Neighborhood Services Research Articles

Deciphering the new governance experiment of dilapidated neighborhoods in China: A case of Xi'ma New Village, Wuhan

Approximately 100 million residents in Chinese cities inhabit former work-unit neighborhoods and municipal housing areas. Since the 1990s, the state has retreated from the direct provision of neighborhood services. However, as the alternative approach, commercialized property management has largely failed in these neighborhoods, leading to their gradual decline into “dilapidated neighborhoods.” Consequently, the poor living conditions and inadequate services severely constrained the well-being of these residents. Recently, new governance experiments have emerged in dilapidated neighborhoods across Chinese cities, warranting significant attention and exploration. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews conducted from 2019 to 2023 in Xi'ma New Village, Wuhan City, this research investigates the evolving governance shaped by affordable property management. Our findings indicate that, first, when sponsoring dilapidated neighbourhoods for affordable property management, the state's rationale is to address the crisis and alleviate social tensions; second, state leadership is reinforced through a multi-scalar governance network surrounding property management; third, in this case, the process of how the state achieved the above goals through deploying and mobilizing market and society exemplifies “state entrepreneurialism” in Chinese cities. Thus, the study offers nuanced insights, particularly at the neighborhood level, enabling readers to understand the evolving governance modalities in Chinese cities, especially in the context of (re)increasing state control and leadership.

Being a good neighbour – about supporting older people in the context of neighbourhood services

The aim of the article is to present the idea of neighbourhood services, which were introduced into the catalog of benefits of the social assistance system under the amendment to the Social Assistance Act at the end of July 2023. Their implementation is possible from November 1, 2023. Neighbourhood services should be understood as support provided to lonely people who, due to age, illness, or other reasons, require the help of other people and for whom their immediate family is unable to provide this support. The services may include assistance in meeting basic living needs, hygiene and nursing care that does not require specialized knowledge and competences and ensuring contacts with other people. Support is provided by people living in the neighbourhood of the person in need. The work of caregivers-neighbours is rewarded in cash by the commune, whose council specifies in a resolution the detailed conditions for granting these services, their size and scope, and the method of settling their performance. The article presents the idea of neighbourhood support in theory and practice, as well as legal provisions regarding neighbourhood services in accordance with the Social Assistance Act. The last part of the text is devoted to good practices in the field of services and neighbourhood care in Poland and USA.

Evaluating Urban Services in Neighbourhoods Through the Inequality Lens in Khulna City, Bangladesh: A Geographic Information System Approach

This article delineates the development of an integrated assessment tool to understand inequality in the provision of urban services among neighbourhoods in Khulna city, Bangladesh. The study considers eight key indicators to evaluate basic urban services related to the physical environment of the city. We use primary and secondary sources of information as well as geographic information system (GIS) to summarise the results in a scientific fashion. Additionally, we adopt the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique to distribute weights among the considered indicators and categorise the neighbourhoods as ‘good’, ‘average’ or ‘poor’ in terms of service availability. Results from the study demonstrate that a majority of the neighbourhoods lack basic urban services. Only 10 per cent of the neighbourhoods are equipped with basic urban services, whereas 74 per cent face difficulties with ‘average’ quality of services and nearly 16 per cent of neighbourhoods fail to provide basic services to city dwellers. Our study may be useful to development authorities, city corporations and local governments to visualise the neighbourhoods struggling for basic urban services and bring them under immediate attention to deliver the required resources. Further, the study provides an assessment model to understand urban service inequality in cities with similar characteristics in other parts of the world.

Mobile vaccination units to increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake in areas with lower coverage: a within-neighbourhood analysis using national registration data, the Netherlands, September-December 2021.

