Urban sprawl: neighbourhood dissatisfaction and urban preferences. Some evidence from Flanders

Early studies suggest that people living in rural neighbourhoods are more satisfied with their residential location than people living in cities. Consequently, most individuals seem to prefer low-density environments to reside in. More recent studies, however, state that rural residents are no more likely to be satisfied with their residential neighbourhood than their urban counterparts. In addition, a considerable, growing part of the population seems to have a clear preference for urban neighbourhoods. The results of our research, conducted in Flanders, Belgium, suggest that urbanites are more satisfied with their neighbourhood than rural residents are. Neighbourhood preferences differ less between urbanites and rural residents. However, there are differences indicating that urbanites have a preference for rural neighbourhoods and rural residents a preference for urban neighbourhoods. In sum, it seems that people, once they have selected their residential location, are not satisfied with the neighbourhood characteristics and tend to develop a preference for a different neighbourhood type. This mismatch can be partly explained by the strongly developed urban sprawl in Flanders, reducing the residential qualities of urban and especially rural environments. Restricting further urban sprawl, with the help of a more active spatial planning policy, seems necessary to increase neighbourhood satisfaction.     

中国大城市低收入邻里及其居民的贫困集聚度和贫困决定因素

基于2007 年在中国6 个大城市开展的大规模家庭户调查,采用FGT指数法和逻辑回归分析方法,探讨中国大城市低收入邻里及其居民的贫困集聚程度和决定因素。研究发现,老城衰败邻里的贫困集聚度最高,同时承受多重不利状况的下岗/失业人员的贫困集聚度也是最高;事实贫困、被剥夺感与社会福利分配之间存在不匹配现象。在贫困的决定因素方面,制度保障和市场薪酬对城市贫困的发生具有同等重要的作用,但对不同低收入邻里和不同社会群体又表现出不同的关联性。随着市场作用的加强,市场薪酬机制正在成为贫困产生的更为重要的决定性因素。     

Changing neighbourhood cohesion under the impact of urban redevelopment: a case study of Guangzhou,China

Large-scale urban redevelopment has caused the breakdown of traditional social bonds in Chinese cities. To date, very few studies have attempted to delve into the impact of this urban redevelopment on neighbourhood cohesion. Using data collected from questionnaires conducted in 20 urban villages and 1 urban village redevelopment neighbourhood in Guangzhou, this paper examines the impact of urban village redevelopment on the restructuring of neighbourhood attachment, neighbourly interaction, and community participation—three dimensions of neighbourhood cohesion. Results of a path analysis show that, overall, neighbourhood cohesion declines after redevelopment occurs, and that the sources of neighbourhood cohesion differ between urban villages and the redevelopment neighbourhood. Our findings show that after redevelopment, neighbourhood attachment becomes more influenced by residential satisfaction but less by neighbourly contacts, and community participation becomes less subject to neighbourly interaction and neighbourhood attachment. Such changes occur as a result of the differentiation between social groups and the concurrence of environmental restructuring and demographic reconstruction during the process of urban village redevelopment.     

Using GIS and perceived distance to understand the unequal geographies of healthcare in lower-income urban neighbourhoods

Geographers play important roles in public health research, particularly in understanding healthcare accessibility, utilisation, and individual healthcare experiences. Most accessibility studies have benefited from the increased sophistication of geographic information systems (GIS). Some studies have been enhanced with semi-structured in-depth interviews to understand individual experiences of people as they access healthcare. However, few accessibility studies have explicitly utilised individual in-depth interview data in the construction of new GIS accessibility measures. Using mixed methods including GIS analysis and individual data from semi-structured in-depth interviews, we offer satisfaction-adjusted distance as a new way of conceptualising accessibility in GIS. Based on fieldwork in a predominantly lower-income community in Columbus, Ohio (USA), we find many residents felt neighbourhood healthcare facilities offered low-quality care, which suggested an added perceived distance as they attempt to access high-quality healthcare facilities. The satisfaction-adjusted distance measure accounts for the perceived distance some residents feel as they search for high-quality healthcare in lower-income urban neighbourhoods. In moving beyond conventional GIS and re-conceptualising accessibility in this way, we offer a more realistic portrayal of the issues lower-income urban residents face as they attempt to access high-quality healthcare facilities. The work has theoretical implications for conceptualising healthcare accessibility, advances the mixed-methodologies literature, and argues for a more equitable distribution of high-quality healthcare in urban neighbourhoods.     

