Investment In Urban Areas Research Articles

Conceptual framework for Information and Communication Technology applications to enhance eco-efficiency

The quality of community decisions about the key characteristics of urban services depends on the level of involvement of local stakeholder groups. The identification of the environmental, economic and social impacts of investments to improve urban services is a critical aspect of the decision preparation phase. Assessment of the main stakeholder groups being affected by the impacts of urban services is required to understand what kind of problems they perceive. Based on their demand, different solutions can be provided to create an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) software system to facilitate environmental cooperations. The aim of this research is to propose an ICT system to support citizens’ active involvement in the transformation of the environment with access to essential information, and enable them to make more effective decisions about the investments. Most of the features of the proposed system have the potential to support eco-effective environmental policy implementations and form part of a sustainable policy toolkit. We explore the different interests and what functions should be provided to make access to information easier and more integrated. Our proposed conceptual framework would fulfill the requirements and gives practical examples how to increase eco-efficiency of products, technologies or investments in urban areas.

Rural–Urban Differences in Solar Renewable Energy Investments Supported by Public Finance in Poland

The deployment of renewable energy (RE) needs to be policy-driven and supported by public funds. Hence, the aim of this study was to find out whether urban and rural areas benefit from public funds for RE deployment equally and whether factors determining other types of investments also determine investments in RES. To do so, we carried out: (i) comparative analyses of qualitative and quantitative data describing 2642 investments in solar RE supported by the European Union funds and carried out in Poland under operational programmes in 2014–2020; (ii) multiple linear regressions, evaluating the predictions. Findings showed that principles of supporting solar RE investments were the same for all kinds of beneficiaries in both urban and rural areas. However, in rural areas, most RE investments cumulated in eastern, north-eastern and south-eastern parts of Poland, and depended only on few socio-economic characteristics. RE investments in urban areas were dispersed all over the country rather evenly and did not depend on any of the socio-economic characteristics. Individual households appeared to be important silent partners to RE investments carried out by local governments. Thus, future policies should focus on them more to increase the deployment and use of solar RE.

Macro Analysis to Estimate Electric Vehicles Fast-Charging Infrastructure Requirements in Small Urban Areas

Electric vehicles (EVs) are known to reduce emissions and fossil fuel dependency. However, the limited range, long charging time, and inadequate charging infrastructure have hampered the adoption of EVs. The current EV charging infrastructure planning studies and tools require detailed information, extensive resources, and skills that can be a significant barrier to urban areas for finding the required charging infrastructure to support a targeted EV market share. This study generates regression models to estimate the number of direct current fast charging stations and the chargers to support the EV charging demand for urban areas. These models provide macro-level estimates of the required infrastructure investment in urban areas, which can be easily implemented by policy-makers and city planners. This study incorporates data obtained from applying a disaggregate optimization-based charger placement model, developed recently by the same authors, for multiple case studies to generate the required data to calibrate the macro-level models, in the state of Michigan. This simulated data set includes the number of charging stations and chargers for each market share, technology advancement scenario, and the transportation network topology. The results show that the number of charging stations reduces with battery size and charging power and increases with EV market share and the road network lane length. The number of chargers reduces with charging power, whereas it increases with battery size, EV market share, and vehicle miles traveled in the system. The model developed here can be applied to any state having urban characteristics and weather conditions similar to Michigan.

Developing a Dynamic Model for Assessing Green Infrastructure Investments in Urban Areas.

In recent decades, cities have been experiencing accelerated population growth, associated with an increase in the scales of production and consumption. This fact, combined with deficient management of resources and waste, has led to the loss of biological diversity, compromising the generation of ecosystem services, with disastrous consequences for human health and well-being, but also for the economic system. In the field of civil engineering, the predominance of artificialisation and impermeabilization of cities (called “grey engineering”) is being questioned to be replaced or complemented with new types of infrastructures that represent a transformative change to achieving more sustainable cities. Through system dynamics applied to the economic modelling of the city of Santander (Spain), the aim of this study is to analyse the profitability of investment in ecosystem restoration and in both green and blue infrastructure, and of the implementation of environmental policies based on the relationships of affection established in the model, which represent the interactions between the main actors in urban dynamics. As a main conclusion, it is found that investing in green infrastructures and ecosystem restoration, and environmental policies is highly profitable: EUR 1 spent can produce up to EUR 100 as a benefit.

