Urban Public Policy Research Articles

Evidence for urban design and public health policy and practice: Space syntax metrics and neighborhood walking.

Most walkability indices do not capture the topological structure of urban forms. Space syntax models these topological relationships. We estimated associations between the space syntax measure of street integration and walkability (SSW) and neighborhood-specific leisure (LW) and transportation (TW) walking among 4422 Canadian adults. Street integration and SSW were found to be positively associated with TW and LW participation in a usual week. A one-unit increase in SSW was associated with a 6-min increase in usual weekly minutes of TW. Street integration and SSW were also positively associated with TW participation in the last week. Higher street integration and walkability conceptualized using space syntax support neighborhood walking.

A Conversation with Mary Ellen Carroll

A wide-ranging and definitive interview with conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll, who is best known for works that transpose land art to urban contexts and to questions of public policy such as zoning and access to free Internet service. Carroll describes her practice in terms of “making architecture perform,” which she does through direct interventions in city streets, such as her rotation of a suburban house in prototype 180 (1999–ongoing) so that it's back façade was turned to the street, while it's front faced a public park at the back of the lot, or in Public Utility 2.0 (2015), which sought to provide broadband wireless through unused radio frequencies, otherwise known as Super Wi-Fi, to underserved communities, largely of color, in New Orleans. Carroll is a leading voice at the intersection of urban theory, public policy, and media art, and in this interview, she articulates the several complex layers of her most significant projects to date.

Changes in residential satisfaction after home relocation: A longitudinal study in Beijing, China

The literature on residential mobility pays little attention to the outcomes of residential relocation and their determinants. This study aims to address this shortfall by examining the link between home relocation and change in residential satisfaction based on data from a two-wave sample survey in Beijing, China. The data is collected through interviews with a sample of 537 participants who planned to move and eventually did move in Beijing. A multi-level structural equation model is developed to analyse the determinants of change in residential satisfaction after home relocation. The results show that people generally become more satisfied with their residence after relocation. The major determinants of residential satisfaction changes are adjustments in housing conditions (including housing tenure and dwelling space) and neighbourhood environment (including physical design, absence of nuisance, social interaction and accessibility to various facilities). The findings of this research not only enrich the literature on residential satisfaction and residential mobility, but may also help to improve urban planning and public housing policies.

Spatial Distribution and Location Characteristics of Airbnb in Seoul, Korea

The popularity of the sharing economy, including organizations such as Airbnb and Uber, has increased rapidly over the last few years. Regarding Airbnb, several studies have demonstrated potential problems related to it, such as rising housing costs and worsening residential environments. Despite its popularity and possibility of problems, however, the locational characteristics of Airbnb have not been thoroughly examined in the urban planning and public policy fields. Therefore, this study analyzed the locational characteristics of Airbnb in Seoul and identified potential problems in urban planning. First, we analyzed an operation status of Airbnb in terms of the commercial host. After that, we identified spatial distributions of Airbnb and examined influential factors that affected the locational characteristics of Airbnb using a negative binomial regression model. The results of this study are as follows. First, a considerable number of units were operated by commercial hosts, in contrast to the original concept of Airbnb as being part of the sharing economy. This finding indicates that there would be a potential conflict between Airbnb businesses and housing policy in urban areas. Second, Airbnb units were mainly located in residential areas, especially around multiplexes and townhouses. This finding indicates that Airbnb may decrease the availability of housing in the housing market. Third, Airbnb units were located preferentially in areas adjacent to universities or subway stations, as well as in areas with high ratios of single-person households. Considering these characteristics of Airbnb and the directions of government housing policy, urban scholars and policymakers should pay close attention to the potential conflict between the spatial distributions of Airbnb units and housing policies.

