factors affecting these cities’ decisions on whether or not to adopt IBTs, considering both general characteristics of the cities and characteristics of their water utilities. A discrete-time hazard model is used for empirical analysis. Results show that factors most likely to affect a major city’s decision on IBT adoption include the city’s economic development as measured by growth rate of GDP; changes in the relative importance of the domestic water sector; the city’s wastewater treatment rate and leakage rate; and business structure of the water utility.     

Assessment of the future resilience of sustainable urban sub-surface environments

Urban sub-surface environments have consistently been used to house a wide variety of urban infrastructure, but often developed in a relatively haphazard way. An important aspect to overcome this is an enriched understanding of the current and potential future uses. Therein Geoscientific information should be considered indispensable, if this space is to be developed in a resilient and sustainable way. This will require a clear understanding of what is or could be located within underground space, together with its properties, in order to assess its true potential as an urban resource. This information will inform urban developmental choices allowing sustainable and resilient development of underground space use to take place regardless of what the future may hold. However, such information needs to be integrated into decision support systems for conventional types of underground construction, in order for any development to occur in a consistent and manageable way.This paper presents the development of a new sustainable underground use resilience evaluation (SUURE) framework that will allow the quantification of both spatial and temporal impacts of today’s underground urban (re)development solutions, in light of future economic, environmental and social changes. The framework uses a broad range of plausible, yet divergent future scenarios in order to ensure core objectives of sustainability and resilience are met. Within this paper it is used to evaluate the utilisation of Multi-Utility-Tunnels – MUT’s (i.e. flush-fitting, shallow and deep) in Birmingham Eastside, UK, as an alternative utility placement technique to traditional (open-cut) trenching. The flush-fitting MUT was found to be having the highest overall baseline (i.e. present-day) performance with a resilience index ratio of 0.739 (mean value), the shallow MUT came second at 0.656, and the deep MUT came last at 0.212.     

基于计划行为理论的地铁施工人员不安全行为意向研究

基于计划行为理论并结合系统动力学，构建地铁施工人员不安全行为意向的影响因素系统模型。以行为态度、知觉行为控制、示范性规范和指令性规范作为子系统，运用Vensim PLE仿真分析各子系统中二级影响因素对施工人员不安全行为意向的动态影响，识别各子系统中的关键影响因素。结果表明:对4个子系统进行优化均可降低不安全行为意向强度，且示范性规范子系统的优化效果最好。此外，各影响因素对不安全行为意向的作用效果、作用时间存在差异，使得不安全行为意向呈现出阶段性规律；安全监管、工作强度、示范行为次数及班组安全氛围分别为4个子系统中的关键影响因素。     

工程项目领导 BIM 技术采纳行为研究

通过引入自我决定理论， 从外部调节、认同调节、 关系、 胜任力、自主性 5 个方面梳理 BIM 技术采纳行为的前因要素； 基于双重态度视角，探究不同态度作用下工程项目领导 BIM 技术采纳行为的差异性； 并通过单类内隐联想测验与偏最小二乘法结构方程模型进行数据收集、处理及模型检验。 结果表明: 当今工程项目领导对于 BIM 技术普遍存在外显态度积极、内隐态度消极的现象； 相较于外显态度通过作用于采纳意愿而影响采纳行为，内隐态度可直接影响采纳行为的发生。 本文研究拓展了自我决定理论及双重态度理论的应用边界，为 BIM 技术在工程行业的应用及推广提供了一定的理论指导。     

Predicting chaotic time series of PM10 concentration using artificial neural network

Respirable particulate matter (PM10) concentration at one residential site in Delhi, India was predicted using the neural network approach. The concepts of chaotic systems theory were utilized to build the neural network model. The embedding dimension was estimated to provide the inputs to the neural network. The model evaluation results indicated the importance of noise reduction before selecting the embedding dimension of the time series. The selection of a proper embedding dimension is considered to be essential for obtaining reliable predictions. The model’s performance shows the capability of neural networks in modelling the chaotic time series.     

