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Smart living appears as the most important domain of a smart city, and many studies propose that it is synonymous with resident quality of life. The main aims of this research were to understand better residents’ perceptions of quality-of-life issues and priorities in smart cities. The study (re)defines smart living using domains and indicators that were carefully selected from a systematic literature review, a close analysis of previous studies and their methodologies, and a pilot test of a questionnaire in Budapest, Hungary. The research is considered timely because of Budapest’s relatively low performance in quality-of-life rankings in Europe and the lack of data on the needs of citizens. The main domains of smart living and their relevant indicators include housing, health, safety, education, environment, social cohesion, leisure, culture and tourism. Overall, the research aims to assist urban researchers and city agencies in the development of indicators of smart living when measuring resident quality of life. The results could be applicable to other post-socialist cities which have followed similar trajectories to Budapest, but the results are useful for almost any city that hopes to enhance quality of life by prioritising smart living.

Southeast Europe is considered a traditional emigration region in the past and present. Our study looks to the future, and it focuses on migration intentions there. The representative database of the OeNB Euro Survey offers the opportunity to analyse both large- and small-scale as well as group-specific differentiations beyond the question of the potential for future mobility in Southeast Europe. It became evident that migration intentions are still high. It can be seen that pure intentions are often accompanied by concrete plans. The age and level of education as well as a lack of trust in the government policy are important determining factors. The preference for Germany as a destination country in the postYugoslav region indicates the persistence of networks from the Gastarbeiter era. From a spatial perspective, it is also clear that it is mainly the deprived regions of Southeastern Europe where migration intentions are strong. However, the affected sub-regions are not necessarily those in which the plans are very concrete, i.e. there is often a considerable gap between aspirations and capabilities. The long-term and sustainable effects of the migration that is expected to continue, with the corresponding consequences for demographics, education, labour force and social infrastructures, remain problematic.

Environmental health studies and practices tend to prioritise health and hygiene, with environmental sanitation, which encompasses behaviour and sanitation facilities, representing a significant concern in environmental health risks. Nevertheless, numerous studies have demonstrated that the physical components of buildings exert an impact on environmental health status. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that the physical components of buildings influence environmental health risks and they can be incorporated as additional variables in the development of a more precise, valid, and comprehensive environmental health risk assessment model. In this study, a multistage random sampling technique was employed to obtain a total sample of 400 households. This study is a second-order construct that was measured formatively using an embedded two-stage approach. The findings of this study indicate that the physical component of the building has a significant effect on environmental health risks. This is indicated by the path coefficient value of 0.249. The most influential components are bedroom windows, floor type, ceiling, wall type, roof type, living room windows, occupancy density, temperature, humidity, and temperature. By identifying these neglected health risk factors, governments, health institutions, and communities can develop more effective and efficient strategies for mitigating environmental health risks.

The conservation and sustainable development of historic urban landscapes (HUL) are imperative in the face of rapid urbanisation. This study, based on Jiaxiulou in Guiyang City, China, examines the dimensions of cultural identity (CI) in HUL. Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, a three-dimensional model of CI is validated, comprising cognitive, emotional, and behavioural aspects. Results show that while cognitive understanding of HUL is essential, it alone does not directly influence the residents' emotions and behaviours. Pride in cultural heritage emerges as a significant driver of CI, impacting the residents' perceptions and behaviours. Conversation behaviour is identified as a primary expression of CI. Recommendations are proposed to integrate local values into urban planning, to enhance public participation, and to provide diverse cultural activities for the residents, highlighting the importance of social engagement in shaping CI. This study contributes to understanding the complexity of CI and its role in HUL conservation and sustainable development.

Roma is the largest minority in Europe and the problems considering its segregation have to be investigated. The main goal of the present paper is to realise a bibliometric analysis which is going to find: the primary authors who investigated the topic of Roma segregation and the ghettoized urban structures; their publishing interactions based on factors such as their affiliation with the research organisation, and their country; and the most cited publications. The bibliometric analysis is based on the Scopus database. 265 selected documents, published between January 1999 and December 2023, were analysed. The papers of researchers from the United Kingdom, Hungary and Romania are the most cited. The cooccurrence analysis showed that, logically, the word “Roma” is the keyword with the greatest total link strength. The study also gives an insight into the collaboration between the main researchers, scientific organisations, and countries.

The Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) is used as an empirical case to demonstrate how a relatively small transit operator in the Richmond, Virginia, United States (RVA) region survived and thrived during the COVID19 pandemic period. During that time, GRTC experienced a substantial downturn in its system transit ridership. In response to this emergency, GRTC immediately took bold measures to protect its operators and riders, such as: serving essential trips, improving bus interior seat design, modifying operating schedules, matching service with the demand, implementing new boarding process, offering free transit services, broadening funding sources, and others. As a result, GRTC successfully and quickly overcame the pandemic crisis, and it embarked on the road to full recovery in its transit operation. In the post-pandemic future, GRTC expects that many of the adopted pandemic workplace safety and cleaning protocols will continue long-term as it takes time to rebuild people’s trust in public transit. The successful lessons (in particular, in four areas: putting people’s safety first; giving priority to serving essential trips; using a dynamic scheduling approach; and increasing and diversifying its funding sources) from GRTC could also be transferable to other similar transit services in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Housing is vital to human experience. It is the basis and foci of daily activities. In Asaba, a strategically located, fast-growing metropolis, city officials are confronted by myriads of urban planning issues, one of which is provision of urban housing. This study attempted to identify the determinants of housing demands and costs of residential rents within the city (Asaba). In this study, the ex-post facto and survey designs were deployed. The data for the study comprised of the primary (questionnaire data) and secondary (historical housing data) types. For effective questionnaire administration, the study area was stratified into high, medium and low income areas. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were deployed for data analyses. The results indicated that the key determinants of residential housing demand and costs were ease of access to public transport (69 %), nearness to security formations (80 %) and higher demand for houses in supply (75.8 %); and the Spearman's rank correlation showed that these factors were significant at P < 0.05. Other factors such as availability of electricity and access to water supply were not significant determinants of choice of housing at P > 0.05. This is due to the fact that the whole region lacks adequate electricity supply and water is self-harnessed through boreholes. ANOVA showed that there was a significant temporal variation in the cost of residential housing rents at p < 0.05 (F-69.03; sig 0.000). Consequently, this study recommends that there is need for the decentralisation of the city; which should be realised by an efficient development of the suburbs to high standards that would meet the requirements of prospective renters. Policy development and establishment of basic facilities in the suburbs, would help actualise this decentralization. Also, collaboration between government and private developers could yield more supply in the housing stuck, consequently reducing costs of housing.

