The Housing Market and Population Vulnerabilities: Perceptions in a Fordist and a Post‐Fordist Context

Drawing on qualitative interviews and participatory urban‐appraisal tools, this paper analyzes household perceptions on the five elements of Lawrence and Su‐Yeul's market‐led pluralism (M‐LP) framework (2008). It uses post‐Fordist Columbus, Ohio, and Fordist Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as testing grounds for these household perspectives. M‐LP suggests that at the center of contemporary housing market lie five elements: developers/builders who unveil new urban spaces with culturally open communities; lending agencies that offer affordable mortgages to all; real estate brokers/agents who have moved past discriminatory practices; consumers whose preferences emphasize class‐type elements; and communities that impose development agendas. While many felt that the housing market of the mid‐2000s was racially blind, race still played a crucial role in driving home‐buying decisions, especially in Milwaukee. Columbus respondents aligned more closely with M‐LP, putting greater emphasis on class, but they also used phrases and words to blur race and class distinction. Both metropolises, though, illustrated complex intertwining between class and culture.     

Defining the Bull'S Eye: Satellite Imagery-Assisted Slum Population Assessment in Hyderabad,India

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to qualitative and spatial assessment of slum population numbers in Hyderabad, India using circle-based population data from the Census of India and results of the analysis of high resolution QuickBird satellite image data (2003) derived from automatic line detection and lacunarity algorithm. This approach provides plausible and spatially explicit aggregate statistics of slum population numbers within the city. This work suggests that both over- and underreporting of slum population numbers does occur in Hyderabad, and provides an improved view on the slum distribution patterns within this urban agglomeration.     

Population aging in South-East Asia and policies of old-age support

"The problem of ageing is generally perceived as being typical of developed countries, as these have in most cases reached the last stage of their demographic transition. On the other hand, a rapid decline of the fertility rate, knowingly associated [with] a quick improvement of socio-economic factors and, often, [with] successful birth-control policies, is causing a sharp increase of the relative amount of elderly people also in some developing countries. This has a dramatic impact on family structures that, in traditional societies, assist the elderly relatives, while the government is usually still unable to provide institutional support. The issue is analysed in the South East Asian context." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)