社会交换视角中的权力、信任对居民参与旅游发展的影响效应分析——以北京前门社区为例

从社会交换视角探讨社区权力、社区信任对居民参与旅游程度的影响效应具有重要意义。以北京前门社区为例,通过建立数据模型,检验了社区中的权力、社区居民信任对旅游社区居民参与程度的影响效应。研究表明:社会交换过程中的社区权力和社区信任是影响旅游社区参与的重要因素。社区权力对社区信任和社区参与旅游程度有直接显著的正向影响效应,社会交换中的旅游收益感知与旅游成本感知通过对居民参与旅游程度产生间接的影响效应。而社区信任与旅游收益感知之间存在双向影响效应,将直接与间接地影响居民参与旅游程度。     

广州市居民工作日小汽车出行个体与社区双层影响机制

小汽车出行与建成环境的关系是城市研究中的热点问题,已有的研究主要分别关注个人社会经济属性与建成环境对小汽车出行的影响。近年来,在中国城市转型的背景下,社会空间分异受到关注,越来越多的研究表明,居民个人社会经济属性与社区建成环境及社区类型间存在关系,考虑三者如何共同对小汽车出行的影响具有一定的现实意义。因此,本文构建包含个体层社会经济属性和社区层建成环境与社区类型的多层Logit模型对工作日小汽车出行方式的影响因素进行分析。研究发现居民个人的社会经济属性和其所居住社区建成环境同时对小汽车出行的选择起作用,且这两层因素的影响与社区类型紧密相关,出行方式差异有76.32%是由社区因素的差异造成。个人社会经济属性因素方面,更高的文化水平、更高的个人月收入水平、非集体单位性质和家庭存在更多未成年孩子的居民工作日小汽车使用率较高;社区建成环境因素方面,提高建筑密度、用地混合度、商业可达性和公交站点密度会降低社区居民工作日出行使用小汽车的可能,而社区周边更高的POI密度则会增多居民对小汽车的使用。两类因素关系背后的机制在于伴随着市场力量对城市居住空间重构影响的增强,相似社会经济属性的居民会倾向选择同一类型社区,而相同类型社区拥有相似的建成环境。这些结论有助于进一步了解城市居民工作日小汽车出行背后的影响因素及机制,并为通过对相同类型社区多层因素的调节来改变居民出行方式结构,进而缓解交通问题提供了借鉴。     

Generating vague neighbourhoods through data mining of passive web data

Neighbourhoods have been described as ‘the building blocks of public services society’. Their subjective nature, however, and the resulting difficulties in collecting data, means that in many countries there are no officially defined neighbourhoods either in terms of names or boundaries. This has implications not only for policy but also business and social decisions as a whole. With the absence of neighbourhood boundaries many studies resort to using standard administrative units as proxies. Such administrative geographies, however, often have a poor fit with those perceived by residents. Our approach detects these important social boundaries by automatically mining the Web en masse for passively declared neighbourhood data within postal addresses. Focusing on the United Kingdom (UK), this research demonstrates the feasibility of automated extraction of urban neighbourhood names and their subsequent mapping as vague entities. Importantly, and unlike previous work, our process does not require any neighbourhood names to be established a priori.     

