Urban Context Research Articles

An Overview of Transdisciplinary and Bottom-up Approach for Urban Resilience: The Case of Turkey

While top-down strategies have traditionally dominated urban planning in Turkey, recent shifts towards participatory practices and project-based policies have aimed to involve citizens in decision-making processes. Nevertheless, in the case of Turkey, these participatory models are inadequate for effectively addressing resilience. This article therefore discusses the role of participatory processes in creating resilient cities, as well as how to strengthen transdisciplinary (TR) and bottom-up approaches to urban participation in Turkish urban contexts. The article presents a theoretical framework that connects TR and bottom-up approaches based on existing literature, practices, and planning policy examples. It argues that TR approaches complement bottom-up approaches to urban governance by enhancing urban and social resilience, strengthening local communities, and reducing urban inequalities. Urban planning efforts that promote collaboration, incorporate multiple perspectives, and involve local communities in decision-making processes can address complex urban issues while also fostering long-term sustainability and resilience. This approach not only instills a sense of ownership and empowerment among urban residents but also leverages knowledge and skills to generate more effective and sustainable solutions. By creating a framework that promotes long-term education and citizenship awareness, urban governance can sustain urban resilience in a more viable manner over the long term in Turkey.

Integration Theory in Measuring Cultural Diversity in the Western Urban Context: The Case of Islamic Religious Buildings in the Western Urban Context

Integration Theory in Measuring Cultural Diversity in the Western Urban Context: The Case of Islamic Religious Buildings in the Western Urban Context

Cityscapes of Hunting and Fishing: Yoruba Place-Making and Cultural Heritage for a Sustainable Urban Vision

Literature on African urbanism has generally lacked insight into the significant roles of hunters and fishers as city founders. This has resulted in a knowledge gap regarding the cultural foundation of the cities that could enhance policy frameworks for sustainable urban governance. This article examines corollaries related to the complementarities of hunting and urbanism with case studies from the ethno-linguistic Yoruba region in southwestern Nigeria. Through qualitative methodologies involving ethnography and the (oral) history of landscapes of hunting from the pre-colonial and (British) colonial periods, as well as tracing the current cultural significance of hunting in selected Yoruba cities, the article reveals data that identify hunters and fishers as city founders. It shows that hunting, as a lived heritage, continues to be interlaced with cultural urban practices and Yoruba cosmology and that within this cultural imagery and belief, hunters remain key actors in nature conservation, contributing to socio-cultural capital, economic sustainability, and urban security structures. The article concludes with recommendations for strategies to reconnect with these value systems in rapidly westernizing urban Africa. These reconnections include the re-sacralization of desacralized landscapes of hunting, revival of cultural ideologies, decolonization from occidental conceptions, and re-definition of urbanism and place-making in light of African perspectives despite globalization. In doing so, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of the interconnections between the environmental and societal components of sustainability theory, agenda, and practice in urban contexts; underscores the societal value of lived heritage, cultural heritage, and cultural capital within the growing literature on urban social sustainability; and sheds more light on southern geographies within the social sustainability discourse, a field of study that still disproportionately reflects the global northwest.

Effective Vocabulary Teaching Techniques for EFL Teachers in Primary Classrooms

The aim of this study is to explore vocabulary teaching techniques applied by EFL teachers in primary schools in Depok, Indonesia. Using a qualitative case study approach, the study involved observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis as primary data collection methods. Three EFL female teachers from three primary schools in Depok participated in this research. The findings reveal that repetition drills and translation are the most commonly used strategies due to their effectiveness in vocabulary retention and comprehension. Visual aids and interactive activities like games also play a significant role, though their use is often limited by resource constraints, and large class sizes. The research suggests that combining traditional methods with innovative approaches can improve vocabulary teaching, but further support in terms of resources and professional development is necessary for teachers to maximize their effectiveness. The study recommends future research focusing on digital tools and technology-based interventions, assessing the impact of teacher training programs, and comparing urban and rural contexts. Additionally, exploring the long-term effects of these techniques on students’ language proficiency would provide valuable insights for enhancing English education in Indonesia.

Reconciliation as practice of universality

A new concept of reconciliation practices is developed by using the liberal theory of justice by John Rawls. In this perspective, reconciliation appears as a prerequisite of justice, denoting and rearraging the limits of any given community of justice. By drawing on examples in the fields of the restitution of looted art, the inclusion of handicapped people, religions in urban contexts and environmental ethics, practices of reconciliation are shown to be ambigous and incomplete in time, extent, depth and unconditionality. This observation leads to a theological interpretation of reconciliation as an eschatological concept that is proposed to interpret current major issues of justice and reconciliation.