Modeling the elution of organic chemicals from a melting homogeneous snow pack

Organic chemicals are often released in peak concentrations from melting snow packs. A simple, mechanistic snowmelt model was developed to simulate and predict the elution of organic substances from melting, homogeneous snow, as influenced by chemical properties and snow pack characteristics. The model calculates stepwise the chemical transport along with the melt water flow in a multi-layered snow pack, based on chemical equilibrium partitioning between the individual bulk snow phases. The model succeeds in reproducing the elution behavior of several organic contaminants observed in previously conducted cold room experiments. The model aided in identifying four different types of enrichment of organic substances during snowmelt. Water soluble substances experience peak releases early during a melt period (type 1), whereas chemicals that strongly sorb to particulate matter (PM) or snow grain surfaces elute at the end of melting (type 2). Substances that are somewhat water soluble and at the same time have a high affinity for snow grain surfaces may exhibit increasing concentrations in the melt water (type 3). Finally, elution sequences involving peak loads both at the beginning and the end of melting are simulated for chemicals that are partially dissolved in the aqueous melt water phase and partially sorbed to PM (type 4). The extent of type 1 enrichment mainly depends on the snow depth, whereby deeper snow generates more pronounced concentration peaks. PM influences the elution behavior of organic chemicals strongly because of the very large natural variability in the type and amount of particles present in snow. Urban and road-side snow rich in PM can generate type 2 concentration peaks at the end of the melt period for even relatively water soluble substances. From a clean, melting snow pack typical for remote regions, even fairly hydrophobic chemicals can be released in type 1 mode while being almost completely dissolved in the aqueous melt water phase. The model provides a mechanistic understanding of the processes that lead to chemical peak releases during snowmelt.     

The unintended consequences of government policies and programmes for public open spaces in inner-urban Sydney

Sport is important internationally; but in Australia, it is part of the national identity. The enjoyment of public open space for sport is, therefore, an assumed community right. We interviewed key staff from inner Sydney councils about management issues associated with public open space. The greatest concern was sporting fields – formal and informal – which were considered to have exceeded carrying capacity mainly because of the unintended outcomes of government programmes/policies spanning; (1) ‘healthy lifestyles’ which increased public open space use; (2) ‘urban consolidation’ increased inner-city population density with associated increased usage and loss of open space; (3) ‘temporal water restriction’ during drought (not ‘water budgets’) which intensify management issues; and (4) ‘building the education revolution’, meaning that public open space lost from schools results in increased pressure on public open space. Consequences have increased human pressure on public open space without commensurate consideration for the management and/or expansion of these areas.     

Understanding Daily Life of Older People in a Residential Complex: The Contribution of Lefebvre's Social Space

This article contributes to the theoretical and applied understanding of daily life and the meaning of home for older people living in purpose-built, age-segregated complexes. Whilst gerontology has embraced spatial perspectives, it often fails to capture their diverse and changing nature. This article considers findings from a larger qualitative study that explored the geography of residential complexes in Brisbane, Australia, through the lens of Henri Lefebvre's theory of social space. Data relating to Lefebvre's concepts of spatial practice and spaces of representation clearly capture the routines, activities, attachments and imaginations that help or hinder older people connecting to their living environment. Talking with older people gave a rich account of how they use, think about and produce space and highlighted the tensions in providing this form of specialised housing. As well as providing theoretical insights, a nuanced understanding of social space informs policy and public discussion of older people's living environments.     

Public innovation: An Australian regulatory case study

The urban water sector must innovate to meet a multitude of challenges. In Australia, innovation needs to occur primarily within the existing framework of public ownership. Supporting innovation necessitates understanding all the potential regulatory levers which could influence its adoption. This paper analyses the place of public utilities within Melbourne's urban water regulatory terrain and examines how innovation thrived or withered amidst the various regulatory influences through an empirical case study. We conclude that water regulatory systems are overlapping, heterogeneous and more sophisticated than often assumed. Yet despite this inherent regulatory complexity, innovation can occur inside trusted public institutions.     

