Socio-spatial Characteristics Research Articles

Food diversity and accessibility enabled urban environments for sustainable food consumption: a case study of Brisbane, Australia

Food overconsumption is being addressed increasingly in the policy agendas of many advanced economies to achieve sustainable consumption. Yet, few studies define and research sustainable food consumption, particularly in understanding socioeconomic and environmental challenges and opportunities in urban environments. This paper evaluates 500 online surveys conducted in Brisbane, Australia, to explore public perceptions of food consumption and the underlying challenges and opportunities. A key finding is the co-existence of over- and underconsumption prevailing over the traditional focus on unhealthy food overconsumption. The challenges of affordability, access to healthy foods, limited retail options, and increasing carbon urban footprints complicate food consumption as a demand issue more conditional to the socio-spatial characteristics of urban environments. Opportunities for sustainable food consumption also arise in high health awareness and willingness to change dietary habits if facilitated by improved urban food provisioning. We argue that food diversity and accessibility-conducive urban environments can help transform food consumption by enabling enhanced access to affordable and nutritious foods, diversified food retail options and variety, and reduced food waste and loss-associated carbon emissions. To do so means improved global equity in food consumption and carbon footprint can optimistically reduce global food demand by 9% and generate better environmental outcomes, positively contributing to the UN’s Responsible Consumption (SDG12) and Climate Action (SDG 13) for 2030.

Sites for sustainability transitions: the interplay of urban experiments and socio-spatial configurations in transforming habits

Urban experiments intervene in selected sites to initiate transition processes. But how do the socio-spatial characteristics of these sites affect urban experiments and vice versa? We address this question by focusing on everyday habits and their reciprocal relationship with the socially produced space that surrounds them. Using conceptual analysis and by means of empirical examples, we consider which socio-spatial narratives, infrastructures and regulations facilitate or hinder urban experimentation. Rather than treating space as a pre-determined neutral stage, we conceptualise it as socially produced configurations that both affect interventions and are shaped by them. The transactional pragmatist perspective allows us to conceptualise how everyday habits can be disturbed and transformed in experimental processes. This notion is enriched by a socio-spatial categorisation of three aspects that co-constitute space. On this basis we develop an analytical framework to outline four possible dynamics arising from urban experimentation and the changing relations between actors and spaces. Empirical examples from the transdisciplinary research project Dresden – City of the Future: Empowering Citizens, Transforming Cities! illustrate the applicability of the framework. Our conceptual contribution provides a tool for analysing the socio-spatial dynamics of urban experiments. This sheds light on the agency of actors by conceptualising how they engage with socio-spatial configurations. We argue that further research on the role of space in urban experimentation is required to better explicate underlying socio-spatial understandings, while drawing on empirical data to test which socio-spatial concepts provide explanatory power for transition dynamics.

Unfolding the Socio-Spatial Dimensions of Third Space in a Contemporary Milieu

Abstract There has been growing recognition of the significant role played by the term “third space” in the overall development of urban contemporary society. It has been a subject of critical analysis across multiple disciplines and intellectual traditions. The objective of this research is to enhance understanding of the formation of an urban third space in daily urban life by investigating people’s perceptions of it. This study establishes the essential requirement for a third space by using a coffeehouse as an example to show how these spaces fulfil contemporary societal needs. It concludes by demonstrating the importance of socio-spatial characteristics in the development of urban third spaces based on inferential statistics. This study offers a new understanding of the complexities associated with the formation of a third space, emphasising the importance of interdependence between society and space in the context of contemporary environments.

Sociospatial characteristics, domestic water use and the COVID 19 pandemic: An exploration of relations for urban areas

COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in domestic water use in many cities. One important question is whether and to what extent the pandemic stressed the resilience of the water supply system. Another question examined in the paper is whether changes in water use during confinement differed according to the sociospatial configuration of cities. We examine these questions in the context of a medium size city of Northern Spain characterized by a mix of residential land uses, and internal variations in education, age composition, and income, producing step gradients in water use. First, we select and analyze influencing factors in domestic water consumption. Second, using statistical regression tests, we assess whether or not and to what extent the same factors influenced consumption during the COVID 19 lockdown. Results indicate that COVID-19 related confinement increased work and study from home and reinforced WASH habits, leading to more water consumption. However, this increase was larger in medium and low-income neighborhoods than in high-income neighborhoods, showing the relevance of sociodemographic factors but also of other variables more relevant for outdoor water use such as precipitation. Despite this rise in consumption, the water supply system was able to withstand the shock caused by confinement showing a robust resilience both in physical and in social terms. However, more challenging scenarios such as the coincidence of a pandemic with a severe drought should be taken into account in future resilience development.