Differences and similarities in student residential mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Temuco and Montréal

An analysis of the motivations of university students from Temuco (Chile) and Montréal (Canada) to change residence during the COVID-19 pandemic is presented based on data from a simultaneous survey in the two cities carried out in 2021. Quantitative analysis based on Principal Component Analysis showed a bifurcation between both cases despite the similarities they presented. Contrary to expectations that moves are first and foremost about the redundancy of student accommodation during the temporary transition to online learning or the need for more amenable study space in the home, the results highlight the primacy of psychological motivations, although economic, material and to a lesser extent family-related reasons for moving remain important. The context of each case study also allows for establishing differences between motivations more closely linked to material aspects and psychological and physical well-being in Montréal, and family-related motivations and psychological well-being in Temuco. Exploring this tension between individual motivations and urban contexts opens a promising way forward for new comparative studies in student housing and studentification research.

Drawings in a “Container”: A Visual Narrative Approach to Research With Refugee Children

Drawings can be a useful research tool as they allow children and young people to reflect on their lived experience in a form that is not dependent on words. They can, however, evoke strong memories and cause distress, particularly among children affected by war. This article describes a visual narrative approach where drawings do not exist on their own as a research tool but are embedded in an actual container, like a suitcase, or another artistic form such as a sculpture, a book, or a layered collage. The challenge this seeks to address is how to work with difficult topics in a way that allows us to apprehend the depth and complexity of the lived experience of children affected by war while protecting them from distressing memories evoked by the visual images they create. In an attempt to answer this question, the article describes a number of research encounters that have taken place over the last 15 years in eastern, central, and southern Africa in both refugee settlement and urban contexts. It explores examples of how multiple drawings are placed in a metaphorical “container” that resonates with the research purpose and the participants. The approach contains emotion, but using a multiplicity of drawings also allows children to reflect on the complexity of lives affected by war, a complexity that includes both strength and vulnerability.

Estimating casualties from urban fires: A focus on building and urban environment information

This study developed two prediction models for urban fire occurrence and related casualties via a fire accident dataset from Seoul, South Korea, from 2017 to 2021. Our models exhibit improved predictive performance by incorporating built environment features, such as building characteristics and the urban context, alongside weather and demographic data. This approach showed improved predictive performance suitable for public health implementation. Compared with the weather- and demographic-only models, our models had an 18.1 % greater fire occurrence prediction accuracy and a 10.4 % greater casualty prediction accuracy. Major variables affecting fire occurrence include building characteristics, e.g., the floor area ratio (FAR), building age, and commercial building number. Important features affecting casualty occurrence include demographic aspects, e.g., income level and weather, and network-based features, e.g., road connectivity and fire station proximity. These findings suggest that fire prevention strategies and fire casualty prevention strategies may need to differ. Furthermore, we identify high-risk zones by conducting spatial analysis and fire risk and casualty prediction on all buildings by applying our models to Seoul's Gangnam District. These contributions can promote safe and healthy urban environments by improving fire risk prediction accuracy and providing important insights into urban planning for appropriate urban fire accident response and prevention.

Social values for biodiversity and carbon flow in cities

Abstract Urban green areas contribute to climate change mitigation, support biodiversity and host a wide range of social values important for urban residents. Understanding the interplay between social values, biodiversity and carbon flow in urban green areas is vital for socially sustainable urban climate and biodiversity policy, but relationships between the three remain poorly explored. We assessed spatial and non‐spatial relationships between relational and intrinsic social values, biodiversity and carbon flow, in green areas across Helsinki, Finland, using logistic regression and spatial overlap analyses. To achieve this, we utilized pre‐existing datasets on modelled biodiversity and carbon flow, and a public participation GIS (PPGIS) survey dataset depicting over 16,000 spatially referenced social values for green areas mapped by a sample of 3237 residents of Helsinki. We found that non‐spatial relationships between social values, biodiversity and carbon flow are value‐specific and diverse in terms of strength, shape and direction. Spatial overlap between priority areas of social values and those of biodiversity and carbon flow was moderate and variable across different urban contexts. This diversity was further nuanced by the result that urban residents of different socio‐economic contexts valued green areas in different ways. Policy implications. Our findings imply that successfully leveraging urban green areas for simultaneous benefits to climate, biodiversity and social outcomes depends strongly on the surrounding social and ecological urban context. Key to maximizing synergies and balancing trade‐offs between the three are inclusive and participatory planning processes that jointly assess the social and ecological values of green areas. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Leadership and Legacy of Julius Nyerere as Prime Minister of Tanganyika and President of Tanzania

