Urban Governance Research Articles

Participatory Renewal of Historic Districts Based on Bayesian Network

Public participation is a requirement for contemporary urban governance in China, especially in the protection planning of historic districts. In the rapid development stage, many historic districts have lost their functional positioning in cities and are gradually disappearing due to outdated facilities and services. Previous studies have pointed out that protecting historic and cultural districts requires the joint efforts of multiple stakeholders. Integrating multiple stakeholders’ interests and needs is a complex problem in related research fields and planning practices. The traditional forms of public participation, such as questionnaire surveys, interviews, and symposiums, have the problem of high time costs for collection and analysis. At the same time, the information has been translated multiple times, making it challenging to avoid misunderstandings and errors. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an alternative platform for public participation in the renewal of China’s historic districts. Taking Houzaimen Street in Jinan City as an example, this paper uses the Bayesian network to establish a spatial evaluation model of historic districts. Our aims are to translate natural semantics into the design semantics of the architectural field, accurately locate the spatial problems of the historic district, and provide targeted improvement measures. In this paper, a public feedback channel for Houzaimen Street is established to provide a reference for the renewal of the historic district and the advancement of public participation.

Tackling Social Inequality in the City of Porto, Northern Portugal: Grassroots Horticultural Practices and the Desired City

Grassroots urban horticultural plots (hortas), part of the Porto Metropolitan Area in Northern Portugal, are presented as liminal spaces that hold a richness of community life and a “gift economy.” Often in existence for several decades and encompassing groups of over 20 or 30 people, these informal communities are, nevertheless, not cherished by the instances of city governance that do not stand in the way of the destruction of these low‐income urbanite horticultural communities. The use of de Certeau’s concepts of “strategy” and “tactics” are used to try and explain this incompatibility between these two forms of urban (self) governance that hinders the right to the city by the low‐income urbanites who have created these horticultural grassroots communities.

Urban governance and solid household waste management in Togo: Case of the town of Vogan in Togo (West Africa)

The regular growth of the population and the change in consumption patterns lead to significant production of urban waste, the management of which is becoming an environmental concern. The rapid population growth and changing consumption patterns have led to significant urban waste production, making waste management a pressing environmental concern. This study aims to improve solid household waste management in Vogan through a diagnostic analysis. Conducted from June to August 2022, the cross-sectional study surveyed household knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to waste management. Data were collected through an opinion survey of 350 households across 20 districts, using semi-structured questionnaires, interviews, and field observations. Additionally, heavy metal content in waste samples was analyzed in the laboratory. Results showed that 85.43% of households had trash cans, yet 62.26% disposed of their waste in illegal dumpsites due to a lack of pre-collection services. Furthermore, 10.57% used waste as backfill in streets. Knowledge about waste management was moderate, with 62.29% having heard of it, and 70% of these respondents recognizing the importance of subscribing to a pre-collection service. Laboratory analyses revealed contamination of a landfill with cadmium, lead, and copper, along with widespread zinc pollution across all selected sites. Raising awareness and installing proper waste management infrastructure are critical to improving public health and enhancing the town's environmental quality.

Contesting “VIP urbanism”

We live in an age of extreme and worsening urban inequality. One result is the increased prevalence of “VIP urbanism”—the idea that cities govern land use through two sets of rules, one of them reserved for “very important people”. The first set of rules applies to most urbanites, through de jure laws and standardized bureaucratic policies. However, in many places a second set of practices operates quietly alongside the official rules, as a de facto system of loopholes, easements, exemptions, lobbying, and veto power that enable some actors to shape cities in ways that violate the spirit—and sometimes even the letter—of the law. This special issue presents empirical research and theoretical commentary on the VIP urbanism phenomenon, with cases including Bengaluru, Hong Kong, Milan, New York City, Paris, Valparaiso, and Venice. The authors identify how preferential treatment for elites has impacted urban governance in a diverse geography of cities, and evaluate how these practices have been contested by social movements and other urban stakeholders.

Multipurpose territorial cadastre and collaborative participation as tools for smart urban governance: An analysis considering the pandemic’s effect in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil

The society lives in a dynamic, complex and contradictory urban system, seeking to reach a balance between urban development and environmental preservation. For this purpose, there is a need to perform an efficient urban management integrated with the information and communication technologies. From this integration, emerges the smart cities concept, which is composed of smart governance strategies and actions. In this sense, the present article aims to understand and discuss the contributions, potentials and public values of the multipurpose territorial cadastre and the collaborative participation as tools for smart governance. In order to validate the theoretical essay, a case study was performed to analyze urban governance in the São Paulo metropolitan region, Brazil, according to the use of information and geoinformation resources applied to cities’ management, pre- and post-pandemics. The results have shown that some practices of municipal governments have already been established aligned with the dimensions of smart governance. However, mainly, as for spatial activation in the use of geoinformation, as well as in the use of multipurpose territorial cadastre, it still has much to move forward and, therefore, to qualify with public value the strategies and actions of governance that a smart city requires.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Research on the Metaverse for Smart Cities: The Dimensions of Technology, People, and Institutions

