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The suburbanization of poverty has been a concerning trend in many urban regions. While research has described patterns of suburbanization of poverty at regional and neighbourhood levels, there are open questions about how lower-income households have agglomerated in the suburbs in recent history. Is suburban poverty primarily a result of 1) the movement of low-income residents from central to suburban neighbourhoods (e.g., via processes of gentrification and displacement), 2) migration between Census Metropolitan Areas and the immigration of low-income groups to suburbs, or 3) becoming and remaining poor while staying in the suburbs? The objective of this paper is to describe and quantify the propensity of these predominant individual geographic pathways to suburban poverty. We do so via a cluster analysis of census and land use data to define neighbourhoods as either central or suburban, and then link this categorization to a large-scale panel dataset representing 20 % of tax filers in Canada (from 2006 to 2016). These data allow for analyzing different pathways within the context of large Canadian metropolitan areas, specifically to what extent poverty in suburban neighbourhoods stems from intra-urban residential mobility, immigration, and becoming poor in-place. We find that becoming and remaining poor while staying in the suburbs encompasses a greater proportion of suburban poverty than immigration and centre-to-suburb residential mobility combined. Overall, this research expands our understanding of the sources of suburban poverty while also providing pertinent information to aid preventative policy aimed at reducing suburban poverty in Canada. • The largest source of suburban poverty in Canada is from getting poor in place. • Immigrants to Canada face the highest risk of becoming part of the suburban poor. • Migration from more accessible parts of the city represents a small share of suburban poverty growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban planning exhibitions have been a long-standing element in planning culture, on a worldwide level. Until now, there has been a considerable gap in researching the efficiency of urban planning exhibitions in communication, especially from a quantitative perspective. Rooted in communicative planning and built on Generic Learning Outcomes and Contextual Model of Learning theory, this paper aims to explore the role of urban planning exhibitions in communication and the factors that influence their efficiency, using the recently opened Guangzhou Urban Planning Exhibition Hall (UPEH) as an example. The 115 participants in this study were divided into two groups (experimental and control) and asked to answer a series of urban planning questions before and after visiting the Guangzhou UPEH. Results showed that except for the level of education, the personal and sociocultural factors had no significant effect on changes in participants' knowledge on the subject. However, the physical factors of participants' visits, including the length of the visit, the number of exhibits seen by participants and the degree of engagement with the top-rated exhibits, significantly influenced learning about urban planning. The results demonstrated that urban planning exhibitions can provide inclusive platforms in facilitating planning communication and public engagement. • Measurement of public learning in a permanent urban planning exhibition • Participants significantly gain knowledge about urban planning after their visits. • Physical attributes of participants' visits significantly influence their learning. • Socio-cultural background of participants generally does not affect their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I argue that intersectionality can benefit the study of migrant urban citizenship and that migrants' legal status affects their potential for urban citizenships. These arguments are based on life story interviews I conducted with Mongolian labour migrant women (both documented and undocumented) living and working in Seoul during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from this data, I first discuss the mutual relationship between COVID-19 regulations and the specific urban spaces they affected, and second, how migrant women navigated this relationship. In practice, I categorise these pandemic-driven experiences into three specific types of spaces – spaces of escape , spaces of fear , and spaces of (potential) discrimination – which I analyse through the lenses of gender, class, and racialisation. In conclusion, I call for future research on migrant urban citizenship to critically consider the role of legal status in migrants' embodied processes of urban citizenship-making and investigate how underlying structural social and power relations shape these embodied processes. Reformulating the concept of urban citizenship in a way that explicitly informs policy making and fosters migrants' embodied experiences of urban citizenship is also needed. • Intersectionality can benefit the study of migrant urban citizenship. • Migrants' legal status affects their potential for urban citizenship. • COVID-19 regulations transformed urban spaces in Seoul into spaces of escape, fear, or discrimination. • Migrant urban citizenship needs to be reconceptualised into a policy-oriented approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are championed for providing co-benefits to cities and residents, yet their environmental justice impacts are increasingly debated. In this paper, we explore whether and how hybrid governance approaches, such as Mosaic Governance, may contribute to just transformations and sustainable cities through fostering long-term collaborations between local governments, local communities, and grassroots initiatives. Based on case studies in three major European cities, we propose and then exemplify six possible pathways to increase environmental justice: greening the neighborhood, diversifying values and practices, empowering people, bridging across communities, linking to institutions, and scaling of inclusive discourses and practices. Despite the diversity of environmental justice outcomes across cases, our results consistently show that Mosaic Governance particularly contributes to recognition justice through diversifying NBS practices in alignment with community values and aspirations. The results demonstrate the importance of a wider framing of justice in the development of NBS, sensitive to social, cultural, economic and political inequities as well understanding potential pathways to enhance not only environmental justice, but also social justice at large. Especially in marginalised communities, Mosaic Governance holds much potential to advance social justice by enabling empowering, bridging, and linking pathways across diverse communities and NBS practices. [Display omitted] • Mosaic Governance strengthens collaborations between civil society and governments. • Procedural justice may be better served by participation than by plural valuation. • Case studies illustrate impacts depend on enactment of Mosaic Governance approaches. • Grassroots contribute to empowerment, bridging and linking marginalised communities. • Environmental justice cannot be separated from social justice issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linking the urban spatial structure with residential mobility is a vital yet challenging mission. With a unique dataset tracking changes in individual residential locations in Shanghai from 2014 to 2015, this paper portrays the directional trajectories of Shanghai's spatial structure and rigorously examines the motivations of residents for different spatial preferences with the approach of propensity score matching. By classifying the spatial structure into four typologies, polycentricity, sprawl, dispersed-monocentricity and compact-monocentricity, we find that relocated residents push Shanghai's spatial structure in greater favor of sprawl or compact-monocentricity. Furthermore, the movers towards sprawl, decentralized-monocentricity and compact-monocentricity mainly benefit from housing, jobs, and neighborhood amenities, respectively; and the movers towards the polycentric spatial structure can take the advantage of favorable house prices. These results shed light on the process of shaping the urban spatial structure and offer valuable insights into residents' spatial preferences. • It contributes by linking the urban spatial structure with residential mobility. • Relocated residents push Shanghai's spatial structure in greater favor of sprawl or compact-monocentricity. • The movers that contribute to the shaping of different urban spatial structures can take advantage of various advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research concerning urban expansion has been conducted worldwide in the context of global urbanization, yet comprehensive and systematic research on urban growth and morphological changes in Asia is lacking. In this study, the land use, population, and economic development of nine major port cities in the Philippines from 1990 to 2020 were analyzed. The urban land density inverse S function was used to conduct an in-depth analysis of changes in urban spatial morphology. The urban growth patterns were studied by landscape expansion indexes were studied. The results showed that the land area of nine port cities increased by 246.7 km2. Infill expansion in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Bacolod accounted for >60 % of the newly added urban land and has led to a more compact urban form; edge and outlying expansion in General Santos, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, and