Research Aims: This study evaluates Julius Nyerere’s leadership by examining his socialist policies and their effects on Tanzania’s development. It explores the ideological foundations of his leadership, assesses the socio-economic impact of the Ujamaa policy in rural and urban contexts, investigates his strategies for fostering national unity and political stability, and extracts lessons for contemporary African governance. Design/methodology/approach: Employing a qualitative approach, the study draws on secondary sources, including archival records, Nyerere’s speeches, government documents, and scholarly journal articles. Research Findings: The findings highlight Nyerere’s notable achievements in nation-building, political stability, and African liberation, while also addressing the economic difficulties arising from forced collectivization and disruptions to traditional agricultural practices. The study recognizes limitations in evaluating the long-term socio-economic impacts, particularly on rural communities affected by villagization. Theoretical Contribution/Originality: This article provides valuable insights into African socialism and proposes new directions for future research on the enduring legacy of Nyerere’s leadership. It recommends further research to compare Nyerere’s governance with other African socialist leaders.

Navigating Urban Sustainability: Urban Planning and the Predictive Analysis of Busan’s Green Area Dynamics Using the CA-ANN Model

While numerous studies have employed deep learning and high-resolution remote sensing to predict future land use and land cover (LULC) changes, no study has integrated these predictive tools with the current urban planning context to find a potential issues for sustainability. This study addresses this gap by examining the planning context of Busan Metropolitan City (BMC) and analyzing the paradoxical objectives within the city’s 2040 Master Plan and the subordinate 2030 Busan Master Plan for Parks and Greenbelts. Although the plans advocate for increased green areas to enhance urban sustainability and social wellbeing, they simultaneously support policies that may lead to a reduction in these areas due to urban development. Using the CA-ANN model in the MOLUSCE plugin, a deep learning-based LULC change analysis, we forecast further urban expansion and continued shrinkage of natural green areas. During 1980–2010, Busan Metropolitan City (BMC) underwent high-speed urban expansion, wherein the urbanized areas almost doubled and agricultural lands and green areas, including forests and grassland, reduced considerably. Forecasts for the years 2010–2040 show continued further expansion of urban areas at the expense of areas for agriculture and green areas, including forest and grasslands. Given the master plans, these highlight a critical tension between urban growth and sustainability. Despite the push for more green spaces, the replacement of natural landscapes with artificial parks and green areas may threaten long-term sustainability. In view of these apparently conflicting goals, the urban planning framework for BMC would have to take up increasingly stronger conservation policies and adaptive planning practices that consider environmental preservation on a par with economic development in the light of the planning context and trajectory of urbanization.

Analyzing spatial technology trends in urban heritage preservation: A bibliometrics study

This study addresses the notable absence of comprehensive syntheses and bibliometric analyses concerning the utilization of spatial technology within urban heritage preservation contexts. The research aims to elucidate the current status, methodologies, advancements, and future trajectories of spatial technology applications in urban heritage preservation. Employing a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, the study examines pertinent 157 literature through Scopus, categorizes research applications, analyzes bibliometric data, evaluates influence rankings across multiple dimensions, identifies historical trends, and outlines prospective directions. The study findings unveil the evolving characteristics of spatial technology applications. Firstly, it reveals a gradual development trend, with spatial technologies experiencing an annual growth rate of 7.7% between 2010 and 2020. Nevertheless, a significant disparity persists, with more than 63.2% of countries still fully integrating spatial technology on-site at heritage sites. Furthermore, the study highlights varied collaboration levels between research institutions, with limited international cooperation and exchange, particularly evident between developed and developing nations. Lastly, the increasing demand for interdisciplinary research signals a shift towards fostering innovative approaches and solutions in heritage site preservation and management.