Do information networks benefit households with female heads?

This paper fills a gap in the literature on gender bias in accessing financial assets and income generation activities by analyzing the influence of media and social networks on the financial returns of female-headed households. Empirical evidence suggests that media and social networks are effective tools for diminishing connectivity constraints, raising awareness, and influencing behaviors. Using the India Human Development Survey of female-headed households for the period 2011 to 2012, we find that media and social networks positively impact the financial returns of households. We also find that information networks have positive and significant impacts on the net income from financial investments in urban areas and net income from agricultural activities in rural areas. Following this, we explore the mediating role of financial expertise among households and confirm its importance in understanding and using the information provided by media and social networks to make relevant financial decisions.

What You Do Know Is Good for You: Information Networks Among Female-Headed Households in India

This paper fills a gap in the literature on gender bias in accessing financial assets and income generation activities by analyzing the influence of media and social networks on the financial returns of female-headed households. Empirical evidence suggests that media and social networks are effective tools for diminishing connectivity constraints, raising awareness, and influencing behaviors. Using the India Human Development Survey of female-headed households for the period 2011 to 2012, we find that media and social networks positively impact the financial returns of households. We also find that information networks have positive and significant impacts on the net income from financial investments in urban areas and net income from agricultural activities in rural areas. Following this, we further explore the mediating role of financial expertise among households and confirm its significance in understanding and using the information provided by media and social networks to make relevant financial decisions.

FACTORS INFLUENCING URBAN INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS: AN FCM-SD APPROACH

The increasing concentration of populations in urban areas in recent decades has strengthened the interest in – and the importance given to – these zones. Cities have become quite attractive from investors’ point of view because of the wide array of opportunities and growing need for investment in urban areas. Thus, city strategic planning quite often requires an understanding of the determinants that attract investment to urban zones. This study sought to identify the factors that strengthen urban investment based on the knowledge of a panel of experts. Fuzzy cognitive mapping techniques were applied to understand the concepts and decision criteria included in the decision-support model and their cause-and-effect relationships. The results provide insights into which determinants most strongly influence urban investment, namely, infrastructure, supporting services, and political-administrative factors. Diverse scenarios at the intra- and inter-cluster levels were created to clarify the impacts of variable changes on the model developed. The findings were validated by both the expert panel members and the vice-president of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors. Advantages and limitations of the proposed framework are presented, as well as recommendations for future research.

Understanding the Challenges Faced by Child-Focused Civil Society Organizations in Ho Chi Minh City

The presence of an active civil society is one of the most integral parts of progressive and productive community development. Within the past two decades civil society organizations have grown in size and scope throughout Viet Nam. This has been in an attempt to offset the divestment of international aid networks and match the rapid economic development occurring in urban centers like Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The prospect of high paying jobs resulting from increased domestic and foreign investment in urban areas has encouraged rapid rural-urban migration within HCMC. As a result, urban poverty is on the rise in HCMC and the children of these vulnerable populations face unfavorable odds in educational, emotional, and legal support. The civil society organizations discussed in this paper aim to fill these gaps by supporting children in need in HCMC. However, this research finds that organizations lack sustainable funding networks, autonomy, and human resources. To ensure that their practices persist, government policy must be implemented to encourage a culture of domestic charity from individuals and businesses, as well as assist these organization’s capacity building measures.

Assessing the impacts of climate change in cities and their adaptive capacity: Towards transformative approaches to climate change adaptation and poverty reduction in urban areas in a set of developing countries.