Despite years of investment into the water sector in Ghana, access to and expenditure on potable water for drinking and domestic use remain a challenge for most urban households. However, within the urban context, the severity of water challenges varies from one residential community to another, with less research attention often given to such intra-urban differences. To address this gap, this study examines differences in household access and expenditure on pipe-borne water in three varying socio-economic residential communities in Accra. The study used a convergent mixed method design and drew on secondary literature, to examine the differences in households' access to and expenditure on water. The findings revealed that Jamestown, a low-income residential community, had the lowest connection to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) grid, with many respondents depending on pipe-borne water outside dwellings operated by private water retailers. While the findings showed no significant differences in the regularity of flow and expenditure on water among the three varying socio-economic communities, the paper argues that low-income communities such as Jamestown are likely to be more affected due to existing socio-economic deprivation and vulnerability contexts. Based on the study findings, we recommend that efforts be made to increase investment in water infrastructure to enable households to connect to the GWCL grid. Attention should also be given to low-income households, who often lack the means to pay for services that will enable them to connect to the GWCL grid. Further, we recommend improved collaboration between local communities and GWCL as a way of fostering strategies that address the peculiar water challenges in local communities.

As cities are developing to smart, new systems are utilized that contain a multitude of critical infrastructures. Although these offer major advantages, they are also exposed to new external and frequently uncontrollable factors increasing their risk exposure and enhancing their vulnerability. Therefore, increasing resilience during city development has become a prerequisite for its survival, but continuous resilience improvement led by workforce will help them to prosper. According to researchers, officers should be able to catalogue and prioritize threats and vulnerabilities, but is this only the case? Discrete studies detail and analyze in-depth risks related to smart cities, however, how these risks are addressed by workforce and how these are related to their competencies have not been thoroughly understood to date. If vulnerabilities are not understood and analyzed appropriately by the city workforce and stakeholders, unanticipated consequences and cascading failures may potential occur, even when crises are expected. The objective of this article is to inquire into responsibilities regarding crisis issues concerning the necessary competencies for resilience officers, by exploring current perceptions, expectations and recommendations as these are acknowledged in experts’ opinions and experiences. To do so, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to experts in the field, across various cities in Greece, to indicate responsibilities, and prioritize competencies that resilient officers in smart cities should possess. The findings highlighted significant responsibilities related to managing smart city risks and identified a distinct set of competencies unique to officers in this area, emphasizing the need for targeted efforts to enhance urban resilience through the initiatives led by city officers. This article establishes a clear path for advancing smart city research by highlighting competencies that could be integrated into educational curriculums. These competencies are essential for training a workforce that not only enhances disaster management awareness but also equips cities to handle potential catastrophic events effectively, thereby laying the groundwork for more resilient urban environments.

This study seeks to address the relational impact of educational institution on the spatiotemporal growth of Ekpoma town. It examines the “urban growth” effects that the tertiary institution has on its site location. Landsat Imageries of Ekpoma town were downloaded and imported into ArcGIS software ArcMap 10.8, where the Supervised Maximum Likelihood Analysis was carried out on the datasets. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the rate of contribution of the various university campuses to the spatial expansion of each zone and linear regression analysis was used to determine the rate of contribution of the spatial densification of AAU campuses to the spatial expansion of Ekpoma town. The Land-use type of interest was the built-up areas. The town was delineated into three zones, each with a University campus. Zone A has the Main Ambrose Alli University (AAU) Campus, College of Medicine in Zone B, and Emuado campus in Zone C. The land use classification analysis was performed for the university campuses and Ekpoma town, for the years 1987, 2002, and 2023. The result shows that there is a strong positive linear relationship between the spatial densification of AAU campuses and the spatial expansion of Ekpoma town, with an R2 value of 0.986. This implies that for every 1km2 densification of the campuses, there is an increase of 32.030km2 in the spatial expansion of Ekpoma town. Thus, it was projected using the regression model that by the year 2043, the spatial extent of Ekpoma town would be 67.9462 km2. These findings are valuable for informing existing land use and urban planning practices. Understanding the complex dynamics of urban expansion would help create a sustainable and resilient growth of the town in the future, avoiding possible pitfalls in urban development initiatives in the town.

