“You Can't Always Get What You Want…”? Prior-Attitudes and Post-Experiences of Relocation from Restructured Neighbourhoods

This study uses a longitudinal, qualitative research methodology to compare residents’ prior attitudes towards relocation from restructured neighbourhoods with their experiences post-move. Participants were householders in families with children, with interviews carried out shortly before, and up to 18 months after relocation. There was generally a good fit between prior attitudes and post-experiences, although those who had not wanted to move reported more gains than expected, and those who had wanted to move to ‘get on’ with their lives had yet to make major changes in their lives after relocation. There was some retrospective reassessment of prior attitudes after relocation, consistent with the notion of low expectations among deprived area residents. There were both social and psychosocial gains from relocation, with a weak prior sense of community and inconsistent effects of distance upon social outcomes. Important mediators of adult experiences and outcomes were personality, health status and relations with children.     

Does Social Capital Affect Residents' Propensity to Move from Restructured Neighbourhoods?

Many Dutch post-war neighbourhoods are subject to intensive urban restructuring. Demolition and new housing construction combined with social and economic programmes should improve the housing stock, liveability and social capital. Currently, it is unknown whether social capital contributes to residential stability and reduces residents' propensity to move. In this paper, social capital levels of stayers, movers and newcomers are studied in two recently restructured neighbourhoods in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Using survey data, social capital is operationalised as benefits of everyday cursory interactions, trust, shared norms and collective action. Logistic regression analysis shows that age, length of residency, employment, income, dwelling satisfaction, dwelling type and perceived neighbourhood quality significantly predict residents' propensity to move. Newcomers are more inclined to move again than stayers and other movers. Social capital is of less importance than suggested by previous research; housing features, satisfaction and neighbourhood perception affect residents' propensity to move much more strongly. The paper concludes with policy implications and suggestions for future research.     

Spatial Assimilation in Denmark? Why do Immigrants Move to and from Multi-ethnic Neighbourhoods?

In most European countries ethnic minorities have had a tendency to settle in certain parts of cities—and often in social housing—together with other immigrants in so-called multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. An explanation for this could be low income combined with lack of knowledge of the housing market and discrimination, which limits the housing possibilities for ethnic minorities. Another explanation could be that for different reasons immigrants choose to settle in so-called ethnic enclaves where they can find an ethnic social network, which can support them in their new country. In traditional research literature about immigration it has been shown that for many immigrants living in enclaves has been a temporary situation. The ‘spatial assimilation theory’ says that this situation ends when the family has become more integrated in the new society and then moves to another part of the city. This paper provides evidence to support both explanations of why ethnic minorities move to and from multi-ethnic neighbourhoods.     

Too Good to be True? The Variable and Contingent Benefits of Displacement and Relocation among Low-Income Public Housing Residents

The forced displacement and relocation of low-income residents resulting from public housing redevelopment has attracted a great deal of research attention. Tracking studies of HOPE VI and similar redevelopment efforts in the US have depicted a record of mixed and inconsistent benefits for the families displaced. Detailed case studies of individual families are used to illustrate the variable and contingent nature of the impacts of displacement and relocation away from public housing. The cases presented here provide examples of how the experience of displaced families can change, sometimes dramatically, over time and how this affects their own assessments of the experience. Residents' perception of relocation is strongly influenced by their overall view of neighborhood restructuring, regardless of whether they themselves directly benefit. The findings suggest that qualitative and or ethnographic research into the experiences of displaced public housing residents can be useful in understanding how relocation affects the lives of very low-income households.     

Is there a relationship between TELs and default? Evidence from US municipalities

The economic effects of tax and expenditure limits (TELs) have been often studied in the literature. However, little research has addressed how TELs might influence the propensity for a jurisdiction to default on its obligations. This study specifically fills that void. Overall, the results indicate that while the likelihood of default increases as TELs become more restrictive, the magnitude is not particularly large. Once decomposed, it would appear that property tax limits increase the likelihood, while expenditure limits have the opposite effect, though the latter result is insignificant. The findings are robust to a number of specifications and provide potential policy implications.     

Using iron precipitants to remove arsenic from water: Is it safe?

Arsenic-associated health complications are reported worldwide. Arsenic is a documented toxic element in drinking water. Removing arsenic from drinking water is widely dependent on iron-based techniques. Although inorganic arsenic has long been known to be toxic to humans, little is known about the toxic effect of the interaction between arsenic and iron. We investigated the effect of arsenic plus iron on the liver of rats. We gave rats sodium arsenite, iron, or sodium arsenite plus iron. Neither the arsenic-alone nor the iron-alone treatments altered their serum aspartate or alanine transaminase levels. However, a combination of non-toxic doses of arsenite and iron synergistically increased serum aspartate and alanine transaminase levels and lipid peroxidation in liver tissue. Therefore, we hypothesize that arsenic plus iron synergistically induces hepatic damage mediated through oxidative stress in rats. Our study indicates an important public health issue: using iron precipitants to remove arsenic from water may cause oxidative hepatic damage in humans.     