BackgroundVaccine uptake differs between social groups. Mobile vaccination units (MV-units) were deployed in the Netherlands by municipal health services in neighbourhoods with low uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.AimWe aimed to evaluate the impact of MV-units on vaccine uptake in neighbourhoods with low vaccine uptake.MethodsWe used the Dutch national-level registry of COVID-19 vaccinations (CIMS) and MV-unit deployment registrations containing observations in 253 neighbourhoods where MV-units were deployed and 890 contiguous neighbourhoods (total observations: 88,543 neighbourhood-days). A negative binomial regression with neighbourhood-specific temporal effects using splines was used to study the effect.ResultsDuring deployment, the increase in daily vaccination rate in targeted neighbourhoods ranged from a factor 2.0 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.8-2.2) in urbanised neighbourhoods to 14.5 (95% CI: 11.6-18.0) in rural neighbourhoods. The effects were larger in neighbourhoods with more voters for the Dutch conservative Reformed Christian party but smaller in neighbourhoods with a higher proportion of people with non-western migration backgrounds. The absolute increase in uptake over the complete intervention period ranged from 0.22 percentage points (95% CI: 0.18-0.26) in the most urbanised neighbourhoods to 0.33 percentage point (95% CI: 0.28-0.37) in rural neighbourhoods.ConclusionDeployment of MV-units increased daily vaccination rate, particularly in rural neighbourhoods, with longer travel distance to permanent vaccination locations. This public health intervention shows promise to reduce geographic and social health inequalities, but more proactive and long-term deployment is required to identify its potential to substantially contribute to overall vaccination rates at country level.

Analysis of coverage of business network services in informal neighborhoods, Central District Honduras

Analysis of coverage of business network services in informal neighborhoods, Central District Honduras

Incorporating equity into transit performance measures: A disaggregated bus route level approach

Marginalized communities usually experience inadequate public transport services in North America. Within these communities, buses play a vital role in everyday activity participation. Unfortunately, transport services that may advance equity by improving coverage and service for disadvantaged population groups and areas are often overlooked in transit planning since they usually underperform in ridership-based metrics.To address this problem, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) introduced an equity service policy in 2019 to enhance bus services in vulnerable neighbourhoods known as Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs). This policy involves augmenting observed ridership counts for buses serving NIAs to improve or protect services for these communities. Although this proposed measure can improve bus services in NIAs, its current form might exclude other equity-deserving riders (EDRs) living outside NIAs, increasing their accessibility barriers.Our study uses quantitative and spatial analytical methods to better understand the equity impacts of this service policy change. We propose moving from the aggregate neighbourhood-based approach using NIAs to a more comprehensive and disaggregated person-based approach. First, we create an alternate method that identifies EDRs at the bus stop level using a fusion of census and travel survey data. We then explore the differences in augmented ridership levels created by the two approaches and evaluate whether the augmented ridership levels are likely to result in meaningful service changes using existing TTC service standards.We found that 2 out of 3 transit riders in Toronto are equity-deserving, with 72% residing outside NIAs. Our approach reveals increased ridership on routes with many EDRs, which receive minimal augmentation under the NIA-based method. Conversely, if all riders in NIAs are considered EDRs, our approach shows a 19% ridership overestimation equivalent to 35,245 users. Based on these results, we recommend creating a dedicated equity tool with an individual-centric focus, identifying areas with low transit service and high EDR percentages. This tool could then be integrated as an equity perspective into annual bus service planning.

"I Go Outdoors for Activities Every Day": Go-Along With Seniors With Slow Walking Speeds to Explore Environmental Factors Influencing Mobility.

This study aims to: 1) Explore the mobility experiences of seniors with slow walking speeds (SSWS) in urban neighborhoods; and 2) Investigate their environmental barriers and supports. Go-along interviews were conducted with 36 SSWS residing in urban neighborhoods of Chongqing City, China. The mobility patterns and built environment factors influencing their mobility were revealed through cartographic analysis and thematic analysis. SSWS primarily focused their activities within a 400-meter radius of their homes. Built environment themes included topography, neighborhood services, sidewalks, seating, traffic safety, weather, greenery, and lighting. Significant mobility barriers included long stairs, steep slopes, fast-moving objects on sidewalks, road crossings, and fast traffic. Available handrails, nearby food-service places, ample seating, and greenery were identified as supportive factors for their mobility. This study stands out as the first to specifically examine the mobility of SSWS within the built environment. We suggest that SSWS should be taken into account when establishing a benchmark for general design frameworks. These improvements not only contribute to the mobility of slow walkers but also have positive impacts on the broader population.

