Socio-spatial Analysis Research Articles

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Poverty: A Comprehensive Study on Integrating Multidimensional Poverty Indices with Geographic Conditions in Krucil District, Probolinggo, Indonesia

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Poverty: A Comprehensive Study on Integrating Multidimensional Poverty Indices with Geographic Conditions in Krucil District, Probolinggo, Indonesia

From risk factors to disease situations: A socio-spatial analysis of COVID-19 experiences in Lima, Peru

The goal of this qualitative research study, part of an interdisciplinary project, was to understand the overlapping geographical distribution of COVID-19 and tuberculosis burden in Lima. Using an ethnographic approach, we applied the concept of disease situations to explore how inhabitants’ social and spatial situatedness affected their capacity to respond to the pandemic. Our results show that for some populations in Lima, the risk to develop COVID-19 did not emerge suddenly; it could be traced back to situations of living under subsistence models, relying on unstable sources of income, facing food insecurity, depending on certain mechanisms of social protection, residing in precarious living environments and lacking access to quality health care. These populations did not only have less resources to adjust to changes in daily life induced by the pandemic; they were also forced to constantly weigh the risk of COVID-19 against other pressing needs and potentially face increased risks when control measures were actually followed. Pre-existing social networks played fundamental roles as sources of emotional and material support. The lens of disease situations can help to identify and explain spatial and social configurations that enhance vulnerability, as well as resilience mechanisms that are in place to deal with crises. This perspective could inform the design of contextualised prevention and response strategies around health risks in cities as diverse as Lima, whilst building on existing resources at local levels.

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Schools Based on Neighborhood Planning of the 15-min City

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Schools Based on Neighborhood Planning of the 15-min City

Migrants as agents in placemaking: A socio-spatial analysis of Basmane area in Izmir, Türkiye

This article explores the place-making practices of displaced Syrian refugees living in Basmane area of Izmir's historic Konak district. By examining everyday spaces, the spatio-material and socio-relational outcomes of Syrians’ placemaking practices, the study positions refugees as active agents of placemaking. Through empirical fieldwork, it underscores the spatio-material consequences and socio-relational wellbeing outcomes of Syrians’ placemaking practices, illustrating how these are shaped and constrained by multi-scale configurations of Türkiye's refugee policies and the perceptions of the local population towards migrants.

Mapping Nutritional Inequality: A Primary Socio-Spatial Analysis of Food Deserts in Santiago de Chile

This study investigates the socio-spatial distribution of food deserts in Santiago de Chile, aiming to understand how urban planning and socioeconomic factors influence access to nutritious food. Employing geospatial analysis techniques with data from OpenStreetMap and the 2017 Census, the research identifies areas within Santiago where access to healthy food is limited. The novelty of this study lies in its application of spatial autocorrelation methods, specifically Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA), to reveal clusters of nutritional inequality. The findings indicate significant concentrations of food deserts in both lower socioeconomic peripheral areas and, surprisingly, in some high-income central areas. These results suggest that both poverty and urban infrastructure, including car dependency, play critical roles in shaping access to healthy food. By highlighting over two million residents affected by food deserts, the study underscores the urgent need for integrated urban planning and public health strategies. This research contributes to the understanding of urban nutritional inequality and provides a replicable methodological framework for other cities. The implications extend beyond Santiago, offering insights into how urban design can be leveraged to improve public health outcomes through better access to nutritious food.

Home boundaries: a socio-spatial analysis of Cairo’s housing market. Using justified plan graph (JPG) theory

Purpose This paper aims to define the socio-spatial considerations of apartment users in Cairo, during their decision-making process. It provides a set of socio-spatial guidelines for professional architecture designers that are based on regionalist sociological theories and the evaluation of participant responses. These guidelines can also help users choose better plan configurations or make socially conscious adjustments as formal residential interiors in Egypt are not arranged based on social interaction at home or the cultural specificity of the region. On the other hand, users have little clue about choosing better plan configurations for sustainable social relationships. Moreover, the private housing sector has mostly neglected the social boundaries that traditionally shaped home interiors. This is because the designers focus on physical attributes to satisfy market demand and economic aspects. Design/methodology/approach The research reviewed past literature on the impact of different home arrangements relative to inhabitant and social relationships. Simultaneously, preliminary open-ended sorting surveys were undertaken at the Cityscape 2020 exhibition. Based on the results, a comprehensive online survey was developed to map the socio-spatial preferences of users. Finally, a sample of 150 apartment plans was analyzed by using the justified plan graph (JPG) theory to reveal the most common arrangements in the speculative market, measuring unit depth. Findings The findings of this study will benefit the following: practitioners, including architects and real estate developers, will be able to learn about end-user preferences and offer better products (residential units). Designers can rely on a reference that visualizes recommended home arrangements in the form of justified graphs. This research will expose the academic theories that currently shape residential plans and those that are overlooked and need to be applied. Academics, on the other hand, will learn about the market, and the extent of the influence of architectural theory. Originality/value The value of this paper lies in the gathering of theoretical recommendations on traditional home arrangements and investigating the preferences of both professionals and laypeople when choosing between apartments. The open-ended study in this research will test its efficiency in the Egyptian context and serve as a reference for future social studies. It highlights the importance of cultural adequacy and how to design homes related to local residents’ natural lifestyle, by doing so, people will be able to overview the options available in the market and how to manipulate their own houses to control or encourage different social interactions.