Iloilo accounted for >80 % and has led to dynamic changes involving compactness and dispersion. Urban boundaries and terrain limit the development of slow and medium-speed expansion cities; the combination with surrounding cities into megacities can be considered in the future. In contrast, rapidly expanding cities need to improve their compactness and efficiency of urban land use. • This paper provides comprehensive research on urban growth and morphological changes in nine cities in the Philippines. • Infill expansion led to a more compact urban form. • Edge and outlying area expansion form is undergoing dynamic changes involving compactness and dispersion. • The combination of metropolitan with surrounding cities can be considered for slow and medium-speed expansion cities. • Rapidly expanding cities need to improve their compactness and efficiency of urban land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the spatial diffusion of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in China, assessing the effects of regional boundaries, including political and functional boundaries, and transaction costs on this process. We conduct an empirical analysis using county-level panel data from 2014 to 2020 and employ a combination of geographic information system (GIS) and spatial autoregressive models to analyze the spatial factors influencing PPP diffusion in China. Our findings reveal three key points: First, local governments' PPP investment positively correlates with neighboring regions, indicating a contagious effect. Second, the contagious effect is more significant within the same urban agglomeration, demonstrating a boundary effect and illustrating the impact of spatial rescaling on spatial diffusion. Third, the contagious effect is more pronounced for PPP sectors with lower output measurement difficulty, suggesting transaction costs influence spatial diffusion. These findings offer valuable insights into barriers to spatial diffusion and strategies to promote the spatial diffusion of innovation. • We explore the spatial diffusion of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in China. • We conduct an empirical analysis using county-level panel data from 2014 to 2020. • Results indicate a contagious effect in the spatial diffusion of PPP investment. • The contagious effect is more significant within the same urban agglomeration. • Transaction costs influence spatial diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first 22 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March 2020 to December 2021, we witnessed a seismic change in the way in which work was undertaken given the restrictions implemented by government to curb the spread of the virus; most prominent has been the rise in working from home (WFH) as a more acceptable work location. In this paper, we explore preferences for and attitudes towards WFH in great detail, leveraging two waves of data to explore the remarkable and globally unique situation of three metro areas (Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area, South-East Queensland, and Melbourne) who despite entering lockdown at the same time in 2021, follow significantly different trajectories with respect to the severity and duration of the lockdowns. We find that irrespective of the degree of severity of the lockdown and the duration thereof, employee preferences for working from home, and importantly productivity, remained unchanged. Rather than diminishing the desire to WFH, evidence indicates that as periods of lockdown extend the desire to continue WFH only seems to intensify. While all workers express a preference to continue WFH in an unrestricted world, more often than they did prior to the pandemic, we further identify three broad segments of workers based primarily on how much of a balance they can strike between the benefits and challenges of WFH, which dictates how often they would like to WFH. Given that the desire to WFH more and the positive externalities of increased WFH, we argue that measures to support ongoing WFH are important to sustainable cities and the people who live in them, across several dimensions. • Three cities in Australia all initiated a lockdown at approximately the same time in 2021. • The lockdowns in each city followed different trajectories and durations. • Longer lockdowns result in greater desire to continue to WFH in the future. • Three segments of workers are revealed who wish to WFH to differing extents. • Potential implications of increased WFH for cities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid urbanization in the 21st century has led to the growth and expansion of cities, especially metropolises, resulting in increased demand for land and housing. This process often gives rise to informal or unplanned tenure patterns, commonly referred to as gray spaces. These transformations create the potential for conflicts over land ownership in cities, particularly in these gray areas, which are often complex and lead to diverse approaches, resulting in inconsistent development of urban spaces. Despite numerous studies on land tenure approaches, a significant gap persists in understanding and interpreting conflicts in these urban spaces. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic investigation of the underlying issues related to land tenure and ownership patterns in gray spaces. The findings reveal that the conflict pattern in gray spaces has three dimensions: (1) land governance, (2) the pattern of real estate tenure and ownership, and (3) the pattern of land and housing supply and demand. Furthermore, based on the number of studies, conflicts in gray spaces can be categorized into four main groups: interest conflicts (28 %), power relation conflicts (51 %), legal framework conflicts (16 %), and normative conflicts (5 %). Considering these factors, it becomes evident that comprehensively explaining conflicts in gray spaces from various perspectives is crucial for achieving planned and guided urban development. [Display omitted] • This study presents a groundbreaking framework delineating conflicts in gray spaces across three dimensions. • The key conflicts in gray spaces are Land Governance, Tenure/Ownership Patterns, and Land/Housing Supply and Demand Patterns. • A spatial typology, includes Interest Conflicts, Power Relation Conflicts, Legal Framework Conflicts, and Normative Conflicts. • The prevalent conflict pattern is deeply rooted in power dynamics. • Policy-making and planning should be guided by conflict patterns and the nature of the gray space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities feature prominently in debates over the existential threat of climate change. Research on urban sustainability, however, has too long been based on national studies from data-rich regions of the world. Fortunately, that is changing as globally harmonized datasets enable new comparative analysis of urban areas. This paper uses new data to address the question - how does urban land policy relate to urban form and greenhouse gas emissions? We use the administration of property registration as a proxy for regulation and test the connection for 431 urban areas in nearly 40 countries. Our findings confirm that dense, compact urban areas, with built-up downtowns and shorter roadway segments have lower per capita carbon emissions. Places with more time-consuming property bureaucracy are denser and have lower emissions. This finding deviates from the common association between regulations and sprawl in part because it does not measure restrictions on density, thus highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of the role of regulations in urban form and sustainability and better global data on different types of regulation. • We ask how urban land policy relates to urban form and carbon emissions. • We use data for 431 urban areas in nearly 40 countries. • Dense, compact urban areas with fewer roads have lower per capita carbon emissions. • Urban areas with more onerous bureaucracy are denser and have lower emissions. • Findings reveal need for better global data on regulations and emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In post-conflict and divided cities where urban spatial injustice is reinforced by enduring divisions, the frameworks of spatial intersectionality and transformative justice hold significant potential to address inequity through urban planning. All cities can be considered divided in some way and these divisions often represent spatial injustice or inequitable access to resources and space. However, in post-conflict and divided cities these divisions may be entrenched and may transgenerationally maintain conditions of inequity and violence. This paper presents spatial intersectionality and transformative justice as frameworks for urban planning that have the potential to address inequity and divisions in all cities, but particularly in cities catergorised as divided due to violence or conflict. I propose a set of guiding questions for transformative justice informed urban planning. • Spatial intersectionality can help identify how structures of inequality restrict movement and use of cities. • Applying transformative justice to urban planning can address the roots of social and structural inequity. • The two frameworks are complementary and can broaden the scope of urban planning to address inequity, violence, and division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes empirically and conceptually to ongoing debates on the social and spatial implications of the circular economy in cities. We aim to offer a perspective on what a practice-based approach delivers in terms of opportunities