The Neighbourhood–Health Nexus: Design, Behaviour and Futures

Over the last decade, and more recently with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic, increased attention has been given to the dynamic between health and urbanism. Features such as city design, the environment, and socioeconomic factors have been studied worldwide. Most studies have focused on a single element of the urban environment, making it difficult to understand the possible influence of related urban features. Furthermore, studies have addressed the issue of urbanism and health on different international, national, urban, and local scales, resulting in multiple inconsistencies. With the enhanced growth of cities, it is argued that the neighbourhood scale is the ideal scale to understand the built environmental–health nexus. More specifically, the paper reviews studies that focus on neighbourhood design and its influence on health, and studies that focus on residents' health-related behaviour. In addition, it maps the key developments in e-health and its expected influence on health services in neighbourhoods. Insights from these reviews are used to offer a preliminary conceptual framework for addressing health in neighbourhoods.

Assessing the impact of socio-demographics and farming activity on ward-level mortality patterns using farm and population decennial censuses.

Farmers experience a specific set of unique dangers, which increases their risk of mortality compared with any other occupation. This study hypothesised that Northern Ireland's (NIs) agriculturally saturated Wards have a higher risk of mortality compared against non-agriculturally based Wards. The Population Census and Farm Census information were downloaded from the Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Service (NINIS) online depository to compile three mortality-based data sets (2001, 2011, pooled data sets). Assessing the impact of socio-demographics and farming activity on Ward-level mortality patterns using farm and population decennial censuses. This study analysed all 582 Ward areas of NI, which enclosed the entire populace of the country in 2001 and 2011. Path analysis was utilised to examine direct and indirect paths linked with mortality within two census years (2001; 2011), alongside testing pathways for invariance between census years (pooled data set). Ward-level results provided evidence for exogenous variables to mortality operating through three/four endogenous variables via: (i) direct effects (age), (ii) summed indirect effects (age; males; living alone; farming profit; and deprivation) and (iii) total effects (age; males; living alone; and deprivation). Multi-group results cross-validated these cause-and-effect relationships relating to mortality. This study demonstrated that farming intensity scores, farming profits and socio-demographics' influence on mortality risk in a Ward were dependent on the specific social-environmental characteristics within that area. In line with earlier area level research, results support the aggregated interpretation that higher levels of farming activity within a Ward increase the risk of mortality within those Wards of NI. This was an essential study to enable future tailoring of new strategies and upgrading of current policies to bring about significant mortality risk change at local level.

Parental Attachment and Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescents Exposed to Marital Conflict.

(1) Background: Interparental conflict is a phenomenon that poses a serious threat not only to the quality of life of the couple but also to the father-child relationship, mother-child relationship, and well-being of adolescents. This study examined the difference in parental attachment and adjustment in adolescents exposed to marital conflict versus those not exposed to parental conflicts in low-income areas. (2) Methods: 67 adolescents involved in Child Welfare Services (CWS) in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in southern Spain were examined. The sample was split into two groups according to the exposure to marital conflict. Subsequently, differences between groups were analysed on father attachment, mother attachment, aggression, antisocial behaviour, and emotional intelligence. (3) Results: Primarily, the data showed significantly worse attachment with the father among conflict-exposed versus non-conflict-exposed adolescents. These results were not found for the attachment with the mother. Additionally, greater anger and worse stress management were found in conflict-exposed adolescents. (4) Conclusions: The results partially confirmed the spillover and compensatory hypothesis. Practical implications point out that developing preventive interventions that protect the father-adolescent attachment in situations of family conflict is recommended.