Many cities across the world are facing many problems climate change poses to their populations, communities and infrastructure. These vary from increased exposures to floods, to discomfort due to urban heat, depending on their geographical locations and settings. However, even though some cities have a greater ability to cope with climate change challenges, many struggle to do so, particularly in cities in developing countries. In addition, there is a shortage of international studies which examine the links between climate change adaptation and cities, and which at the same time draw some successful examples of good practice, which may assist future efforts. This paper is an attempt to address this information need. The aim of this paper is to analyse the extent to which cities in a sample of developing countries are attempting to pursue climate change adaptation and the problems which hinder this process. Its goal is to showcase examples of initiatives and good practice in transformative adaptation, which may be replicable elsewhere. To this purpose, the paper describes some trends related to climate change in a set of cities in developing countries across different continents, including one of the smallest capital cities (Georgetown, Guyana) and Shanghai, one the world's most populous cities. In particular, it analyses their degree of vulnerability, how they manage to cope with climate change impacts, and the policies being implemented to aid adaptation. It also suggests the use of transformative approaches which may be adopted, in order to assist them in their efforts towards investments in low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure, thereby maximizing investments in urban areas and trying to address their related poverty issues. This paper addresses a gap in the international literature on the problems many cities in developing countries face, in trying to adapt to a changing climate.

The Evaluation of Green Investments in Urban Areas: A Proposal of an eco-social-green Model of the City

The new and more conscious sensibility towards the environmental sphere supports the idea of “green city”, promotes initiatives of structural integration of the green with the built environment and involves a considerable number of disciplines in a cultural and social debate. The literature reports different experiences of collaborative governance, between administrations and citizens, which tend to enhance the interaction between the different social actors involved in the investments of Green Infrastructures, to share objectives and management methods and to assess the extent of ecosystem services. The objective of this article is to propose a methodological approach to assessing green investments in the urban area, which is able to internalize the social perception of citizens regarding this important component for the urban landscape, with a view to guiding the city’s government towards a new urban eco-social-green planning and evaluation model. It presents a concise framework of the scientific debate on climate change and on the effects of urban planning issues; some relevant experiences of Green Infrastructures; and the proposed methodology, applied to the reality of the “urban green system” of Catania, based on an integrated approach between participatory planning and the method NAIADE (Novel Approach to Imprecise Assessment and Decision Environments).

The Impact of Political Dynasty on Development in Indonesia: An Empirical Analysis

It is believed that the presence or absence of political dynasties in regional leadership has significant impact to the society. There is the important role of leader to the community that his lead on. Based on the previous research it is found that it was found that governments in which prevalence of political dynasties, spend more resources, especially in terms of infrastructure investment in urban areas, health and sanitation, and had no improvement in changes in the quality of public services. That is why the increasing in the practice of political dynasties in regional leadership government in Indonesia emerged the pros and cons of these conditions. In the line with the pros and cons of those conditions, hence the purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship of political dynasty on regional leadership, human capital and economic development in Indonesia empirically, which had not previously been done in Indonesia. This research uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to analyze the presence or absence of political dynasties theoretically and empirically. Using theoretical studies and empirical events supported by secondary data from competent sources, the research method is based on the interest to be able to use appropriate research methods in studying political dynasties, because the most important in the study of politics is the existence of mutually refining relationships and is based on the correct scientific method, one of which is to interact with reality empirical, with the aim of solving various problems. The finding of this research that there were some significant relations of human capital that measured by school participation rate and population density on economic development, measured by number of poor people and working population However, there was no significant influence on the prevalence of the practice of political dynasties in the leadership of a region on both poverty reduction and the increase in the working population as an indicator of economic development. Keywords: Regional leadership; Political dynasty; Human capital; Economic development.

Citizens of Delhi lead resilience action

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate practical approaches to addressing issues of risk reduction and disaster prevention in urban areas. In addition to exposure to natural hazards, urban areas represent complex risks and vulnerabilities together with complicated governance structures. Design/methodology/approach To address the challenge, SEEDS mobilised a “Disaster Watch Forum” – a citizens’ platform that brought citizens together to proactively engage with the local government. With hand-holding support from SEEDS, training by domain experts, internal team building and the forum has become a credible people-based institution addressing issues of risk reduction and prevention. Findings Urban risk reduction has remained a challenging issue with solutions often sought in high investment structural interventions. These have limited impact on the urban poor living in informal areas. This paper reveals “bottom-up” people-based approach that is able to engage with the “system” from “outside”. It reveals how people relate to day-to-day risks that affect their lives, making it the stepping stone to address higher order societal risks. Finally, the immense power and energy of youth and children work as local “agents of change”. Overall, the work aligns with priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Research limitations/implications There are three principal implications for further research: with half the world now urbanized, urgent solutions are needed for improving disaster risk governance in cities; taking a “whole of society” approach in addressing a wider canvas of risks; and redirecting investments in urban areas towards managing risks, rather than managing disasters. Practical implications The model illustrated is replicable in urban areas facing risk. It worked well in a population catchment of 50,000 residents; to achieve scale would require enabling a federated structure of several localised forums. Originality/value The paper presents a hands-on experience in building an alternative approach to urban risk reduction. It has required authors to move from “government to governance” model making citizens active stakeholders in proactively addressing their own underlying vulnerabilities that lead to creation of and exacerbation of risks.

