Managing Rural Change and Competing Rationalities: Insights from Conflicting Rural Storylines and Local Policy Making in Ireland

This paper assesses the actions of local policy makers and policy stakeholders in the rural arena by exploring the contested nature of rurality. Through an examination of two case studies in the west of Ireland, the paper argues that the persistence of conflicting rural storylines within the local policy arena has underpinned and framed the emergence of competing rationalities for local territorial development, which have impacted on landscape protection goals and economic and community development. The result is a disintegrated rather than a holistic approach to establishing local policy goals for rural sustainable development, suggesting the need for competing narratives to be explored, challenged and reworked within policy and local governance processes.     

Housing Conflicts in the Irish Countryside: Uses and Abuses of Postcolonial Narratives

The aim of this paper is to explore how collective memories of place have framed contemporary planning conflicts in a rural arena. Specifically, the paper charts the emergence of the Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA) as a vocal campaigner for private property rights and a laissez-faire approach to accommodating new housing development in the open countryside. For the IRDA, postcolonial narratives and national(ist) identities provide an important vocabulary for protest and opposition to state regulation by: 1) providing a discursive device to create a shared storyline of rural struggle; 2) providing an exclusionary device, whereby drawing on ‘memory’ and representations of rurality creates an insider/outsider discourse where some voices are cast as illegitimate; and 3) providing a frame for placing emotional knowledge at the centre of planning and landscape policy-making. This paper questions the authenticity of this policy narrative and addresses the validity of self-acclaimed knowledge within the landscape and rural policy arena. More broadly, the paper attempts to enhance understanding of how memory shapes policy narratives in the (re)production of cultural landscapes.     

Rural mobilization as rural development: exploring the impacts of new regionalism in Wales and Finland

In the current European context, ‘rural development’ is now a much over‐used and misunderstood term. Far from denoting a specific concern for the particular social and economic problems of ‘peripheral rural communities’, since the Cork Declaration of 1996, European policy making, both at central and regional levels, has more meaningfully adopted broader principles of ‘integrated rural development’. However, while many member states are beginning to move away from a sectoral ‘silo’ approach with regard to the management of their rural areas, in recent years the parallel arenas of environmental, cultural, regional and economic development agendas have all become much more vibrant. Looking at the rural regions of Wales in the UK and Ostrobothnia in western Finland, this paper examines some of these contemporary and parallel arenas with regard to their influence in shaping the nature of rural governance. While a rural development policy network is seen to be developing, major questions are raised about how this will position itself in the unfolding multi‐level governance structure.     

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.     

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.     

The Interaction of Local Context and Cultural Background: Somalis' Perceived Possibilities in Nordic Capitals' Housing Markets

Immigrants' housing position is often explained by (lack of) resources or differences in cultural backgrounds. Recent studies have included the importance of local context. The aim of this paper is to examine Somalis' perceptions of their possibilities in four Nordic capitals' housing markets: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm. The approach is an interview study based on immigrants' own explanations of what they strive for and how they assess the impact of local conditions and cultural background for their possibilities. We found that local context and cultural background intertwine and sometimes conflict with each other, but that the negotiation between cultural background and local context was individual. The conclusion is that local context and cultural background are important factors for understanding differences between Somalis on different housing markets, thus emphasising that local context and cultural background have to be studied together to understand perceived housing possibilities.     

人居环境理论视角下的农村住房建设探析

住房是农民的核心财产,是人居环境理论中的五大要素之一。为更好地实现居住与环境的融合,本文通过实地调查和分析发现,新一轮住房建设在巩固以往建房成果的同时,亦存在诸如需求量大、"两违"、忽视节能和地域文化保护不力等问题,影响了农村人居环境长远发展。原因与缺乏科学规划以及审批制度、住房权利、建设标准不完善相关。农村住房建设应该脱离纯粹的建筑行为,融入人居环境建设的理念,在居住规划、居住流转、地域文化以及社区管理等领域相互协调,提升居住质量。     