Executives who lead cities face considerable challenges. Cities are complex ecosystems comprising myriad interacting systems, including information systems, which are vital for their operation and prosperity. Recognizing the value that information systems can offer, significant investments have been made to acquire these systems and make cities smarter or more intelligent. However, many smart city projects have failed to deliver on their promises due to a lack of clarity regarding their overall goals. Smarter or more intelligent towards what end? This article provides a systems-inspired approach to urban planning based on the premise that a city is a self-organising, capital-creating ecosystem composed of a city's administration and the many organizations within its domain. As the city's keystone entity, the administration's role is to create capital that enhances the capital productivity of other ecosystem members and nourishes innovators to boost capital creativity. A capital improvement budgeting framework can specify the allocation of all forms of capital to promote symbiotic connections between the various entities within a city. A city stack is designed to guide a city's administration in cooperating with its self-organising ecosystem. A research agenda to foster capital creation by city leaders is also outlined.

This paper empirically investigates trash disposal practices among internal migrants in cities in Benin, a representative African country undergoing rapid urbanization. Compared to existing residents, Benin's new urban populations are less likely to dispose of trash sustainably, which is defined as trash disposal through formal collection services. Using Benin census data, this paper employs various linear and non-linear regression models to show that new urban residents experience “environmental assimilation” by progressively adopting the approach to trash disposal through formal collection services over time. In the long run, they may develop similar trash disposal practices compared to existing residents. Moreover, we use similar regression models to show that socioeconomic factors (e.g., education) are unlikely to account for their assimilation, and this assimilation pattern is mostly observed in larger cities, which have sufficient capacity for waste management. Small cities with rapidly growing populations show a significantly lower proportion of trash disposal through collection services among newly arrived migrants, as well as weak or no signs of their environmental assimilation over time.

The current vertical/volumetric turn affected various academic fields, including urban scholarship. This short note broadens the critical literature by applying this emerging perspective on urban toponymic systems in the context of urban governance. Synthesizing the critical toponymic approaches with the notions of volume and verticality of urban space, this paper advanced critical urban governance scholarship, introducing a concept of toponymic verticality. The short note reveals the spatial vertical stratification of the urban toponymic system, its place-making potential, and political-economic functionality. These initial findings can contribute to future research in practical aspects of the politics of “good” urban governance and potentially rethinking the traditional two-dimensional spatiality toward understanding the complexity of the spatial relations in urban landscapes through the verticality of urban place names.

This manuscript investigates the multifaceted concept of urban resilience amidst escalating urbanization and environmental challenges. The study identifies and examines key problems across environmental, infrastructural, economic, human, social, and institutional dimensions of urban resilience through a systematic review of literature and consultations with experts in the field. Emphasizing the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration and community involvement, the research underscores the necessity for innovative approaches to bolster urban resilience. By shedding light on the intricate dynamics of urban challenges, the study advocates for sustainable urban development strategies that prioritize resilience-building. Insights from the study pave the way for future research endeavors aimed at addressing urban complexities and fostering resilient urban environments that can withstand and adapt to external and internal disturbances effectively.

Amidst the global discourse on the provision of low-income housing, there has been a growth in studies to assess the governance issues related to the sustainability of housing delivery. Despite housing policy and legislative frameworks existing in developing countries, several governance issues have limited the sustainability of housing delivery mechanisms. Therefore, this study aims to unpack housing delivery approaches through the lens of governance. Adopting an exploratory approach, this study seeks to understand strategic and operational approaches used by government institutions to promote collaborative strategies in the planning and delivery of housing projects. Empirical data is used to understand mechanisms, processes and systems involved in the planning and delivery of low-income housing projects, using the Gauteng City Region as an area of study. The findings reveal there is that there is a limited understanding of the concept of governance within public sector institutions. Additionally, the institutional arrangements of the three spheres of government (national, provincial and local) have an impact in the delivery processes of low-income housing projects. A shift is important in the understanding and application of governance principles in housing policy and programme implementation to realise the value of governance. This study concludes with implications for policy and academics highlighting the role of stakeholder participation, transparency, and accountability.

The right to inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable suburbs is an aim of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, with a particular focus on addressing race, disability, class, gender and age inequality and injustice by the year 2030. Despite supranational interest in creating inclusive sustainable cities and communities, we still know little about what this means for disabled people11 The language of “disabled people” is used in this article in line with social and critical models of disability, however, we also acknowledge and respect that “person-first” language, which uses the phrasing “a person with – a condition or diagnosis,” is also preferred by some people in the disability community.. In this article, we address this gap ––through participatory qualitative research study – Planning Inclusive Communities, involving 97 people (9-92 years of age) of which over 50% identified as disabled people from two Australian regions - Tasmania and Queensland. The research revealed five core interrelated elements - “The Makings of Inclusive Communities” .These five elements reinforce the importance of interconnected social, economic, and built environment structures and systems in facilitating inclusion, and that inclusion happens in place and movement through everyday experiences. The empirical findings offer important new insights that help expand the inclusive cities and communities’ discourse through the voices of disabled and non-disabled people, around issues of equity, access, and inclusion. Furthermore, the research helps lay the foundations to guide future urban policy and research on planning inclusive cities and communities from the position of disability justice and human diversity.