The neighbourhood effect on mental well-being in the Global South

ABSTRACT Although individual mental health is a growing concern for the Global South, the southern literature on health and planning has paid limited attention to space-sensitive neighbourhood studies on addressing the crisis. This paper highlights the importance of a holistic neighbourhood environment in shaping the mental well-being of citizens. Through a cross-sectional study of 14,222 households in 272 neighbourhoods of 13 cities across seven countries, the paper claims that there is a place effect on the mental well-being of citizens in rapidly urbanising Asian and African cities. This study demonstrates that the diverse physical and social attributes of neighbourhoods influence mental well-being. Better coverage of neighbourhood services, improved waste disposal services, quality neighbourhood health facilities and educational opportunities, high family solvency, safety, trust in neighbours, dwelling satisfaction, and habits of exercise are found to be the most influential attributes for good mental well-being. However, institutional attributes, like political leadership for neighbourhood management and neighbourhood-level associations, are less likely to be associated with good mental well-being. As the significance of influential attributes varies among neighbourhood wealth categories, cities and countries, a shift towards a place- and context-specific neighbourhood approach for policymaking can best address the mental well-being in rapidly urbanising cities in the Global South.

Exploring an Architectural Paradigm for the 15-minute city planning model: Towards reforming gaps of services in Nablus

The existing literature on the 15-minute city planning model mainly covers conceptual strategies, responsive urban transformations, and innovative urban development projects at the neighborhood level. However, little attention has been given to the actual architecture of the 15-minute city. This planning model emphasizes the relationship between time and space of services in neighborhoods, which can be used as a scientific method to fill the gaps in services in Nablus neighborhoods. Local feedback on the distribution of services, proximity, and mobility in Nablus neighborhoods has highlighted the need to reimagine the comprehensiveness, density, and accessibility of services. Additionally, the prioritization of services has changed during COVID-19, which emphasizes the importance of architecture that considers flexibility in services. To address these challenges, this paper proposes the use of prefabrication construction technology in the placement of urban service units as a sustainable architectural model to realize the 15-minute city planning model. The paper presents the integration of structural system analysis, environmental considerations, and sterilization criteria into the model and proposes guidelines for the feasibility of this model. The resulting urban service framework of the architectural paradigm responds to the pointed-out needs of the population, and the temporary introduction of the model makes the application of the model responsive to the local shortage of vacant lands.

Implementing integrated care in the daily practice of general practitioners in an urban setting: facilitating collaboration between health and welfare services.

Summary: Funded by the city of Antwerp, the 'ZIHP' project wants (1) to implement the existing elaborated Flemish vision on integrated care in the daily practice of general practitioners, (2) to strengthen the network around GP practices by facilitating concrete collaborations and (3) strengthen the network around the patient, ultimately improving the health and well-being of the most vulnerable population in Antwerp.
 Context and problem: Current pressure on primary care is driven by increasing complex and long-term care needs of patients and initiatives in health policy to move care from hospitals to the community. In Antwerp, specific areas contain a large number of inhabitants of diverse ethnicity and low socio-economic status. Given that these socioeconomic factors have a large impact on health outcomes, this poses an additional challenge on primary care. The interrelatedness of somatic conditions and psychosocial problems urges for a strong and structural collaboration between welfare and primary care services in these vulnerable neighborhoods. Because GP practices are seen as central hubs for care coordination, the ZIHP project focuses on the support of GP practices in vulnerable areas through the temporarily employment of a social nurse.
 Workshop: We choose for a workshop because we want to explain the functioning of the ZIHP project and subsequently invite professionals to reflect on their own role and act in the uptake of complex care, starting from the goals of the patients. We use casestudies to:
 
 identify the patients problems, viewed from the patients perspective;
 identify the role of each professional;
 identify the added value from each professional in relation to other professionals;
 search for connection and collaboration between the health and welfare sector.
 