Deslocamento casa-trabalho: o uso dos modais e do tempo na cidade de Fortaleza

Abstract The article analyzes data from a research carried out in Fortaleza, with the objective of reflecting on the home-work journey and its socio-spatial characteristics, and also on the relationship between modes of transport and time. It shows concentration of jobs in the central area (north--east) and population concentration in a west- -south peripheral belt, with a tendency towards monofunctionality. This points to the spatial mismatch that affects the poor population, penalized by long, time-consuming journeys on public transport. The research demonstrates that the upper classes benefit from shorter and faster journeys from home to work, while the public transport system suffers from disorganization and inefficiency, and the Integration Bus Terminals add much more time to the home-work journey.

Community Empowerment in Structuring Sustainable Historical Tourism Areas

Three aims of the study are: to identify the socio-economic and socio-spatial characteristics that make up the historical tourism ecosystem in the historical area of Trowulan; to analyse community participation in building the tourism ecosystem in the historic area of Trowulan; and to formulate directives on community empowerment to increase local resources' potential and capacity through developing historical tourism businesses. The method used in this research is a qualitative method with a descriptive-analytical approach, a research and understanding process based on a methodology that investigates a social phenomenon and human problem. The research concludes that socio-economic and socio-spatial characters encourage each other in shaping the historical tourism ecosystem in the historical area of Trowulan. In addition, community participation in building a tourism ecosystem in the historic Trowulan area is motivated by the hope of getting a better economic life to improve the welfare of the community. Community empowerment is essential in increasing community participation in developing the potential and capacity of local resources through developing tourism businesses, especially those based on historical tourism. Community empowerment and participation are two entities that need each other. On the one hand, participation requires empowerment, and on the other hand, empowerment requires participation. The absence of one can hinder efforts to develop tourist areas

Evaluation of accessibility and equity to hospitals by public transport: evidence from six largest cities of Ohio

IntroductionIn the United States, health care has long been viewed as a ‘right,’ and residents of the state of Ohio are no exception. The Ohio Department of Health ensures that this right exists for all residents of Ohio. Socio-spatial characteristics, however, can have an impact on access to health care, particularly among vulnerable groups. This article seeks to measure the spatial accessibility to healthcare services by public transport in the six largest cities of Ohio based on population and to compare the accessibility of healthcare to vulnerable demographic groups. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the accessibility and equity of hospitals by public transit across different cities in Ohio, allowing the identification of common patterns, difficulties, and knowledge gaps.MethodologyUsing a two-step floating catchment area technique, the spatial accessibility to general medical and surgical hospitals through public transportation was estimated, considering both service-to-population ratios and travel time to these health services. The average accessibility of all census tracts and the average accessibility of the 20% of most susceptible census tracts were determined for each city. Using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient between accessibility and vulnerability, an indicator was then devised to evaluate vertical equity.FindingsWithin cities (except Cleveland), people of vulnerable census tracts have less access to hospitals via public transportation. These cities (Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton) fail in terms of vertical equity and average accessibility. According to this, vulnerable census tracts in these cities have the lowest accessibility levels.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the issues connected with the suburbanization of poverty in Ohio’s large cities and the need to provide adequate public transportation to reach hospitals on the periphery. In addition, this study shed light on the need for additional empirical research to inform the implementation of guidelines for healthcare accessibility in Ohio. Researchers, planners, and policymakers who want to make healthcare more accessible for everyone should take note of the findings in this study.

‘A little escape dome’: Exploring how older adolescents experience urban parks as sites of mental wellbeing in Melbourne, Australia

Prior research supports the role of biopsychosocial pathways like restoration, physical activity and social cohesion in mediating the relationship between urban greenspace and positive mental wellbeing in adults. The evidence for the validity of these and other pathways in adolescent populations is less robust.This paper examines how urban parks can contribute to adolescent mental wellbeing. The author conducted in-depth interviews and participatory workshops with older adolescents living in Melbourne, Australia to explore how they construct their experience in urban parks and how their experiences impact their psychological and emotional wellbeing.The findings show that urban parks can have salutogenic (health-giving) effects for this cohort. The results provide support for the role of functional, biopsychosocial pathways similar to those known to operate for adults in mediating positive mental wellbeing. At the same time, this research emphasises the significance of older adolescents’ age-specific developmental needs in shaping their experience of, and wellbeing outcomes from, urban parks and green spaces. This paper concludes with a conceptual framework that seeks to guide future research by integrating the restorative and socio-spatial characteristics of urban parks and green space, which emphasises the complex and interconnected nature of pathways to mental wellbeing in older adolescents.