Participation is often employed by authorities as a unilateral tool for gathering data from citizens, informing them about processes, and obtaining legitimacy and accountability, rather than truly empowering or collaborating with citizens. However, many scholars emphasize the vital role of civic consciousness and collective intelligence (CI) in addressing chronic issues and global crises related to shared interests and values. To achieve this with effective participatory design and planning (PD&P) processes, it's essential to understand citizens' perspectives rather than imposing ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches.We explored how citizens evaluate existing PD&P mechanisms in three capital cities: Ankara, Bogota, and Madrid, representing developed, developing, and least-developed countries. Through collective experiments using conjoint analysis, we conducted citizen interviews based on the CI genome consisting of key dimensions and attributes of PD&P for public spaces. Crowdsourcing applications were integrated to enhance field studies. Additionally, chord diagrams and scatter charts visually depict interrelations among the grouped and ranked genome attributes. Our analysis explores variations and commonalities across cities and includes reflections from students.The results show that PD&P is perceived as significantly important, while top-down political decisions are perceived as dissatisfactory by most respondents. Notably, Madrid stands out positively in certain dimensions, including the willingness for active participation, multi-functionality as a capital, and diversity of initiatives. In addition, the political culture, respondents' education, age, and attachment to the city have significant influences on preferred methods, prioritized issues, and attitudes. Despite its limitations, conjoint analysis holds promise as a method to understand citizens' demands and design robust PD&P settings for deeper and broader involvement.

While the impact of the house purchase restriction (HPR) policy on the housing market in China has been deeply examined, there is still little known about how the housing market varies when such policy is abandoned. To fill this gap, we first theoretically propose two hypotheses concerning the relationship between abandoning HPR policy and housing price and transaction based on the housing literature. We then examine the hypotheses by taking Jinan, China as empirical case that offer an excellent policy setting of some districts having discarded the policy while the other remains. The results derived from Synthetic Control Method (SCM) showed that the cancellation of the HPR policy plays a vital role in increasing the transaction volume, but it fails to promote house prices. The findings remain reliable after a series of placebo and robustness tests. This article adds new insight to the debate on efficacy of government intervention via more granular quantitative data, and further contributes to policy implications regarding housing market development.

The success of river chief system is spurring more types of chiefs in Chinese cities. This trend of chiefdomization can be viewed as a case of institutional borrowing: institutions in one field borrowing power from those in another field. In an authoritarian country, institutional borrowing often takes the form of imposing bureaucracy on natural resources and public goods, a change from open institutions to public institutions. It is argued that conditions for successful change include a collective “bad” being produced and severe mismatch between its consumer and producer. Several characteristics of the city make the institutional change difficult: people's high mobility, little mismatch between consumer and producer, difficulty in controlling open access as well as no physical collective good being produced. The case of chiefdomization in China illustrates the above analyses. Despite all the problems of chiefdomization, the trend may continue as long as bureaucracy remains a powerful institution in the country.

As the world faces unprecedented social, economic, and environmental issues, there is a greater emphasis on participation in community-driven solutions to foster sustainable and inclusive development. More local urban planning studies need to demonstrate the nexus between peoples’ emotional bond with a place, place attachment, and participation in community-driven development initiatives. This article aims to add to the body of knowledge in the broad field of environmental design, where the concept of place attachment influences the design of urban spaces. The article explores the nexus between place attachment and community participation in community-driven programmes in Gauteng province, South Africa. This article adopts a quantitative approach and uses the Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s Quality of Life (QoL) survey data. The study uses K-means clustering and ordered logistic regression models as the primary data-analysis methods. Four social clusters were identified based on place attachment, participation in community initiatives was evaluated, and a combined participation index was calculated. The identified clusters, namely the discontented advocates, neighbourhood self-doubters, potential community catalysts from afar or non-local influencers and potential neighbourhood champions had different levels of participation in community-driven initiatives. Cluster ‘Discontented advocates’ is more likely to participate in community development programmes than the cluster ‘Neighbourhood self-doubters’. The developed combined participation index shows that nearly half (45.5%) of the residents in Gauteng province have never participated in community-driven development initiatives. The study recommends that various stakeholders should engage in inclusive and robust participatory planning procedures, and experiment with the implementation of universal design features that ensure equitable access to urban amenities, inclusion, and cultural sensitivity. These practical measures foster a sense of identity, place dependence, and social bonding, which are the important dimensions of place attachment that positively influence community-driven development and meet the overall goals of social justice and societal well-being.

Urban renewal to revitalise urban realms within cities should aim to reinvigorate landscape identity, in order to maintain the city’s uniqueness and distinctiveness. The concern in urban renewal projects is how to sustain place identity, due to changes. In this study, urban landscape identity is the residents’ opinions and perceptions of the special features in terms of the physical, meaning, and function aspects that help them differentiate between places. This article postulates that effective public participation is important in identifying, promoting, and maintaining a city’s landscape identity in urban renewal projects. The article aims to propose appropriate strategies to develop and preserve urban landscape identity, with emphasis on public participation. At the time of the study, there were ongoing and completed urban renewal projects within Kisumu City, Kenya. A qualitative approach was adopted through interviews with four officials from County Government as key informants, four professionals as experts, and field investigation through mapping and photography. Archival document analysis was carried out based on documents from County Government. The study reveals that Lake Victoria and its scenery, parks, sociocultural activities at public parks, local foods, social interaction at public Central Square, and government buildings contributed to the city’s urban landscape identity. The study concludes that, in order to preserve landscape identity, it should be acknowledged in legislations and policies that guide urban renewal and developments, and in public participation processes. The study proposes amendments to the existing planning regulatory controls to guide the preservation of landscape identity in Kisumu. The study reveals concern for the preservation of urban landscape identity within urban renewal projects in the postcolonial era in the Global South.