Difference between Global South cities: Mexico City, Freetown and the global division of urban informal labour

This work pursues a new explanatory framework for understanding some of the variance and homogeneity of informal work between cities in the Global South. Rooted in a materialist approach to informality, it seeks to explain the dynamics of informal work in different urban contexts via a novel application of the global division of labour, termed the global division of urban informal labour. Through a comparative analysis of the urban labour regimes of Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Mexico City, Mexico, the work argues that each city’s respective location within the global capitalist system largely determines the nature of their informal economies. It posits that a city’s informal labour regime is shaped by whether a city’s economy is predominantly defined by financial, industrial or extractive capital, and explores the ramifications of the financialised economy of Mexico City and the extractivist economy of Freetown for shaping informal work in each city. Such an approach attempts not only to explain urban and labour regime variance but also to highlight the essential and foundational nature of informal work in global capitalism today. It also seeks to aid in the task of recentring capitalism and class considerations into understandings of the internal and external dynamics of Global South cities in general.

Developing and Testing a Rural Business Incubator: A Best Practice Framework

Compared to an urban context, starting a business in a rural context has its distinctive challenges such as the lack of entrepreneurial support infrastructures typical in an urban context. Business incubators are types of entrepreneurial support organizations that support the creation and growth of new companies with tangible and intangible resources. They help incubatees transform their ideas and concepts into feasible products and services with tangible and intangible resources such as facilities, shared equipment, administrative services, knowledge, and access to networks. In the rural context, business incubators can help to address rural entrepreneurship challenges such as population and infrastructure deficiencies, and rural entrepreneurship opportunities such as strong social bonds and embeddedness to a rural environment. In this manner, they can help to mitigate entrepreneurial challenges and foster the use of entrepreneurial opportunities through direct and indirect effects to the local, regional, and national economy. However, rural incubators tend to perform worse than their urban counterparts. The reasons for this aren’t well understood, as there is a lack of incubator research on how locational attributes affect rural business incubators. There is a need for further knowledge about how rural context influences business incubators to improve the development, tracking, and impact of rural business incubators. This study addresses this research gap by creating a rural business incubator best practice framework that addresses general incubator best practices and rural entrepreneurship-specific challenges and opportunities that should be addressed in rural business incubators. The proposed framework is tested in rural VAU!HAUTOMO business incubator and the results are analysed to review the framework´s capabilities and suggest future use cases and research avenues. The framework provides a novel approach to plan, measure, and manage rural business incubators which both researchers and incubator actors can use to develop rural business incubators that better take into account rural entrepreneurship challenges and opportunities.

Environmental Archaeology of an Urban Defensive Area at the Time of the Roman Conquest: New Insights from a Hilltop Pond in Lugdunum (Lyon, France)

ABSTRACT This study shows how fine and organic sediments in urban contexts can document landscape changes, anthropogenic activities and depositional processes. We focus on the transition between the late Iron Age and the Roman period in the city of Lyon (France), where an archaeological excavation conducted on Fourvière Hill aimed at understanding the evolution of a defensive site located south-west of the former Roman city. The discovery of a Gallic wall made of earth, wood and stone (murus gallicus) probably indicates the oppidum status of Lyon before the Roman colonisation. Fine-textured, organic and hydromorphic sediments containing a variety of artefacts (fine wares and amphora fragments) and abundant palaeoecological indicators (seeds, fruits, wood and charcoal fragments, pollen, shells, and parasites), were preserved at the foot of the rampart. A multidisciplinary study of these remains reveals the presence of a former hilltop pond surrounded by riparian woodlands with multi-proxy evidence of arable land or gardens, discharge from human settlements (consumption wastes, human parasites), and grazed areas (faecal inputs, animal parasites and plants tolerant to trampling). After several episodes of sediment inputs and backfill, the palaeoenvironmental record ended at the beginning of the Roman Empire, when a defensive wall was built over the site.

Informed sampling and recommendation of cycling routes: leveraging crowd-sourced trajectories with weighted-latent Dirichlet allocation

Attractive cycling routes can effectively promote active mobility, thus reducing the twin pressures of the population boom and the greenhouse effect. However, the existing approaches for cycling route recommendation primarily concentrate on identifying the most efficient routes while ignoring the urban spatial context, which is essential to meet the user’s particular preferences. This article proposes a novel method for informed sampling and recommending cycling routes leveraging crowd-sourced trajectories with weighted-latent Dirichlet allocation (WLDA). Precisely, spatial context mapping, incorporating a weighting mechanism into LDA, latent topics mining, and cycling route recommendation based on informed sampling are introduced. We collected 1,016 cycling trajectories around Cologne, Germany, for experimental analysis. The experimental results show that the three latent topics within the trajectories, leisure, city, and green tours, are clearly presented in the line density analysis. The insightful recommendation for unfamiliar cyclists could also be actively sampled upon the WLDA model. These findings suggest that our approach could shift the route recommendation paradigm from GIS analysis to a semantic mining perspective, yielding highly interpretable results and offering novel research avenues for applying machine learning in route planning.