Home-work carpooling for social mixing

Shared mobility is widely recognized for its contribution in reducing carbon footprint, traffic congestion, parking needs and transportation-related costs in urban and suburban areas. In this context, the use of carpooling in home-work commute is particularly appealing for its potential of lessening the number of cars and kilometers traveled, consequently reducing major causes of traffic in cities. Accordingly, most of the carpooling algorithms are optimized for reducing total travel time, cost, and other transportation-related metrics. In this paper, we analyze carpooling from a new perspective, investigating the question of whether it can be used also as a tool to favor social integration, and to what extent social benefits should be traded off with transportation efficiency. By incorporating traveler’s social characteristics into a recently introduced network-based approach to model ride-sharing opportunities, we define two social-related carpooling problems: how to maximize the number of rides shared between people belonging to different social groups, and how to maximize the amount of time people spend together along the ride. For each of the problems, we provide corresponding optimal and computationally efficient solutions. We then demonstrate our approach on two datasets collected in the city of Pisa, Italy, and Cambridge, US, and quantify the potential social benefits of carpooling, and how they can be traded off with traditional transportation-related metrics. When collectively considered, the models, algorithms, and results presented in this paper broaden the perspective from which carpooling problems are typically analyzed to encompass multiple disciplines including urban planning, public policy, and social sciences.

Mobile crowd-sensing as a resource for contextualized urban public policies: a study using three use cases on noise and soundscape monitoring

ABSTRACT Environmental noise is a major pollutant in contemporary cities and calls for the active monitoring of noise levels to spot the locations where it most affects the people’s health and well-being. However, due to the complex relationship between environmental noise and its perception by the citizens, it is not sufficient to quantitatively measure environmental noise. We need to collect and aggregate contextualized – both quantitative and qualitative – data about the urban environmental noise so as to be able to study the objective and subjective relationships between sound and living beings. This complex knowledge is a prerequisite for making efficient territorial public policies for soundscapes that are inclined towards living beings welfare. In this paper, we investigate how Mobile Phone Sensing – aka crowd-sensing – enables the gathering of such knowledge, provided the implementation of sensing protocols that are customized according to the context of use and the intended exploitation of the data. Through three case studies that we carried out in France and Finland, we show that MPS is not solely a tool that contributes to sensitizing citizens and decision-makers about noise pollution; it also contributes to increasing our knowledge about the impact of the environmental noise on people’s health and well-being in relation to its physical and subjective perception.

Urban Tourism as a Source of Contention and Social Mobilisations: A Critical Review

ABSTRACTAcross the globe, there has been a proliferation of manifestations of discontent and protest around tourism-related issues in cities. This points to an increasing “politicisation from below” of the impacts of the visitor economy on people and places, which is the result of the quantitative and qualitative transformation of urban tourism, and of the ways in which tourism has been governed (or not) in contemporary cities. This critical review discusses the variety of tourism-related social mobilisations recently witnessed in cities. It distinguishes between multi-focal versus single-issue mobilisations; between those purposefully and primarily focused on tourism and those which have integrated tourism within broader urban struggles; between those with a radical, progressive agenda for urban change versus those primarily defending narrower interests or exhibiting reactionary or hostile characteristics. The paper ends by discussing how urban governance and public policies have responded so far to the conflicts and social mobilisations around tourism.

Da Política Urbana: notas sobre a perda de potência do inovador discurso constitucional brasileiro

Este artigo aborda o escopo dos art. 182 e 183, do Capítulo II – Da Política Urbana da Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988, e da Lei nº 10.257, de 10/07/2001, do Estatuto da Cidade, em face da reiteração da questão urbana no Brasil. Apoiado em pesquisa teórica e documental, pontua características da urbanização brasileira, realçando a segregação socioespacial e a financeirização da moradia; identifica sujeitos políticos envolvidos na produção, disputas e ordenação do território, enfatizando a gestão estatal urbana; coteja os direitos à cidade e à moradia, explicitando elementos da contradição entre o desenho normativo desses direitos e a sua concretização mediante políticas públicas urbanas. Conclui que o recuo do Estado, assumindo preceitos neoliberais, de modo cada vez mais aprofundado e autoritário, manifesta o malogro do entendimento da cidade como construção pública e da moradia como um direito socialfundamental presente na retórica do constitucionalismo brasileiro.