While a significant body of academic work has been compiled on the transformation of planning law since the end of apartheid, far less has been produced on the perceptions of practising planners of these new laws, and their impacts on the planning profession’s stated objective of contributing to the creation of quality human settlements. This article seeks to assist in filling this gap in the field by reporting on a study into the perceptions of practising planners in the Western Cape in this regard. The study involves research into the views of professional planners on planning laws applied during and post-apartheid and the impact of these laws on human settlement planning and development. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 professional planners employed in the public and private sectors. The data sample, limited to the Western Cape province, was regarded as a starting point for further research on the perception of planners in these regards in the remaining eight provinces in the country. The key findings of this study are that planners by and large welcome the new planning legislation and view it as an improvement on the old. The challenges being experienced are mainly related to the institutional and financial landscape in which the law plays out rather than the law itself, notably lengthy planning processes; a focus on meeting housing-delivery targets at the cost of other equally important settlement development objectives; capacity, and budget constraints.

Environmentally sensitive areas such as lands demarcated for urban green infrastructure and regional forest reserves by urban and regional plans are crucial to be protected due to the environmental, economic, social, and cultural services they provide. However, such environmentally sensitive areas are being threatened by various human activities, including urban dynamics. The current study, therefore, aimed to deploy existing scenario alternatives to predict and evaluate the environmental impacts of the possible future urban dynamics in environmentally sensitive areas to support the core of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process for sustainable urban and regional development planning and policy. The study deployed Geographic Information Systems, existing land cover maps, land use plans, calibrated and validated land use/land cover model, and scenario alternatives to predict the possible future urban and regional land dynamics using the Markov model. The matrix method of environmental impact magnitude and environmental sensitivity was used to define environmental impact significance. In so doing, the environmental impact magnitude in the environmentally sensitive area is categorised into very low (> 0% = 5% < 10%), medium (>= 10% < 15%), high (>= 15% < 20%), and very high (>= 20%). Key findings showed a significant and non-significant environmental impact of the possible future urban dynamics in environmentally sensitive areas associated with the Business As Usual scenario and alternative scenarios, respectively. The information from the current study is useful to support decision-makers in addressing problems associated with the core of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process and its application to land use planning in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular and other parts of the Global South in general.

The right to housing is a fundamental human right, but the paucity of context-specific legislation and policies on the right to housing makes housing inaccessible to a significant number of people residing in African cities. This review article explores the challenges of inclusivity and equity in the provision of housing within the framework of the pan-African city to provide legal frameworks for policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders committed to realising the right to housing and the vision of the pan-African city. Specifically, it focuses on four diverse African nations – South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria – for insights into the multifaceted nature of housing rights. The article begins with a review of the key concepts (housing, pan-African city, equity, inclusivity, policy planning), followed by a review of the challenges of inclusivity and equity in each of the selected countries within the context of the right to housing and the pan-African city. The article then reviews the selected countries’ efforts to address the challenges within the framework of relevant international human rights instruments and the various countries’ constitutional, legislative, and policy frameworks. It is concluded that the right to housing in the pan-African city remains an ambitious goal, with numerous challenges in achieving inclusivity and equity. It is recommended that African countries pay more attention to the right to housing within the pan-African city, emphasising the need for collaborative efforts to ensure access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing. This can be done through information and knowledge sharing, joint infrastructure development, cross-border collaborations, technology transfer, and regional financing mechanisms, among others.

In the border regions of Iran, which include West Azerbaijan province, the interwoven dynamics between development and security present a multifaceted set of challenges. This comprehensive study delves into the intricate relationship between these two critical elements, with a focus on elucidating potential scenarios that impact on development and security alike. Employing a rigorous methodological approach, using advanced data analysis tools and incorporating insights from experts, this research identifies seven pivotal factors that play a crucial role in shaping the sustainable development and security landscape of these border regions. By using the Method for Inserting Knowledge into Decision Support Models (Méthode d’Insertion de Connaissances dans les Modèles d’Aide à la Décision) MicMac software, an in-depth analysis of both direct and indirect variables was conducted to precisely gauge their influence in border security. The outcomes of this extensive analysis provide a solid foundation for the construction of diverse scenarios, thus offering a wide spectrum of potential future trajectories for the region. The examination of these scenarios grants invaluable insights into the intricate nexus between development and security, reinforcing the essential need for a holistic and integrated approach to regional planning. This research effectively underscores the vital imperative of nurturing synergies between security and development for the sustained progress of Iran’s border areas. With a focus on empirical data and informed projections, this study sheds light on the intricate dynamics at play, emphasising the pivotal role of an integrated approach to regional advancement.

Das Thema Nachhaltigkeit ist aus Städten nicht mehr wegzudenken. Mittlerweile verfolgen zahlreiche Städte eine nachhaltige Stadtentwicklungsagenda und streben damit an, einen Beitrag zum Erreichen der 17 globalen Nachhaltigkeitsziele der UN zu leisten. Hierbei lässt sich beobachten, dass insbesondere Kinder angesprochen werden, Verantwortung für eine lebenswerte städtische Zukunft zu übernehmen. Dem politischen Konzept „Bildung für nachhaltig Entwicklung“ kommt in diesem Prozess eine entscheidende Rolle zu, wird es doch gezielt dafür eingesetzt, Kinder an formalen wie auch non-formalen Bildungsorten zu nachhaltigem Verhalten zu erziehen. Unter Rückgriff auf empirische Daten einer Feldstudie im Berliner Bezirk Treptow-Köpenick gehen wir in diesem Beitrag zum einen der Frage nach, welche Rolle Kindern in Prozessen der nachhaltigen Stadtentwicklung zugeschrieben wird und welche Möglichkeiten sie haben, sich an diesen Prozessen zu beteiligen. Zum anderen setzen wir diese Zuschreibung in Kontrast zu den alltäglichen Erfahrungen von Kindern und ihren Ideen für eine lebenswerte Stadt der Zukunft. Der Beitrag schließt mit einer Diskussion, wie Kinder ernsthaft und selbstbestimmt an städtischen Transformationsprozessen teilhaben und kritisch, kreativ und kollektiv an einer nachhaltigen Zukunft mitwirken können.