Environmental information and technology: Is it all too much?

The quantity of environmental data will explode in the next century. New tools are being developed and new research areas emerging. An examination of research papers from the last 20 years indicates some specific trends for landscape managers. In a difficult future we will need not only better information but better ways in which to use it fruitfully.     

Housing Prices and Multiple Employment Nodes: Is the Relationship Nonmonotonic?

Standard urban economic theory predicts that house prices will decline with distance from the central business district. Empirical results have been equivocal, however. Disjoints between theory and empirics may be due to a nonmonotonic relationship between house prices and access to employment arising from the negative externalities associated with proximity to multiple centres of employment. Based on data from Glasgow (Scotland), we use gravity-based measures of accessibility estimated using a flexible functional form that allows for nonmonotonicity. The results are thoroughly tested using recent advances in spatial econometrics. We find compelling evidence of a nonmonotonic effect in the accessibility measure and discuss the implications for planning and housing policy.     

Housing and Mortgage Markets in Turbulent Times: Is Australia Different?

This paper presents an account of recent housing and mortgage market developments in Australia viewed from a longer-term perspective. It is argued that Australian housing drivers and outcomes are, to some extent, unique, enabling the sector to withstand the fall-out from the global financial crisis to date. However, they have resulted in increasing problems of housing stress for lower-income and younger households who are finding it increasingly difficult to access homeownership and are facing significant affordability problems in the private rental market. The paper casts forward to the next 20 years, outlining both a ‘positive’ ‘business-as-usual’ scenario characterized by buoyant housing demand and strong national economy, and a ‘negative’ scenario marked by stalled economic growth and a sharp downward correction in housing prices. Under both scenarios, it is suggested that addressing the housing affordability gap will remain a major policy challenge.     

Property titles and the urban poor: from informality to displacement?

An extensive literature opposes the provision of property titles for the residents of informal settlements. One concern is that titling leads to commodification and the market-driven displacement of the original inhabitants. Another is that it propagates the ideology of private ownership, undermines collective solidarity and demobilises social movements. This article, based on observations from Mexico City and Guadalajara, finds little evidence of displacement but highlights the importance of location. It supports the view that formalisation undermines resistance, but argues that titling does so by meeting rather than creating the desire of the urban poor for private property and homeownership.     

Comment on “Neighborhood Revitalization and Displacement: A Review of the Evidence”

The issue of neighborhood revitalization and displacement certainly does have a déjà vu quality to it. While government officials, academic housing analysts, and even neighborhood groups seem to approach the problem as if it were a brand new phenomenon, in reality the recent history of displacement under urban renewal, the interstate highway system, and other government programs is very relevant. What is remarkable in the spate of literature that recently has emerged on the issue—of which Sumka's article is quite representative—is the failure to acknowledge that history and the lessons it might offer.     

Is the renewable portfolio standard an effective energy policy?: Early evidence from South Korea

This study provides preliminary evaluation of South Korea's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) apropos capacity growth, technological innovation, cost impact, and market risk, compared to Feed-in Tariffs (FITs). Findings indicate that both effectively expand electricity generation from renewable energy sources (RES-Es). Early evidence suggests that the RPS appears to have further strengthened RES-Es' market growth, particularly biomass and solar PV. For most technologies, policy costs appear higher under the RPS than FITs, except for PV and fuel cells. Under the RPS, higher market risks are a major concern, particularly for smaller suppliers in the PV market, despite growing PV capacity.     

Measuring the effects of air quality regulations on “dirty” firm births: Evidence from the neo- and mature-regulatory periods

In this article, we use annual (1980–90) county-level manufacturing plant location data for New York State to examine the effects of the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments on the location decisions of new pollution-intensive manufacturing plants in the “:neo-regulatory” (1980-84) and “mature-regulatory” (1985–90) phases of the Act's implementation. Our results suggest that the temporal effects of regulation vary. Whereas the location decisions of pollution intensive manufacturing firms were unaffected by the Act's regulatory restrictions in the “neo-regulatory” period, the restrictions appear to have had a significant negative impact on the location decisions of these types of firms in the Act's “mature-regulatory” phase. The diversion of new pollution intensive plants to counties with less stringent environmental regulations suggests that current US environmental regulations may be leading to a “browning process” whereby counties historically free of pollution become havens for polluters. Received: 2 April 1999 / Accepted: 18 October 1999     

Private financing of roads and optimal pricing: Is it possible to get both?