Neighbourhoods and health: A review of the New Zealand literature

Over the past two decades, there has been a resurgence of interest into place‐based influences on health. Researchers have identified that various characteristics of neighbourhoods exert an influence on the health outcomes and behaviours of local residents. Understanding the processes linking places to health provides considerable potential for a range of policy interventions. We review the New Zealand‐based neighbourhoods and health research. Consideration is given to the types of neighbourhood characteristics, as well the range of health outcomes that have been studied. Finally, we suggest some priorities for further research into the mechanisms underpinning neighbourhood influences on health in New Zealand.     

Cultivating climate justice: Green infrastructure and suburban disadvantage in Australia

Green infrastructure has recently risen to international prominence for its purported capacity to enhance urban sustainability, and particularly to modulate ambient temperatures in the context of climate change. We assess whether residents in a sub-tropical Australian city perceive green infrastructure as an effective climate adaptation response for reducing vulnerability to heat stress. Gold Coast City has pursued urban densification policies, such as reducing block sizes and increasing building heights, to accommodate rapid population growth. Little attention has been given to the combined impact of local heat island effects and global climate change upon lower-income residents in the city's suburban fringe, including rising energy costs associated with cooling homes. The study has three aims: to assess whether social disadvantage is associated with (1) concern about climate change impacts; (2) perceptions about the potential of green infrastructure to offer potential climate-adaptive benefits; and (3) the desire for more urban greening in a working class suburb. We used a mail-back survey to elicit information related to cooling dwellings, awareness of, and concern about, climate change impacts, perceptions of the benefits of green infrastructure, and desire for more urban greening. Results indicate that despite their vulnerability to heat stress, comparatively disadvantaged residents are no more concerned about climate change; nor are they any more inclined to encourage local government to enhance neighbourhood greenery. These residents are, if anything, less likely to perceive benefits of urban greening. Our findings indicate that cultivating support for green infrastructure in disadvantaged neighbourhoods will require parallel efforts to redress inequality.     

Measurements of POI-based mixed use and their relationships with neighbourhood vibrancy

Although mixed use is an emerging strategy that has been widely accepted in urban planning for promoting neighbourhood vibrancy, there is no consensus on how to quantitatively measure the mix and the effects of mixed use on neighbourhood vibrancy. Shannon entropy, the most commonly used diversity measurement in assessing mixed use, has been found to be inadequate in measuring the multifaceted, multidimensional characteristics of mixed use. And lack of data also makes it difficult to find the relationship between mixed use and neighbourhood vibrancy. However, the recent availability of new sources including mobile phone data and Point of Interest (POI) data have made it possible to develop new indices of mixed use and neighbourhood vibrancy to analyse their relationships. Taking advantage of these emerging new data sources, this study used the numbers of mobile phone users in a 24-hour period as a proxy of neighbourhood vibrancy and used POIs from a navigation database to develop a series of mixed-use indicators that can better reflect the multifaceted, multidimensional characteristics of mixed-use neighbourhoods. The Hill numbers, a unified form of diversity measurement used in ecological literature that includes richness, entropy, and the Simpson index, are used to measure the degrees of mixed use. Using such fine-grained data sets and the Hill numbers allowed us to obtain better insights into the relationship between mixed use and neighbourhood vibrancy. Four models varying in POI measurements that reflect different dimensions of mixed use were presented. The results showed that either POI density or entropy can explain approximately 1% of neighbourhood vibrancy, while POI richness contributes significantly in improving neighbourhood vibrancy. The results also revealed that the entropy has limitations as a measure for representing mixed use and demonstrated the necessity of adopting a set of more appropriate measurements for mixed use. Increasing the number of POIs has limited power to improve neighbourhood vibrancy compared with encouraging the mixing of complementary POIs. These exploratory findings may be useful for adjusting mixed-use assessments and to help guide urban planning and neighbourhood design.     

