Urban Equity Research Articles

Estrategias del acceso al hábitat. Instrumentos de gestión urbana y gobiernos locales

The intervention of the State must takes place across its measurements, the exchange of course in the form of unequaled access of the population to the urban space and incorporating a major number of citizens with the benefits of the development of the cities (Smolka and Furtado, 2014). In this sense an diary of successful planning in terms of inclusive management, must fight these imbalances and asymmetries, including: "Political leadership, capacity of joint, institutional efficiency and local financial, and especially, legitimization before the community of the intention of achieving a major urban equity..." (Mac Donald, 2003: 145). The local governments have spent of a portfolio of competences annotated to a multiplication and sophistication of the demand from the civil demands (Iturburu, 2013) and the complex urban problems- regional that must attend (in dimensions superposed at economic-productive, sociocultural level, institutional and environmental politician) must give answer for its proximity to the citizen (Subirats, 2017).

Risk Inequality and the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus: A Study of 43 City Adaptation Plans.

Goals aimed at adapting to climate change in sustainable and just ways are embedded in global agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. However, largely unexamined, are the ways that narrative understandings conveyed in adaptation plans consider and attempt to address inequality in climate risk to urban populations and FEW-systems. In this paper, we examine whether and how adaptation plans from C40 member cities address inequality in risk, by planning actions to reduce hazard exposure or tackling the drivers of social vulnerability. C40 is a network of 94 of the world's cities fostering policies to address climate change. We apply a mixed methods approach, including a discourse analysis and meta-analysis of adaptation plans. The discourse analysis helps to unpack framings of urban equity issues as they relate to policy actions, and the meta-analysis seeks to quantitatively investigate patterns of framing and policy across adaptation plans. Our findings suggest that FEW-nexus thinking is not yet embedded in narrative understandings of risk and planned adaptation actions, within the adaptation plans we studied. In the city adaptation plans we analyzed, we found multiple frames coexisting behind the broader adaptation visions (e.g., risk and resilience). Rather than converging, issues, and principles such as those of equality, coexist with economic issues in an imbalance of incongruent political movements and priorities. Techno-infrastructural and economic investments and concerns tend to take precedence over concerns and interests for inequality in climate risks. We discuss some of the institutional factors explaining this. Knowledge integration, for instance, is constrained by the existence of a plurality of sectors, levels of government, power, values, and ways of understanding and managing climate risk. We also suggest that the relatively low importance of equality considerations in the adaptation plans will likely limit the capacity of cities to support broader goals such as those of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

On the difficulty of agreeing upon a universal logic for city standards

In a paper published within the Debates section of City last year, Schindler and Marvin laid out an agenda for the study of city standards, which they argued impose a universal logic of control. While they described three published standards and situated city standards within the context of smart cities, their failure to consider the institutional setting of the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) led them to overemphasise the coherence and unity with which city standards are actually developed. In this response piece, I correct this omission by excavating the origins of TC 268, the technical committee dedicated to city standards. This reveals not a universal logic of control, but a body of expertise in contentious and contingent emergence. While ultimately, I agree with Schindler and Marvin that city standards are deserving of greater attention from critical urban scholars, I argue for a more situated response to their politics that leaves open the possibility of them having positive effects on urban equity and social change.

The rural–urban equity nexus of Metro Manila’s water system

ABSTRACTThis article examines equity concerns and inherent conflicts related to rural–urban water supply allocation and use, with focus on Metro Manila. Going beyond the much-discussed difficulty farmers experience from an allocation policy prioritizing urban water requirements, it shows that inequity in raw water allocation is linked to, and further exacerbated by, inequities in urban domestic water provision. Moreover, it highlights the need for broader equity reviews, using the concept of the rural–urban water equity nexus to draw attention to key equity considerations across space and scale that otherwise might remain invisible.

Improving household surveys and use of data to address health inequities in three Asian cities: protocol for the Surveys for Urban Equity (SUE) mixed methods and feasibility study

IntroductionAs rapid urbanisation transforms the sociodemographic structures within cities, standard survey methods, which have remained unchanged for many years, under-represent the urban poorest. This leads to an overly positive picture...

The Role of Accessibility to Public Transport and Quality of Walking Environment on Urban Equity: The Case of Santiago de Chile

Most studies of public transport accessibility have focused on proximity to stops, walking distances or time to reach them. This approach ignores other accessibility barriers, such as the quality of the urban environment of these walks. The aim of this research is to analyze both accessibility to public transport stops and the quality of the urban walking environment, exploring fairness issues across the city in terms of these two dimensions. The proposed methodology considers the definition of two indicators: walking accessibility to public transport stops and quality of the walking environment, considering different attributes and dimensions. These indicators are later used to develop a fairness analysis at the local and metropolitan level, using Lorenz curves, Gini coefficient, and Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty measures. A diagnosis based on these indicators for Santiago de Chile allows us to suggest public policy priorities to improve accessibility to public transport and promote modal shift. The results show that 12 out of 34 municipalities in Santiago are deprived of one or both dimensions, not managing to achieve minimum fairness standards. Moreover, since a correlation between low income and poor access and urban space quality is detected, urban fairness across the city would benefit from centralized urban policies not depending on the budget of each administrative division.