 This workshop is relevant for primary care workers (welfare and medical services) and policy makers.
 Workshop details:
 
 20 min intro and presentation with the results of the ZIHP project
 30 min in different small groups – using the ‘Worldcafé methode’ and asking the groups 3 questions:
 
 oWhich problems do you determine in this case?
 oWhat do you expect from each care worker and the patient
 oWhat’s from the patients perspective the most important problem that should be addressed first
 
 10 min: oral summary of take home messages
 
 ofeedback of the most relevant insights of the groups
 osupplemented with insights from the project
 Engage with the audience: We use the ‘Worldcafé method’ which maximizes the exchange between participants. The group is divided into small groups and each group has a host who leads the discussion. After the group has reflected on the first question, the host moves on to the next group, taking the key messages with them, and the group can answer the second question with their own -and the other group's insights. This is repeated for the third question.
 Summarizing the take home messages: The hosts present orally the most relevant insights of the groups, alongside insights of the ZIHP project.

Value stacking flexibility services in neighborhoods participating in fast frequency reserve markets

Neighborhoods are responsible for considerable amounts of the total energy demand in Europe, and increased shares of variable renewable energy sources will require energy balancing services. Local flexibility resources in neighborhoods can help provide this. However, there is a lack of insight into the economic incentives and operational consequences for property owners to adopt prosumer qualities. Using a linear program that minimizes total electricity costs, this paper evaluates annual cost savings for a Norwegian university campus when value stacking the following flexibility services: responding to electricity spot prices, grid tariffs, and provision of fast frequency reserve (FFR). Several flexibility resources are addressed in this study, including a stationary battery, electric vehicle charging stations, and a vehicle-to-grid charging station. The results found an average 6.8% yearly cost decrease by FFR participation, supporting the notion that there is a significant economic potential in applying flexible resources from prosumers in fast frequency reserve markets, without significant conflicts with other flexibility services.

SPATIAL REGRESSION MODEL OF URBAN WALKABILITY UNDER THE 15-MINUTE CITY APPROACH

The 15-minute city aims to decentralize the urban economic poles to provide local services to its entire population. The objective of this research is to geographically determine the economic poles in an intermediate Latin American city and evaluate their geospatial coverage. This research develops a geographic accessibility model to analyze the spatio-temporal distribution of the economic poles, considering the socioeconomic stratum of households in Manizales (Colombia). Moreover, we apply a spatial regression model of pedestrian trips. Results show that proximity to urban economic poles is directly correlate with pedestrian trips. In Manizales, only 35.8% of the population reaches its closest economic pole within a 15-minute walk; moreover, accessibility inequities mainly affecting lower-income families were detected. The 15-minute city approach poses a high potential to contribute to urban spatial justice to the extent that urban planners facilitate the growth of economic activities and services in neighborhoods, with special attention to the less privileged.

Exploring and Measuring Quality of Life Determinants of Wage Workers in Egypt: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

AbstractThis paper aims to identify the major significant dimensions that contribute to the overall quality of life (QOL) of wage workers in Egypt. As the QOL is a complex, multidimensional, and interdisciplinary concept, forty-seven indicators under five domains were chosen to investigate the QOL determinants of wage workers in Egypt, namely job characteristics, job satisfaction, ICT access, gender equality and women empowerment, and neighborhood services and utilities. Using data from the 2018 wave of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey, the paper employed structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to investigate the impact of proposed dimensions on the overall QOL. In addition, multi-group SEM analysis was implemented to measure how people differ in the way they assess their QOL on the basis of various moderating variables such as the geographical region of residence, age group, and years of schooling. The findings showed the significant impact of the chosen dimensions on the overall QOL. Moreover, the multi-group models showed a significant variation among compared groups, in which the weights of dimensions vary due to the differences in socio-cultural characteristics and the surrounding environment, confirming the complexity of such a concept. As people usually differ in the way they assess their QOL, which is affected by their characteristics and priorities.

Proximity to Neighborhood Services and Property Values in Urban Area: An Evaluation through the Hedonic Pricing Model

Neighborhood services, property attributes, and their associated amenities have positive impacts on land and property values. This impact is estimated by the hedonic pricing model, which is considered an effective method used in previous studies for such evaluations. The study uses Geographical Information Science by digitizing the point of interest in the study area for spatial modeling of data collection points and multi-linear regression as a statistical analysis of hedonic measurements. The hedonic measurements include the data of structural, locational, environmental, and community attributes of a property at a given time and space at a walkable distance from the neighborhood for measuring proximity. The results of the study are represented through the summary of the regression model, which expresses the impact of every individual variable on the entire value of the property, and the appropriateness of the results is shown by values R, R2, and adjusted R2. The result of the study concluded that property characteristics are varied from location to location, and that is why it is difficult to measure the exact market values, particularly in areas that lack urban planning and heterogeneous data. Research on such burning issues is essential for sustainable urban development.