Mapping the visibility of informal settlements

Informal settlements in cities of the global South are generally identified by a dense, small-grain and irregular urban morphology. Such neighbourhoods are rarely entered by those from the formal city and their visibility within the urban landscape can have a significant impact on decisions over whether and how they might be upgraded or demolished. This paper explores this issue from the perspective of the role of topography and urban morphology in mediating the gaze from the formal to the informal city. A simple typology of spatial visibility is developed according to whether the formal gaze is an overview or streetview, and whether it is private or public. This framework is then used to map the visibility of three case studies at district scale in the cities of Bangkok (Thailand), Pune (India) and Medellin (Colombia). These cases are then used to illustrate how different types and degrees of visibility are introduced or erased through different forms of urban design, transport infrastructure, high-rise development and public policy. We conclude by discussing different approaches to the transformation of place identity: concealing or revealing informal settlements on the one hand, and blurring or accentuating informal/formal distinctions on the other.

Responsible Artchitect: Urban Art as an Instrument of Urban Public Policies (Social Project “Crossword: the voice of Leblon”)

Responsible Artchitect: Urban Art as an Instrument of Urban Public Policies (Social Project “Crossword: the voice of Leblon”)

URBAN PUBLIC POLICY FOR NATURAL DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN BLUMENAU-SC: PROCESSES AND ACTIVITIES,

Abstract The objective of this study was the analysis of urban public policy for natural disaster risk management in the city of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Two approaches were used: (1) A survey of the municipal public agencies responsible for disaster risk management was conducted. (2) The surveyed agencies’ representatives’ ideas and activities regarding natural disaster risk were analyzed. A systemic approach was adopted, bibliographical research was performed, and interviews were conducted with 10 municipal public managers. The results facilitated the description of the municipal public disaster risk management organizational structure and the ideas and activities related to disaster risk knowledge, prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery/ reconstruction. The study concludes that there is a need for improvements in the coordination among the municipal public agencies and in shared responsibilities of the federal entities and the society for disaster risk management.

Evaluation of transport policy packages in the excess commuting framework: The case of Xiamen, China

Transport policies are often carried out in package form, but, presently, transport policy package (TPP) remains a theoretical concept whose practicality has rarely been investigated. Additionally, jobs-housing balance has become a major urban planning and public policy issue that has received considerable scholarly attention. This study probes into evaluating TPPs using the minimum commute, a proxy for jobs-housing balance and an important statistic in the excess commuting framework. Using a brief transportation problem model of linear programming, the minimum commute statistics in scenarios with different TPPs are calculated by repeatedly solving the proposed mathematical model. Moreover, this study considers multimodal commuting for better reflecting realistic situations. Drawing on an empirical study in Xiamen, China, we show that the mathematical model provides indicators for urban form evaluation.

From contest to context: urban green space and public policy

The role of urban green spaces in supporting mental and physical wellbeing is well evidenced. At a time when mental ill-health is seen as a major factor limiting the life chances of the poorest groups in society, the case for the provision and protection of natural urban environments would appear indisputable. Yet establishing direct causal links between natural environments and specific health outcomes is complex and problematic. Different green spaces contribute to experiences of wellbeing in different ways for different people. Public policies that seek to employ green space to achieve health objectives through ‘interventions’ or ‘prescriptions’ are thus fraught with difficulties. Rather than seeing green space as an instrumental factor or ‘dose’ in improving wellbeing, this paper, based on emerging findings from research in Sheffield, UK, argues that policymakers need to think of multifunctional natural environments as essential contexts for the promotion of wellbeing. Urban austerity, however, acts as a countervailing context-changing driver, reframing wellbeing within a narrative of public service cost control.