从新农村建设到乡村振兴的广东省实践探索

乡村的规划建设在我国具有重要的政治、经济、社会、文化、生态意义,是全面建成小康社会、美丽中国的关键一环。通过对乡村政策的梳理,整体分析了国家从“社会主义新农村建设”到“乡村振兴”政策演进的脉络和要求,从广东省的层面剖析了乡村规划建设政策推进的全过程,重点分析了从乡村规划编制到乡村振兴实施路径的实践探索。提出,广东省的乡村建设实践在村庄规划编制、乡村特色挖掘与塑造,以及共建共享共治机制等方面都有重要经验,形成了一系列可推广的新农村“组合抱团”规划建设、规划设计建设运营一体化建设、以“道”兴村的模式。同时指出,未来乡村振兴应该结合文化、产业进行更多的思考和总结,实现真正的城乡融合和美丽乡村。     

风景名胜区中乡村类文化景观的保护与管理

我国风景名胜区中拥有大面积乡村地域,但乡村类文化景观未被列入被保护景源.在风景名胜区中保护乡村类文化景观,有助于保护乡村自然文化遗产,合理利用区内自然资源和减少区内社区与管理机构的矛盾.风景名胜区中乡村类文化景观的发展目标和保护原则,并从土地权属与管理责任、社会系统调控、经济发展引导和乡村景观规划方面,探讨保护与管理的行动准则.     

The Potential of Ecomuseums in Strategies for Local Sustainable Development in Rural Areas

Given the increasing polarization between intensively used and abandoned land, and the profound social, cultural, ecological and economic consequences of this transformation, landscape planning can provide a strategic approach through which to improve sustainability. A methodological approach to the cultural landscape aimed at devising strategies for local sustainable development is proposed. The approach is based first on a process of analysis and diagnosis of the landscape and the functions it serves for the local community in terms of its needs and expectations. The aim here is to promote communication between researchers and the local community in order to increase its awareness of, and participation in, local decision-making processes. The method then proceeds to the identification of possible strategies by which this communicative process can be implemented in the promotion of sustainable rural development. In this study we focus on the ecomuseum as an exemplary tool for the concrete realization of the goals established through planning dialogue. The research is carried out in the territory of Comunità Montana Esino-Frasassi, a rural area in Marche (central Italy). Work in the field is still in progress.     

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.     

Industrially Harvested Peatlands and After-use Potential: Understanding Local Stakeholder Narratives and Landscape Preferences

Recent years have witnessed much debate on the turn towards community within landscape management and planning. This is particularly evident in the European Landscape Convention which asserts the legitimacy of local preferences and citizen involvement in policy processes. This paper explores a bottom-up perspective on people–place relationships in a changing landscape, through assessing the after-use potential of industrially mined peatlands in Ireland and the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. The mining of the peatland resource has a longstanding tradition in Ireland, however, significant attention has now focused on exploring market and non-market uses of remains after harvesting has finished resulting in a cutaway landscape. We argue that local people's everyday experiences of the landscape is a legitimate form of knowledge and should provide a key input into deliberative planning and management processes. Drawing largely on an interpretive research approach, we assess key local narratives in relation to harvested peatland landscapes and explore local people's after-use preferences. There appears to be strong support among the local community for amenity/biodiversity after-uses, which are currently not reflected in public policy debates. We review people–place relationships and discuss the role of ethnographic research in a peatland context as well as defining the relevant stakeholders. Finally, conclusions are developed to identify wider lessons for people/place relationships within the context of landscape management and planning.     

Planning for Housing Development in Malaysia: Developers' Response to the Regulatory Policy Framework

This paper unfolds the inherent tension between private developers and local authorities in the development process of medium- to high-cost housing units in Malaysia. It examines how developers respond to the government's regulatory housing policy framework by deploying resources and tactics to realize their investment strategies. The analysis focuses on the Bumiputra quota policy, the low-cost housing policy, the One-Stop-Centre approving system and the review of planning guidelines in Johor and Kuala Lumpur which have very different socio-economic circumstances. The findings highlight the lack of trust and communication between developers and the government in the development process and the importance of cultural influence and socio-economic contexts on the structuration process.     