广州河涌的自然社会构建与城市记忆

基于网络文本、访谈和照片评定等数据,本文采用NVivo分析方法对广州河涌案例展开分析,讨论了城市自然的社会建构与城市记忆之间的互动机制。研究发现,城市自然资源的功能随着社会经济条件变化而变化,并通过人的实践与社会系统彼此渗透、共同演化。具体来讲,以广州河涌为例,本文指出河涌的社会建构很大程度上反映了城市职能和物质形态的演变,反映了物质的利用方式及其与城市文化之间的关系;此外,城市居民与河涌的互动是文化生产的一种方式,在这个过程中,河涌是地方文化的物质承载者,也是维系地方感的重要物质载体;最后,河涌是城市居民产生记忆及其身体实践的重要物质场域,通过此类物理的沉淀,城市记忆才得以传承和保存下去。研究立足于物质地理学视角,强调了自然资源的社会建构过程,重新审视了人类与自然资源的互动关系及过程,进而反思城市发展与自然之间的处理方式,从实证角度回应了文化地理学从“唯物主义”到“文化表征”再回到“重返物质主义”这个轮回对“物质”和“文化”这两个核心概念的审视。从现实意义来讲,本文讨论了城市居民与城市自然之间的互动,为营造健康城市以及为城市再生产的发展思路提供了一定的参考价值。     

亚运会城市更新对社区居民影响的跟踪研究——基于广州市三个社区的实证调查

亚运会的成功举办对广州的经济、社会、文化产生了深远影响,同时也触发了广州新一轮的城市更新,涉及颇多社区与居民。现有研究仅关注亚运会前期的影响,缺乏对其后续影响的跟踪研究。本文对亚运会期间更新改造的三个案例进行跟踪研究,对比更新前后社区居民在物质、社会和心理层面上所受影响。研究表明:由于城市更新缺乏对社区居民的全面考虑,更新改造导致部分居民的社会经济地位降低,社会网络破坏,邻里关系拆散,社区满意度下降。这场快速、效果显著的城市更新,在物质层面上一定程度地改善了居民的居住环境和质量,但在社会层面和心理层面却对社区居民造成了较大负面影响。作为与政府和开发商不均衡博弈中的弱势方,社区居民成为亚运轰轰烈烈的城市更新改造中的社会成本承担者。城市更新应更多关注社会利益与公众参与,提倡多元化的城市更新目标。     

Examining the neighbourhood‐level predictors of fear of crime in Christchurch,New Zealand

The fear of crime can significantly reduce the quality of life of individuals, yet little is known about what neighbourhood‐level factors drive feelings of vulnerability in New Zealand. Even less is known about the impact that recorded crime has on individuals' fear in the country. In this study, we examined the neighbourhood‐level factors related to fear of crime in Christchurch, focusing specifically on whether recorded crime in neighbourhoods influences fear. The fear of crime in Christchurch was found to be the greatest in more affluent, ethnically homogenous and residentially stable neighbourhoods, while recorded crime levels were found to be relatively lower in these neighbourhoods.     

郊区大型居住区邻里关系与社会空间再生——以北京回龙观为例

从社会空间的视角研究邻里关系是城市社会地理学的重要课题。本文利用针对北京回龙观居民的问卷调查数据,并结合质性研究方法,探讨了郊区大型居住区的邻里关系及其与郊区社会空间再生的有机联系。作为典型的郊区大型居住区,回龙观的邻里交往较为浅层化但居民具有较高的交往意愿,邻里互助情况较少但具有很强的互助意愿,居民整体责任意识、社区参与和维权意识强烈。入住小区初期的集体采购、日常生活中的维权和文体活动、“童子军”外交和依托社区网的互动方式使居民相互之间维持了较好的邻里关系。邻里关系与居民受教育程度、入住小区时间长度及有无互助经历等因素相关。对社区形成起到更直接作用的是居民在社会生活方面的互动,这种互动基于实体物理空间和虚拟空间提供的平台,以及通过固化居民间的联系而萌生社区文化。回龙观居民在脱离原居住地社会关系网络背景下,通过邻里关系在郊区大型居住区构建了新的社会关系,改善了郊区社会空间的破碎化状况,促使社会空间再生。     