Managing the Patient Evidence Base Through Trauma Cases in Military University Hospital of Albania

The level of management of traumatic health care services in Albania as a service of the Military University Hospital in Emergency Care differs in relation to other university hospitals across the country, mainly due to changes in the public health of the population. The article aims to present the management of traumatic patients at the Military Hospital in Albania, providing examples of the number of cases that have been addressed in the spread of this disease as epidemiology in Albania. The literature review and data statistics will be carried out by using the hospital records that will be used for further research in Albania. In addition, there is a study of international reports on Trauma management issues, trauma care and quality in Trauma. Much of the results consider the necessity of adopting a comprehensive traumatic system, focusing on quality management and improving trauma care to increase survival and reduce complications to the wounded. Urban conditions and public health policies are the most important factors in developing and implementing programs to improve emergency trauma care services. The heterogeneity of the population and its geographical distribution, the complexity of road accidents, are challenging factors for quantitative research on trauma management and the effectiveness of its care. Staff training in all areas, combined with the existence of modern vehicles and equipment, means of communication and timely transfer of the ambulance, contribute to the treatment of patients with urgent trauma, life saving and prevention of all types of disabilities.

Quantifying Residential Access and Exposure to Greenspace Using High-Resolution Remotely Sensed Data: A Case Study of Metro Vancouver, British Columbia

Despite growing evidence demonstrating the health benefits of greenspaces, the potential differences in effect depending on type of greenspace exposure remain relatively unexplored. The present research aims to develop a methodology to (1) identify greenspace using remotely sensed data and (2) model residential access and exposure to greenspace and the relative difference in vegetation type.Methods:2014 RapidEye satellite imagery and LiDAR datasets from 2008-2015 were combined in eCognition for object-based segmentation, and then classified using Random Forest in R to produce a high-resolution (5m) land cover map of Metro Vancouver, Canada. The land cover map includes 14 classes – covering, for example, coniferous, deciduous, shrub, and grass-herb vegetation. Using the land cover map, greenspace access was calculated as the presence of a public park, recreation area or reserve (≥ 1 hectare) within 300m of residential postal codes and greenspace exposure was calculated as the proportion of greenspace and each land cover type, within several buffer zones of residential postal codes.Results:The land cover map has an overall accuracy of 89% with a kappa of 0.88. Compared to traditional greenness metrics, such as NDVI, the land cover map provides a more detailed model of the variety and distribution of greenspace. Initial analyses suggest that more urbanized areas have greater access to public greenspace and higher exposure to built-up classes and broadleaf vegetation, with grass-herb vegetation increasingly dominant in rural and agricultural areas.Conclusions:This research presents a method of identifying and quantifying greenspace that can be applied widely. Differentiating greenspace access and exposure metrics, including relative distribution of land cover type, will help define which aspects and qualities of greenspaces may provide the most benefits. Such information will provide important guidance for prioritization in urban planning and public health policy.

Measuring Urban Renewal: A Dual Kernel Density Estimation to Assess the Intensity of Building Renovation—Case Study in Lisbon

In the cities of post-industrialized countries, renovation is the main part of building construction activity and has a major urban impact. Measuring this ongoing phenomenon and its distribution is of great usefulness for municipality urban planning and public policies. In this context, it is essential to introduce tools and processes that can allow for describing and predict how building renovation evolves. Open databases have become a valuable resource for observing processes and interactions in urban context. Data-driven analysis methods were used to directly interact with open city data, thus aiming to propose an alternative building renovation approach based on data gathering, parametric modeling, and visualization. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) is an efficient tool that overcomes incomplete data, as not all renovation is reported to city halls. This article presents a preliminary study on a method of measuring building renovation intensity using the city of Lisbon building permit alphanumerical and spatial database as a case study.

