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This article makes the case that electric micromobilities (EMMs) are the site of a moral panic and employs the lens of mobility justice to explain it. Through analysis of scholarly and media discourse, interviews with, and social media content produced by, EMM riders (eriders), and the auto ethnographic experiences of the lead author as an electric unicycle rider in daily life, as a participant in online and offline "erider" communities, and as a food delivery worker, we reinforce the conclusion that alternate mobilities face an uphill battle in gaining legitimacy and inclusion in transportation policy and infrastructure. While this is not a new finding—alternate mobilities have a long history of being demonized and excluded—this article offers insight into how individuals who find themselves unwitting scapegoats in conflicts over public space consciously engage in deliberate actions to resist EMM panic and achieve greater mobility justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on LGBTQI + people has increased in recent years in several areas. In geography and sociology, they were interpreted as producers and modifiers of urban space. In tourism literature, efforts are concentrated on diversified consumption practices. Queer geography has noticed that LGBTQI + people have developed practices that have transformed former ghettos into notable gayborhoods in a process called gaytrification which has changed the way we enjoy cities. The literature review on gayborhoods proposes a possible end for these neighborhoods, as sexual identities gained greater acceptability. Research in queer geography reveals contributions to tourism studies, indicating that the intersections between sexuality and space contribute to the development of tourist destinations. This can be observed in an increase in tourist flow in a post-Covid-19 period, there has been an increase in tourist flow in the Reguliersdwarsstraat, the main street of leisure and entertainment aimed at the LGBTQI + people in Amsterdam. Representing a trend of reviving these neighborhoods as queer spaces after periods of lockdown. The corpus of analysis, consisting of 3955 photographs, shared between 2019 and 2022, provides answers to the following question: Can a tourism promotional strategy using social media delay the end of queer spaces and gayborhoods? The analysis states that visitors perform queerness practices that consolidate an urban queer tourist precinct, with a high tourist flow, mainly at night and in the summer months prevent its heterosexualization. Thus, it is possible to affirm that the tourist gaytrification of gay neighborhoods and streets preserves the historical and cultural legacy of LGBTQI + people, and that the construction of queers precincts diversifies the tourist offer of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the moral calculus of gentrification change for self-conscious newcomers in neighborhoods with a reputation deemed unworthy of preserving? In pointing to a set of practices distinct from "pioneering" accounts of gentrification, Brown-Saracino (2007) identified social preservationists as figures who seek to preserve authentic community and the marginalized old-timers who embody it. Using the deviant case of Bridgeport—a historically White neighborhood in Chicago with a deeply historical and persistent reputation for racism —we examine how self-conscious newcomers orient themselves to the gentrification process when the old-timers are not considered a marginalized group worth protecting, but rather a powerful group with problematic racial views. Whereas Brown-Saracino identified the importance of "selecting the old-timer" among a set of potential representatives of a valorized past, we suggest that in this case, newcomers fight to redefine a neighborhood based on a socially desirable future. Drawing on two distinct sets of ethnographic and interview-based data, we outline how this process has unfolded. We conclude that Bridgeport's story points to the importance of examining how gentrification ideologies emerge from the collision of personal commitments and neighborhood context, as neighborhood newcomers balance their ethics, concerns over personal reputation, and salient aspects of their new homes, including place reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An "urban" subfield exists in virtually every social science discipline, but these subfields seldom engage one another. We asked scholars from five urban subfields to respond to questions about the state of urban research within their discipline. This article consists of their consequent essays and reflections on their responses. The questions posed included the discipline's conception of "urban," the main concerns motivating the subfield, the primary methodologies pursued, the extent to which their subfield interacted with or was informed by research in other urban subfields, and the main concepts or approaches it had to offer to other subfields or might take away from them. In our reflections, we particularly note the intellectual and institutional difficulties in creating a broader field of urban research or of engaging in truly inter-disciplinary research. We also highlight the desirability of greater engagement across these subfields through encouraging a "republic of conversation" among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of the urban impasse, which refers to the tension between the potential actions available to individuals in urban environments and the constraints that limit their choices. The authors argue that this impasse contributes to structural inequalities in cities. They advocate for a relational approach to studying the urban, which considers the long-term trends and institutions that shape urban life. The article includes case studies from Berlin, São Paulo, and Brazilian favelas to illustrate the complexities of urban inequalities and the role of institutions in shaping social action. The authors conclude by emphasizing the need for a deeply situational perspective to understand the conflicts and management of cities. [Extracted from the article]