Solid Waste Collection in the Informal Settlements of African Cities: a Regulatory Dilemma for Actor’s Participation and Collaboration in Kampala

Formal and informal institutions exist to regulate actors providing solid waste collection services in African cities, yet collection coverage remains low. The study examines the role of institutions in enabling and/or constraining actors’ participation and collaboration in solid waste collection in Kampala City. A qualitative methodological approach is employed by conducting in-depth interviews, focused group discussions, and reviewing documents. A dilemma in waste regulation manifests. Whereas regulations favour formal actors, informal actors predominantly provide waste collection services in poor neighbourhoods. Stringent requirements for participation and discriminatory bylaws are exposed. The interplay between formal and informal actors is vibrant but not legally supported. Therefore, it is prudent for effective planning to accommodate the operations of formal and informal actors and their interface to ensure smart cities. This might encourage participation and enable actors’ collaboration, consequently reducing uncollected waste volumes and illegal waste disposal sites in the informal settlements.

Resource deserts, village hierarchies and de-growth in sparsely populated areas: the case of Southern Lapland, Sweden

Small villages in northern Sweden have seen a continuing removal of key services, such as schools, shops and public transport, since the 1970s. Disinvestment in public services has not been strategically planned but has happened in response to population loss and increased costs on a case-by-case basis. More recently, there has been a shift in policy thinking to what might be termed a ‘de-growth’ approach where digitalisation and increased personal mobility are used to provide new ways of delivering services. The purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of ‘resource deserts’ in Southern Lapland and the emergence (or consolidation) of village hierarchies in allocating public services. We map out the distribution of neighbourhood services (grocery stores, pre-/schools and petrol pumps) among villages, and explore the lived experiences in accessing these resources in different villages. Our results show that resource deserts clearly exist in the south and east of the region, while villages in the more sparsely populated western mountain areas were generally in a better position to retain resources. We identify a lack of consistent and transparent service planning at the village level as a key shortcoming in municipal and regional service strategies. There appear to be unofficial settlement hierarchies in the differential treatment of villages that are otherwise similar in population size, population change and distance to central places. We find that political decisions on service allocations are likely influenced by several factors. These include legacy effects relating to historic settlement status, the location of villages in relation to key transport or mobility corridors, as well as ideological factors favouring villages with more ‘exotic’ features and development potential in line with the municipalities’ economic, social and political priorities. We finally argue that a shift to de-growth needs to be more strategically planned if it is to eliminate resource deserts and promote equity of service access across all villages.

Pilot Outreach Program in Remedis-The Promising Step toward HCV Elimination among People Who Inject Drugs.

The global effort to eliminate HCV infection requires new approaches to accessing and testing the affected population in a setting with as low of a threshold as possible. The focus should be on socially marginalized people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and who are not willing or able to visit standard medical services. With this vision, we established an outreach service-a testing point in an ambulance in the park in front of the Main Railway Station of the capital city of Prague-to provide bloodborne disease testing and treatment. The service was available every week on Wednesday afternoon. Over the initial two years of our experience, 168 unique people were tested. Of them, 82 (49%) were diagnosed with chronic HCV infection and were eligible for treatment with antivirals. Of these, 24 (29%) initiated antiviral treatment over the study period, and 17 (71%) of these individuals achieved a documented sustained virological response. Offering medical services in PWIDs' neighborhoods helps overcome barriers and increase the chances that they will become patients and begin HCV treatment. The described outcomes appear promising for reaching the vision of linkage to the care of such a hard-to-reach population and can serve as a feasible model of care for further expansion.