The “Metaverse” is evaluated as having significant potential in a “Smart city” design and operation. Despite growing interest, there is still a lack of comprehensive quantitative analysis on the “Metaverse”, particularly in the context of smart cities. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 604 articles selected from the “WoS” database and employs three dimensions of technology, people, and institutions as a balanced perspective on smart cities, providing a comprehensive understanding of research trends on the “Metaverse” in the context of smart cities. This study identifies the “Metaverse” as a Virtual reality technology, popular since 2021, and provides information on the active years, countries, fields, journals, authors, and institutions involved in “Metaverse” research on smart cities. This study also identifies three stages of research development as follows: Stage 1 (2007–2013) to Stage 2 (2014–2020) and Stage 3 (2021–20 October 2023), revealing the research focus evolution from basic “urban planning” to complex “urban governance” and “Smart city” construction with consideration of multi-stakeholders’ perspectives. Additionally, this study reveals that “Metaverse” research studies on the “technology” dimension have consistently outnumbered that on “institutions” and “people” across all stages in the “Smart city” domain. These findings address current theoretical gaps and offer a foundation for future research.

Urban Morphology Classification and Organizational Patterns: A Multidimensional Numerical Analysis of Heping District, Shenyang City

Prior studies have failed to adequately address intangible characteristics and lacked a comprehensive quantification of cultural dimensions. Additionally, such works have not merged supervised and unsupervised classification methodologies. To address these gaps, this study employed multidimensional numerical techniques for precise spatial pattern recognition and urban morphology classification at the block scale. By examining building density, mean floor numbers, functional compositions, and street block mixed-use intensities, alongside historical and contemporary cultural assets within blocks—with assigned weights and entropy calculations from road networks, building vectors, and POI data—a hierarchical categorization of high, medium, and low groups was established. As a consequence, cluster analysis revealed seven distinctive morphology classifications within the studied area, each with unique spatial configurations and evolutionary tendencies. Key findings include the dominance of high-density, mixed-use blocks in the urban core, the persistence of historical morphologies in certain areas, and the emergence of new, high-rise clusters in recently developed zones. The investigation further elucidated the spatial configurations and evolutionary tendencies of each morphology category. These insights lay the groundwork for forthcoming studies to devise morphology-specific management strategies, thereby advancing towards a more scientifically grounded, rational, and precision-focused approach to urban morphology governance.

Towards Sustainable and Sufficient City Region Food Systems: Reflections from the Case Study of Turin, Italy

The City Region Food System (CRFS) approach has emerged in recent years as a framework for shaping urban food governance and policies that overcome the methodological cityism of approaches limited to urban territories defined by administrative boundaries. This article critically analyses the concept referring to the case study of the metropolitan city of Turin, Italy, as part of action research contributing to ongoing efforts to establish food policies. The discussion focuses on three dimensions: (1) the spatial definition of the city region; (2) the relation between the support of short and the re-assessment of long supply chains, with reference to a relational understanding of space; (3) the tensions between the CRFS as an analytical concept and a transformative framework. Results suggest that there is no linear path to define the spatial limits for a CRFS analysis and that a pragmatic approach can best serve policies; that long supply chains should not be ignored but integrated into local food policies; that there are contradictions in the transformative dimension of the CRFS literature when investigating the underlying sustainable development framework from a growth-critical perspective; and that separating the analytical more clearly from the normative dimension could make the discussion more productive.

Urban Perception Evaluation and Street Refinement Governance Supported by Street View Visual Elements Analysis

As street imagery and big data techniques evolve, opportunities for refined urban governance emerge. This study delves into effective methods for urban perception evaluation and street refinement governance by using street view data and deep learning. Employing DeepLabV3+ and VGGNet models, we analyzed street view images from Nanshan District, Shenzhen, identifying critical factors that shape residents’ spatial perceptions, such as urban greenery, road quality, and infrastructure. The findings indicate that robust vegetation, well-maintained roads, and well-designed buildings significantly enhance positive perceptions, whereas detractors like fences reduce quality. Furthermore, Moran’s I statistical analysis and multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) models highlight spatial heterogeneity and the clustering of perceptions, underscoring the need for location-specific planning. The study also points out that complex street networks in accessible areas enhance living convenience and environmental satisfaction. This research shows that integrating street view data with deep learning provides valuable tools for urban planners and policymakers, aiding in the development of more precise and effective urban governance strategies to foster more livable, resilient, and responsive urban environments.