Während wir in Städten derzeit die Aufrüstung der Polizei erleben, problematisieren zivilgesellschaftliche Akteur_innen die Polizei als ausführende Institution rassistischer Nekropolitik. Forensic Architecture, eine interdisziplinäre Forschungsagentur, hat sich darauf spezialisiert, marginalisiertes Wissen über Gewaltereignisse durch die Analyse visueller und audiovisueller Artefakte zu validieren und alternative Deutungen als Evidenz zu produzieren. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht mittels des Fallbeispiels Hanau, wie der Akteur eine gegenöffentliche Perspektive auf die polizeiliche Handhabung des Anschlags in Hanau herstellt. Ich werde zeigen, dass Forensic Architecture in der Untersuchung zwischen politischer Positionierung und positivistischer Beweisführung vermittelt. Während die Betroffenenperspektive den politischen Rahmen der Untersuchung bildet, wird Evidenz hochgradig positivistisch hergestellt. Zentral ist bei der Herstellung von Evidenz eine neue Form von Objektivität durch Raum, die ich als spatial objectivity bezeichne. Das Fallbeispiel ist damit ein paradigmatisches Beispiel für die Art und Weise, wie in der Spätmoderne durch technisierte und mediatisierte Prozesse politische Kritik an urbaner Nekropolitik geübt wird.

O papel da inovação no território justifica as estratégias implementadas para estimular a atividade inovadora, sobretudo a partir de investimentos públicos. Nosso objetivo é analisar o perfil urbano-regional dos projetos de subvenção econômica à inovação contratados pela Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep) entre 2010 e 2019. O resultado obtido através de estatística descritiva destaca a distribuição desigual das empresas contempladas no conjunto do território, reforçando a concentração das empresas situadas em cidades médias e metrópoles das regiões Sul e Sudeste. Evidencia ainda a fragilidade das estratégias governamentais incapazes de romper com esse perfil espacial.

In Central and Eastern Europe, even the post‐ socialist period has not made it easy for ethnic communities to exercise their linguistic and cultural rights, and territorial autonomy or self‐government, as a risk to territorial integrity, has been granted only in exceptional cases. This paper focuses on the main objectives of ethnoregional parties to reorganise the power structure of the national political system. The study is based on an analysis of core documents from 92 parties in 15 Central and Eastern European countries, identifying and classifying the objectives set out in these documents. The results highlight the ethnoregional objectives in Central and Eastern Europe, including not only the cultural‐linguistic dimension but also the need to change internal/external borders or the division of power within each state, highlighting the diversity and complexity of the problems and objectives underlying each category.

Little is known about the importance of different variables in shaping cyclistsʹ risk perception when cycling in urban areas. We evaluate the effects of environmental and demographic factors on cyclistsʹ perception of risk in urban cycling, by conducting a study in the central area of a large city, Qazvin, Iran. We develop a linear mixed model to predict the cyclists’ angular movement. With twenty‐six cyclists included in this study, the outcome variable is the change in the cyclistsʹ angular movement as a surrogate for risk perception, while the predictors are the personal characteristics and environmental features. Cycling through residential and commercial areas, one‐way routes, routes with speed limits, wide routes ≥ 12 m, existing bike lanes, traffic volume, and path elevation (all P≤0.001) are associated with angular movement. However, sex, age, cycling history, psychological distress score, and presence of parks are not significant predictors of the angular movement. While the cyclist characteristics do not show significant correlations with the angular movement, environmental factors have significant effects on the cyclists’ risk perception. This study, therefore, highlights the critical role of cycling infrastructure in shaping the cyclists’ risk perception and it provides implications for urban planners and policymakers.

The legislation of new metropolitan areas in Romania follows the complicated and confusing experience of previous metropolitan areas, instilling a sense of excessive caution among both public authorities and researchers. A review of the literature demonstrates the prevalence of theoretical, methodological, and sectoral approaches when dealing with this functional frame of territorial delineation. Our research proposes an exploratory analysis of the major metropolitan areas developed around county seats, in order to understand the medium and long‐term dynamics affect‐ ing the development of these territorial structures that are contingent on the local governance. By using a methodology based on the harmonisation of statistical series according to the current administrative structure, as well as on the carto‐ graphic analysis of demographic trends between 1992 and 2021, the study demonstrates the uneven development trends of major metropolitan areas, increasing the risk of widening territorial gaps.

Research on the concept of Smart Sustainable Urban Development and its implementation is critical to support the urban future and urban governance. This research analyses the implementation of the smart sustainable urban development concept to support the urban future through the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals, and urban governance in Nusantara Capital City, Indonesia. We collected data through in‐depth interviews and focus group discussions with the policy stakeholders and agencies relevant to the development plan of the city, supplemented with field surveys. The results show that the urban future from the national government is envisaged through six domain services encapsulating the sustainability and smart city elements. In the regional and local level, challenges are met including the environmental and social impact but through government collaboration and devising Information and Communication Technology, the authority has been able to design the solution. Sustain‐ ability, Information and Communication Technology, smart city, and urban governance constitute critical elements in the process of urban development, especially for the develop‐ ment of a new capital city.

