Swedish social mix policy: a general policy without an explicit ethnic focus

Neighbourhood social mix is currently a pressing issue for both researchers and policy makers in the Western world. In an international perspective, Sweden offers an interesting case as both the structure of the housing market and the focus of the social mix policy differs from other countries’ policies. The introduction of a policy for social mixing in Sweden in 1974 was a reaction to the increasing socioeconomic segregation in the housing market. Swedish city planning and the conditions in the housing market have however changed dramatically since the policy was first introduced. This article is based on official housing policy documents and interviews with public actors. It seeks to analyse the policy makers’ understanding of Swedish social mix policy and how the policy is translated into practical planning. The overall aim is to analyse the Swedish policy in relation to similar policies in other countries, this to point at some of the existing differences, especially the different perspective on ethnic segregation. On the basis of document analysis and interviews with public actors, we come to the conclusion that the understanding and practice of the social mix policy in Sweden have been rather consistent over time. Even though Sweden has experienced increasing immigration, which has added an ethnic dimension to housing segregation, the Swedish social mix policy has remained a general policy for counteracting socioeconomic segregation, rather than ethnic segregation. This is an important difference compared to other mixing strategies in Europe and North America where ethnic mix has been, and still is, at the top of the agenda.     

Local Innovation And Global Change: ‘Remaking The Welfare State’ In Sweden1

Swedish urban planning and housing policies have been seen as exemplars by many Australian policy makers. The mixture of state activism, strong local government, broad concepts of welfare policy and social housing, coupled with wide community acceptance of these ideals, has enabled major innovations in housing policy. This article describes the historical background and recent changes to these policies within Sweden's changing political framework. It also shows that global fiscal changes, coupled with Sweden's entry into the ‘federalising’ European Union, have changed the context of these policies. Swedish housing and urban policy is changing; Swedish local government has a strong role in the development and implementation of these changing policies. There are many interesting lessons for Australian urban policy in these changes.     

Spatial Planning and High-Speed Broadband: Australia's National Broadband Network and Metropolitan Planning

The Australian government is constructing a National Broadband Network (NBN), which at an estimated cost of $43 billion will be Australia's largest ever infrastructure project. The NBN, if its full benefits are to be realized, raises a number of important, but largely unexplored, questions for planning. This paper investigates the implications of the NBN for Australian metropolitan planning focusing on the question of how these plans will exploit the NBN to improve urban outcomes. The paper examines the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane metropolitan areas and analyses the strategies shaping the future of these regions during the rollout and implementation of the NBN. This comparative analysis reveals similarities across these three metropolitan areas in their weak stance towards the NBN. Some key findings include: (1) a segregation of infrastructure planning and metropolitan planning; (2) a lack of consistency between different policies within each metropolitan area and (3) policy gaps regarding the role of telecommunications at the metropolitan level. Considering the number of governments worldwide that are making large investments in high-speed broadband, this paper addresses policy issues that will impact upon metropolitan planning well beyond the borders of Australia.     

Combating residential segregation of ethnic minorities in European cities

This introduction paper to the special issue on combating residential segregation provides an overview of desegregation policies in European countries. Housing diversification is the main desegregation measure in most countries, while housing allocation measures are also implemented in several European cities to disperse ethnic minorities. A comparison of the five countries covered in this special issue (UK, Finland, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands) reveals that each of them is characterised by a huge gap between an ambitious anti-segregation policy rhetoric and the limited effectiveness of desegregation policies. Housing policies have a limited effect on ethnic concentration, not only because they often contradict each other, but also because they fail to address the main causes of segregation.     

大巴黎区域规划和空间治理研究

二战后,法国政府推行区域分散式发展政策,对巴黎的社会经济发展采取诸多限制措施。前总统萨科齐在任期间,重新开始推动巴黎的空间拓展与经济振兴,促进巴黎在大都市尺度上的发展和全球竞争力的提升。介绍了法国大巴黎区域的规划和空间治理的发展历程以及近年来推动区域整合以强化巴黎发展的一系列行政、规划措施。法国大都市区发展范式的转变对上海新一轮总体规划的编制具有很大的借鉴价值。     

The Effect of Urban Containment and Mandatory Housing Elements on Racial Segregation in US Metropolitan Areas, 1990–2000

Abstract: Urban containment and state‐imposed mandatory housing elements in comprehensive land use plans attempt to reshape development patterns. Urban containment programs reign in the outward expansion of urban areas by restricting development of rural land outside urban containment boundaries and focusing the regional demand for urban development areas within them. This article assesses the effect of urban containment and mandatory housing elements on the percentage change in racial segregation change among US metropolitan areas during the 1990s. Ordinary least squares regression analysis suggests that while metropolitan areas with strong urban containment efforts saw a higher percentage decline in Anglo/African American residential segregation during the 1990s than metropolitan areas without such policies in place, urban containment had no statistically significant effect on segregation between Anglos and other races. Mandatory housing elements made no difference in racial segregation change between Anglos and any other race. Policy implications are posed.     