Intelligent vs. Cultural: Research on the path to improve the resilience of urban and rural community governance based on the AHP-FCE model

Community resilience is a core component of grassroots governance modernization, and community resilience shows different characteristics depending on the type of community. Existing research on community resilience mainly uses direct questionnaire data, relatively ignoring the differences in weights of various dimensions. Different categories of community resilience components play different roles in community resilience. Based on this, the study cited the logic of the AHP-FCE model and added objective data based on empowering resilience, thus making up for the model's shortcomings while giving full play to the model's advantages. The quantitative analysis of 353 questionnaires from five urban districts and five rural communities in the sample city was based on the community resilience evaluation model. In the current process of community resilience construction, there are typical problems of a lack of cultural resilience in urban community resilience construction and a need for more intelligent resilience in rural community resilience construction. The key to future community resilience construction is reconciling the relationship between cultural and intellectual resilience to solve the problem of targeting deviation in urban communities and rural community resilience construction. It is necessary to adhere to the spirit of “long-term construction” to build the cultural resilience of urban communities, implement the path of “digital empowerment” to make the intelligent resilience of rural communities, and adhere to the standard of “complete redundancy” to form an urban and rural community resilience governance mechanism gradually, and then Move towards more resilient urban and rural community governance and help realize the modernization of grassroots governance.

The evolution of urban ecological resilience: An evaluation framework based on vulnerability, sensitivity and self-organization

Ecological resilience assessment has become a key link in urban sustainable governance. This study introduces a new evaluation framework to inform policy-making and practical applications. Based on the structural and functional dimensions of landscape patterns, it integrates the vulnerability, sensitivity and self-organization of resilience to point to desirable directions of ecological resilience. A composite ecological resilience index is compiled based on six indices of landscape diversity, landscape disturbance, source-sink patch distance, habitat quality, minimum cumulative resistance, and landscape restoration. The framework is particularly applicable to cities located in ecologically sensitive areas. Hence, Nanchang City, China was selected as a case study. Using 1km2 hexagonal grids, the framework is applied to map spatiotemporal changes and to analyze various natural and anthropogenic driving forces of ecological resilience in Nanchang from 2000 to 2020. Research findings confirm the feasibility and value of the urban ecological resilience analysis framework. They also highlight the advantages of the framework in revealing spatially dynamic processes and ecological resilience contributing factors, making it a valuable and practical tool for sustainable urban planning and refined management decision-making.

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.

Developing a model for measuring the spatial disability level of cities within the framework of barrier-free pedestrian accessibility: the case of Kırklareli City centre

The problem of disability is directly related to the physical barriers encountered in urban spaces. Pedestrian accessibility performance is a notable urban quality indicator. Universal design principles and barrier-free design standards are important in making urban spaces usable for everyone. However, projects in this context generally cover specific areas of cities. Bringing an entire city into compliance with barrier-free design standards requires high cost and time. Therefore, determining the spatial disability level of the urban texture and planning project stages constitute a critical process for local governments. This study proposes a model to measure the pedestrian accessibility performance of medium-sized cities with relatively walkable distances within the framework of spatial barriers and to identify priority intervention points. In this context, Kırklareli city centre was selected as a case study area. According to the model developed with the support of GIS, the “ideal accessibility network” is determined for the citizens, and the performance level is calculated by identifying the spatial barriers on this network. The model was developed using components that can be applied to any city and tested in a sample urban environment. This conceptual model contributes to urban science and local government policy by providing a monitoring mechanism for spatial disability that can be constantly tracked by citizens, and by supplying an information base for projects to be developed by local governments. It is hoped that this study will popularise pedestrian-oriented spatial design and control in cities where walkability is postponed due to the focus on wheeled vehicle mobility and where spatial barriers are felt only by disabled individuals.

