Nuances of neighbourhood: Children’s perceptions of the space between home and school in Auckland, New Zealand

This paper examines primary school children’s experiences of travelling between home and school within three neighbourhoods. Our investigation is set in Auckland, New Zealand, where parental practices such as chauffeuring are commonplace, yet are increasingly recognised as limiting children’s physical fitness and environmental awareness. Drawing on children’s voices, writing and photographs, we investigate how children currently travel to school, how they would like to travel, and how their perspectives on neighbourhood space vary by age, socio-economic status and school location. Findings reveal that over half of the participants did not like the way they travelled to school. Most desire to travel independently within public space, but are limited in their ability to do so, given the fears and obstacles that prevail within their neighbourhoods. We contend that restricted use of public space diminishes children’s agency in inner suburbs. Our analysis reveals that children favour ‘active travel’ for many of the same reasons as health professionals and transport planners. We conclude that as long as children are seen as innocents in need of protection, they will have limited agency in travel decisions and highly contingent access to public space.     

Planning in the age of Facebook: the role of social networking in planning processes

There has been rapid growth in the use of online social networking sites, such as Facebook. The public is increasingly using these sites for organizing around place-based issues. This research examines the extent to which the public and planners are using social networking sites to organize the public around place-based planning issues. Using content analysis of social networking sites, place-based planning groups are identified and analyzed. The administrators for the groups were contacted to determine their goals and satisfaction with their groups’ work. Planning departments in the same communities were then contacted to determine the degree to which the social networking groups influenced the planning process. The results of this study found that the public primarily organizes to oppose development projects. While on average these groups attract hundreds of people, planners and group administrators report that there is minimal influence on the planning process.     

Competing discourses of nature in exurbia

This paper explores different ways that the category of nature is used in addressing landscape changes associated with exurbia and exurbanization. Nature is an important category in the practices and representations that residents and planners use to construct and maintain exurban landscapes. However, common ways of mobilizing nature in exurban planning discourses often obstruct better discussion, rather than facilitate it. Invoking nature can make planning processes more difficult by providing a means for naturalizing planning decisions and also by exacerbating struggles over whose nature will be managed in what ways. More explicitly framing what is meant by nature in exurban planning may improve discussion of landscape problems associated with sprawl. The goal of this paper is to contribute to creating a framework for more actively contextualizing how “nature” is used in discourses relating to exurbanization. I suggest that such a framework would need to consider—and make explicit—themes such as the four that I discuss in this paper: (1) the centrality of the production of nature to exurban landscapes; (2) multiple meanings of nature that are often confused; (3) ways that normative statements about nature tend to be unquestioned in exurban planning; and (4) the simultaneous difficulty and usefulness of critiquing and “denaturalizing” both material and discursive nature. Explicit conversations about the role and representation of nature within residents’ and managers’ land-use practices and ideologies could create opportunities for dialogue between residents, planners, and academics about the valuation of and preferences for constructing particular landscapes, especially in addressing problematic aspects of the phenomena of “amenity migration” and “sprawl.”     

Resource suitability analysis in regional planning—with special reference to Wisconsin,USA

The demands and needs of our presently increasing population require that the social decisions for land use must be based on the best and most reliable information that the decision-makers can obtain. Growing mass of natural resource information should be presented in a concise and practical form which the planners and public administrators can readily use without a need to learn about natural resources in detail. One of the means to present this information is a resource evaluation system which consists of four levels of maps: basic resource maps, single-factor maps, limiting-factor maps and final land suitability maps. The basic process used in the system is developing a series of individual maps showing specific kinds of information and superimposing them to identify a degree of suitability for a specific land use. The authors provide an overview of the use of land suitability maps in land use planning in the United States; show what natural resource data planners can require and put to use; outline the way in which earth scientists can evaluate and present the data needed; and finally demonstrate the land suitability analysis by case studies. Also briefly discussed is the need for information other than earth-science data. Land use planning and decision-making process is an intricate mixture of scientific, engineering, ecological, sociological, economic, cultural and political factors and forces. Obvious as it may seem this fact is nevertheless often ignored in practice resulting in misunderstandings and mutual disbelief of parties involved.     