Jaqueline Tyrwhitt: a founding mother of modern urban design

Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (1905–83) was a town planner, editor and educator who was at the centre of a group of people who shaped the post‐war Modern Movement. Tyrwhitt’s great contribution, especially to the planning arm of the Modern Movement, the new field of urban design and the new science of ekistics, is under‐recognized, largely because she worked willingly as the ‘woman behind the man’ – notably as a disciple of Patrick Geddes, translator and editor of Sigfried Giedion, and collaborator of Constantinos Doxiadis. In doing so she extended their influence greatly and shaped the work of many people. Histories of planning lose much by omitting the contribution of collaborative, catalytic actors such as Tyrwhitt, whose career serves as a touchstone for this era, considered to be a watershed in the history of planning as an intellectual and professional movement. This paper sheds light on Tyrwhitt’s contribution through a chronological narrative, interweaving the biographical facts of her career with the larger themes her work engages in the broadest sense: the globalization of planning and urban design as an intellectual and professional movement as part of the larger civilizational transformation – the emergence of countervailing, ‘postmodern’ globalism, a humane, ecological world view very much like Geddes’ Neo‐Technic Era.     

What will drive household adoption of smart energy? Insights from a consumer acceptance study in Germany

Although smart energy technologies (SETs) can fulfill multiple tasks in increasingly decarbonized and digitalized energy systems, market diffusion is still limited. This study investigates which beliefs influence consumers’ intention to adopt two smart-energy offerings, whether the rapid growth of the smart home market will now drive SET adoption, and if consumer-driven diffusion will lead to sustainability potentials being realized. Building on UTAUT2, a new theoretical model is proposed, and a consumer acceptance survey was conducted in Germany (n = 700). Results indicate that a growing smart home market will not increase SET adoption and that “adjustable green defaults” should be introduced.     

Spatiotemporal relationship between particle air pollution and respiratory emergency hospital admissions in Brisbane, Australia

The nature of spatial variation in the relationship between air pollution and health outcomes within a city remains an open and important question. This study investigated the spatial variability of particle matter air pollution and its association with respiratory emergency hospital admissions across six geographic areas in Brisbane, Australia. Data on particles of 10 microm or less in aerodynamic diameter per cubic metre (PM10), meteorological conditions, and daily respiratory emergency hospital admissions were obtained for the period of 1 January 1998 to 31 December 2001. A Poisson generalised linear model was used to estimate the specific effects of PM10 on respiratory emergency hospital admissions for each geographic area. A pooled effect of PM10 was then estimated using a meta-analysis approach for the whole city. The results of this study indicate that the magnitude of the association between particulate matter and respiratory emergency hospital admissions varied across different geographic areas in Brisbane. This relationship appeared to be stronger in areas with heavy traffic. We found an overall increase of 4.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-6.9%) in respiratory emergency hospital admissions associated with an increase of 10 microg /m3 in PM10 in the single pollutant model. The association was weaker but still statistically significant (an increase of 2.6%; 95% CI: 1.0-5.5%) after adjusting for O3, but did not appear to be affected by NO2. The effect estimates of PM10 were generally consistent for three spatial methods used in this study, but appeared to be underestimated if the spatial nature of the data was ignored. Therefore, the spatial variation in the relationship between PM10 and health outcomes needs to be considered when the health impact of air pollution is assessed, particularly for big cities.     

Framework of emergence: from chain of value to value constellation

ABSTRACT

For academic design programmes and research councils, finding mechanisms to measure impact and valuate co-design research projects is very difficult. The metric parameters – number of attendees, volume, shape, length – have shown to be insufficient. The subject matter, the subjects and matters, do not easily fit within these parameters, which fail to translate the value of a ‘constellation of affections’ that emerge throughout co-design processes. Emphasis on quantifiable impact derives from particular ways of understanding production, reproduction, and dissemination of knowledge. This paper understands academic design programmes as a technology to discuss axiology in co-design practices. This paper re-configures a techno-logic of value; from chain of value to value constellation, intersecting a co-design case study with readings of Simondon’s philosophy of technology and Barad’s agential realism. Ageing Playfully was a knowledge exchange project from The Creative Exchange programme, that involved people living with dementia and their caregivers co-designing interventions to boost mobility and well-being. At the core, this paper, explores an axiological move that informs a framework of emergence, a way of thinking in methods to account for the value of co-design as site of emergence.     