Participation of Citizen as Social Capital in LAPOR! Application in Indonesia

Citizen engagement is crucial for the success of smart cities. In urban areas, communities as social capital has an interpersonal bond that unites people. Due to the complexity of urban issues like pollution, waste, and population density, citizens can monitor the government's work priorities to solve the problem. This article focuses on smart cities from a human-centered perspective, emphasizing the role of information technology. In Indonesia, citizens' rights awareness is facilitated by the National Public Service Complaint Management System (SP4N) or People's Aspiration and Online Complaints Service (LAPOR!), which acts as social capital. This article explores five key aspects of smart cities and smart citizenship: governance, citizen participation, infrastructure, public spaces, and urban livability. While ICT-driven approaches can swiftly transform cities, a community-based approach fosters long-term shifts. Meanwhile, limited citizen involvement contributes to ecosystem degradation in Indonesia and underscores the urgency and importance of citizen engagement in urban planning. In democratic societies, citizens hold power, and concepts of smart citizenship encompass civic intelligence and, at the same time, also value local knowledge. In Indonesia, LAPOR! reflects smart citizenship, enabling transparent reporting of aspirations and complaints. However, factors like limited access and education of citizens affect its use. This research used qualitative methods with content analysis methods. Qualitative content analysis is used to examine the textual content of websites. Using LAPOR! SP4N in Indonesia to see the implementation of the concept of smart society and smart city. Participatory processes should contribute substantially to urban planning and governance. Information technology serves as a temporary solution for long-term urban planning issues. Broader concerns like public policy and participatory democracy must also be considered. In conclusion, this article explores the dynamic relationship between smart cities and smart citizenship, highlighting the importance of active citizen engagement and the potential of technology to empower communities for positive urban transformations.

Urban Food Democracy and Governance in North and South

Urban Food Democracy and Governance in North and South

Exploring the aquifers shaping Italy's sub-urban landscape

This review paper examines the hydrogeological characteristics and challenges of urban groundwater management in ten major Italian cities: Turin, Milano, Padova, Bologna, Roma, Pescara, Napoli, Bari, Catania, and Cagliari. Urbanization has placed significant pressure on groundwater systems, highlighting the need for sustainable management. The study categorizes the cities based on their hydrogeological settings and groundwater uses, identifying key issues such as salinization, industrial contamination, and land subsidence. The findings emphasize the importance of urban local aquifers (ULAs) for drinking water, industry, and ecological support, advocating for integrated urban water management and governance to enhance resilience against future water shortages and climate change impacts.

Left to Live and Die: Resource Security and the Biopolitics of Land Stockpiling in China

AbstractBeginning in 2007, the Chinese state used liberalising policy and funding to encourage the expansion of large‐scale grain farming. Despite this support, many of the new farms have struggled financially and folded. Drawing on Foucauldian biopolitics and resource security literature, I argue that, with modernised agriculture, the state primarily sought to create not commercial farms, but the redundant farming infrastructure needed to buffer its growing reliance on food imports, abide by global trade regulations, and sustain its urban export manufacturing economy. These balancing efforts harmed commercial farmers: land commodification and policy funding incentivised urban government officials to intervene in rural land‐use planning, but low global market aligned grain prices disincentivised them from considering the place‐particular viability of their plans for producers. This article contributes to critical agrarian change literature by highlighting how modernist states become beholden to rational scientific techniques and sacrifice rural areas for increasingly vulnerable urban areas.

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.

Entrance opportunity vs. academic performance: unpacking the nonlinear capitalization effects of multidimensional school qualities on housing sales and rental prices

It is widely documented that school quality has a capitalization effect on housing prices. However, existing literature has commonly reported a linear relationship between housing sales prices and the academic performance of nearby schools. This study challenges this prevalent understanding by examining how the entrance opportunity as an integral part of school quality affects both housing sales prices and housing rental prices, in response to the newly adopted point-based school enrolment policy in China whereby tenants are allowed to access local public schools but with fewer opportunities compared to homeowners. Employing machine learning algorithms, this study identifies which key school indicators and what ranges of these indicators have significant impacts on different housing sales and rental price segments in Shenzhen, China. Our results reveal that housing rental prices, particularly in the lower-priced segment, are more determined by the entrance opportunity than the academic performance, while the latter is the most important factor influencing housing sales prices. The nonlinear capitalization effect suggests that tenants and homebuyers are willing to pay more for school quality increases only within specific ranges, namely, from median to a relatively high level of school quality. These findings contribute to a more nuanced and updated understanding of the education capitalization effect and thus inform more inclusive and equitable urban planning and governance.

Empirical Analysis on the Mechanism of Industrial Park Driving Urban Expansion: A Case Study of Xining City

Taking Xining City as an example, this article analyzes the mechanism by which industrial park construction drives the expansion of urban population size and built-up area, based on a review of the process of industrial park development and urban population growth. It also discusses future urban governance models in light of urban development trends. The research finds: (1) In the process of urban development, industrial park construction is often the initial factor in the cumulative and cyclical development of a city; (2) As the level of development improves and the mode of economic growth changes, the government should timely adjust its strategies, shifting from the expansion of industrial park construction towards structural optimization and quality improvement. The most significant difference from previous research is that this paper emphasizes the importance of government planning. This study can not only demonstrate the general process of industrial parks promoting urban expansion, but more importantly, it explains the fundamental reasons for the transition of urban expansion to adjustment from a mechanism perspective, thereby eliminating the drawbacks of simply predicting urban scale evolution through data models.