Beyond public artopia: public art as perceived by its publics

Since the upsurge of public art in the 1980s, geographers have been critically analysing creative practices as drivers of urban development and regeneration. They have commonly framed perceptions of art in urban public space from the perspectives of its producers and planners. Yet, the fundamental purpose of public art is shaped by its publics, which comprise a multifaceted audience. Some scholars have held a brief for examining perceptions of public art through its publics, but let things go at that. This paper attempts to address this under-researched yet important field by presenting a survey of publics’ perceptions of selected public-artwork localities in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Ghent. The publics’ perceptions were generally expressed in platitudes that were neither unreservedly positive nor unreservedly negative. But the distinct localities do show significant differences in publics’ perceived attractiveness of the public-artwork locality. These perceptions are further situated within publics’ cognitive, spatial, aesthetic, social and symbolic proximity to both the public artwork and its site. These empirical details provide insight into publics’ engagement with public art in particular places and thereby provide lessons for public-art-led urban planning. Moreover, this study instigates more solid qualitative research on this specific engagement.     

The power of public participation in local planning in Scotland: the case of conflict over residential development in the metropolitan green belt

While the principle of public participation is an acknowledged requirement of planning in most Western countries there is continuing debate, and insufficient empirical evidence, on the effectiveness of public participation in practice. This research examines the power of public participation in local planning in Scotland with particular reference to the pressing issue of conflict over residential development in the metropolitan green belt. The paper first defines key concepts underlying the research, and identifies the principal actors in the residential development process. The post-2006 institutional framework for planning in Scotland is explained to establish the legislative and procedural context for a case study of conflict between developers and the local community in a village in Glasgow’s green belt. Using a combination of analysis of planning documents, interviews with local planners and developers, and a survey of village residents the empirical study provides detailed insight on the principles, practice, problems for public participation in local planning in Scotland. Finally, a number of conclusions are presented on the prospects for public participation in Scotland.     

Towards a gender conscious counter-discourse in comprehensive physical planning

This article is based on a research project “Gender perspectives in comprehensive planning” where the aim is partly to ascertain how planners incorporate a gender perspective in comprehensive physical planning, and partly to identify the conceptions of gender/sex held by planners in this area. In our investigation, the question is raised whether comprehensive planning is perceived as neutral in terms of gender, if there are discussions or reflections that question this point of view and if there have been any contributions from a gender equality point of view. The aim is to expose how these discussions take place, examine reflections on this topic and to report and analyse how efforts to achieve gender equality in comprehenisve planning are shaped. To accomplish this goal, the study draws more on feminist theorization than on planning theory.     

Geographies of security and statehood in Norway’s ‘Battle of the North’

In this paper, we explore how ‘peak oil’ anxieties are woven into the spaces and practices of the state in Norway and the consequences of this for environmental justice and the public sphere more widely. We focus in particular on an ongoing struggle over access to hydrocarbon deposits in the Norwegian Arctic, the so-called ‘Battle of the North’. We use this dispute to highlight three wider theoretical points regarding (i) the continuing relevance of the state in the governing of nature-society relations, (ii) the increasingly fragmented and fluid nature of state space, and (iii) the significance of ‘security’ as a term around which social, economic and environmental tensions pivot. The paper concludes by reflecting on current efforts to prevent new oil activities in the north of Norway.     