The Economics of Climate Mitigation: Exploring the Relative Significance of the Incentives for and Barriers to Low-carbon Investment in Urban Areas

Achieving net zero emissions by 2050, as envisioned in the Paris Agreement, will require radical changes to urban form and function. Securing the necessary commitments and resources will be easier in the presence of a compelling economic case for mitigation. Focusing on Recife in Brazil, this article evaluates a wide range of low-carbon measures under different discount rates and energy prices. It finds that under less favourable conditions (high discount rates, constant energy prices), the city could reduce its emissions by 15 per cent, relative to business-as-usual (BAU) trends, through investment which would generate returns at market interest rates. Under more favourable conditions (low discount rates, increasing energy prices), the city could reduce emissions by 25 per cent with market-rate returns. That these opportunities have not been exploited indicates that barriers to low-carbon investment, including poor provision of information, transaction costs and capacity deficits may be of greater importance than the scale of direct incentives for raising climate investment. Decision makers therefore need to prioritise the dismantling of these obstacles to low-carbon investment and fostering of norms of environmental citizenship within cities.

The DMI Approach for Urban Development Funding

With the introduction of the JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investments in City Areas) Initiative, the European Commission aimed at strongly enhancing investments in urban areas to meet the steadily increasing requirements, arising from urbanisation, for European cities. One major challenge now is to find out where the establishment of so called Urban Development Funds (UDFs), with their revolving nature, is a suitable means to achieve this goal. A concept for the determination of funding targets for UDFs is discussed in this paper with the help of three subsequent steps – distance, movability and capital market imperfections – which we name the DMI approach. An example on selected European regions demonstrates the application and compares the results with actual UDFs on the one hand and over different geographical levels on the other hand. The latter reveals that the currently existing regional budget allocation for urban development leads to deviations of funding amounts from actual urban need for support.

The use of economic valuation to create public support for green infrastructure investments in urban areas

Increasing urbanization has created pressure on land use. Today more and more land in urbanized areas is used for housing, industry, community services or other economic functions. However, green spaces have a proven positive effect on people living in the neighborhood of green spaces, as well as on people working or recreating in the urbanized area. Therefore, green infrastructure investments have been put high on the agenda in many European countries. In order to convince the public and other stakeholders of the usefulness of these kind of green investments, it is necessary to give a correct, understandable and easily repeatable method to value the investment. The current article describes a model that can be used to put the value of green infrastructure investments into economic terms. Evaluating the project at site scale and regional scale will give a complete overview of all direct, indirect and use values of the investment. By using cost–benefit as well as multiplier analyses the monetary values can be estimated. The article shows that using this model helps to justify policy's support for and investment in green space.

Case Study of Factors Affecting Urban Residential Construction in St. Louis

Across the country, renewed public and private investment in urban areas is converting blighted neighborhoods into residential developments. An interesting question is what factors draw investors to areas that have been declining or are abandoned. The explosion of publicly available data on the Internet has made possible the examination of some of the factors that may contribute to an urban neighborhood’s revitalization or redevelopment. Using a database of information compiled from the City of St. Louis Community Information Network, this research sought to identify factors common to St. Louis neighborhoods where building activity was greatest in 1997, the most recent year for which building permit data were available.