混合式住区对中国大都市住房建设的启示

鉴于中国大都市中日益显著的居住隔离现象,对于住房选择的干预越来越依赖市场,而现有住房政策、土地政策和城市规划忽视了住房和社区的社会意义,应当在住房发展中让不同收入阶层、不同类型家庭在社区和邻里层面混合居住,享有同等的社会资源,使社会各阶层在城市空间层面上处于相对平衡的状态,减轻由于居住空间分异所引发的社会问题。这一理想的实现必须依靠适度正确的制度干预。通过介绍美国、香港等国家和城市混合式住区发展的经验,引发更多从政策和实践等各个层面对中国大都市住房建设的探索。     

“It’s all in the mix”: constructing ethnic segregation as a social problem in Germany

The creation of a balanced ethnic mix at the neighbourhood level is a common objective of contemporary housing policies in many European countries. According to its proponents, these policies aim to stimulate social mobility and social integration, often within a wider attempt at urban regeneration. Germany is looking back at a long tradition of mixing strategies aimed at ethnic desegregation. Whereas other countries take a more subtle approach, targeting ethnic segregation indirectly by means of a social or housing mix, some German cities have tried to prevent ethnic concentrations by imposing moving-in bans or quotas on foreigners in certain quarters, restrictions that are still maintained under the recent anti-discrimination legislation. In applying a constructionist approach, the article critically discusses the reasoning behind the German policies. It tries to shed light on some shared features in the discourse on ethnic segregation across Europe and highlights the particularities of the German strategies. It further tackles the question of future prospects for desegregative housing policies against the background of demographic realities, the entrance of financial investors in the (German) housing market and the ongoing shrinkage of the social housing sector.     

Housing policy and the ethnic mix in Helsinki,Finland: perceptions of city officials and Somali immigrants

Helsinki provides an interesting case for the comparison of European mixing policies, as it has a relatively short history as a city of immigration. In contrast to prevailing desegregation policies of many other European countries, mixing policies in Helsinki are more of a preventive nature. In this article, we aim to examine how these policies are constructed and what kinds of reasons and explanations are given for the official policy goals and their implementation. Interviews with Somali immigrants are used as empirical evidence to confront policy assumptions and to get more insight into the factors causing ethnic residential segregation in Helsinki. The study shows that the local policies have been largely influenced by international debates on ethnic segregation, and therefore they have lacked an adequate understanding of the causes and effects of segregation in the local context. While the policy goals of ethnic mixing have been rather precise, tools for implementation have also been lacking. The case of Somalis illustrates that processes of residential segregation are more complex and dynamic than what is pictured in policy documents.     

URBAN PAUPERIZATION UNDER CHINA'S SOCIAL EXCLUSION: A CASE STUDY OF NANJING

ABSTRACT: This article articulates how two new urban poverty groups, namely the new urban poor and poor rural migrants, are pauperized under China's social exclusion. We argue that the two poverty groups experience different pauperization processes and are subjected to distinctive social exclusions with relevance to their institutional‐based status and changes in it. The urban poor experience status change from being beneficiaries of the planned economy to being victims of the market economy, and become a vulnerable group characterized by market exclusion and limited welfare dependency. The status of poor rural migrants changes from being institutionally inferior farmers in the planned economy to being a marginal group of urban society, which is now subjected to institutional exclusion and the resultant social exclusion. This research argues that positive social policies should be considered and a social security system should be established to pay more attention to the development issues of the urban poor.     

Organizing Government Structure and Governance Functions in Metropolitan Areas in Response to Growth and Change: A Critical Overview

Articles and books have recently appeared on a wide variety of regionalism issues. Some writers have attempted to refocus the discussion of the topic from government to governance, while others have proposed frameworks and models to categorize areas by the extent of their regionalism and explain why some metropolitan areas are more regional than others. Taking into account the government and governance issues and previous efforts at model building, the author proposes another framework to aid in the study of regionalism in metropolitan areas. A regional process is triggered when an urban area experiences growth or change pressures that extend beyond individual political boundaries. Various influences are exerted to restore equilibrium. The influences promote either independent and autonomous responses, or regionalism and cooperation responses. Many factors determine the strength of the influences, including previous responses and state and federal policies. Responses to the regional issue are a function of the interplay of the various influences and will result in either a more independent and autonomous or a more regional and cooperative governing system. The author applies the framework in the analysis of Pittsburgh's responses to regionalism pressures.     