Charting the emergence of a ‘knowing system’ for climate change adaptation in Australian regional natural resource management

Climate change increases the complexity and uncertainty of regional natural resource management (NRM), calling into question the appropriateness of linear knowledge-transfer approaches. In this paper we reflect on knowledge practices among a partnership of researchers and NRM planners, under a federal program of NRM investment intended to ‘deliver information’ to regional NRM planners to support planning for climate change. We unpack ‘container’ and ‘conduit’ metaphors of linear, one-way communication invoked by the starting conditions, and explore whether more relational ways of communicating were achieved. A key theme emerged early in the research that NRM planners felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available and discouraged by the irrelevance of much of it to their climate change planning. Our research-practice collaboration unfolded in this context and through ongoing face-to-face and virtual engagement over a period of two years. The collaborative approach featured joint identification of priority activities, co-design of planning approaches, and the iterative co-development of an online ‘information portal’, which acted as a boundary object. We report the emergence of a ‘knowing system’, resulting from these efforts to foster relationships and co-produce boundary objects in a particular geographic context. Our findings highlight the potential benefits of investing in the capacity of researchers and NRM practitioners to engage in collaborative research partnerships premised on the emergence of knowing systems.     

The dynamism of clustering: Interweaving material and discursive processes

The aim of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of clusters, including both the material and discursive dynamism of cluster construction, and shed light on how clusters—once established—affect the actors, institutions and processes that constitute them. It does this by viewing clusters as an actant, i.e. something that acts or to which activity is granted by others. The empirical analysis examines two clusters in the public cluster programme Norwegian Centre of Expertise (NCE): the Møre maritime cluster and the Hordaland subsea cluster. It focuses on the type of development paths they are following and how the material and discursive processes are interweaved in these paths. The clusters are related to the concept of cluster construction, which is triggered by ideas, representations, policy and industry practice. The Møre maritime cluster is characterized by bottom-up clustering processes and illustrates how the material practices of firms can trigger clustering processes such as the establishment of a cluster and the identification of a prototype of best cluster practice. On the other hand, the Hordaland subsea cluster expresses a top-down process and how the ideal world of academics and policy-making can encourage processes of clustering among co-located firms. Based on these observations of material and discursive interweaved clustering processes and how they affect both those who are practicing and those who are promoting them, we find it reasonable to argue for a stronger awareness of such feedback loops in cluster studies.     

Sustainable development in regional planning: The search for new tools and renewed legitimacy

This paper focuses on sustainability appraisal as a key technique for pursuing the political goal of ‘sustainable development’ within English planning. We conclude that unlike many planning tools of the past which have sought to depoliticise decision making by using more ‘scientific’ techniques, the early experience of sustainability appraisal has instead repoliticised them, by highlighting where tensions exist but without providing solutions.     

The emotions of racialization: examining the intersection of emotion, race, and landscape through public housing in the United States

This paper analyzes racialization—the social construction of ‘race’ as a normative dimension of everyday life—and shows that emotion plays a central role in this process. My focus is the representation of post-World War II public housing, a key site of white-black racialization in the United States. Representations of filth, decay, and danger separate African-Americans from mainstream, white society as disturbingly different. I argue that this particular representation carries heavy emotional value, specifically that of disgust and fear. It is disgust and fear that racializes this landscape, giving meaning and force to an ideology that views African–Americans as inherently inferior to whites. Policy is framed by these emotions, impacting decisions made about public housing. I explore these ideas through contemporary representations of public housing by federal officials in Washington, DC and by newspapers in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as the federal program HOPE VI.     

Incorporating ecological vulnerability assessment into rehabilitation planning for a post-mining area

A practical issue is present in sustaining and rehabilitating the ecologically vulnerable post-mining area in which the environmental condition varies spatially and therefore influenced by multiple factors. This paper attempts to integrate the ecological vulnerability assessment and rehabilitation treatment to assist land managers in revealing vulnerable features along with developing treatments of vulnerability mitigation. Using a post-mining site in a mountainous area in western China as study area, an indicator system and framework for assessing and reducing vulnerability were developed based on a vulnerability analysis. Geo-informatics, such as satellite image processing and spatial analysis, were employed to perform the assessment and planning. It was found that higher exposure and sensitivity are the main causes of increased vulnerability in a seriously disturbed post-mining area. Rehabilitation treatments were arranged spatially and structurally based on the framework of vulnerability mitigation. A pre-evaluation of the effectiveness shows this type of rehabilitation has a convergence effect that clusters and lowers the ecological vulnerability index (EVI). The average value of EVI will be reduced by 15.02% if the minimum standards of rehabilitation can be completed. Altogether, an integration of rehabilitation treatments and the quantification of vulnerability in a spatially explicit manner are critical for planners to gain more insight into ecological vulnerability in post-mining area, which provides guidance to simplify rehabilitation planning with respect to vulnerability mitigation.     