Proper Pricing for Transport Infrastructure and the Case of Urban Road Congestion

For transport systems the issues of pricing, service quality, funding and investment in urban areas are inextricably interdependent. The paper first argues that no policy can be set for any of these aspects of transport in isolation from any other. Transport planners and urban policy-makers can choose to tolerate congestion, or build new capacity or introduce road user charging. These issues are explored and analysed in the context of London-Europe's most obviously resurgent city and the one with the most recent experience of road pricing in the form of the Congestion Charge. However, despite the evidence that in the centre, where it applies, the Congestion Charge has had broadly the effects economic theory would predict, there is still a growing problem for the rest of London and the UK caused largely by the combined effects of rising real incomes and the improving fuel efficiency of cars which reduces the impact of fuel taxes. This suggests a growing pressure for a national system of road pricing. To date 'prices', in the form of fuel duty (over £0.50 out of each £0.80 for a litre of fuel) have been set on the basis of historical precedent or political expediency. The paper sets out a regionally based model to analyse the implications of setting alternative levels of congestion charging and environmental taxes covering the whole of England. This includes modelling the implications for other transport modes and the net changes accruing to drivers and the Exchequer. Having presented the implications of some alternative policies, the paper discusses a number of the issues of political economy that would have to be resolved. While there seems to be little alternative to user charging in some form sooner or later, the sooner it can be introduced the more good it can do. However, the difficulties are real, less tractable than some people appear to believe and they have to be identified and dealt with. Perhaps the most significant unresolved problem is not the technical feasibility of such a system of national road pricing, but finding an appropriate, accountable and acceptable method for overseeing and administering the funds such a system would generate.

Return International Migration and Geographical Inequality: The Case of Egypt

This paper explores entrepreneurship amongst return migrants, how their business locations and characteristics differ from other businesses, and the implications for rural–urban inequality. First, we examine, amongst returnees, the determinants of investment in a project/enterprise. Secondly, we study the impact of return migration on the characteristics and nature of non-farm small enterprises using a sample of return migrants and non-migrant owners of enterprises. Our data indicate that although the share of return migrants originating in urban areas is almost equal to those from rural areas, and that migrants tend to return to their origin region, urban areas benefit more than rural areas from international savings. The empirical evidence suggests that overseas savings, and the duration of stay overseas, have positive separate effects on the probability of investing in a project/enterprise amongst returnees. Furthermore, returnees of urban origin are more likely than rural ones to invest in a non-farm enterprise. The findings also indicate that there is a regional bias in the location of firms and jobs created by returnees compared with non-migrants, in favour of the capital city. Thus, overall, the results support a positive impact of return migration on enterprise investment in urban areas driven by the preference of returnees to invest in urban areas.

Deux villages de Thrace devant l'arrivée de l'eau et l'ouverture des frontières / Two villages in Thrace faced with new water supplies and the opening of the borders

The department of Evros in the north-eastern extremity of Greece benefits from the opening up of its borders since 1991, new investments in urban areas and in the port of Alexandroupoli and the construction of the Néa Via Egnatia motorway. At the local scale the ways in which irrigation policy has been introduced has led to differences. In villages where irrigation was introduced at an early date, agricultural activity has been intensified and cattle rearing has diminished. Where irrigation does not exist emigration of the population towards Germany has been encouraged and the cultivation of cereals continues. Many farms and farm workers live in urban areas. Some are married to women coming from Bulgaria.

Electrification of rural areas by solar PV

More than 2000 million people, mostly in developing countries, live in rural areas without access to grid connected power. Conventional approaches to supplying power, whether through extension of existing grids or through stand‐alone ‘minigrids’ based on diesel generator sets, or even on renewable energy minigrids, require large investments which are unlikely to receive priority in competition with more economically and politically attractive investments in urban areas. Domestic PV lighting and broadcast reception kits (DLKs), comprising, typically, a 30–60 W panel, an automotive battery, a charge indicator, and dc fluorescent lamps can be furnished and installed for about $500. DLKs are now used in the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Sri Lanka and many other countries. DLKs provide a minimum essential service with low overheads. Given the necessary credit facilities, they can give better service at comparable costs in comparison with kerosene lamps and dry cell powered radios. They also permit a substantial degree of local manufacture, thus saving on foreign exchange. This movement is starting in many countries on a purely commercial basis. The process could be greatly accelerated if ‘seed money’ in the form of revolving funds could be made available.