Towards Understanding the Socio-Economic Patterns of Sharing Economy in Australia: An Investigation of Airbnb Listings in Sydney and Melbourne Metropolitan Regions

The rapid uptake of the sharing economy is disrupting many socially established models of services, especially in the housing and transportation sectors. This paper builds upon the growing critical scholarship examining the urban equity implications of the giant online sharing accommodation platform, Airbnb. It focuses on Airbnb listings in two major Australian metropolitan regions, Sydney and Melbourne. The paper raises important questions about the socio-economic patterns of Airbnb offering, and basically asks who is taking part in the sharing. It examines the Airbnb listings against the Census-based Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA), and housing tenure data. Findings clearly show the biased distribution of Airbnb listings, presenting Airbnb hosting as a relatively affluent phenomena with education as the strongest socio-economic factor determining host participation on the platform. Nevertheless, areas in strategic tourist locations have been identified as places where Airbnb is having a pressing impact, and where imminent regulatory intervention is required.

Ridesourcing, the sharing economy, and the future of cities

As an integral part of the emerging sharing economy, ridesourcing refers to transportation services that connect community drivers with passengers via mobile devices and applications. The spectacular growth of ridesourcing has sparked a burgeoning literature discussing how it affects the future of cities. This paper presents a systematic review of the existing literature concerning the impact of ridesourcing on the efficiency, equity, and sustainability of urban development. Ridesourcing has a positive impact on economic efficiency. It both complements and competes with public transit, but its influence on traffic congestions near city centers is still unclear. Regarding urban equity, ridesourcing further amplifies the issue of the digital divide and raises concerns over the issues of discrimination and data privacy and security. It is also hotly contested whether prosumers (producers/consumers) are exploited by the sharing economy platforms, whether ridesourcing drivers are reasonably compensated, and how to better protect on-demand workers' rights. Even though ridesourcing has been promoting a green image, its true environmental impact has not been thoroughly investigated. According to the evidence reported in the literature so far, it is unlikely that ridesourcing will reduce private car ownership. Ridesourcing's impacts on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are uncertain based on existing research. This paper outlines the danger of conceptual confusion and the methodological issues in the existing literature. Further research is sorely needed as the future of cities is indisputably tied to the sharing economy and its impacts on shared mobility.

A Review of Urban Planning Research for Climate Change

This paper identified the research focus and development tendency of urban planning and climate change research from 1990 to 2016 using CiteSpace, which is based on the Web of Science database. Through cluster analysis and a document sorting method, the research direction of city planning and climate change were mainly divided into four academic groupings, 15 clusters with homogenous themes representing the current research focus direction at the sub-level. The detailed study on the framework presented three mainstream developing directions: (1) The index assessment and spatial simulation on the impact of urban spatial systems for climate change have become important methods to identify and improve the adaptability of urban space. (2) Adaptive governance as a bottom-up strategy giving priority to institutional adaptation policy and collaborative polices for responding to climate change has become the hot direction in recent years. (3) The policies of urban public health-related urban equity, vulnerability, and environmental sustainability were addressed especially during the period from 2007 to 2009. Dynamic evolution trends of the research field were discussed: (1) The total numbers of papers in this field increased distinctly between 2005 and 2008, research focus shifted from single-dimension to multi-dimension comprehensive studies, and the humanism tendency was obvious. (2) After 2010, research on multi-level governance and spatial adaptation strategies became the key issues, and a bottom-up level adaptation policies were addressed. Finally, the critical influence of the important literature and the forefront issues of the research field were put forward.

Climate change, equity and the Sustainable Development Goals: an urban perspective

Climate change is acknowledged as the largest threat to our societies in the coming decades, potentially affecting large and diverse groups of urban residents in this century of urbanization. As urban areas house highly diverse people with differing vulnerabilities, intensifying climate change is likely to shift the focus of discussions from a general urban perspective to who in cities will be affected by climate change, and how. This brings the urban equity question to the forefront. Here we assess how climate change events may amplify urban inequity. We find that heatwaves, but also flooding, landslides, and even mitigation and adaptation measures, affect specific population groups more than others. As underlying sensitivity factors we consistently identify socioeconomic status and gender. We synthesize the findings with regard to equity types – meaning outcome-based, process-oriented and context-related equity – and suggest solutions for avoiding increased equity and justice concerns as a result of climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation.