The article is situated within the conceptual lineage of St. Clair Drake and Horace Cayton's groundbreaking Black Metropolis model. However, it provides a new way of considering this intellectual heritage. The analysis suggests that African American traditions of Pan-Africanism have not been expansively addressed in their magnitude on Black urban sociology. Drake and Cayton's theorization is reconfigured as it exists within a Pan-African value system for the contemporary Black (Diasporic) city. The research presents "unsung" Pan-African tropes that are central to the maintenance of the Black city's identity and psychological cohesion. If the mind is the "primary battlefield" as Garvey insists, then it is important to note the (beneficial) psychological impact that African American redemption and the Pan- African Metropolis can bestow on African Americans. The discussion locates Pan-Africanism as a tangible operating mechanism on African Americans' lifestyle, mental health, and (Africanized) identities within Detroit's Black community. Field observations of Detroit's African World Festival connect these festival spaces as they characterize and drive the city's identity, psychology, economic considerations, and ultimately, Pan-African groundings. The sustainability of an Afrocentric philosophy and psychology has enhanced the Black city in the manifestation of a distinctive cultural political economy. The Pan African Metropolis emerged during Detroit's Black Arts Movement (the 1970s of my youth). To this end, the article pushes back against "the lie" which overgeneralizes African Americans in a Black deficit homogeneity, whereas the "alleged Black American monolith" is not connected to any operating African continuum in their daily lives. Plain language summary: The Pan African Metropolis: Pan African Lives in a Pan African City All cities have a psychological effect on their inhabitants. How does a Pan-African value system shape the distinctive character and mindset of a city? This article attempts to answer this question. The current research on Detroit's African World Festival looks at how it connects to a larger Africanized World of Detroit (from the 1970s to the present). It locates and celebrates African Americans in Detroit who live devoted, daily Pan-African lives. It voices how the city has benefited from the norm of its Pan-African leadership. The discussion fills a needed gap as it looks at how contemporary customs of Pan-Africanism have made a positive impact on African Americans' lifestyle and mental health who live in Detroit, Michigan. The argument presents unique Pan-African values, which are referred to as Pan African tropes. These tropes have uniquely shaped Detroit's Black community's psychological makeup and distinctive personality. From this perspective, Pan-Africanism is discussed here from a holistic perspective for African Americans. It is considered deliberately as a mindset-shaping and Black progress philosophy in the foundation of the city. The cultural agency of Detroit has created an unsung tradition of Black placemaking through African heritage connections, celebrations, and preservation. Garvey insists what has made African Americans reject their African heritage is brainwashing from white/European inducement of continued mental slavery, as Bob Marley captures Garvey's most comprehensive message in Redemption Song, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds". This is why Garvey tells us the primary battlefield is the mind. Ultimately, the mental health of African Americans is dependent upon the recovery of their historical dignity, and a tranformative Africana Studies education, and thus, more accurate knowledge as it applies to them. Thus, Pan-Africanism has a seriously unrecognized psychological benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological conditions are heavily influenced by human–environment interactions, which is why understanding the relationships between people and nature is crucial. While earlier studies have indicated a pattern of positive correlations between economic wealth and biodiversity in urban areas, there are some examples that suggest that such associations are more intricate than initially presumed. In this study, we aimed to assess whether such a relation holds in Lahti, a medium-sized city in southern Finland, considering two biodiversity proxies (i.e., bird and woody plant species richness) and the Urban Ecosystem Integrity Index (UEII) of the city. Our results show no clear relationship between economic wealth (average annual income per statistical area) reported for 2019 and the two assessed biodiversity proxies and the UEII. These findings shed new light on the "luxury effect" in urban areas and reveal the nature of such relationship in highly green cities embedded in economic parity scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although W. E. B. Du Bois addresses crime in Black communities in many of his writings, he is rarely recognized as having a cohesive theory on crime, and his work is often conflated with Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory. While both social disorganization and Du Bois's theories pushed sociology and criminology away from pseudo-biological explanations of crime to the social