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Indigenous Cultural Tourism Sites: A Comparative Study of Kampoeng Wisata Cinangneng, Bogor, Indonesia and Tam-Awan Village, Baguio City, Philippines

Abstract The diversified image and expanded settings of tourism in cultural landscapes pose an interesting challenge in preserving their tangible and intangible aspects and strengthening their relationships and representations. The study focuses on the comparative socio-spatial analysis of two mountainous cultural tourism sites — Kampoeng Wisata Cinangneng in Bogor Regency, West Java, Indonesia, and Tam-Awan Village in Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines — with the local cultures of Sundanese and Ifugao, respectively. The study aims to understand the local cultures of Sundanese and Ifugao through their cultural activities present, to identify the natural and human-made landscape assets and their organization that reflect their cultures, and to study how these landscape assets are used by tourists. The research utilizes a descriptive qualitative approach and a comparative case study research design model through participatory observation, digital mapping, and thematic analysis. Data are translated on how each culture’s social structures are represented through the physical elements and how users act on it as representations of the culture, in return. Data shows differences in the sites’ socio-spatiality and representations. Cinangneng provides first-hand teaching and demonstration in the guided and controlled tours, while Tam-Awan offers a more flexible and self-directed learning through visual aids. The major physical difference of the sites are the topography and slopes, affecting the location of the built up structures and the pedestrian movement around them, creating Cinangneng’s passive and controlled experience and Tam-Awan’s active user experience. Understanding the socio-spatial relationships of these sites can help tourism policymakers, planners, managers, and other related stakeholders in recognizing cultural landscapes, their elements and spatial organization, and their representations in the evolving values of different cultures, especially in the Southeast Asian region.

The mall as heterotopia under Greece’s economic crisis: a sociospatial analysis in Thessaloniki

ABSTRACT This paper examines the socio-spatial constitution of the mall, as a basic consumption place, in the aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis, employing a geographical approach to malls and a socio-spatial perspective on heterotopia, as a conceptual theoretical tool on the exercise of power and production of space. Introducing the concept of crisis-heterotopia, the case of the Mediterranean Cosmos shopping Centre in Thessaloniki, Greece, is employed, carrying out questionnaires and interviews with residents of Thessaloniki. The findings highlight the internal constitution of the mall as a crisis-heterotopia identified by the socio-spatial and cultural profiles and spatial representations of the consumers.

Valuation in Rural Social Innovation Processes—Analysing Micro-Impact of a Collaborative Community in Southern Italy

Social innovation has been associated with contributing to ‘valuable’ rural development; however, usually, the impact of social innovation has been identified in the aftermath of its development or implementation. This might be too narrow an approach, as an ongoing social innovation process in itself may already lead to effects that contribute to regional and social changes in a local community and beyond. This paper argues that collaborative valuation processes are embedded in social innovation processes, generating effects that contribute to rural development. Focusing on a case study that exemplifies social innovation processes in agriculture and food production carried out by a rural collaborative community in southern Italy, we demonstrate how three valuation phases, such as contestations and negotiations of norms, symbolic capital accumulation and recognition of actions, as well as re-definitions of values, impact community development through joint sense-making, empowerment and societal change. Our empirical results suggest the close intertwining of both social innovation and valuation processes. The empirical results demonstrate how collective valuation processes have micro-effects on the agro-economic system, on local socio-cultural processes, and on place-making activities. Methodologically, this paper builds on ethnographic methods, including participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and socio-spatial analysis investigating moments of valuation embedded in daily collaborative practices.

Socio-Spatial Analysis of Water Affordability at Small Scales: A Needs-Based Approach

Water affordability as a dimension of water poverty is becoming an increasing source of concern in cities of the Global North. Studies on water affordability are either based on water wants and not needs or tend to use spatial scales too large for effective analyses of local inequities that can truly guide policy actions. In this contribution, we calculate and map a Water Affordability Index (WAI) based on the minimum water requirement of 100 litres/person/day at the scale of the census tract for the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. We also apply global and local spatial autocorrelation analyses to investigate spatial relationships between the WAI and poverty-related sociodemographic variables. Results show that, even though average WAI values are moderate, the distribution pattern of higher and lower values tends to be clustered in some districts and neighbourhoods of the study area. Bivariate correlations indicate that water affordability is not only related to poverty variables but also to the diversity of water prices. Findings exemplify how the constructed index can complement existing affordability indicators, revealing and mapping important risk groups struggling to meet the costs of essential water needs. Water affordability could be mitigated by supportive water pricing policies for vulnerable households in water poverty hotspots.