Urban form and spatial urban equity in Bogota, Colombia

Abstract It has always been said that Bogota is one of the densest cities in the world, but what is not said is that density is distributed very differently within the urban area, with different effects on the population. This may create differences in location and access among socioeconomic groups. This paper shows four indicators that measure those differences, contributing to inequity in Bogota. The main goal of this paper is to organize facts rather than to explain their causes and quantify some data that always have been in the minds of planners, but never have calculated. First, the analysis of activity balance shows a monocentric pattern that contributes to important differences in travel time between income groups; second, spatial distribution of population and employment are different, generating higher travel times for the low-income population. Population density is higher in the boundaries of the city while employment decreases with distance to city center. An accessibility analysis for the different income levels was carried out, showing low accessibility indexes to work for more than 80% of the low-income population. Those differences in access may contribute to the important differences in mobility among socioeconomic groups. In fact, high-income groups make 150% more trips than low-income groups.

Climate adaptation as strategic urbanism: assessing opportunities and uncertainties for equity and inclusive development in cities

An increasing number of cities are recognising the impacts of climate change on their development pathways. In this paper, we assess strategic climate adaptation actions in the cities of Durban (South Africa), Indore (India), and Medellin (Colombia), and examine different approaches to integrating emerging adaptation priorities into urban plans, programmes, or governance arrangements. We highlight sources of planning tension – particularly between aspects of the planning process and larger urban political economic forces – that reshape how subsequent adaptation interventions are framed and implemented. We find that when advanced with a focus on alignment with development, strategic actions that transcend individual actor or sectoral interests have a better chance at taking root. However, we note that a procedural focus in strategic urbanism must also be accompanied by an integrated assessment of planning outcomes in order to ensure more equitable and inclusive development in cities. Although strategic approaches may facilitate coherent policy framings, targeted actor coalitions, and opportunities for collaborative action, such approaches are often unable to adequately capture the difficult policy trade-offs or contestations that are required to further overall adaptive capacities of cities. In other words, strategic adaptation actions must be considered in relation to the powerful, and often entrenched, political economic interests that constrain urban equity at-large.

Navigating Housing Approaches: A Search for Convergences among Competing Ideas

Since the late nineteenth century, researchers, policy-makers and planners have searched for housing solutions. Nowadays, housing projects are closely connected to global socio-spatial challenges, such as urban equity, vulnerability and resiliency. In the context of these urban challenges, housing emerges as a local, national and global concern influenced by shifting globalized economies and dynamic real estate markets. Thus, housing can no longer be understood as a one-dimensional problem that can be solved by providing more housing units through a top-down mechanism, nor can it be perceived as personal space distinct from national and global contexts. But most studies in housing focus on one issue and explore it from a single perspective, contributing to a complex, specialized and fragmented body of knowledge. This specialization and fragmentation result in the loss of the ability to see the whole picture from its parts. By responding to these issues, this paper aims to establish the importance of (1) becoming familiar with the varied levels of housing studies as well as their underlying premises and paradigmatic boundaries and (2) exploring convergences or expansions among these levels as an initial step in establishing possible paths for a research synthesis that can support new research agendas and action strategie.

INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL ISSUE 4 : 2016

It is my esteem pleasure to present this Special Issue of Planning Malaysia based on selected papers presented in the 13th International Congress of Asian Planning Schools Association (APSA 2015) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. UTM, the country’s pioneer institution in the urban and regional planning discipline is indeed honoured to have hosted this prestigious event. The theme for APSA2015 was ‘Towards an Asian Urban Agenda: Planning Asian DiverseCity, IntenseCity, ComplexCity and AuthenticCity’, and oral presentation papers was featured across six tracks encompassing Urban Planning and Design Challenges; Urban Institutions and Governance; Bridging Urban Research and Urban Policy; Soul-Searching Planning Education; Green Growth and, Urban Equity and Authenticity. The theme was developed with the idea of going beyond rhetoric and planning in the Asian urban context. It is timely for the Asian urban planners to rediscover the Asian wisdom and promote an Asian renaissance in urban and regional planning.It is gratifying to acknowledge that APSA2015 had more than 200 participants from about 20 countries in Asia and other parts of the world. Thirty distinguished research articles written by national and international scholars on variety of issues of urban context have been included in this MIP special edition. The research papers selected are experimental, computational and theoretical aspects covering the broad spectrum of planning. This special edition also includes several seminal vision articles which represent the general theme of the congress. As Chairman of APSA 2015, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Planning Malaysia, MIP for publishing this Special Issue. My profound thankfulness is also addressed to the Organising Committee and the reviewers for their effort and commitment in ensuring that this journal are published. Finally, using the Planning Malaysia Special Edition as an occasion, I would like to thank to those who has created the opportunity for this publication particularly the UIAM as the Planning Malaysia secretariat.