for urban learning for circular cities, a topic insufficiently addressed in ongoing problematisations of circularity. Our findings are grounded in explorative qualitative research that was carried out over a period of five years, including in-depth interviews, ethnographic observations at local community events and go-along conversations in the Binckhorst area in the Hague. We ask what happens when a long-standing self-supportive neighbourhood is taken apart based on a rather sanitised vision on circular area development with high building densities. Our exploration offers an alternative view on planning the Binckhorst's circular transition, whereby a focus on social practices is likely to render a more humane, inclusive and, not least, sustainable version of circularity. In particular, learning at the interface of proximity and precarity offers potential for reformatting current conditions toward a circular and just neighbourhood and shows how the horizon of potentiality for local circular economies can be broadened. • The social-spatial implications of the circular economy in cities are underexplored. • Longstanding social practices can provide the basis for circular area developments. • Practice-based approaches offer key insights into the workings of local value regimes. • A focus on social practices can render more just and sustainable circular cities. • Learning at the interface of precarity and proximity is particularly promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History matters. Yet, explanations about the contemporary dynamics around informal settlements in global South cities are often divorced from their historical antecedents. We argue that a retrospective approach is important in analyzing and understanding the current dynamics around informal settlements. Applying the historical institutionalism approach and the concepts of critical junctures and path dependency, this paper develops an institutionalist approach to exploring the messy and complex dynamics of urban informal settlements in Abuja, Nigeria. Using interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, and participant observations, we identify four key critical junctures: the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ACT of 1976; the Land Use ACT of 1978, the 1979 master plan of Abuja, and the attempted demolition of Mpape in 2012 and the resulting 5-year court case that ended in 2017. These critical junctures have created path dependencies that explain the contemporary state of the urban informal settlements in Abuja, particularly in relation to land rights and tenure (in)security. This study shows how inconsistencies in the formulation of policies and their implementation in the planning of cities are a result of historically embedded problems. Insights into such historical legacies are the first step to a comprehensive understanding and future planning of urban informal settlements. • History matters. Contemporary cities are shaped by legacies of the past as well as current governance circumstances. • The use of critical junctures and path dependency frameworks provides meaningful insights into the informalisation processes of informal settlements. • Informal settlements in Abuja are the result of the path-dependent actions of the state and non-state actors. • Insights into historical legacies are important for sustainable future planning and regularisation of urban informal settlements. • Future studies on urban informal settlements need to account for the historical antecedents and path-dependencies in their governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study critically evaluates the theory and praxis of mixed-use development. It uses an integrative literature review design to evaluate the different conceptualisations of mixed-use development in the literature. The paper not only develops a clear categorisation of key concepts within the meta-theory, but also summarises new perspectives on the topic. Mixed-use development is theorised in terms of Jacobean and Foucauldian concepts of heterotopia and organic relations in space. The study then tracks the theoretical development of the concept in New Urbanism and Smart Growth approaches, analysing the aesthetic, social, and environmental principles of mixed-use development using idiothetic designs. The study further evaluates the nomothetic evaluation of the socioeconomic functionalities of mixed-use development in terms of social integration, housing and services distribution, travel behaviour, poverty, and crime, and local economic development using positivistic empirical analyses. Another important body of the literature is the regulative policy analyses, which critically evaluate the efficacy of top-down mixed-use policy initiatives and strategies. The study also evaluates the challenge of implementing mixed uses because of the externalities and social costs emerging from incompatible land uses and evaluates emerging research on informal mixed-use development in peri-urban settlements in the Global South. • Post-structural theorisation of Jacobean and Foucauldian concepts of heterotopia and organic relations in space. • New Urbanism and Smart Growth approaches analyse aesthetic, social, and environmental principles using idiothetic designs. • Resulting positivist research analyses the functional cost-benefit relationships, while regulative research approaches focus on top-down mixed-use policy initiatives and strategies. • Critical research of mixed-use development evaluates the social costs of externalities. • Informal mixed-use development in peri-urban settlements in the Global South is an emerging field of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most case and comparative studies discuss urban characteristics that can hardly be influenced by urban transport policies. However, these studies do not quantify the impact of the so-called contextual factors on car ownership and car use. This paper focuses on these contextual factors and their associations with car ownership and car use. Regression models show that contextual factors - such as city size, the share of households with children and the jobs-housing balance - explain a substantial part of the variance in car ownership and car trips in 44 German cities. Residual analyses reveal that neglecting contextual factors leads to biases in comparative studies and consequently in the evaluation of urban transport policies. Thus, there is a risk that cities with favourable contextual factors may be mistakenly viewed as successful examples of transport policy, whereas successful policies in cities with less favourable contextual factors may be overlooked. • Contextual factors explain a large part of variance in car ownership and car trips. • Residual analyses show: Neglecting contextual factors leads to bias in benchmarking. • Transport policies should be evaluated while accounting for contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing public opposition, megaevents such as the Summer Olympics continue to proliferate both in the Global North and South, thus reshaping the built environment of cities and the living conditions of their inhabitants. This paper presents a novel analytical tool that expands the perspectives from which to explore urban megaevents. Building on the controversy among megaproject scholars around Albert Hirschman's Hiding Hand principle, we study the diverse roles that optimism can play in the justification, planning, implementation, and evaluation of megaevents. This approach has the potential to unveil key urban policy agendas underpinning the hosting of megaevents. It does so by focusing on two key aspects: first, the various types and degrees of power exercised by the involved stakeholders in their attempts to justify and support or oppose an event during the planning phase, and second, the coping mechanisms deployed by the promoters as they face unexpected constraints during the implementation phase. In doing so, the approach can help to develop more nuanced and context-specific criteria for evaluating the success of megaevents. We exemplify the approach by using the 1992 Barcelona Olympics as an illustrative case study. • The Hiding Hand controversy provides a framework for the analysis of urban megaevents. • We use the Barcelona 1992 Olympics as case study to illustrate the framework. • Sincere and strategic overoptimism play diverse roles throughout a megaevent lifecycle. • The analysis exemplifies the context-dependence of the notions of success and failure. • Sincere and strategic overoptimism typically operate in tandem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between urban spatial configuration and retail location. We present the Contact model to quantify the capacity of diverse urban configurations to foster economic interactions. Employing a network approach, the model simulates potential interactions between residents and retail activities as they move through the city. The model computes the number of shortest paths, weighted by resident density, in a network loaded with retail activities. The method allows for ranking different urban networks based on their potential to stimulate or constrain interactions between inhabitants and retail establishments. The weighted Contact model is tested across various metric radii in a sample of 35 US cities, utilizing population data from US Census Bureau (c2020) and retail data from the ReferenceUSA database (NAICS, c2020). To validate the model, we correlate results with total retail sales data for each city. Our findings reveal that cities with higher weighted Contact values exhibit greater retail sales volume, particularly within smaller radii up to 1000 