environment, the Chicago School analyzed how social control broke down within neighborhoods, while Du Bois analyzed how racist social and economic exclusion of Black communities led to crime. Du Bois's criminological theories of social disharmony and racial injustice also consider the social construction of crime and the criminalization of Blackness where social disorganization does not. Focusing on the relations of racial exclusion led Du Bois to propose solutions to crime that focus on mechanisms of oppression and economic injustice across various levels of society. This approach differs widely from community-level interventions driven by social disorganization theory, which focus on improving informal social control within neighborhoods. Du Bois's theories on crime and the social environment provide an analytic lens for sociologists to link the social organization within communities to the social organization across communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Placemaking is a concept used in urban planning to shape public spaces. It is a complex and evolving concept that involves various actors with different goals, including grassroots community members, artists, developers, and governments. Placemaking has the potential to address urban crises and improve urban life, but it is distinct from mainstream planning and can take the form of informal interventions led by activists. It has been influenced by various discourses, including post-capitalism and post-liberalism, and it is important to consider how it can benefit marginalized groups and contribute to meeting place-based goals of access and inclusion. Placemaking has gained renewed attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are challenges to maintaining its integrity, such as the rush to implement initiatives without proper community engagement. Despite these challenges, placemaking holds potential for progress in addressing social vulnerabilities and building bridges across communities. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the ways in which lesbians' economic and intimate lives are closely intertwined amid neoliberal development in the urban landscape. Previous research on queer urban life has primarily drawn attention to commodified gay neighbourhoods and other sites for sexual consumption, which are often marketised as part of a liberal and queer-friendly urban landscape, in Euro-American contexts. Such a focus is not adequate, however, to capture the complex interplay between intimacy and commodification in contemporary societies. Drawing upon interviews with 35 lesbians in Beijing, this study shows how the market is experienced by lesbians as a site of queer agency and vulnerability under neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics. The findings reveal 'commodified forms of intimacy', through which lesbians actively engage in the labour market and (queer-targeted) pink market in order to develop their intimate relations. Meanwhile, 'intimatised forms of commodification' illustrate how women's gendered and sexual expressions are closely policed and evaluated in the workplace as a site of both economic production and the reproduction of social norms. Participants were conscious of their vulnerable position as women and lesbians in the marketplace, but they were active in strategising ways to navigate urban landscapes of heteronormativity and gender inequalities. This article helps to develop a deeper understanding of the complicated and contradictory impacts of neoliberalism with Chinese characteristics on queer communities. It contributes to urban sociology and sexuality studies by mapping the multiple connections between commodified relations and intimate relations in the neoliberal city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that increased contact between different races under the right conditions can increase interracial tolerance. Research also shows that more white individuals are moving back to city centers through the process of gentrification. This research shows that gentrification is a process ripe with conflict which has implications on interracial contact. New development in neighborhoods not only prices out longtime residents who are often of color but is also geared toward newer middle-class patrons who are often white. Literature on whites living in diverse or gentrifying neighborhoods illustrates habits and behaviors that result in the avoidance of people of color. Literature also illustrates that's these whites are likely to be more politically progressive and claim to value the racially diverse nature of their neighborhoods. Critical diversity research sheds some light on this paradox, but this is a small but growing field. More research needs to be done to better understand the habitus, the racial ideologies, and the relationships white individuals who live in diverse or gentrifying neighborhoods, have with people of color. Doing so would not only examine how gentrification is structuring interracial contact, but also provide a closer look at a new dominant racial ideology for whites in this context. Critical diversity ideology, while similar to color blind racism, in that it still reproduces racial inequality, is a distinct racial ideology that is potentially paramount in the contexts of racially diverse neighborhoods. Detroit makes an ideal location for this research due to its history of racial segregation and current influx of white individuals living in close proximity to their Black counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public sculptures and monuments play an important role in shaping collective memory and personality, as well as reproducing social inequalities. This article examines