Spatial Inequality and Locational Disadvantage: New Perspectives on an Old Debate

The group of papers within this Forum represent the contents of a seminar on spatial inequality in Australia's cities organised by the Geography Discipline, Flinders University of South Australia. The seminar addressed two important issues for urban policy and research in Australia, the spatial pattern of disadvantage within Australia's cities and recent Federal initiatives in this area. In the early 1990s the Federal Government used its major policy reviews and research programs to commission a number of studies into the structure of our cities. Their findings were, to a certain extent at least, at odds with the commonly accepted view of Australian cities (see for example, Stretton 1989; Badcock 1984) because they challenged the image of the outer suburbs as areas of pronounced disadvantage (see Burgess and Skeltys 1992; NHS 1992a; and Maher el al. 1992). They have been the source of some unease within the academic community.     

Restricted Mobilities: Access to,and Activities in,Public and Private Spaces

Privatization of public spaces in the contemporary city has increased over the past few decades, but only a few studies have approached this trend from a mobility perspective. Therefore, this article seeks to make a contribution to the field by exploring two Australian examples of private spaces in the city, gated communities and shopping centres, through the ‘mobility’ lenses. The article illustrates how different mobility systems enable and/or restrict public access to private–public spaces, and it points out that proprietary communities create an unequal potential for human movement and access in the city. The main argument in the article is that many mobility systems enable specialization of places that are targeted at a special section of the population. This means that various forms of mobilities (e.g. automobility, virtual mobile communication technologies) not only create new opportunities for urban life, but also serve as one of the most critical components in the production of new exclusion and stratification. In conclusion, the article therefore suggests that future urban research and planning also need to apply the mobility perspective in order to understand the mechanisms between flows of movement and the understanding fixed spaces in the cities, and how different mobility systems play an important role in sustaining the exclusiveness that often characterizes private/public spaces. Likewise, from a mobility perspective, the specific consequences that the proprietary communities have on the surrounding communities seem to be an important further question for research and planning.     

水处理运输部新办公总部大楼

泽兰德省的Rijkswaterstaat Zeeland,即水处理运输部(以下简称RWS)的新办公大楼属于该市的"门面",而流经瓦尔赫伦岛及其周边地区的海峡沿岸美丽景色也为它增色不少.该建筑项目位于海峡附近一狭长处,远离尘嚣.通过将建筑地基整体升高,车辆可以停放在建筑物地下,而将这块三角形的土地留作公园之用.     

Gendered Mobilities and Food Access in Blantyre,Malawi

Access to food, rather than a shortage of food availability, is the central problem for urban household food security. Blantyre presents a useful case study for demonstrating the importance of linking gender and urban food security. Rates of urban food insecurity are less severe than in other cities surveyed by AFSUN. Yet, female-centred households were twice as likely to be severely food insecure as nuclear households. This paper offers some explanations for the survey findings by drawing on qualitative research to understand the gendered geographies of food access in Blantyre. The first point is that gender shapes mobility, which in turn shapes a household’s ability to increase its food security by procuring food from the most affordable sources, particularly peri-urban markets. The second point is that gender shapes a household’s ability to produce its own food, a popular livelihood strategy in Blantyre that often mitigates the effects of low incomes on household food security. The third point is that gender influences a person’s potential income, which shapes the household’s economic access to food. These three points demonstrate the multi-dimensional relationship between gender and urban food security.     

Housing Affordability and Development Contributions: New Perspectives from Industry and Local Government in New South Wales,Victoria and Queensland

Housing affordability is arguably the most significant and debated aspect of Australia's urban environment. Increasingly, state and local government fees, charges and infrastructure levies have been identified as a central driver for the increasing cost of housing across Australia. Industry organisations claim that these fees are added on to the sales price of land and/or dwellings, making purchase increasingly difficult. Drawing on a series of detailed case studies, this article delves beneath these ambit industry views to explore the specific perspectives and experiences of a sample of 18 developers in relation to 26 projects across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.     

A New Direction for Perth Transport?

Debate over the merits of public and private transport has gathered pace in recent years. Yet road building in metropolitan Perth, already Australia's most motorised city, continues apace. While investment in more environmentally sustainable forms of transport has lifted as a result of a rail electrication and extension programme, plans for damaging inner city freeway type links still remain.

One project in this category is the so-called City Northern Bypass. After consideration of its planning history, a light rail option is presented and some factors in its favour are considered.     

新型城市地下货运交通系统

本文简要介绍了日本东京地下货运交通系统规划设计方案及评价,为我国解决大城市货运交通提供一种借鉴,以期充分研究它在我国未来大城市发展中的前景。     

新型城市地下货运交通系统

本文简要介绍了日本东京地下货运交通系统规划设计方案及评价，为我国解决大城市货运交通提供一种借鉴，以期充分研究它在我国未来大城市发展中的前景。     

IKEA and Small City Development in Sweden: Planning Myths,Realities, and Unsustainable Mobilities

This article analyses how urban authorities manage goals of sustainable development in decentralized planning contexts when faced with economic growth opportunities offered by a powerful development actor. This challenge is described and analysed in a comparative case study of how two Swedish cities handled the issue of new IKEA stores in decision-making and planning. The analysis centres on how power relations affected planning and decision-making, and is complemented by an evaluation of the choices and actions of the two municipalities in sustainable mobility terms, and an indication of the potential environmental consequences of the decisions. The results show how the two municipalities locked their cities into car-dependent development paths by accepting IKEA's retail concept, due to perceived fierce competition for retail trade between neighbouring cities, and a belief that IKEA development would boost economic growth. The municipalities conducted considerable parts of the planning processes under secrecy, which constrained criticism of the IKEA developments, and left environmental and traffic impacts not fully assessed or debated. The cases show how, while attempting to put in place strategies for sustainable urban development, the municipalities handled difficult choices in ways which compromised their own and wider environmental goals for economic gains.     

Telecommunications and Cities: International Perspectives

Most industrialised countries have been shifting to an information economy. Theireconomic structure is dominated by industries based on the collection, processing and transfer of information. Similar changes are taking place in the workforce, with a growing number of people employed in information-based occupations (OECD 1981).