指标的抉择:概念、方法与应用

本文概述了指标的发展历程,着重介绍了英固城市与区域规划背景下指标的发展情况,并为未来的指标研究和深入发展提供了线索.本文的观点和建议是对经济与社会研究理事会(ESRC:Economic and Social Research Council)所资助的一项研究项目成果的阐释,该研究项目旨在识别出用于衡量地方经济发展潜力的指标,以及用于建立一个城镇指标数据库的方法,这一数据库用来帮助副首相办公室(ODPM:the Office of Deputy Prime Minister)监测城市白皮书(Urban White Paper)执行的力度.文章讨论的内容主要围绕五大问题:城市与区域规划评价指标发展的理论、概念与度量之间的关系;政策背景的重要性与指标研究的价值;社会科学家在指标演化过程中所扮演的角色;指标在为政策制定以及数据建设提供信息上的作用;最后综合评价了不同分析方法的优缺点.     

Spatial mismatch research in the 1990s: progress and potential

This article reviews recent research about the spatial mismatch hypothesis from a range of social science disciplines. Since 1990, researchers have tested the mismatch hypothesis in diverse metropolitan settings; devised more accurate measures of geographical access to employment; and developed models to address issues such as compensating variations, sample selection bias, and contextual effects. We argue for a broader conceptualization of spatial mismatch that considers how social and spatial relations affect employment outcomes for women, immigrants, and other ethnic minorities. This broader view will enhance the contribution of research to current theoretical and policy debates about urban poverty. The effects of metropolitan context and neighborhood-level differences in services, resources, and social networks on spatial access and, independently, on wages and employment also warrant future research attention. Received: April 14, 1998 / Accepted: April 3, 1999     

(Re)Viewing Ethnic Residential Segregation in Southern European Cities: Housing and Urban Regimes as Mechanisms of Marginalisation

Housing and residential marginalisation in Southern European cities represents the most critical and controversial of urban conditions for the settlement and inclusion of immigrants. However, these issues are conspicuously under-researched in both the international and Southern European comparative literature. The complexity of ethnic housing hardship and segregation is often de-problematised and misleadingly attributed solely to market mechanisms or inevitable polarisation dynamics. This paper reviews the distinctive features of ethnic residential segregation within wider societal and urban contexts, drawing on an analysis of eight Mediterranean cities with a special focus on the role of housing systems and processes of ethnic and social differentiation. Problems and drivers are reconceptualised within an holistic, comparative framework. It is demonstrated that low levels of ethnic spatial segregation conceal a real problem of social residential marginalisation. This paradox predominantly originates from macro-scale mechanisms of differentiation rooted in the welfare redistributive arrangements and dualist housing systems. It is additionally reinforced by current urban renewal strategies.     

Foreclosure Is Not an Equal Opportunity Stressor: How Inequality Fuels the Adverse Health Implications of the Nation's Financial Crisis

Foreclosure rates persist at high levels, segregation remains a central organizing feature of metropolitan regions, and a variety of health problems continue to plague metropolitan regions across the United States. Each of these issues is the subject of much policy debate and scholarly research. Missing from most of this discussion, however, is the intersection of these social forces. In recent years, a connection between foreclosures and health has been documented. A question that arises and is explored in this research is whether the impact of foreclosures on health is exacerbated by various measures of inequality. This article examines the emerging impact of foreclosures on health and the longstanding effects of racial and socioeconomic inequality (e.g., racial segregation, concentration of poverty, and income inequality) on health in major metropolitan areas. More importantly, multivariate statistical analyses are conducted to determine whether, and the extent to which, these indicators of inequality mediate the impact of foreclosures on health. The findings suggest policy implications for the development, expansion, and allocation of health care and financial services to address challenges posed by the ongoing foreclosure crises facing the nation's metropolitan areas.     