m. The differences and relevance of this measurement decreases at >1000 m radius showing that the Contact model is relevant at the local level. We conclude that the urban spatial configuration remains to play an important role in the urban economic environment, holding implications for business and service planning, as well as urban planning and design. • Urban spatial configuration and retail location relationships are explored. • Using a network-based approach, Contact model is presented. • Contact model quantifies how urban configurations promote economic interactions. • Urban spatial configuration plays a role in the number of economic interactions. • Contact model is flexible to build specific scenarios for different land uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public participation process in the renovation of urban villages should not only ensure procedural justice but also guide the affective integration of residents. This paper explores the public's perception of the participation space and the process of affective construction based on a visual study of the Luofeng village renovation in Guangzhou. The aim is to elucidate how the space can be employed to create an affective atmosphere as a strategy for the renovation. The study reveals that participants focused on visual symbols carrying the narrative of daily life, evoking a positive emotional response to these elements. The public participation space successfully establishes a homey atmosphere and achieves the affective reproduction of residents through the creation of its physical environment, residents' embodied practices within it, and negotiated interactions among different subjects. Drawing on the case study, we advocate for the public participation process in urban village renovation to consider residents' embodied affective experiences. It provides a practical model that surpasses mere representation, with the intention of offering a reference for sustainable urban renewal. • The renovation of urban villages needs the affective integration of the residents. • Affective atmosphere creation provides a strategy for public participation. • Residents focus on the visual symbols that carry the narrative of everyday life. • To provide a practical pattern of public participation for urban renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present contribution analyses the Smart City Mission launched in the year 2015 in India from an institutional perspective and examines how it is mobilized for coordinated action. Relying on theoretical guidance provided by Ostrom's (2005) 'Institutional Analysis and Development' (IAD) framework and González-Arellano's (2022) and Scott's (2008) formulation of 'Institutional Construction of Futures of Cities', we analyse a corpus of empirical data to suggest that SC has historical precedents in the way it is institutionalized. Further, to substantiate our findings, a structured literature review of empirical contributions (34 nos.) within the SCOPUS database is undertaken. In conceptual terms, the anticipatory praxis of Smart City Mission leverages the institutional structure of doing flagship programmes and a cultural-cognitive affirmation of neutrality in data-driven governance. The initiative blurs the political city as the action arenas of structuring SC initiatives at the local levels lack operational rules to construct desired outcomes. The paper argues for a need to make the action-to-outcome linkage legible and endow agency to participants to act and control the outcomes by framing collective choice rules. Strengthening action arenas at the city level emboldens the capacity to envision collaborative futures and bridge the gap between anticipation and experience. • The flagship architecture inscribes longstanding socio-spatial inequalities and constrains the collective agency • Smart City Mission blurs the political city at the local levels due to lack of action-outcome linkages • Disproportionate power is vested with the process holders (bureaucrats/consultants) to delineate Smart City outcomes • Smart City Mission valorizes neoliberal ethos and a strong centralized state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, we have witnessed an ongoing and interrelated combination of smart city implementation and tourism trends. The current development of cities integrates technological implementation, the adoption of social media, and "smart" practices to interact with users and tourists, influencing their travel choices by offering a highly technological and customized environment. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of digital technology implementation and social media platforms in cities on tourism flow. Based on the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach and relying on panel data considering 20 Italian smart city projects between 2011 and 2021, this paper demonstrates the extent of the relationship between digital technology implementation embedded in smart city development and tourist flow. Moreover, it also considers the effect of the amplitude of social media platforms adopted, which positively impacts this relationship. Thus, our findings suggest that digital technology implementation in cities generally influences the interplay between smart city and tourism trajectories. Additionally, a city's ability to respond to and implement the newest and trending social media significantly influences its local tourist attractiveness. • The digital development of cities and their responsiveness to social media influence interactions with tourist flows. • Smart cities with advanced digital technology implementation are more likely to interact and attract tourists. • The amplitude of social media platforms in smart cities positively moderates the relationship between the city's technological development and tourists. • Social media act as a bridge between smart city practices and users, influencing their interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically tests for causal relationships between occupational polarization, shifting housing market preferences, and inner-suburban decline in the City of Toronto prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis used variables from the 1981 and 2016 Censuses to conduct a cluster analysis that illustrates the potential relationships between occupational shifts, shifting housing market preferences, and inner-suburban decline. I then conducted an OLS regression analysis to determine causal relationships among the three processes. The results indicated that occupational polarization is the stronger determinant of inner-suburban decline in comparison to shifting housing market preferences. Furthermore, I determined that neighbourhoods with higher proportions of professionals are declining relative to neighbourhoods with higher proportions of workers in the finance, insurance, and real estate occupations. Socio-spatial restructuring and decline in the inner suburbs are increasingly characterized by an emergent form of occupational polarization that entails the bifurcation of occupations between those neighbourhoods that are more connected to the circulation and (re)production of glocal financial networks vs. those that are not. • Inner-suburban decline results in a diverse, polarized neighbourhood typology. • Occupational shifts are a strong determinant of neighbourhood decline. • Shifting housing market preferences also drive decline, but to a lesser extent. • Professional neighbourhoods are declining in relative terms to FIRE-predominant neighbourhoods. • The professionalization of neighborhood decline is influencing the growth of spatial inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a global commitment to leave no one behind, cities can design and execute programs and plans aimed at enhancing the rights of all to the city. Yet, the vulnerable, including low-income migrants are subject to socioeconomic marginalization. Based on interviews with 38 head porters and their translocal networks, this study examined the influence of translocality on migrant's female head porters' "right to the city" using the Central Business Area of Kumasi as a case study. The paper found that female head porters leveraged their translocal relations to produce and enjoy the benefits of the city. Translocal networks enhanced their right to create and be employed, rights against abuse, civic participation, creation and access to public spaces, and healthy and sustainable urban environment. This is far from exhaustive, but it thus demonstrates how translocal networks enhance access to the "right to the city" among the vulnerable. It is suggested that migrants' fruitful translocal linkages may be further promoted by city authorities as resources for migrants' integration and rights to the city. While this may facilitate synergy effects and collaboration between citizens such as migrants and authorities, it does not exempt city authorities from actively supporting migrants through specifically designed policies and actions. • The vulnerabilities of migrant female head porters hinder their inclusion in cities. • Through solidarity, they leverage on their translocal ties to participate in cities. • Translocal networks gave head porters clout to be inclusive in the city. • Translocal networks provide the migrants' access to essential services • Effective collaboration is necessary to promote migrants "right to the city". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As our environment becomes increasingly urban, the governance of urban regions faces multifaceted challenges. There is growing recognition that studying the governance of urban regions requires looking beyond individual plans and examining networks of plans. Existing work on plan networks focuses on documents, neglecting the agency of the people and governments who create and implement the plans. To help fill this gap, we develop and test an analytical framework for assessing urban governance within a network of plans, focusing on the alignment of plan content, interactions, and the relative efficacy of the plans. We apply this framework in metropolitan Austin, Texas (USA), studying five strategic plans that address the region's built environments, transportation systems, and natural areas over a 20 year-period. The analysis reveals how voluntary regional scenario-planning conducted decades earlier continues to shape city and regional development goals; how alignment between plans on paper can belie poor cross-jurisdictional coordination in practice; and how plans addressing transportation and natural areas are more efficacious for implementation than plans for the built environment. In addition to making plan dynamics visible, the framework thus allows for rigorous, empirical assessment of regional governance through a network of plans. • A framework is proposed to analyze urban-region governance with a network of plans. • The framework is tested with five strategic plans in Austin, Texas (USA). • Evidence is found of a network consisting of documents and agency. • Network-of-plan research benefits from the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the "land-debt" financing pattern in China in the context of local governments under fiscal pressure and analyzes the development and economic effects of land financialization. Using a difference-in-differences approach based on the exogenous shock of city–county mergers, we find that city–county mergers significantly boost local governments' debt issuance, causing land financialization. City–county mergers relax land resource constraints on local governments, increasing land held by local government financing vehicles (land mortgages) and land transfer revenue (land guarantees). Accordingly, it is as such an impact mechanism rather than a fiscal pressure that mainly leads to debt expansion. We also document that this effect is more pronounced in China's central and western regions, where land is more correlated with local economies; in periods when the central government does not regulate local land financing; and in areas where officials have strong promotion incentives. Further analysis reveals that most of the debt funds raised by city–county mergers are used for infrastructure construction and loan repayment, and the increasing debt risk of local governments should also be a matter of concern. • City–county mergers significantly boost local governments' debt issuance, causing land financialization in China. • City–county mergers relax the land resource constraints, enhancing land held by local government financing vehicles and land transfer revenue. • Debts raised by city-county mergers, mainly for infrastructure and loan repayment, pose rising risk concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progressing urbanisation is contributing to the changes of vertical and horizontal landscape structure. The aim of this paper is to investigate the spatial regularities of changes in the landscape pattern that resulted from the urbanisation processes in Wrocław (Poland) between 1994 and 2020. The research area is an example of a post-socialist city characterized by fluctuating spatial processes, especially after the economic and political transformation of the year 1989. In the empirical part, authors have analysed the changes in the number of buildings and the structure of land cover using methods of spatial analysis in a GIS environment, with a particular focus on landscape metrics. The results show two main trends in landscape changes within the city boundaries, which the authors refer to as expansion and transformation. These processes were related to various driving forces and their intensity depended on analysed sub-periods and distance from the city centre. Expansion and transformation are mainly exhibited by an increase in developed area at the cost of the decline of natural and open areas (especially agricultural lands) and densification in central areas. • Over the past three decades, the structure of landscape pattern in Wrocław has been rapidly changed. • Changes in urban landscape pattern resulted from different driving forces and their dynamics varied over time and space • Expansion and transformation were the key driving processes of landscape changes in Wrocław. • Residential developments in city's peripheries led to expansion and services developments in the centre – to transformation • The inner peripheries, zone and island-like developments have been identified within city's administrative boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances theories of public administration, geographies of policy, and transportation planning via an analysis of 17 in-depth interviews conducted with transportation policy elites in the State of New Jersey (USA). In the case studied, these elites sought to facilitate the public's transition to electric vehicles, reflecting a policy change initiated by the state government. However, they were affected by organizational traps that existed beyond the bureaucratic institution in a constellation of related field activities. Using qualitative analysis techniques, the data revealed that organizational traps diffuse alongside policy actors as they themselves sought to diffuse policy. The result revealed barriers that kept public engagement relatively circumscribed, even as elite policy makers believed they were achieving their policy goals via participation of the communities that they intended to serve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy retrofitting of residential buildings is considered a challenge to be tackled not only at building level, but also at urban scale, to give a stronger impulse for a concrete transition towards climate neutrality. This paper presents an easy-to-use analysis method based on the elaboration and scaling-up of data collected through the energy performance certificates (EPCs) to identify different urban energy zones distinguished by their energy performance index. This method is therefore conceived for better informing urban planning decisions, thus boosting more effective energy-sensitive urban planning strategies and eventually to foresee dedicated financial instruments to act in the more energy demanding areas of the city, establishing priorities for integrated strategies. This analytical method has been applied and tested in one municipality in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, where the recent urban planning law is pushing municipalities towards the development of urban planning strategies oriented to drastically improve the energy efficiency of the existing building stock. Results show that only a small number of areas manage to reach a good performance with fairly low levels of energy performance index, with the most critical situation found in the most central areas of the capital and in the hamlets. • Easy-to-use method for assessing energy performance of residential building at urban scale is proposed • Method based on data easily available for local authorities, like energy performance certificates (EPCs) and urban morphology • The method supports urban planners in municipalities in taking more targeted decisions for improving energy efficiency • The main output of the method is the definition of an energy performance index (EPI) for different urban contexts • EPI allows to wisely balance economic incentives, identifying areas where multi-purpose interventions are recommended [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterotopias are other spaces that play a crucial role in the adaptive capacity of cities. They balance the city by hosting the abnormal, nurture alternative cultures and allow novel practices that act as seeds of change. In this paper, we study the life cycle and regenerative nature of heterotopias by analysing the expansion of 400 self-organising coworking spaces (CWSs) in Helsinki from 2010 to 2018. This brings a new understanding of how CWSs contribute to broader urban contexts. In examining the heterotopic character of CWSs, we found diversification of otherness relating to the spaces used and the variety of professionals working there. The cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the CWS network revealed alternating dynamics between specialisation and mixing, leading to diversification and different rhythms between the micro-level and the urban scale. We introduce a new concept of networking heterotopias and argue that both diversity and scalar dimensions should be examined when analysing change in and by them. • The heterotopia can be used as an analytic tool for urban dynamics driven by CWSs. • The diversity of CWSs affects the adaptive capacity of cities. • The new concept of networking heterotopias allows for examining multiscale urban dynamics. • Self-organisation can be guided to support the bottom-up renovation of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of political uncertainty on sustainable urban development by examining carbon emission trading systems (ETS) in four major markets in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Hubei) from 2014 to 2022. As an alternative to carbon taxes, carbon ETS markets have become increasingly popular due to their success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, their effectiveness is often hindered by political instability and uncertainty. Utilising logistic regression and AR(1)-GARCH estimations, we