Whenitcomes toMuslimrepresentationalpractices inEuropean cities, fears, criticism, and scepticism emerge in the public discourse. The aim of this paper is to investigate how Muslim places of prayer are negotiated. By means of a multi‐method approach, we investigate how Muslim places of prayer in Leipzig become visible. We further question the media’s role in local negotiation processes. The analysis shows that the diverse Muslim places of prayer rather resemble ‘backyard mosques’ due to financial and structural hurdles as well as conflict avoidance. However, some inter‐ viewees explain their satisfaction with the places of prayer, which are places of migration and thus social networks, especiallyforthefirstgeneration.Due toitsEastGermanpast, Leipzig is experiencing a partly catch‐up debate regarding the arrival of Islam through migration. But, religion as culture is giving‐way to individual local practices of repre‐ sentation of diverse Muslim people that could be picked up more strongly by the media.

The Indonesian government has allocated 30 billion rupiahs in 2020 to revitalise Huta Siallagan, a traditional village on the borderline of Lake Toba, in order to support the national development agenda. The revitalisation is carried out to increase the attractiveness of the destination by reorganising the area and improving the facilities. Traditional villages in Lake Toba are typically acres of land owned and lived on by a single-family clan, which manages tourism activities through family members. As Huta Siallagan receives significant attention from the government, this study seeks to examine the managerial modifications and adjustments following the finished revitalisation project. This study employs a sustainable tourism framework from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The findings are juxtaposed with the model of sustainable traditional village revitalisation that has been widely used as the basis for integrating rural tourism into tourism growth. The result of this study provides knowledge in the sustainable tourism literature, particularly in the context of village revitalisation for tourism purposes. It also highlights, from a practical standpoint, the subsequent challenges that arise in traditional village revitalisation projects. The study then identifies solutions to minimise internal and external conflicts in tourism governance.

El artículo estima el consumo promedio anual de agua en los hoteles de Tijuana, de 1992 a 2021, y analiza, desde la teoría económica, algunos factores determinantes de dicho consumo, considerando el mismo periodo. Se utilizó una fórmula para estimar el consumo y se propuso una regresión lineal múltiple para analizar los factores determinantes. Los resultados indican un consumo promedio, máximo y mínimo de agua anual de 356,755 m3, 459,838 m3 y 193,741 m3, respectivamente. Por otro lado, el factor que más influye sobre consumo de agua es el ingreso: si éste crece 10%, el consumo aumenta 3.4 por ciento.

El objetivo del artículo es describir el estado del desarrollo tecnológico y la cadena de valor eólica en México. Los resultados muestran que este país se ha enfocado en acumular capacidad instalada, mediante la importación de tecnología, desestimando el desarrollo de capacidades tecnológicas nacionales. Los hallazgos indican que esta política ha favorecido que las patentes sean desarrolladas por extranjeros y empresas privadas, siendo testimonial las patentes registradas en universidades nacionales. Su originalidad consiste en proponer una reconfiguración de la cadena de valor, que incluye actores para un desarrollo bajo el modelo de las cinco hélices.

Esta investigación indaga sobre la participación de los desarrolladores inmobiliarios en los procesos de renovación urbana, para ello aborda el caso de la creación del Barrio Parque Donado Holmberg, impulsado por el gobierno local en Villa Urquiza, Buenos Aires, que implicó la expulsión de habitantes vulnerables y la generación de una zona de oportunidad para los actores inmobiliarios. Mediante un abordaje cualitativo se analizan las estrategias de los desarrolladores inmobiliarios; se estudian sus formas de ingreso al proyecto, sus modalidades de gestión del suelo, sus estrategias de diseño y comercialización, así como su articulación con el gobierno local.

Ante un panorama económico adverso, jóvenes de contextos rurales e indígenas de Huasca de Ocampo, Pacula, Tasquillo e Ixmiquilpan tienen como opción de vida la migración. En esta investigación se explora su deseo de salir de sus lugares de origen y los factores que se asocian con esta expectativa. Los resultados muestran que una elevada proporción de jóvenes que desean emigrar son impulsados por patrones culturales de género, las redes familiares, el contexto geográfico y la evaluación ambivalente sobre el entorno; todos ellos factores que alimentan las aspiraciones de emigrar a Estados Unidos de América.

El organismo operador de agua de León, Guanajuato, México ha promovido un discurso artificioso sobre la problemática del agua en dicha ciudad para beneficiarse de la política de megaproyectos. Con esta investigación se busca demostrar la inconsistencia que hay en la narrativa del organismo mencionado, que afirma que el aumento poblacional provoca un crecimiento en la demanda del agua urbana, lo que requerirá fuentes adicionales de abastecimiento. Sin embargo, tras analizar la evidencia empírica, no se encontró una relación directa que confirme el discurso de la incidencia de la variable población con el aumento de la demanda doméstica de agua.

El objetivo es analizar el perfil de competitividad de la caprinocultura en BCS. Se analizaron 50 empresas rurales dedicadas a la caprinocultura, todas localizadas en Mulegé, seleccionadas mediante técnica de muestro aleatorio. Se obtuvo información para los factores de Gerencia, Mercadeo, Calidad, Productividad y Ambiente, permitiendo construir el índice de capacidad competitiva (ICC) de las empresas rurales. Entre los factores, la valoración más fuerte se reconoce en Ambiente y Gerencia, mientras que la más débil en Mercadeo, Calidad y Productividad. El trabajo concluye con la vulnerabilidad de la actividad ante entornos competitivos y expresa propuestas de mejora.