the female sculptures in the public spaces of Istanbul; It aims to make visible the inequalities in the common use of public space. Sculptures of Istanbul, which ensure the clearest and static transmission of gender inequality, are handled and exemplified as angels, virgins, war hero women, mother statues and female statues with sexuality emphasized. The research will examine how the representation of women in public sculptures and monuments and the message they carry are reproduced every day in public spaces, deepening inequality and affecting the representation of social roles. In this context, 10 sculptures were selected for the study. The 10 female statues discussed in this context not only repeat the message, but also formally and narratively reiterate that the message is unchangeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did the Norwich Union, a life and general insurance company, come to see itself as a 'local developer with people always at the centre of our planning'? This article explores how a small number of insurance companies, capitalising on their long history of property investment, used their investment funds, or 'life funds', to transform the built environment of UK in the twentieth century. In the postwar period life funds were contracted by local governments to finance, plan and develop solutions to urban issues that paralleled those targeted by post‐war welfare reforms. This involved companies in developing expertise, working practices, instruments and collaborative arrangements that are not adequately represented as financial investment. Ventures into development on this scale had also to be ventures in futures planning, calculated bets on how people would – and how they should – live, work and spend. These are enterprises that I characterise as 'experimental practices of financial sociology' as a provocation that acknowledges first, that non‐sociologists sometimes devise huge sociological experiments and second, that the separation of economics from sociology, and of finance from society, is a disciplinary move that is far less strictly enacted outside the academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Tensions in Diversity: Spaces for Collective Life in Los Angeles" by Felicity Hwee-Hwa Chan explores the experiences of residents in three diverse neighborhoods in Los Angeles County: Central Long Beach, San Marino, and Mid-Wilshire. The book examines the tensions that arise from cultural and socioeconomic diversity and investigates the possibilities for intercultural learning and belonging in these communities. Chan's research reveals the existence of visible and invisible boundaries that shape local belonging and highlights the importance of intentional design in public spaces to foster intercultural encounters. The book provides valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and scholars interested in ethnic and cultural diversity in urban environments. [Extracted from the article]

"Settler Colonial City: Racism and Inequity in Postwar Minneapolis" by David Hugill examines the history of racism, inequity, and settler-colonial structures in Minneapolis, particularly focusing on the post-World War II era. The book explores the impact of urban change, racialized policing, and American imperialism on marginalized communities, with a particular emphasis on Indigenous peoples. Hugill highlights the structural barriers faced by marginalized groups and the need to dismantle white supremacist and settler-colonial structures. While the book primarily focuses on the violent aspects of settler-colonial urban policy, it also touches on the need to examine more subtle elements such as access to education, healthcare, and legal services. Overall, the book provides a critical perspective on the history of Minneapolis and challenges the perception of the city as progressive and inclusive. [Extracted from the article]

"Stacked Decks: Building Inspectors and the Reproduction of Urban Inequality" by Robin Bartram explores the role of building inspectors in perpetuating urban inequality. The book highlights how inspectors exercise discretion in their decision-making, influenced by their perceptions of a neighborhood's trajectory and an owner's worthiness of leniency. Bartram combines qualitative fieldwork and statistical analyses to provide an intimate view of inspectors in Chicago's Buildings Department. The book also discusses the social, economic, and historical factors that contribute to urban inequality in Chicago and proposes solutions to address these issues. Overall, "Stacked Decks" offers valuable insights into the impact of building inspections on urban communities and is recommended for those interested in urban planning and sociology. [Extracted from the article]

This study draws from W.E.B. Du Bois’ urban sociology in The Philadelphia Negro, Darkwater, and Black Reconstruction in America to offer a conceptual foil to present-day broken windows policing. We suggest that the Chicago School’s ecological model of urban life facilitated a broken windows approach to policing by labeling people and places as disordered but also that a Du Boisian approach—what we call “mended windows”—offers new ways of addressing underlying inequalities that reproduce harm. After drawing out the distinct intellectual trajectories of these two approaches, we turn to two contemporary cases of racialized police violence—Syracuse, NY, and the Antelope Valley, CA—to illustrate the theoretical and methodological significance of a Du Boisian mended windows analysis of urban policing across time and place. We conclude by considering what this approach might have foretold about contemporary movements to defund policing in favor of investing