The management of scientific and technological infrastructures: The case of the Mexican National Laboratories

Abstract The effectiveness of research units is assessed on the basis of their performance in relation to scientific, technological, and innovation production, the quality of their results, and their contribution to the solution of scientific and social problems. We examine the management practices employed in some Mexican National Laboratories to identify those practices that could explain their effectiveness in meeting their objectives. The results of other research that propose common elements among laboratories with outstanding performance are used and verified directly in the field. Considering the inherent complexity of each field of knowledge and the sociospatial characteristics in which the laboratories operate, we report which management practices are relevant for their effectiveness, how they contribute to their consolidation as fundamental scientific and technological infrastructures, and how these can be translated into indicators that support the evaluation of their performance.

Linking transportation agent-based model (ABM) outputs with micro-urban social types (MUSTs) via typology transfer for improved community relevance

The human relationship with transportation is shaped by social, economic, demographic, and urban form variables, or socio-spatial factors. The spatial dynamics of these are key to generating and interpreting outputs of transportation models that are most relevant for a community and the diverse mobility needs of its members. Here we present a typology transfer framework, grounded in socio-spatial dynamics shaping people’s mobility, to take transportation-themed regional mobility model outcomes, in this case from two agent-based models (ABMs), and extrapolate them to other cities, with less time and resource intensity than new ABM development. The typology transfer process first identifies micro-urban social types (MUSTs) using socio-spatial factors, then defines city types based on spatial patterns of MUSTs to assess across which cities transfer results are likely to best hold. Lastly, a typology transfer multiplier matrix extrapolates a given variable, in our case the Mobility Energy Productivity (MEP) metric, to another city. The full process demonstration uses ABM results from Chicago (POLARIS model) and San Francisco (BEAM model), applying them to New York City. We discuss how MEP or other outputs can be appropriately estimated and used for integrated, human-centered mobility analysis. Key findings include that this MUST framework of user-defined dependent and independent variables allows tailoring ABM results and interpretations to specific community needs and data availability. Findings clarify that positive outcomes can be targeted towards user groups, based on sociospatial characteristics, using a typology approach, such as inclusive access to mobility choices, transportation affordability, and greater efficiency in resource use.

An integrated urban neighbourhood GHG mitigation analysis as a means to advance urban climate management

Worldwide, cities collaborate in the global effort to manage climate change mitigation. As cities are highly spatially and socially diverse entities, any city encompass a wide range of ‘GHG emissions lifestyles’ and therefore GHG mitigation strategies should reflect the urban diversity. Advancing sub-urban analysis can improve GHG mitigation by relating efforts and limited resources to the unique characteristics and functioning of different parts of the city. This paper emphasizes the need to relate the unique characteristics of key emissions categories at the residential neighbourhood level to its potential mitigation. It analyses the carbon footprint of households in residential neighbourhoods in the city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel, focusing on three major direct and indirect emissions categories: electricity, transportation, and food consumption. While the average city scale emissions found to be 4.6 ton of CO2e per capita, different neighbourhoods emissions ranged between 3.1 tons and 6.8 tons. Exploring the linkages to various explanatory, socio-spatial drivers found range of emissions related characteristics of different neighbourhoods. Finally, examining the potential contribution of implementing various GHG mitigation measures, revealed that the integration of technological, policy and behavioural measures may result with range of footprint reduction in different parts of the city due to the neighbourhoods' socio-spatial characteristics.

Tracing Trade and Settlement Infrastructures in the Judaic Material Culture of Tafilalt, Southeastern Morocco