Socio-spatial analysis of migrant school students according to Bourdieu's capitals in Santiago de Chile (2017–2020)

Chile has experienced a substantial immigration boom in the last 10 years. The urban areas of this nation present high levels of residential segregation, represented in its main city, Santiago. This article presents results of an exploratory analysis of the relationship between residential segregation, immigration rate by educational institutions and changes in school performance. Based on the generation of clusters characterized by cultural, social, economic and symbolic capital, an analysis of the changes in school performance in those schools that received the greatest number of migrants is generated.

Socio-spatial analysis of food poverty: the case of Turin

This contribution investigates the phenomenon of food poverty, focusing on the dimensions, forms and dynamics that this condition takes on in the urban context of the city of Turin. The general objective is to provide a theoretical advance in the scientific debate and to better contextualise the phenomenon at the local level to propose policy indications for the actors involved in forms of assistance/counteraction. In the last three years, mainly due to the socio-economic crisis triggered by the pandemic and the increase in the prices of necessities, the incidence and intensity of food poverty have changed, exacerbating the conditions of those who were already experiencing it and eroding the ability of a large segment of the population to protect themselves from material deprivation. Corresponding to this operational complexity there is a semantic polysemic – both in the scientific debate and in public discourse – due to a plurality of theoretical-disciplinary approaches that fragment the definitional framework with consequences on understanding and treatment of the phenomenon. In this framework, the contribution delves into this complexity, providing an operational and contextualised definition of the Italian case through the analysis of the results of the sample survey conducted at the end of 2021 on a group of 205 food assistance recipients in Turin.

Lumbisí and the suburban (re)colonisation of Quito’s valleys: de-facto housing policies and indigenous dwelling struggles in plurinational Ecuador

Building upon ongoing engagement with leaders, advocates, and inhabitants of Lumbisí and other communal territories in Quito’s Metropolitan District, this contribution exposes the city’s suburbanisation as state-sponsored (re)colonisation. Through qualitative socio-spatial analysis, we unpack the relation between Quito’s de-facto housing policy and Lumbisí’s dwelling struggles with three main aims: (1) to unravel the involvement of housing and land policies in the predatory transformation of Quito’s north-eastern valleys; (2) to illustrate their impact on Indigenous dispossession, elimination, and assimilation; and (3) to uncover how dwelling forms elicit and articulate dissent. Setting the grammars of dissent mobilised by local, regional, and national constituencies of Ecuador’s Indigenous Movement in dialogue with settler colonial theory, we reposition ongoing struggles within enduring colonial trajectories. Our case study of Lumbisí complexifies existing frameworks of gentrification, neoliberal urbanisation and capital accumulation. It foregrounds how Quito’s de-facto housing policy systematically relies on communal territories to externalise demands for land and labour, instrumentalising them as ‘informal’ settlements or ‘vacant’ land to extract ‘affordable’ housing and ‘natural’ assets. The (re)colonisation of Quito’s north-eastern valleys thus unfolds as the ongoing physical and ontological occupation of Indigenous territories. Within this context, comunas simultaneously absorb transformations and articulate dissent.

An Exploration of Artistic Expressions of Everyday Peri-Urban Landscapes as a Method of Socio-Spatial Analysis in Spatial Planning

Everyday landscapes, including peri-urban areas, play a pivotal role in shaping our physical and mental environments. Nevertheless, spatial planning often falls short of integrating contemporary everyday life and lived space. This paper advocates for an expanded approach beyond traditional planning methods, exploring the potential of artistic representations like drawings, photographs, and films to capture the nuances of peri-urban landscapes. Based on a selection of contemporary artistic works in the fields of drawing, photography, and cinema, this paper explores, through an analysis of specific projects and interviews with the artists, the potentials and constraints of these types of representations. This analysis of selected works reveals that these mediums embody a rich and complex collective journey, showcasing the profound connection between the artist and the environment. Structured around the key stages of analysis, documentation, and communication, the discussion elucidates the interrelated nature of these phases within a broader creative process. It underscores the significance of recognizing these artistic representations as integral components in planning processes, emphasizing their potential to provide unique insights into the complexities of peri-urban landscapes. In conclusion, this article proposes a set of recommendations for the incorporation of these artistic mediums within planning processes and urban studies.