in community vitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gendered patterning of urban street names as part of the spatial production of broader male-centric memorial landscapes has been documented in a growing body of scholarship. Scholars from various cognate fields, such as cultural geography, gender and memory studies, and urban sociology, have unraveled the stark gender disparities favoring men inscribed into symbolic landscapes through place names, public monuments, and other memorial artefacts. This article sets out to overcome some of the limitations characterizing this strand of research – namely, the lack of statistical sophistication and the preference for case studies based on singular cities – by developing a multi-level modelling of gendered street nomenclature at the national level. The approach developed in this paper employs the complete collection of urban street names in Romania to assess the empirical adequacy of five hypotheses regarding the gendered structuring of the country's urban namescape. This analysis highlights the factors underpinning the variation of gender disparities in terms of Romania's historical regions, ethnic demographics and local ethnopolitics, city ranking within the national territorial administration and intra-urban stratification of the road network, as well as the effects brought about by postsocialist transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geodemographic classification, a process of categorizing neighborhoods into distinct groups based on their demographic, social, and economic characteristics to create summary profiles, has significantly expanded its applications over the last forty years, from its origins in urban sociology to fields such as health, transportation, and public policy. However, a fundamental issue associated with this classification is that decisions made based on neighborhood profiles are essentially applied not only to the geographic areas but to all residents, which risks marginalizing individuals and households whose characteristics deviate from the established profiles, leading to inequitable treatment in decision-making. This study evaluates whether neighborhood profiles resulting from geodemographic classification serve as fair representations of diverse racial and ethnic subgroups within these neighborhoods. The findings demonstrate that geodemographic classification often yields disparate representations for different racial and ethnic groups in different areas. Individuals and households that are not in the predominant racial and ethnic subgroups within a particular neighborhood consistently experience underrepresentation across a range of demographic, social, and economic domains. This highlights the need for a paradigm shift in neighborhood studies and a people-focused, individual-based approach to the dynamics of neighborhoods. • Evaluating both demographic and spatial fairness of geodemographic classification. • Geodemographic classification often yields disparate representations for different racial and ethnic groups in different areas. • Individuals and households that are not in the predominant racial and ethnic subgroups within a particular neighborhood consistently experience underrepresentation across a range of demographic, social, and economic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have shown how displacement reproduces inequality among U.S. renters. Less is known about the experiences of renters prior to displacement, or how the trade-offs that renters adopt to avoid moves also stratify families. This article addresses this gap by examining how renters with few housing alternatives manage landlord neglect in routine maintenance. Using interviews with 131 non-Hispanic white and Latina/o, low- and middle-income renters living in Los Angeles, I find that unaffordable rental markets embed disadvantaged families, particularly low-income Latina/o immigrants, into substandard indoor living environments. Unable or reluctant to move, renters endure a process that I call negotiating neglect, which encompasses decision making around repair requests, following up with repair delays, investing personal funds into maintenance, and managing the health consequences of disrepair. Negotiating neglect demands substantial time, cognitive labor, and, at times, financial resources, and for some families, it is a chronic stressor. Taken together, these findings advance prior research on how unaffordable rental markets widen inequalities among families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional theories of ‘local area effects’ hypothesise that local area differences in organisational resources are an important feature of inequality in individuals’ residential environments. However, while the organisational dimension of local areas has been identified as an important research priority within urban sociology, empirical work remains limited, with charitable organisations particularly under-researched. Therefore, a key question remains unanswered: why do charities in more deprived local areas have higher dissolution rates, reinforcing a lower prevalence of charities compared with less deprived areas? This article focuses on this research problem. It shows that volunteer leadership succession is less prominent in more deprived local areas, and that this more limited leadership succession helps explain why charities in more deprived areas experience higher dissolution rates. The results promote understanding of a mechanism underlying local area differences in organisational dynamics that lead to persistent differences in institutional resources between more and less deprived local areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]