城市总体发展概念规划研究刍论

本文讨论城市总体发展概念规划工作的概念和内涵 ,提出城市总体发展概念规划研究中的区域背景、产业经济、社会文化、城市空间、环境和景观、开发策略等主要层面 ,并对城市总体发展概念规划研究中的城市发展阶段论证与趋势判断、城市发展动力因素分析、城市综合发展目标确定、城市发展战略与策略的统一设计等技术路线要点作了分析     

Israel: metropolitan integration or ‘fractured regions’? An alternative perspective

This paper proposes an alternative account of the high degree of power centrality in Israel, by arguing that the territorial ‘fracturing’ of Israel's main social and ethnic groups has prevented the emergence of effective pressure for regional devolution. Israel's character as a settler and settling state, and its central project of Judaising contested territories, enabled the Israeli ‘ethnocracy’ and its (mainly Ashkenazi) elites to create a political geography of ‘fractured ethnic and social regions’. This was achieved by dispersing minorities and legitimising segregation and inequality, all in the name of the ‘national interest’.The Israeli political landscape is therefore organised as ‘fractured regions’, each representing a distinct and interconnected, yet geographically dispersed, set of localities. The logic of dispersal and segregation, in turn, has also influenced patterns of development and residential separation within Israel's main urban areas. Thus ethnic and social fragmentation and conflict, and not a putative process of national or metropolitan integration, can explain much of Israel's highly centralised power structure.     

The anti-apartment movement in the U.S. and the role of land use regulations in creating housing segregation

In the U.S., typically, poor and minority households are concentrated in central cities, which are ringed by middle class suburbs which contain a majority of the population of the metropolitan area. The resulting segregation is largely the outcome of public policy and institutional arrangements, rather than the excesses of a free market. Land use regulations have played a central role in creating segregation among the types of housing that are affordable to different income groups. Single family only zoning is a central institution in suburban areas; often multifamily housing is limited to a very tiny portion of the land zoned for housing. Land use policies regarding housing are formulated on a municipal level, in which states have only a minimal role and the federal government has no role. Decentralization of revenue sources and fiscal support for local services, including education, provides incentives for local zoning policies which exclude groups which are viewed as more costly to service, while decentralization of zoning powers make these policies possible. This article describes 1) the basic contours of the housing stock and population distribution in metropolitan areas, 2) the evolution of the single family only policy, and 3) recent efforts to counteract housing segregation patterns, which have had little success. Kenneth K. Baar is a attorney in the Berkeley, California and has a Ph.D. in urban planning. From 1991 to 1993, he was a Fulbright professor at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. In 1994–95 he was visiting professor in the Urban Planning Department at Columbia University in New York City.     

City profile: Actually existing neoliberalism in Greater Santiago

Greater Santiago, the capital of Chile, concentrates most of economic and political power of this nation and 35% of its population. It is a conurbation of 6 million inhabitants, comprising 37 municipalities without a metropolitan level authority, where large scale planning is executed by centralized authorities. The historic development of this metropolis was sharply modified by neoliberal policies that were implemented during Pinochet's dictatorship and by the constitutional definition of a reduced Subsidiary State. These structural reforms had a strong impact on urban development, due to the weakening and incoordination of sectoral planning agencies and the progressive accumulation of socio-spatial inequalities. After the recovery of democracy, a stronger emphasis on social policies was promoted, but public action became increasingly dependent on private providers of public goods. Nevertheless, the early adoption of modern regulations and a sustained period of economic growth have allowed for important advances in quality of life and to considerably reduce poverty levels. This article aims to provide a systemic and critical study of Greater Santiago's institutions, living conditions and the urban outcomes of market-driven planning, considering historical processes and the present contradictions in a partially modern but segregated metropolis. In conclusion, the uniqueness of Greater Santiago's neoliberal development is discussed, highlighting the concentration of power, the influence of capitals over policy design and the strong socio-spatial inequalities that reflect direct wealth circulation from natural resources extraction to financial and real estate rents, in the absence of a strong industrial sector. However, emerging policies and the expected first elected regional governments suggest ways to advance towards more inclusive, participative and intersectoral forms of public action, under the pressure of civil demands for a fairer distribution of wealth, public goods and decision power.     

Place-bound versus footloose firms: wiring metropolitan areas in a policy context

In the development of modern urban systems, we are facing a shift from central cities as the major location of coordination functions, high-order services and innovative activities, to interconnected nodes at some distance in a larger metropolitan area. However, which cities in the emerging new spatial constellation qualify to become such a node is not yet clear, and depends also on the organizing capacity of the municipalities involved. This article addresses spread over a larger metropolitan area from the point of view of place-bound versus footloose behavior of young, innovative firms as the drivers of economic renewal. A theoretical review of location needs and footlooseness is followed by an empirical contribution to identify whether increased footlooseness of such companies is emerging in the Netherlands. The results prompt the need for a more thorough reflection on related policy issues. The policy part of the article addresses in particular some evolutionary views to understand why urban policymaking is subject to various systemic constraints, while next some empirical results on weaknesses in the urban organizing capacity to benefit from a shift towards a global metropolitan area are highlighted. In this context, we focus the attention specifically on policies dealing with information and communication technology and the uncertainty at hand.