Objectives,ownership and engagement in Lao PDR’s REDD+ policy landscape

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is envisioned as a performance-based incentive to influence forest use behavior and governance towards the preservation and management of forests. In relatively forest-rich Lao PDR, the policy space that REDD+ planners are attempting to navigate is populated by enduring political and economic interests that affect the country’s forest estate. A further layer to the problem of REDD+ planning is the tension between often expert-driven, externally proposed solutions; national ownership over interventions; and the extent of political will to take action to reform currently unsustainable patterns of forest and forest land exploitation. This paper draws from a series of semi-structured interviews conducted in 2013–2014, to develop a political and institutional analysis of the limitations to the effectiveness of REDD+ in steering towards a lower forest-derived emissions trajectory in Lao PDR. While internationally-driven projects follow long-standing national objectives to varying degrees, it remains unclear how REDD+ can target main drivers of deforestation in the absence of a more politically engaged and nationally-owned planning process, that also challenges the prevailing logic of avoiding these drivers. Despite the importance of improving domestic ownership over REDD+, this would arguably be of limited impact unless oriented towards transformational change that would seek to overcome political and economic barriers to avoided deforestation. Stronger ownership could be developed via more mutually driven REDD+ planning, while tackling main drivers of deforestation necessitates as a starting point the engagement of powerful actors that have so far been absent from REDD+ debate.     

地质工作支撑服务国土空间规划的问题和策略——来自《上海市国土空间生态修复规划》的启示

在构建全国国土空间规划体系的新时代背景下, 地质工作如何有效支撑服务国土空间规划成为地质工作转型升级的新命题。我国地质成果在国土空间规划领域的应用程度与发达国家还存在明显差距, 主要原因在于地质调查精度和信息集成程度不足, 而且在体制机制和技术层面都存在与规划行业的脱节。通过深度参与《上海市国土空间生态修复规划》编制, 我们进一步发现地质工作的应用价值被普遍低估, 地质工作的技术路径难以契合规划行业思路, 传统地质成果表达方式也难以引起社会关注。为解决这些问题, 建议加强重点规划区地质调查和信息集成, 通过法律法规明确国土空间规划必须考虑的地质要素, 畅通地质信息获取渠道, 构建支撑国土空间规划的地质评价标准体系。在操作层面, 建议进一步开展以需求为导向的主动宣传, 构建问题导向、简单易行的技术路径, 强化空间导向、聚焦重点的成果表达形式。     

Regional planning and citizen participation in South Korea: The case of Chungbook Province

Regional planning in Korea has seldom been influenced by the demands and pressures of interested groups or citizens. To remedy this and open up the planning process to citizen participation, the Korean government developed the Regional Development Regulations of 1981. This mechanism directs regional development planning and citizen participation in it.The experience of the Chungbook Regional Development Plan (1981–1982) is characteristic of the present process of citizen participation in planning in Korea. The methods of insuring citizen participation are fourfold: the citizen advisory committee, the survey of citizens' opinions, the study conference, and the public hearing. Nonetheless, both planners and citizens often assess the participatory elements as being unsatisfactory.Citizen participation in the planning process in Korea can be improved. Specific measures include the addition of a pre-plan phase to the current regional planning process. This phase would require widespread publicity informing citizens of the opportunity to participate in the planning process and improved mechanisms to elicit from citizens their views on the key issues of the regional plan before the decision making phase begins. Finally, the government needs to develop a long-term approach to improving citizen participation in the regional planning process. This should involve the development of training programs that advocate a bottom-up approach to planning based on grassroots citizen participation.     