Road pricing has been defended by economists as a useful instrument to internalize the costs that road users impose upon other users and the rest of society, with the aim of allocating scarce space and to reduce congestion to an efficient level. More recently, private participation in the construction, maintenance and operation of road infrastructure has been growing all over the world to face the challenge of tight budget constraints and increasing demand for additional road capacity. Fixed term concessions have been the standard contract between the public sector and private operators. Demand uncertainty and fixed term contracts have made impossible to fulfill the concession agreement in many cases, and contract renegotiation has been used to restore financial equilibrium. This has some undesirable economic consequences: selecting the most efficient concessionaire is not longer guaranteed and prices lose their role as signals for allocative efficiency. This paper addresses the problem of giving that role back to pricing, analyzing the possibility of achieving efficient pricing and cost recovery without contract renegotiation.We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Fundación Fondo para la Investigación Económica y Social (FIES, Madrid) and Secretaría de Estado de Educación y Universidades. We are also in debt with Alejandro Lago, Gustavo Nombela and the referees for useful comments.Received: January 2003 / Accepted: July 2003     

Owning and letting of second homes: what are the drivers? insights from Denmark

Second homes create welfare for the owner who uses the home for own recreational purposes and for tenants when the home is rented out. In addition, second homes typically generate positive externalities locally, such as seasonal job creation. The letting of second homes opens for a more intensive use of the homes and for their importance for a country’s tourism industry. This paper investigates the drivers of the decision to rent out private second homes, an area which is much less studied than second homeownership. The empirical analysis is carried out on survey data from 2386 randomly selected Danish households combined with data from administrative registers. The analysis reveals that the strongest drivers of the decision to rent out are the age of the owner of the second home and the equity of the home. Young households with low equity have a high propensity to rent out.     

Global warming and hepatotoxin production by cyanobacteria: what can we learn from experiments?

Global temperature is expected to rise throughout this century, and blooms of cyanobacteria in lakes and estuaries are predicted to increase with the current level of global warming. The potential environmental, economic and sanitation repercussions of these blooms have attracted considerable attention among the world’s scientific communities, water management agencies and general public. Of particular concern is the worldwide occurrence of hepatotoxic cyanobacteria posing a serious threat to global public health. Here, we highlight plausible effects of global warming on physiological and molecular changes in these cyanobacteria and resulting effects on hepatotoxin production. We also emphasize the importance of understanding the natural biological function(s) of hepatotoxins, various mechanisms governing their synthesis, and climate-driven changes in food-web interactions, if we are to predict consequences of the current and projected levels of global warming for production and accumulation of hepatotoxins in aquatic ecosystems.     

Is crime in Mexico a disamenity? Evidence from a hedonic valuation approach

Since Roback’s seminal work (J Polit Econ 90(6):1257–1278, 1982), the literature on hedonic prices has evaluated the role of amenities in equilibrating regional differentials in nominal wages and prices. While these studies generally find evidence for traditional amenities and disamenities in developed countries, there remains little research on how characteristics such as violence affect the equilibrium in less developed countries. This article explores violence and other local characteristics as an amenity or disamenity for Mexico and employs the hedonic wage and rent theory proposed by Roback. This research uses a multilevel estimation technique using data from the Mexican Household Income and Expenditure Survey, along with other information from the municipal and state levels. This article finds evidence to suggest that illegal earning opportunities outweigh crime disamenity by inhabitants of some traditional drug-trafficking regions, because such crime appears to be the modus vivendi in those regions in a way that does not reduce economic performance.     

Strategic Use of Analytical Information in Transport Planning in China: How Is It Different from Western Democracies?

Theory on the strategic use of knowledge in planning large infrastructure projects is comparatively well-developed in the fields of public policy and urban/transport planning for Western democracies. But how policymakers make use of knowledge and what position policy analysts hold in non-Western countries still remains largely unknown territory in the literature. This article begins to explore this topic by studying two urban transport projects in the Chinese city of Dalian. Based on empirical evidence, the article concludes with a number of preliminary but notable differences between Western countries and China in terms of the administrative mechanisms underlying the strategic use of knowledge in policymaking. We found that Chinese institutional incentives with regard to cadre evaluation and promotion channels largely constitute the motivation of politicians to use knowledge strategically. Additionally, the wider social and administrative cultures in China, including a command-and-control tradition and a high level of power distance create a basis for the strategic use of information as well as the manipulation of analytical data.