This article traces the history of the medieval oasis city of Sijilmassa, southeastern Morocco, and that of its modern, continuation city of metropolitan Rissani in the Tafilalt region. Elements of mobility and transition are discussed in light of the prominent historical role of the urban settlement in Tafilalt in long-distance trans-Saharan trade infrastructure. These elements are developed with a focus on the region’s Jewish communities, their socio-spatial characteristics, the employed toponymy with respect to Sijilmassa, and the material culture. Within the material culture of Tafilalt’s Jewry until the 1950s and 1960s (that is, upon their dramatic emigration from Morocco, mostly to Israel), the article analyzes in an original manner their traditional marriage contracts (ketubah-s) as a textual and especially as an esthetic artifact. The analysis interprets the visual imagery that appears in these manuscripts—an imagery that corresponds with global Jewish symbols, with the vernacular architecture in the Tafilalt, and with wider regional, trans-Saharan conceptual motifs. Revealing the composite symbolic imagery and decoding the visual repertoire of the ketubah-s against the rich cultural histories of the pre-Sahara region—with affinity to both northern Morocco and sub-Saharan, “black”, Africa—necessitates an interdisciplinary approach. This study brings together area studies (of the Middle East and Africa), art histories (of architecture and built forms, artifacts, and manuscripts), cultural studies (critical intra-group relations between Arabs, Berbers and Jews), and human geography (forms of settlements and long-distance trade activity)—in a type of meeting that is quite uncommon in the relevant research literature. Its contribution lies in tracing the dissemination of ideas and material cultures among less researched groups (southeastern Jewry) and regions (pre-Saharan) in Morocco, through engaging a transdisciplinary lens that requires an intimate acquaintance with associated research historiographies.

Examining Variance, Flexibility, and Centrality in the Spatial Configurations of Yazd Schools: A Longitudinal Analysis

Past historical research on Iranian educational architecture has highlighted three socio-spatial characteristics: (i) the topological variance of spatial properties, (ii) the flexibility of spatial configuration, and (ii) the centrality of outdoor spaces, which remain under scrutiny. This paper aims to quantitatively examine the topological changes in the spatial configurations of Yazd schools over time. The study entails the application of a Justified Plan Graph (JPG) method to quantify and compare the morphological properties of three historical sets of 20 Yazd schools (traditional, transitional and modern, and contemporary). The results confirm the historical changes in the Yazd schools’ flexibility and their outdoor spaces’ centrality, although the variance of spatial properties over time is not clearly observed. In particular, due to the relatively higher centrality values of outdoor spaces, the traditional schools, regardless of their rigid spatial logics, developed more integrated and interactive spatial configurations. As a first historical study on the socio-spatial configuration of Yazd schools, this paper precisely demonstrates the JPG method for this longitudinal spatial analysis.

Relações entre a comunidade faxinalense de Taboãozinho em Prudentópolis (PR) e o geossítio Pinheiro de Pedra – apropriação e geoconservação

This paper discusses how the community of Taboãozinho has promoted the appreciation, dissemination, and conservation of paleontological heritage in its territory through the Pinheiro de Pedra geosite. The socio-spatial characteristics of the community in synergy with the geopatrimonial heritage and geoconservation give the tone of the singularity of the natural landscape and its territory. Through bibliographic and documental surveys, participative diagnosis, and interviews with local people, we identified factors that point to the process of cultural appropriation of the geosite by the community. We detected that the care with the fossil logs and the maintenance of the collection of legends, stories, and cultural manifestations about the "stone pines" are actions that culminate with the protection of heritage and its dissemination. Based on this study, educational and cultural valorization actions were promoted in partnership with other organizations, enabling advances in the development of geotourism and appreciation of the region's cultural heritage. The historical knowledge of the presence of fossil trunks, associated with legends, stories and cultural manifestations about the "stone pines", in addition to actions of care and conservation of the heritage are factors that point to a process of cultural appropriation by the community with the geosite.

Social inequalities in climate change-attributed impacts of Hurricane Harvey

Climate change is already increasing the severity of extreme weather events such as with rainfall during hurricanes. But little research to date investigates if, and to what extent, there are social inequalities in climate change-attributed extreme weather event impacts. Here, we use climate change attribution science paired with hydrological flood models to estimate climate change-attributed flood depths and damages during Hurricane Harvey in Harris County, Texas. Using detailed land-parcel and census tract socio-economic data, we then describe the socio-spatial characteristics associated with these climate change-induced impacts. We show that 30 to 50% of the flooded properties would not have flooded without climate change. Climate change-attributed impacts were particularly felt in Latina/x/o neighborhoods, and especially so in Latina/x/o neighborhoods that were low-income and among those located outside of FEMA’s 100-year floodplain. Our focus is thus on climate justice challenges that not only concern future climate change-induced risks, but are already affecting vulnerable populations disproportionately now.