Understanding the Disposition of Urban Planning Students Toward Social Justice and Equity Themes

This research surveys how graduate level urban planning students think about social justice and equity issues and how academic instruction in urban planning affects the disposition of students toward these issues and themes in the context of their development as urban planning professionals. Although the quantitative findings did not demonstrate that the graduate curriculum and instruction had any appreciable impact on student understanding and navigation of equity and social justice themes, qualitative evidence did suggest that students are understanding and care about issues related to social justice and equity and were interested in incorporating those issues into their professional practice. This research also suggests that graduate academic instruction may fall short in supporting students with the useful integration of social justice and equity issues into their professional practice.

Space for equity: socioeconomic variations in the provision of public parks in Hermosillo, Mexico

This article examines the intersection between globalisation and allocation of open public space by testing the spatial equity hypothesis in Hermosillo, Mexico, a regional city impacted directly by global processes. Availability and accessibility of public parks were examined using a geographic information system and neighbourhoods were stratified into quintiles based on socioeconomic status. Overall, the analysis shows that the amount of public park space in Hermosillo is substandard and its distribution reveals a pattern of spatial inequity affecting primarily residents of poor neighbourhoods. We argue that as the economy of the city grows increasingly integrated into global circuits, the global-to-local connection materialises in an unequal competition between globalised spaces and local public space. This, in turn, leads to further relegation of neighbourhoods that are already on the margins of urban equity regarding access to public parks. This study extends prior research conducted in developed countries to a city in a developing nation and fills a vacuum of information that potentially can contribute to a more equitable development in Hermosillo.

Planning the Climate-just City

Issues of urban equity have long been linked to urban planning. Yet in practice the quest for the ‘just city’, defined in terms of democracy, diversity, difference and sustainability, has proven to be highly problematic. Drawing on examples from the Australian urban context, we argue that the imperative of climate change adds urgency to the longstanding equity agenda of planning in cities. In our normative quest for the climate-just city we offer a conceptual and analytical framework for integrating the principles of climate justice and equity into urban planning thinking and practice.

From Socialism to Social Justice Feminism: Rose Schneiderman and the Quest for Urban Equity, 1911-1933

This article argues that in her long career of political and labor activism, Rose Schneiderman (1882-1972) embarked on a quest for urban equity that took her from the tenets of socialism, which emphasized trade unionism, to the principles of social justice feminism, which advocated state activism through the passage and promotion of labor legislation. While social justice feminists wanted to both ameliorate the harsh effects of industrialization and urbanization and to change the social conditions of women, they often neglected the issues of class and race. I describe how Schneiderman changed that situation from 1911 through 1933 by lobbying for legislative changes in the Progressive Era, by establishing a partnership between social justice feminism and New York’s Democratic Party, and by assisting African American laundry workers in New York City from 1924 through 1933.

Earth Science for the city

Abstract The Earth Sciences, in particular the geosciences, contribute to solutions for a wide range of urban problems, encompassing aspects of urban health, urban safety, urban space, urban environment and urban equity. The prospects for geoscientists, particularly with respect to the subsurface, are encouraging, in light of urban development trends influenced by population growth, urbanization, quality of life, environmental awareness and technological development. Unfortunately, there is little recognition that geoscience information and knowledge contributes to sustainable urban development. The International Year of Planet Earth provides an opportunity to improve the image of geoscientists in the public eye and promote new geoscience concepts and ideas for ensuring the well-being of society and sustainability of the environment.

Fighting for a Radical City: Student Protesters and the Politics of Space in 1960s and 1970s Downtown Manhattan

In the popular imagination, 1960s radicalism often appears as a national phenomenon that varied little from region to region. The case of downtown Manhattan during these years, however, challenges this assumption. Student radicals at New York University in Greenwich Village were just as concerned with issues of urban equity and the politics of urban space as they were with more national concerns, such as ending the Vietnam War. NYU students advocated that the university offer open admissions and free tuition to any New Yorker who wished to attend and fought against what they perceived to be the university’s imperialistic management of Bellevue Hospital. In this paper, I consider the ways in which late 1960s radicals in downtown Manhattan negotiated how a city should be constituted, and I argue that, in challenging the concrete city conditions that they deemed to be indicative of larger systemic problems, these radicals’ activism represents not only a piece of 1960s radical history but also a chapter of local urban history. Manhattan radicalism in the 1960s was predicated on the urban environment that it was a part of, and a consideration of the radical efforts to reconstruct the postwar city is essential to understanding period radicalism and the development of cities. The rapid and transformative changes in American metropolitan areas after the Second World War and the leftist radicalism that is the hallmark of the decade are narratives that commentators often tell as two different, unrelated stories, even though, in the case of New York City, student activism had everything to do with the postwar city. My examination of radicals’ work to enact local change takes steps toward furthering the efforts of a generation of scholars who have tried to complicate our view of “the sixties.”