En esta investigación se analiza la autocorrelación espacial del precio del suelo en Santiago de Chile para comprobar la existencia de un distrito de alta renta, propio de los modelos de ciudades latinoamericanas. Para ello se aplica el Índice de Moran a un conjunto de 206 zonas de mercado dispuestas en una serie de 131 trimestres entre 1983-2016. Los resultados revelan una alta y estable autocorrelación espacial del precio del suelo, lo que confirma un distrito de alta renta, identificado como Cono de Alta Renta (CAR), localizado en las comunas de mayor ingreso de Santiago.

En este texto proponemos, desde la ecología política, una reflexión crítica sobre el carácter mercantilizador de la naturaleza que ha acompañado la implementación del desarrollo sustentable. Para ello, nos referimos al proceso de privatización de los ‘recursos acuáticos’ agua y pescado en México, en beneficio de la industria petrolera y en detrimento de los pescadores artesanales del golfo de México, por lo que sugerimos transitar hacia la justicia ambiental como medida para frenarlo. Partimos de considerar las dimensiones física y simbólica de la naturaleza como las que configuran la relación humana con ella.

Reseña a: Armando Bartra (2022), Exceso de muerte. De la peste de Atenas a la covid-19, Ciudad de México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 136 pp., ISBN: 978-607-16-7409-8

Test Abstract

Amartya Sen's theory of Development as Freedom states the prediction of development by evaluating the expansion of individual freedoms. This study operationalizes this theory and its instrumental freedoms through the construction of a development index and multivariate statistics. Spatiality of municipal development provides empirical evidence for interrelations between instrumental freedoms defended by this theory. The determinants of development related mainly to income and its distribution, but also housing conditions and social vulnerabilities. The findings unmask the geographic structure of (under) development in a frontier in Mid-West Brazil, marked by higher deprivation of opportunities, precarious services and greater economic stagnation.

Las cooperativas en México son parte fundamental de la actividad económica; la unión entre sus miembros es vital para alcanzar metas y objetivos como grupo. Contextualizar su interior es fundamental para entender el papel de la cohesión social. El objetivo del estudio es explicar la importancia de los vínculos sociales, confianza, valores compartidos y sentido de pertenencia como pilares de la cohesión social, a través de lo que perciben los integrantes en las cooperativas. La metodología es cualitativa y transversal. Entre los resultados, los valores compartidos son el pilar más importante en las cooperativas.

¿Qué factores influyen en los consumidores de supermercados con respecto a los atributos de mercadotecnia responsable de un producto? El objetivo del presente trabajo es establecer un perfil del consumidor ante las variables: oferta de consumo responsable, estrategias de precios, actitudes hacia la publicidad y creencias medioambientales. Se utiliza un enfoque cuantitativo, exploratorio-descriptivo. Se analiza una muestra de tipo no probabilística por conveniencia de 400 consumidores, agrupados en cuatro grupos con distintos perfiles sociodemográficos y de hábitos de consumo. La segmentación basada en perfiles permite diseñar e implementar estrategias en el mercado responsable, atendiendo contextos específicos.

La evaluación de la política monetaria sobre la actividad económica se ha enfocado al ámbito nacional sin considerar sus efectos a nivel regional. El objetivo de este documento es estimar los efectos que un incremento no previsto de la tasa de interés tendría sobre la producción regional en México para el periodo 2000-2019. Para ello, se emplea un modelo estructural de vectores autorregresivos (SVAR) en panel. Los resultados sugieren un efecto negativo y diferenciado sobre la producción regional. Este efecto se presenta a partir del segundo trimestre, después del aumento de la tasa de interés.

Apartheid’s impact on South Africa’s urban spatial patterns persists, resulting in spatial fragmentation and inequality. Unsustainable urban sprawl exacerbates challenges related to economic access. To address said challenges, the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) implemented the Corridors of Freedom (CoF) initiative, emphasising economic inclusion. Amid substantial public sector investment, the initiative prioritised the Louis Botha Development Corridor (LBDC) to create a dense, mixed-use, walkable urban environment. However, limited research investigated the LBDC’s impact from an economic access perspective. This study investigates how the LBDC has improved economic access and provides policy insights for urban areas in South Africa, within the conceptual framework of transit-oriented development (TOD) and development corridors. A quantitative research approach using Network Analyst reveals that the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system increased economic access by 16% compared to other LBDC transport services. This study demonstrates the potential of the dual implementation of TOD and development corridors to foster economic access in the study area and concludes with policy recommendations centred on cross-departmental collaboration, feasibility studies and risk allocation, location-based criteria and transit accessibility targets, transit-oriented design guidelines, and integrated transport systems.

Urban renewal is undertaken to respond to the physical deterioration of built forms in postcolonial Africa, with renewal works affecting current cities’ identities. Globalisation trends have cities striving to be unique, with a growing awareness of the importance of identity. Landscape identity is adopted in this study as the overall term that includes other identities and is interpreted as residents’ perception of the special features that help them differentiate between places. This study postulates that a city’s uniqueness lies in its landscape identity and that this should not be neglected. The article investigates the concept of landscape identity in the context of a case study of the city of Kisumu, Kenya, which has recently undergone urban renewal. The aim of the study was to identify the main aspects that constitute the formation of landscape identity in Kisumu. A mixed-methods approach was used, which included field investigations, a survey with 384 participants, and four key informant interviews. The survey results revealed that the city’s location along Lake Victoria, which represented an element of the natural environment, gave it the highest rating. The proximity to Lake Victoria and views of the hills were regarded as the most outstanding features of the city, while the lake was the highest ranked element with symbolic meaning that evoked individual and collective memories. These findings suggest that the urban landscape identity in Kisumu is strongly connected to features of the natural environment.