identify a negative relationship between political uncertainty and carbon trading volume. Our study also reveals significant variations in the responses of these markets to political uncertainty. The paper contributes to the understanding of how ETS markets operate in a complex and constantly changing political environment. We suggest that policymakers need to consider the impact of political uncertainty on carbon trading when designing and implementing urban policies that promote sustainable development. Additionally, our research contributes to the development of urban policies that can be effectively implemented in both developed and developing regions. • Local government official turnovers are used as the measurement of political uncertainty. • Daily transaction data from four carbon ETS markets (Beijing, Shanghai, Hubei and Guangdong) in China • Considered the probability and proportion of zero transaction day • Logistic regression and AR(1)-GARCH estimations • A negative relationship between political uncertainty and carbon transaction volume [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although studies have explored the travel behavior of residents in informal housing communities in recent years, few have been conducted in the context of a time series before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. This paper tracks individual-level daily mobility response for three months, using an interrupted time series (ITS) quasi-experimental design to infer daily causal effects of COVID-19 and community close-off management on individuals' daily travel distances. This study compares the mobility response to COVID-19 between people living in urban villages and commodity housing communities in Shenzhen, China. The results reveal that urban village residents reduced their travel less, with slower response and recovery rates after the COVID-19 outbreak. The community close-off management was less effective for urban village residents, with a smaller abrupt reduction in mobility and their recovery rate increasing faster during the post-lockdown period. Therefore, urban village residents may have experienced greater limitations in adjusting travel with higher exposure risks during the pandemic, compared with commodity housing residents. The variations in mobility change are significantly affected by some inherent differences between these two groups, even after controlling for their socioeconomic and built environment features. These results provide important insights for designing mobility restriction policies for different housing groups and planning more resilient neighborhoods in the post-COVID era. • Adopting an interrupted time series quasi-experimental design to infer daily causal effects of COVID-19 • Comparing mobility effects of COVID-19 in urban villages and commodity housing communities • Urban village residents reduced their travel less, with slower response and recovery rates. • The community close-off management was less effective for urban village residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus on two questions in this paper. First, are Indian cities suburbanizing or is their growth compact? Second, what explains the differences in suburbanization or compact growth across cities and regions? We answer these questions using granular, grid-level data from the Global Human Settlements Layer. We take three approaches to understanding the evolution of urban form. First, we explain changes in population density based on concentric rings around the city centre for 100 cities in India. Second, we use these same data to estimate population density gradients in 1975 and 2015. Finally, we use regressions to test hypotheses about relationships between city characteristics and the density gradient. We find that although cities in India densified within their 1975 city limits, they also expanded outward. We find the negative exponential density function is useful for studying urban form in India. South Indian cities and those in urbanized states sprawled more than their northern and less urbanized counterparts. Both the social conditions of central cities such as the literacy rate and the historical pattern of population suburbanization are statistically significantly associated with suburbanization. This suggests the need for greater investment in public infrastructure in central cities to support compact urban growth. • We use satellite data from the Global Human Settlements Layer for 100 Indian cities. • It is pioneering research on the spatial distribution of population in Indian cities. • The negative exponential density function is useful for studying urban form in India. • Cities in south India and the urbanized states sprawl more. • Literacy rates and the historical pattern of cities are associated with sprawl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green space accessibility affects housing prices, which is an issue that has been underappreciated. This paper takes Beijing's central urban area as an example. First, the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) method is used to measure four levels (community green space, subdistrict green space, district green space, and municipal green space) of green space accessibility by multiple travel modes (walking, cycling and driving). Second, the spatial error model (SEM) is used to examine the factors influencing housing prices. Finally, the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is introduced to explore the spatial relationship between green space accessibility by walking, cycling and driving and housing prices. The results show the following: (1) The SEM shows that only driving accessibility has a positive spatial spillover effect on housing prices, indicating that the spatial inequity of local community green spaces by driving will exacerbate surrounding spatial inequity. (2) The GWR model shows that from the perspective of walking and driving accessibility, most areas within the Second Ring Road show spatial equity in green spaces, while cycling accessibility shows that the spatial inequity of green space exists only outside the Second Ring Road. (3) We find that municipal green space and subdistrict green space most affect the spatial equity of green spaces. Community green space, which is not open to the public, plays a minimal role. Regarding walking and driving accessibility, municipal green space increases the spatial equity of green spaces. In contrast, this type of green space can promote the spatial equity of green spaces regarding cycling accessibility. This study can significantly improve the quality of urban settlements in the Global South and has important implications for policy-makers, planners, and stakeholders in other large cities worldwide to create green and liveable cities. • We investigated green space accessibility impact on housing prices • G2SFCA was used to measure green space accessibility for multiple travel modes • Driving accessibility had positive spatial spillover effect on housing prices • Driving and cycling green space accessibility had opposite effect on housing prices • Our results provided guidance and example for other developing countries megacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest in the field of sense of place research due to its influence on community participation. However, this area faces primary limitations characterized by terminological and conceptual ambiguity and challenges related to empirical operationalization. This paper aims to explore the dynamics of sense of place among the members of Crow Island Beach Park Management Society (BPMS), Sri Lanka. This study adopts a case study research design and through purposive snowball sampling 16 individuals were selected for interviews. Several recurring themes emerged when analyzing the interview-derived data, forming a conceptual progression resembling a ladder. The findings of this study reveal distinct stages of progression from placelessness, connected, committed, commend the place is best and consecrate the place over personal aspirations. The themes contributed to the development of 'a ladder of sense of place'. This novel conceptual framework broadens existing notions of sense of place and introduces new dimensions to measurement scales. It can serve as a valuable tool for urban designers, planners, landscape architects and policymakers, enabling them to conduct qualitative assessments of individuals' sense of place on a local level. Moreover, it facilitates community participation in place-making and environmental management. • Sense of place of people in different contexts is diverse and variable. • A ladder of sense of place is introduced with a clear separation of dimensions. • A qualitative and case-based approach yielded rich descriptions of sense of place • Sense of place has a potential behavioral commitment to place-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human mobility is of importance in supporting smart cities, urban planning and constructions of resilient environments. Previous studies on dominant mobility models (i.e., gravity and radiation models) rarely describe the refined spatiotemporal process of human mobility flow forces especially within city. To address this gap, this paper proposes a spatiotemporal flow force model (FFM) of sink/source human mobilities within city, which is derived from Navier-Stokes equation in the field of fluid mechanics. The FFM model outperforms the gravity and radiation models in modeling the refined spatiotemporal flow force process of source/sink human mobilities, in the aspect of intensity and direction of mobility flow force. Comparison results show that the gravity and radiation models