СОЦИАЛЬНО-ПРОСТРАНСТВЕННый АНАЛИЗ В ПРЕДПРОЕКТНЫХ ГРАДОСТРОИТЕЛЬНЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯХ В КУРСОВОМ ПРОЕКТИРОВАНИИ

The formation of modern residential structures and the design of new residential areas must take into account the latest results of sociological research; it is necessary to solve current issues of organizing social processes in the existing and designed residential environment. The developed directions and latest publications on the subject of social research in urban planning and the possibilities of their implementation in the training of students of architects and urban planners are considered. The methodology of socio-spatial research within the framework of the cognitive approach to urbanism has been studied in more detail. The possible development of the methodology is analyzed on the main aspects of sociocultural changes in society and their impact on urban planning. The need for students to master various methods of socio-spatial analysis, to obtain skills in assessing the socio-spatial structure of established residential areas and urban planning solutions is substantiated. The main directions of studying methods of socio-spatial analysis by urban planning students are considered. An example of a socio-spatial analysis of a residential area in the city of Syktyvkar, carried out as part of the course “Pre-design urban planning research”, is presented. A socio-spatial analysis of the residential area under consideration helped to identify the problems of this territory and identify possible ways to solve them. Examples are given of the possible use of socio-spatial analysis in course design, in final qualifying works of bachelors and masters. The main directions for applying the methodology of socio-spatial research in teaching urban planning students are proposed.

Unpacking Transdisciplinary Research Scenarios in Architecture and Urbanism

Research in architecture and urbanism is a complex undertaking. It involves a multitude of challenges, approaches, variables, diverse scales, and types of environments to examine. This entry dives into the complexities of architectural and urban research and explores the integration of diverse approaches into various research topics or domains. Recognizing the dynamic interplay of human, cultural, technological, and environmental factors in architecture and urbanism, it proposes a transdisciplinary approach to bridge existing disciplinary and methodological boundaries. This entry adopts and operationalizes a comprehensive approach that encompasses hybrid scenario development, integrated socio-spatial analysis, a revised experiential approach, and the integration of environmental psychology into architectural and urban studies. These components are envisioned to harmonize various methodologies and to depict a picture of what research in architecture and urbanism could be within an identified set of domains. This approach is grounded in a rigorous literature review, empirical evidence, and relevant validation through case studies. The application of this approach instigates a series of research scenarios which act as frameworks that provide new insights into design and practice-based research, building anatomy research, city dynamics research, housing dynamics research, and user perception studies. Each scenario demonstrates the applicability of combining theoretical insights with empirical investigations. The implications of these scenarios for architectural and urban research emphasize the significance of transdisciplinarity and highlights the importance of integrating diverse theoretical tenets and methodological insights to address the complex challenges of research in architecture and urbanism.

Noise in the City: A Socio-Spatial Analysis of the Actual and Perceived Noise Levels in a Medium-Sized Urban Center

Noise in the City: A Socio-Spatial Analysis of the Actual and Perceived Noise Levels in a Medium-Sized Urban Center

Noise in the City: A Socio-Spatial Analysis of the Actual and Perceived Noise Levels in a Medium-Sized Urban Center

Noise in the City: A Socio-Spatial Analysis of the Actual and Perceived Noise Levels in a Medium-Sized Urban Center

Chacinas urbanas na cidade e na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (2009-2020)

Abstract This article analyzes the slaughters that occurred in São Paulo and its Metropolitan Region between 2009 and 2020. Using data extracted from news and interviews with journalists and public security agents, the article provides a socio-spatial analysis, highlighting features of the victimizations, perpetrators, and modus operandi of that form of extermination. Deaths resulting from slaughters reveal a polysemy of urban conflicts, predominantly linked to disputes over power, “political commodities” (Misse, 2014), and acts of revenge between criminal groups, or between public security agents and these groups. Peripheral populations are the main victims of slaughters, which occur in their places of residence and socialization and disclose power relations in these territories.

Cross-border Paradiplomacy in the Irish Sea: A Socio-spatial Analysis

ABSTRACT: Bilateral relations between the UK devolved administrations and Ireland are a neglected aspect of the 'totality of relationships' among the people of these islands. This is especially true for relations between Ireland and Wales. This article fills this gap by focusing on the paradiplomatic role played by subnational authorities within Ireland and Wales in the construction of effective socio-spatial governance solutions pursuing cross-border cooperation across the Irish Sea. It describes the Ireland–Wales cross-border region as a loose, multi-level structure of economic and political cooperation, and as a product of the interaction between strategies and structures. The article demonstrates that paradiplomacy is not just empowered by cross-border cooperation, but actively shapes it as an opportunity structure through metagovernance. Specifically, the article argues for a better grasp of metagovernance to keep Irish Sea cooperation alive post-Brexit.