Common sense principles governing potable water recycling in the southwestern US: Examining subjectivity of water stewards using Q methodology

The potential to supplement potable water supplies with highly treated municipal wastewater, or sewage, is of increasing interest to water planners in many parts of the world. Most of the current social science focuses on public acceptance, however there is a relative lack of research that explores the subjectivity of people who are involved with water recycling or water planning. This study draws on Gramscian theories of governance and Q Methodology to analyze common sense principles that are held by water stewards who currently govern potable water reuse in the southwestern United States. Two competing perspectives emerged from the analyses, which I label neosanitarian and ecosanitarian. Drawing upon tenets established in the Progressive Era, neosanitarians believe that use of recycled water is an appropriate way to expand urban drinking water supplies. Drawing upon tenets established in ecology, ecosanitarians are not opposed to potable water recycling, however they are also interested in radical alternatives to the sanitary status quo. For example, neosanitarians favor advanced wastewater treatment, while ecosanitarians prefer composting toilets and preventative actions. Differences between the common sense views pivot on ideas about the most appropriate technology but also reflect contested visions of ideal society.     

Hazus-MH earthquake modeling in the central USA

This investigation was undertaken to assess the sensitivity of the Hazus-MH (v2.0) earthquake model to model parameters and to guide the selection of these parameters for realistic earthquake-loss assessment in the central USA. To accomplish these goals, we performed several sensitivity analyses and a validation assessment using earthquake damage surveys from the 2008 M5.2 Mt. Carmel, Illinois earthquake. We evaluated the sensitivity of the Hazus-MH earthquake model to the selection of seismic hazard data, attenuation function, soils data, liquefaction data, and structural fragility curves. These sensitivity analyses revealed that earthquake damage, loss, and casualty estimates are most sensitive to the seismic hazard data and selection of the attenuation function. The selection of the seismic hazard data and attenuation function varied earthquake damages and capital-stock losses by ±68?% and casualty estimates by ±84?%. The validation assessment revealed that Hazus-MH overpredicted observed damages by 68?C221?% depending on the model parameters employed. The model run using region-specific soils, liquefaction, and structure fragility curves produced the most realistic damage estimate (within 68?% of actual damages). Damage estimates using default Hazus-MH parameters were overpredicted by 155?%. The uncertainties identified here are similar to uncertainties recognized in other Hazus-MH validation assessments. Despite uncertainties in Hazus-MH earthquake-loss estimates, such estimates are still useful for planning and response so long as the limitations of the results are properly conveyed to planners, decision makers, emergency responders, and the public.     

公众参与理论、方法及其在水资源集成管理研究中的国际进展

通过对国际上公众参与相关概念的辨析及其理论发展轨迹的评述，系统的总结出公众参与理论的主要内容与特征，并分别就公共参与的权利关系变化、主流价值观演变和组织管理方式特点展开详细说明。在此基础上，对国际水资源集成管理的公众参与目的、价值体现及具体实施目标、过程设计和保障条件做出全面、系统的解释说明；分别就公众参与式管理的过程、实力和关系作用，参与式管理过程核心控制点，各个运行环节监督评估效果的异同特征做出理论总结。基于对国际上公众参与理论及其应用的分析与总结基础上，提出就中国政治体制和现实实践条件而言，均需加强和发挥政府在参与式水管理的作用。进一步展望中国公众参与的研究方向与应用领域，得出具有中国特色的水资源集成管理中公众参与的定性、定量结合实证研究的发展方向。     

Differential productions of rural gentrification: illustrations from North and South Norfolk

This paper focuses attention on the making of space for rural gentrification, both discursively and materially. The paper emphasises the differential constructions of gentrification within urban and rural studies. Connections are drawn between production-side theories of gentrification, notions of the ‘post-productivist countryside’ and studies that have related rural demographic change and gentrification with planning and property relations. Drawing on these three sets of ideas, the paper explores gentrification in rural Norfolk. It is argued that the contemporary geography of rural gentrification may in part reflect historic structures of landownership as well as settlement classifications associated with the land-use planning system. Country and District level analysis is followed up by detailed study of gentrification of two villages in Norfolk, which highlights how gentrified rural spaces may be produced in rather different way and through different agencies, and as a result takes different forms.