Balancing faith and identity: language policies and practices in Indonesian Muslim families

ABSTRACT This study investigates the complex interplay between language policies, religious beliefs, and cultural identity within two Indonesian Muslim families, residing in urban and rural contexts. Given Indonesia’s diverse linguistic landscape, with over 700 languages spoken, this research examines how religious beliefs and cultural identity shape their language ideology and their utilisation of the Indonesian language, local languages, and Arabic within Indonesian Muslim families. This research fills a gap, as there is limited literature on this topic in Indonesia. Through a case study design, including semi-structured interviews with two families in different contexts, the study explores language use for daily communication, cultural preservation, and religious practices. Findings reveal that the urban family members prioritise the Indonesian language for broader communication, while the rural family members maintain stronger ties to local languages to preserve their cultural identity. Their religious convictions place Arabic as a language designated for religious purposes rather than for daily communication. The study underscores the significance of religious beliefs in shaping language choices and highlights the challenges and strategies to preserve cultural identity and religious devotion. This research contributes to the understanding of how faith and cultural identity influence language ideology and practices in Indonesia’s multilingual society.

Development of a Progressive Web Application for Optimizing Solid Waste Management in Urban Contexts: a Case Study in the Coelhos Neighborhood, Recife

Objective: Develop a Progressive Web Application (PWA) to optimize solid waste management in the Coelhos neighborhood in Recife, promoting sustainable practices. Literature Review: The study is based on emerging technologies for waste management, such as IoT and optimization algorithms, addressing challenges and benefits. Method: It includes participatory diagnosis, data collection, and development of the "Limpa+Coelhos" application, integrating technologies like Angular and Google Maps to facilitate waste collection. Results and Discussion: The application significantly increased collection efficiency and community awareness, improving interaction between users and waste management services. Research Implications: The study highlights the potential of PWAs to promote more sustainable and interactive waste management practices in urban contexts. Originality/Value: The research demonstrates the effectiveness of PWAs in improving solid waste management, contributing to the development of innovative technological solutions in urban areas.

The 2023 State of Nebraska Families: State Priorities and Key Areas of Promise

Nebraska is often referred to as “the good life” by state residents. In 2022, Nebraska was comprised of over 800,000 family households and had a population nearing two million. Nebraska is the only state in the U.S. with a unicameral legislature and is comprised of both rural and urban contexts over a diverse geography. Like other states, in the past decade, there have been changes in the demographic makeup of the population, due in part to immigration, an aging population, and out migration. Given this context, we focus our review of Nebraska families on state priorities identified in a Nebraska Cooperative Extension needs assessment that include attracting and retaining a skilled workforce, and enhancing economic vitality, health, and wellbeing. We describe the state geography, demographics, and government contexts. We then describe where current policy programming, and resources stand in addressing relevant family-focused needs and issues of the key working age population. We end with recommendations focused on the strengths of Nebraska, given its relatively small population and community-oriented nature that can be leveraged to support innovations in policies and programs to create a healthy environment for families, that ultimately enhance the economic vitality of the state.

Harmonizing Urban Futures: Integrating Smart and Sustainable City Principles

In an era marked by rapid urbanization and evolving urban challenges, understanding the intricate relationship between sustainable and smart city principles is paramount for shaping resilient and future- ready cities. This study delves into the integration of sustainable and smart city principles, aiming to illuminate their interconnectedness in contemporary urban contexts. By analyzing the latest academic understanding of this integration, the research contributes to the development of comprehensive frameworks guiding urban development strategies. Through bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer, key factors such as air quality, intelligent transportation systems, internet connectivity, urban growth, solar energy, and learning processes emerge as central to understanding the interplay between smart and sustainable cities. This analysis informs efforts towards integrated urban development and resilience. The study hypothesizes that smart city principles build upon sustainable city foundations, as evidenced by interrelated indicators across urban domains. Recognizing the significance of this integration, urban planners and policymakers can craft strategies that prioritize sustainability, innovation, and inclusivity, thus shaping resilient and future-ready cities. By elucidating the symbiotic relationship between smart and sustainable city concepts, this research offers insights crucial for addressing contemporary urban challenges and fostering sustainable urban development globally.