Different remote realities: health and the use of territory in Brazilian rural municipalities.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVETo characterize remote rural Brazilian municipalities according to their logic of insertion into socio-spatial dynamics, discussing the implications of these characteristics for health policies.METHODSStarting from the category of analysis – the use of the territory – a typology was elaborated, with the delimitation of six clusters. The clusters were compared using socioeconomic data and the distance in minutes to the metropolis, regional capital, and sub-regional center. Mean, standard error and standard deviation of the quantitative variables were calculated, and tests on mean differences were performed.RESULTSThe six clusters identified bring together 97.2% of remote rural municipalities and were called: “Matopiba,” “Norte de Minas,” “Vetor Centro-Oeste,” “Semiárido,” “Norte Águas,” and “Norte Estradas.” Differences are observed between the clusters in the analyzed variables, indicating the existence of different realities. Remote rural municipalities of “Norte Águas” and “Norte Estradas” clusters are the most populous, the most extensive and are thousands of kilometers away from urban centers, while those in “Norte de Minas” and “Semiárido” clusters have smaller areas with a distance of about 200 km away from urban centers. The remote rural municipalities of the “Vetor Centro-Oeste” cluster, in turn, are distinguished by a dynamic economy, inserted into the world economic circuit due to the agribusiness. The Family Health Strategy is the predominant model in the organization of primary health care.CONCLUSIONRemote rural municipalities are distinguished by their socio-spatial characteristics and insertion into the economic logic, demanding customized health policies. The strategy of building health regions, offering specialized regional services, tends to be more effective in remote rural municipalities closer to urban centers, as long as it is articulated with the health transportation policy. The use of information technology and expansion of the scope of telehealth activities is mandatory to face distances in such scenarios. Comprehensive primary health care with a strong cultural component is key to guaranteeing the right to health for citizens residing in such regions.

Perspectives of structurally marginalised patients attending contextually tailored and integrated care practices in Canada: a focused ethnography study

ObjectivesTo better understand the experience of patients attending community-based primary healthcare practices (CBPHCPs) aimed at improving equity and access to primary care for underserved patients, which have been implemented locally...

A Study on the Socio-spatial Characteristics of the Elderly and the Influence Factors of ‘Aging in Place’ in Seoul: With a Focus on Elderly-concentrated Areas

A Study on the Socio-spatial Characteristics of the Elderly and the Influence Factors of ‘Aging in Place’ in Seoul: With a Focus on Elderly-concentrated Areas

From Audits to Projects: Evaluating New York State Policy to Encourage Home Retrofit Projects

This research explores socio-spatial characteristics of home retrofit projects in New York State and their association with the state’s free home energy audit program. Prior work by the authors found that zip codes with more elder individuals and higher levels of education are more likely to undertake an energy audit; it was also found that higher incomes may be negatively correlated with audit decisions. Less understood is the follow-up decision after an audit to undertake a retrofit. From a policy and climate perspective, the actionable retrofit decision is far more impactful than the informational audit, making it an important area of further research. This work examines this understudied area using a combination of datasets, including census data, American Community Survey (ACS) data, and retrofits data provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Findings indicate that many of the same socioeconomic characteristics that predict audits are influential in retrofit projects as well (age, education, higher home values). A strong statistical relationship was found between audits per capita and subsequent retrofit projects, which is to be expected, as NYSERDA requires audits of residents desiring efficiency retrofits. However, this also indicates that the role of the audit in information transfers may be highly influential in encouraging home energy efficiency projects. This finding underscores the policy importance of offering low- or no-cost energy audit incentives to encourage greater participation in home retrofit programs.

The residential characteristics of indigenous families in the eupchies in the late Joseon era: cases from the Yeonsan and Hansan eupchies

ABSTRACT Spatial research on the eupchi is an important area of traditional Korean urban research. Previous studies generally focused on the spatial arrangement of the chiso in the eupchi. However, to understand the eupchi, we need to study different types of spaces in the eupchi and their functions. Thus, this study focuses on housing spaces rather than chiso. The purpose of this study is to investigate the residential characteristics of indigenous families who comprised the top local officials. In analyzing the spatial distribution of housing lots according to their attribution, the result derived as follows. First, less than two percent of the social class to which the aristocrats called yangban belonged lived in the eupchi at the end of the Joseon era. This two percent consisted of only representative indigenous families. Second, unlike other families, they also clustered on one side of the chiso and had the largest space for a community and the greatest housing density in the eupchi. This likely reflects the power of indigenous families in the local towns in a physical form. The primary merit of this study is that it sheds light on the socio-spatial characteristics of indigenous families in the eupchi in the late Joseon era.