Delivering Social Housing: Examining the Nexus between Social Housing and Democratic Planning

The construction of social housing in gentrifying neighbourhoods can ignite contestation, revealing tensions between economic imperatives, social policy and neighbourhood change. With a view to understanding how the convergence of these agendas preserve unpopular, but socially critical housing infrastructure, the aim of this paper is to explore how the challenges social housing implementation encounters across these agendas intersect with a broader agenda for local democratic planning. Using social housing as our empirical focus and directing attention to the gentrifying local government area of Port Phillip in Victoria, Australia, this paper reveals how a council’s main asset to support implementation – its policy frameworks – creates an urban narrative of social inclusivity and diversity. Through this case, we illustrate how elected officials and some residents draw from these policies to interject into episodes of community contestation, which we argue presents opportunities to expose and renew commitments to social housing over space and time.     

Understanding cities through city brands: City branding as a social and semantic network

More and more towns, cities, regions, and countries are investing in branding campaigns in order to establish a reputation for themselves, and to have a competitive edge in today’s global market. In their essence, branding campaigns are places’ attempts to define themselves to target audiences. However, the literature and practice of place branding have focused on the competition of brands at the expense of exploring the relations between people, symbols, meanings, and physical characteristics of cities. Therefore, current branding measurement scales and indices used to understand the defining characteristics of places are problematic. This article first analyzes three of the prominent place branding indices: Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index, FutureBrand Country Brand Index, and East–West Nation Brand Perception Index. Subsequently, it proposes an analytical framework combining two network analysis methods – social and semantic – to evaluate place brands, called “Define–Measure–Visualize” (DMV). In order to argue for the feasibility of the proposed method, a sample dataset is created based on tweets about Boston and New York City. By introducing a consumer-centric and communications-based approach and exploring the connection between cities, people, and messages, the findings of this research can be used in understanding cities/places, measuring the success of branding campaigns, and managing future campaigns.     

Politics and Community Power in Australia,Some Comments On Wanna

The experience of the 1980s has surely demonstrated how closely urban development in Australia is enfolded within political activity at national and local levels (Minnery, 1983; Jones, 1985; Yiftachel, Alexander and McManus, 1991; Low and Moser 1991; Caulfield, 1991; Hedgecock, Hillier and Wood, 1991). Moreover, in a wider and more global sense, the connection between polity and economy seems to be shaping up as a key agenda for the 1990s (e.g. Dahl, 1985; Jessop, 1990). Yet there has been little debate on a theoretical level about the politics of urban development in Australia. Politics is often described or assumed but rarely theorized (but see Low, 1991). Without a theoretical nexus, formed through dialogue between and among theoretical positions and their underlying assumptions and postulates, there can be no understanding of what is really happening here or how current Australian politics – in this case urban politics – resembles or differs from the politics of other places and other times.     

Sanitizing Jakarta: decolonizing planning and kampung imaginary

ABSTRACT

This article offers a critical view of the water and sanitation sector within the broader trajectory of Jakarta’s spatial development and planning. Its territorial focus is on kampungs and it traces their historical journey from the periphery of the colonial city – Batavia and its modern planning domain – to the centre of the post-independence planning regime. ‘Kampung’ is an indigenous term for rural-agricultural settlements. In the colonial period, it was used to label non-European and non-Chinese settlements in and around the city. Colonial modernity created certain stigmatizations: kampungs came to be seen as undisciplined and insanitary communities, sources of insurgency and threats to public health. But the kampung realm was also (re)produced through practices of segregation within the colonial planning system. The imaginaries of colonial modernity linger on within today’s planning practices, resulting in a persistent failure to improve the environmental health of kampungs and the city as a whole. Postcolonial kampungs remain as a cosmopolitan enclave open to different cultures and socio-political contestations. The article argues that, given the kampung’s resilience in varying socio-ecological conditions, urban kampungs should be seen not as a problem, but as an opportunity for new planning approaches.