山西省太原市晋源区乡村风景特质识别

【目的】村庄规划是国土空间规划体系中乡村发展的重要依据,目前村庄规划存在规划理念、方法不完善等问题。以风景特质识别为理论和方法体系,探索有利于村庄分类指导目标的乡村风景特质识别方法。【方法】以山西省太原市晋源区为例,即通过系统分类,对不同乡村区域村庄提供规划设计引导。适应性调整了乡村风景特质识别的3步程序：风景特质图谱绘制、风景特质图谱信息分析、乡村风景保护利用对策制定。绘制晋源区乡村风景特质图谱,并对其进行分析。【结果】形成了晋源区乡村风景特质图谱,并以风景特质区域为分类依据提出了晋源区乡村保护及利用建议。【结论】乡村风景特质识别对乡村的分类指导、开发强度、保护利用模式等具有一定借鉴作用。在后续研究中,相关理论及技术方法等仍需深入探索。     

Landscape Planning of Rural Environment

Based on personal experience in the planning of new countryside, characteristics of rural environment landscape planning were summarized. Landscape planning of rural environment should apply such concepts as respecting the locals, and inheriting cultural context on the basis of f ield investigation, and successful development mode of rural environment should be learnt. This study is to provide references for landscape planning of rural environment, and try to achieve the integration of urban and rural landscapes.     

Devolving Housing Policy and Practice in Northern Ireland 1998-2002

This paper reviews the effect of devolution on housing policy and practice in Northern Ireland. It outlines the history and context of devolution and housing policy in Northern Ireland, including the legacy and persistence of intense social conflict. Current devolution arrangements are reviewed, including the implications of enforced coalition for policy governance. The paper focuses on three dimensions of housing and housing-related policy development and implementation: social housing, especially the distinctive history and changing organisation of social housing provision; policies affecting the housing market, including the changing regime for spatial planning; and, regeneration and tenant participation. The paper argues that housing policy has tended to converge with policies in England, rather than moving towards a distinctively local agenda. Local political agendas remain dominated by disagreements over constitutional status thus policy formulation is determined more by officials than by elected politicians.     

Affordable housing and planning gain,linkage fees and the rational nexus: Using the land use planning system in England and the USA to deliver housing subsidies

The paper examines how the English planning system is being used to reduce land prices for social housing schemes at a time when government subsidies to social rented housing producers are being cut and compares and contrasts this with practice within the USA. The paper describes the key characteristics of the English planning system, recent trends in English housing policy, the role the planning system plays in meeting overall housing requirements and how it has been adapted to meet specific needs. It explains the new arrangements the government has put into place to lower land prices for social housing and argues that this represents a specific tax on development values to provide subsidies for social housing and that the government has had to significantly modify the land use planning system in order to achieve its housing policy aims. The paper compares these changes with practices in the USA, particularly in relation to the ‘rational nexus’ argument. It finds significant parallels and argues that the use of the planning system to help provide affordable housing through de facto and site specific taxes on land values can be justified and does not need to be restricted to cases where the rational nexus argument applies, but that practice in each country reflects underlying differences in attitudes to development rights, market provision of housing and the role of local governments.     

Farm-Worker Housing in South Africa: An Evaluation of an Off-Farm Housing Project

Although farm-worker housing has been neglected in South Africa historically, new policy, tabled in 2004, specifically targets the constraints that have been hampering delivery in rural areas. While either on- or off-farm farm-worker housing is envisioned, constraints with regard to on-farm housing and service provision, such as the prerequisite of security of tenure, prevent generalised delivery to the rural population, despite the fact that ESTA provides for security of tenure under certain conditions. There is a need to upgrade the living conditions of people on farms where they are currently residing, in order to ensure the right to adequate shelter as envisioned by the Constitution. However, under current legislation tenure rights must first be secured before such action can be taken. Research on an off-farm housing project in Bothaville was conducted in order to determine the sustainability of this approach, while simultaneously assessing the broader housing policy context, with a view to making policy recommendations.     

A New Step for a Sustainable and Balanced Urban Policy in Asian Living Historic City Conservation: The Case of Qufu,China

Taking the case of Qufu(birthplace of Confucius), China, a world cultural heritage site and a Chinese living historic city, the author analyses the current situation/issues of culture heritage assessment and the planning of urban conservation, renewal and development. The objective of this article is to explore related issues to generate guidance for selecting appropriate methodologies(strategies) and principles(tools/planning/tasks/action) to assess cultural heritage values and cultural signifi cance in the Asian living historic city context as part of an integrated culture-oriented development planning. The author calls for the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach to realize such development planning, with the participation of researchers and specialists from interdisciplinary areas: city planning, transportation, housing, territory studies, tourism, cultural heritage preservation, history, sociology, economy, archaeology, architecture, anthropology, museum studies, art/aesthetic studies, etc., for a new step in a sustainable and balanced urban policy.