in the source mobility scenario can give a rough force estimation about the total outflow from source mobility areas while without the capability of explaining the specific directions of mobility flow from source mobility areas. Pearson correlation coefficient between the intensity results of the two models and those of FFM range from 0.65 to 0.90 and direction differences between the results of the two models and FFM respectively show no clear regularity. In the sink mobility scenario, the direction of mobility flows can be estimated well by the gravity and radiation models while the intensity of mobility flow between small-scale areas within cities is susceptible to inaccuracies. Pearson correlation coefficient ranges from 0.13 to 0.59 and direction differences follow a stepped distribution from high to low within the range of 0° to 180°. In addition, the potential field of human mobility flow force provides a powerful tool for visually analyzing mobility flows within cities. This proposed model enriches human mobility models and is generalizable in supporting smart cities, urban planning, and constructions of resilient environments in terms of the refined spatiotemporal process of mobility flow force. • A spatiotemporal flow force model (FFM) of sink/source human mobilities within city is proposed. • Gravity and radiation models fail to explain specific directions of mobility flow from source mobility areas within city. • Mobility flow intensity between small-scale areas modeled by gravity and radiation models is susceptible to inaccuracies. • FFM model outperforms the gravity and radiation models in intensity and direction of mobility flow force. • The proposed model is generalizable in supporting smart cities, urban planning, and resilient environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calls for better municipal waste management practices that are in line with the principles of 'circular economy' and 'circular cities' abound in many parts of the world including Thailand. Our research aimed to understand how waste pickers in Bangkok currently operate as key actors in the recycling economy, given the lack of state funding and infrastructure for operationalizing circularity, using a situated urban political ecology (SUPE) approach. We conducted surveys and walk-along interviews with waste pickers in two districts of the city. This was supplemented by desk reviews and key informant interviews. Mainly, walking with waste pickers in their daily work routes threw light on the embodiment of waste metabolisms and everyday practices in accessing and metabolizing waste. We find how waste economies were sustained despite policy neglect through fluid relationships between humans and non-humans that operate within a messy, contested urban space. Negative affect and corporeal harm characterized such a metabolism. Characterization of power in urban political ecology can be strengthened by locating diffuse forms in which power is enacted and by looking at the political dimensions of affect. Unexpected alliances between actors posited counter-narratives to powerful instruments of regulation and global waste flows. Through the results presented in this paper, we call for UPE scholars to draw from (a) embodied and situated processes and practices in the transformations of socio-natures and (b) spatio-sensorial methods that can trace circulations and metabolisms of socio-natures. We suggest that such a SUPE can underpin grounded projects of bettering human-environment relationships in the age of planetary crisis. • A situated urban political ecology resists top-down characterisations of power and presents complex and diverse narratives of the "winners and losers" of socio-natural transformations. • Plastic recycling economies in Bangkok are sustained by fluid relationships between humans and non-humans that operate within a messy, contested urban space. • Emotions and embodiment characterize the metabolism of wastes. • Walk-along interviews, as a spatio-sensorial tool, enabled a situated understanding of the embodiment of waste flows. • Through an amalgamation of embodied and situated urban political ecologies, UPE can underpin grounded projects of bettering human-environment relationships in the age of planetary crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's new town and ghost city phenomenon has attracted interest from academics and the media since the 2010s. There is, however, little research on the lived experiences of people in new towns, or of the transformation of these new towns. This paper uses Lefebvre's spatial triad to examine how the spaces of the new town are produced and transformed by interactions between multiple actors. Using an analytical framework based on the spatial triad, we explore the interactive mechanisms and the dialectical relationships within the triad. Taking Kangbashi, a new town in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, as a case study, we explore how the spatial production of a new town is co-created by multiple actors, and local government-led conceived space plays a dominant role in that creation. Through interactions in the dynamic nexus of conceived-perceived-lived space, the new town space is in the process of transformation from an empty "ghost city" to a comfortable habitable city. This research deepens our understanding of new towns and production of space by connecting state-led and capital-driven urban construction with the lived practices of residents. Moreover, this empirical Chinese study contributes to knowledge and understanding across diverse global urban contexts. • An analytical framework based on the spatial triad is proposed. • The mechanisms for the transformation of a new town space from a ghost city to a more habitable city is examined. • The local government dominates both the production of space and its transformation in the new town. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper connects the concept of 'cities within the city' to the practice of counter-mapping. We explore how people in Surabaya (Indonesia) come together to design, plan and imagine their city differently through counter-mapping. We focus on two design activist projects called Pertigaan Map (pertigaan means three-way intersection) and Suroboyo Ngalor Ngidul (Surabaya to the North and South). In this visual essay, we compile, present and analyze two colonial maps and a series of contemporary counter-maps of Surabaya. The counter-maps, made iteratively and collectively over ten years, offer both critiques of the design of Surabaya and its colonial legacy and propositions for different ways of living, navigating and valuing the city. • 'Counter-mapping' and 'cities within the city' are connected concepts contributing to theorisation of 'counter-cities'. • As a method for visualizing counter-cities, counter-mapping can guide people to different versions of a city such as Surabaya. • Counter-maps offer opportunities to connect with and amplify diverse forms of urban activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in domestic water use in many cities. One important question is whether and to what extent the pandemic stressed the resilience of the water supply system. Another question examined in the paper is whether changes in water use during confinement differed according to the sociospatial configuration of cities. We examine these questions in the context of a medium size city of Northern Spain characterized by a mix of residential land uses, and internal variations in education, age composition, and income, producing step gradients in water use. First, we select and analyze influencing factors in domestic water consumption. Second, using statistical regression tests, we assess whether or not and to what extent the same factors influenced consumption during the COVID 19 lockdown. Results indicate that COVID-19 related confinement increased work and study from home and reinforced WASH habits, leading to more water consumption. However, this increase was larger in medium and low-income neighborhoods than in high-income neighborhoods, showing the relevance of sociodemographic factors but also of other variables more relevant for outdoor water use such as precipitation. Despite this rise in consumption, the water supply system was able to withstand the shock caused by confinement showing a robust resilience both in physical and in social terms. However, more challenging scenarios such as the coincidence of a pandemic with a severe drought should be taken into account in future resilience development. • Sociodemographic and urban factors played an important role in explaining domestic water consumption patterns during COVID-19 lockdowns. • Households in multifamily buildings or apartment blocks with medium-low incomes and significant presence of young people recorded the largest relative increases of water consumption during these lockdowns. • Weather conditions are key in domestic water consumption during the COVID 19 lockdown especially in areas with a large presence of single houses. • The water supply system was resilient and could withstand the increase in consumption caused by confinement as well as provide for financial assistance to vulnerable households. Policies should take into account the possible coincidence in time of unexpected phenomena such as COVID-19 with droughts already stressing urban resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonialism's lasting impact on contemporary African cities has been firmly established – yet the ways in which colonial planning practices affected walkability, in particular urban permeability in contemporary morphologies, have been largely unexplored. High urban