Populism, art and the city: An interdisciplinary pedagogy for our time

Abstract Populism on the far left and the far right is reshaping the contemporary city and the urban condition. In this special short-form section, we put forward populism, art and the city as a linked theoretical and methodological framework through the UC Berkeley Global Urban Humanities Initiative. Our conversations brought together new research in urban studies, art, architecture, public policy, and performance studies into what many people described as a decidedly populist age. Following a short introduction, we share a collection of four papers from such conversations that offer ‘focus sites’ from San Francisco to Palm Springs, Hong Kong to Mexico City, with a diverse set of theoretical proposals that branch from our discussions and shared readings in art, populism, and the city.

Co-creating value in urban public policy contexts: A different approach

Urban areas face daunting economic challenges that have increased in scope in recent years. At the same time, cities provide for opportunities for growth and value creation. The interplay of these challenges and opportunities represents an area of intervention for policymakers and researchers.However, traditional approaches to urban policy deriving from managerial and economic policy theories present difficulties mainly related to capacities to counterbalance the interests and expectations of a multitude of stakeholders participating in the value co-creation process and to allow different components to synergically contribute to the sustainability of a system.The author proposes an innovative approach to urban public policy that involves adopting the theoretical corpus of the viable systems approach (“VSA”). Urban planning is particularly analyzed as systemic components of urban areas with the aim of investigating decision-making processes that support an integrated, efficient, effective and sustainable management of territories as multidimensional, multisectoral and multi-stakeholder entities.By recovering different settings, the VSA is designed for the co-creation of value as the capacity for viable systems to increase their chances of survival in their own contexts. Value derives first from strategic decisions made to find both dyadic and context consonance. Through its strategic decisions, the governing body of the territory develops a specific system as an overall synthesis of all possible systems organized within a specific area, identifying patterns of development agreed upon by the several stakeholders of the given territory. In the dynamics of value co-creation in systemic multi-subjective organizations where levels of complexity are particularly high, research on consonance among different stakeholders is particularly important to achieve the most value for a territory. In this respect, the VSA may constitute a valid tool for finding necessary capacities to imagine evolutionary paths toward new competencies.

Managing the Patient Evidence Base Through Trauma Cases in Military University Hospital of Albania.

The level of management of traumatic health care services in Albania as a service of the Military University Hospital in Emergency Care differs in relation to other university hospitals across the country, mainly due to changes in the public health of the population. The article aims to present the management of traumatic patients at the Military Hospital in Albania, providing examples of the number of cases that have been addressed in the spread of this disease as epidemiology in Albania. The literature review and data statistics will be carried out by using the hospital records that will be used for further research in Albania. In addition, there is a study of international reports on Trauma management issues, trauma care and quality in Trauma. Much of the results consider the necessity of adopting a comprehensive traumatic system, focusing on quality management and improving trauma care to increase survival and reduce complications to the wounded. Urban conditions and public health policies are the most important factors in developing and implementing programs to improve emergency trauma care services. The heterogeneity of the population and its geographical distribution, the complexity of road accidents, are challenging factors for quantitative research on trauma management and the effectiveness of its care. Staff training in all areas, combined with the existence of modern vehicles and equipment, means of communication and timely transfer of the ambulance, contribute to the treatment of patients with urgent trauma, life saving and prevention of all types of disabilities.

Problems of preservation of ethnocultural and urban-planning heritage of the European north of Russia

The relevance of the problem is caused by the need to preserve the monuments of the ethnocultural and urban heritage of the European North of Russia, which are an integral part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the world. The purpose of the article is to theoretically substantiate the importance of preserving historical memory as one of the key priorities of urban planning and public policy. The leading approach to the study of this problem is the analysis of cultural heritage objects, based on linguistic data, lexicographic evidence (toponyms), ethnocultural communities (voloki), and also on the basis of archaeological excavations, the stages of the formation of East Slavic unity and the settlement of Novgorod Slavs are considered. On the basis examined materials shown that the space of settlement of ethnic communities in specific landscapes is fixed by historical monuments, which on a time scale became signs of the culture of urban development. The materials of the article can be useful for city planners, architects, cultural figures and scientists, as well as to students studying in the direction of "urban planning", "reconstruction and restoration".