permeability supports livelihoods, particularly for the urban poor, and is needed for a transition towards more walkable cities. Through the mapping of three cities in East Africa, this paper demonstrates that cities in which indigenous planning practices were able to resist colonial planning practices, the emergent urban form has smaller urban blocks and higher urban permeability. As existing policy measures on walkability largely avert improvement of urban permeability, this study suggest a reassessment of those policies. • The area weighted average block perimeters for Kampala, Mombasa Nairobi are 1680 m, 1908 m and 2742 m; • The overall urban permeability in Mombasa, Nairobi and Kampala is low in a global comparison; • Indigenous spatial planning practices had a positive impact on contemporary walkability; • Colonial spatial practices persist in contemporary cities and continue to segregate neighbourhoods; • Curiously, cities with less public space correlated to a higher degree of permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the presence of urban wildlife has increased in many cities around the world, with the consequent increase of human-animal relations. The city of Genoa (NW Italy) is a particularly complex case study where such phenomena are associated with rural depopulation of the surrounding countryside and spontaneous rewilding processes that have led several animal species to approach urban areas in search of new spaces. This paper deals with human-wildlife interactions in Genoa in relation to the geography of the city by way of a survey circulated throughout Genoa. Drawing from survey data, the research investigates residents' perceptions and understanding of urban wildlife in relation to their area of residency with a focus on wild boars. People's responses show that some areas of the city have a higher level of interaction with wildlife, and this partly affects the way in which such phenomena are perceived and tolerated by the population. In addition, the results show that there is no clear opposition towards urban wildlife and that people are concerned about sustainable forms of urban planning to the benefit of both residents and wildlife. • Rewilding processes involve both rural and urban areas of Liguria (NW Italy). • In recent times city of Genoa (NW Italy) has seen a progressive increase of wildlife. • Intensity of human-animal interactions varies in relation to people's area of residency. • People are concerned about public safety and good quality of urban environments but also animal welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper integrates low-carbon development into the context of economic resilience, thus proposing "Low-carbon Economic Resilience" (LER). We establish an analysis framework to analyze LER based on regional interactions. The framework indicates that regions achieve LER by transferring the development burden to others, which will result in inter-regional trade inequality. An empirical analysis focused on inter-regional trade in cities of China is carried out to illustrate this framework. We calculate the degree of economic resilience and low-carbon development in cities of China. Then we trace the environmental-economic benefits embodied in virtual built-up land flow in regions. The characteristics of virtual built-up land flow exert an impact on the spatial distribution of regional economic resilience to a certain extent. The results show that, in China, many cities achieved only economic resilience or low-carbon development, while a few cities were able to achieve LER. The latter imported built-up land with high carbon emissions or low economic benefits from others, while developing "high-quality" built-up land themselves, which was reflected in the benefits per hectare of built-up land. The differences in environmental-economic benefits from inter-regional trade cause trade inequality, and major cities are the main beneficiaries, which contributes to their achievement of LER. • Low-carbon economic resilience is proposed. • Quantifying the environmental-economic benefits of inter-regional trade of cities in China. • Dividing built-up land into 4 categories to match MRIO model. • Analyzing low-carbon economic resilience based on regional interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze at what extent the connectivity of small localities is a determinant of their demography. Specifically, we pay attention to three factors: the evolution of the population; the distance, measured both in kilometres and travel time, to the province capital, the usual city where the largest set of services is available; and finally, the coverage of different kinds of broadband services (from ADSL or 3.5 G to the fastest ones FTTH) in rural areas. An econometric model was estimated where the dependent variable captures the increase of inhabitants along 2017–2020 of the 5955 Spanish municipalities with a population between 101 and 10,000 inhabitants (73.3 % of all municipalities). The results point out to the following facts: digital connectivity of small localities is a determinant of their demography, whatever the technology used, but physical distance remains being a significant factor on the population growth (both if it is measured of physical distance or travelling time) to explain the population growth of each locality. • Digital connectivity of small localities is a determinant of their demography. • Internet connections are a new communication channel to promote/deter depopulation in rural areas. • Internet access is positively correlated with population growth in small/medium populations. • The distance to the provincial capital continues to be a factor that slows down population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green infrastructure (GI) and nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly adopted as urban planning and development solutions to enable sustainable and healthy urban transitions. However, urban green(ing) has featured as an instrument of urban planning for several centuries. The extent and causal effect of these instruments in delivering environmental and social sustainability outcomes are, however, often unclear, but raise concerns of green gentrification. This paper presents a 120-year analysis of GI in London low-income neighbourhoods drawing on below (soils) and above (urban greenery) components of GI. Three testable relationships are analysed in a long-term perspective (1881–2001): soils, geology and initial socio-spatial structures; impact of urban greenery in comparable low-income neighbourhoods; and the impact of urban greenery in low-income neighbourhoods set in their wider urban systems adjustments. The results suggest that new greenery in comparable low-income neighbourhoods had little independent effect on neighbourhood socioeconomic characteristics. Where gentrification does occur, wider processes of social, economic, and technological adjustment, rather than urban greening, is likely causal. The non-random distribution of soils is found to anchor socio-spatial structures. Future productivity of GI and NBS, e.g., sponginess or mass of green that can be sustained, will likely also vary spatially, and continue to anchor socio-spatial structures. • Combining above (urban greenery) and below (soil and geology) components of green infrastructure with socio-spatial analysis. • Long-term analysis (1881-2001) combining unique socioeconomic, slum clearance and infrastructure data with contemporary data. • Soil and geological components of green infrastructure found to anchor socio-spatial patterns. • New greenery not found to generate an independent gentrification effect London neighbourhoods with a slum clearance history. • Potential GI productivity (e.g., sustaining GI and sponginess) found to correlate with existing socio-spatial patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The travel restriction leads to the enormous economic loss to the tourism industry. In this paper, the economic loss and the environmental gains (e.g., water and energy resources) from COVID-19 impact on China's tourism industry are estimated based on environmentally extended multiple regional input-output model. Results indicate that the China's tourism consumption loss triggered 921 billion US$ output loss via supply chain in 2020, which account for 7 % of GDP in 2019. Additionally, the economic loss further ripples tourism water footprint conservation of 10 billion m3 (equal to the annual water consumption of Poland) and tourism energy footprint conservation of 116 million tce (equal to the annual energy consumption of Australia). Findings reveal that regions with large tourism economic losses are not completely consistent with the regions with significant relief of water and energy pressures. Water pressure in Xinjiang (Northwest) and energy pressure in Hainan (South) have been alleviated due to reduced tourism consumption along the Southeast coast. These knock-on effects highlight a deeper internal link between the economy and the environment. The development of tourism in the post-COVID-19 era needs to reduce the direct water and energy footprint of local area by applying advanced water-saving and energy-saving technologies. • China's tourism output loss caused by COVID-19 accounts for 7 % of GDP in 2019. • 10 billion m3 of water saving equals to the annual water consumption of Poland. • 116 million tce of energy saving equals to the annual energy consumption of Australia. • Tourism activities decreasing in East relieve great water use stress in Northwest China. • Decreasing tourism demand in Southeast mitigates energy use stress in South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]