Houses and Residential Neighbourhoods as Work Places in Urban Areas: The Case of Selected Low Income Residential Areas in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (Gama), Ghana

House-based enterprises (HBEs) as well as small enterprises located in residential neighbourhoods are common to all urban areas of developing countries, especially low-income residential neighbourhoods. In Accra, the capital city of Ghana, there is an increasing use of houses and residential neighbourhoods as places of work. A survey of small-scale production and service-oriented enterprises located in three low income residential areas in Accra examines three issues: space use, growth patterns, and health and environmental effects. The study found that although HBEs derived some advantages from being sited in houses and in residential neighbourhoods, half of the sampled operators would have preferred to locate their business outside the residential neighbourhood in order to attract more customers, overcome the problem of inadequate workspace and to expand their enterprises. Most of the sampled enterprises had no appreciable growth over time. Enterprises had unintended negative health and environmental consequences on the operators, their workers and also on the house and residential environment in general. These effects tended to compound the already serious household environmental conditions in low-income residential neighbourhoods. The paper offers some suggestions to improve the accommodation of HBEs in order to promote business growth and ultimately to reduce the health and environmental impacts.     

Confidence and Trust in Public Institution Natural Hazards Management: Case Studies in Urban and Rural China

This research aims to investigate the extent to which urban and rural residents trust grassroots-level institutions and how this might affect community resilience to environmental change in China. It focuses on the commitments of institutional actors and their capacities to manage natural hazards and coordinate the community's response. Semistructured interviews were conducted with megacity (Tianjin) and remote village (Wolong) residents in China. We found that public confidence in grassroots-level institutions is limited due to inherent constraints on resources and power. Residents of Wolong tend to recognize the commitment and role of those institutions in connecting individuals with one another, whereas their urban counterparts in Tianjin remain skeptical. Issues of solidarity might account for this difference. These findings will have implications for state–society cooperation and disaster risk comanagement in both urban and rural China.     

Fortress Australia? (In)security and private governance in a gated residential estate

Part of a broader trend towards all-inclusive master planned developments, gated residential estates are an intensely private form of residential development with a degree of securitisation. Gated residential estates have been the topic of intense debate in urban planning and policy circles and the target of fierce criticism for potential exclusionary outcomes as fearful residents lock themselves away from the ills of wider urban society. Crime, a fear of crime and the need for security dominate discussions and understandings of gated residential developments in Australia without much empirical validation. This paper poses two key research questions: does fear of crime and need for increased security drive residents towards gated estates; and what are the lived experiences of security, gates and crime once residing within a gated estate? Based on in-depth research in Macquarie Links (one of Sydney's largest gated estates) this paper offers insights into the lived dimensions of gated estates. The paper explores the attractions and realities of security services and infrastructure, private control over the residential environment and the importance placed by the residents on the ability to protect the nature of their neighbourhood and to protect themselves from any ‘unwanted’ activities or groups. The discussion in this paper demonstrates that for the residents in the study, residing in a secure residential neighbourhood is less about the role and place of physical security and security services, and more to do with protection afforded by the private governance structure of the neighbourhood.     

广州城市居民地方依恋测度与机理

“地方依恋”问题涉及地理学、心理学、社会学、城市学等多个学科,已经成为中国快速城市化时期亟待解决的重要问题。伴随大城市内部空间的剧烈重构,城市居民对其居住空间的地方依恋也在不断变化,需要进行深入研究。本文选取广州23个典型社区,通过量表测度居民的地方依恋,并采用结构方程模型等计量方法,探索社区信任、社区满意度等要素对居民地方依恋的作用机理。同时,系统对比了居民对于不同空间尺度的地方依恋,如社区尺度和城市尺度,并对本地居民和外来移民两组人群的地方依恋及其差异进行了系统研究。研究发现：① 城市居民的社区依恋程度高于城市依恋程度;② 本地居民的社区依恋和城市依恋程度均明显高于外来移民;③ 城市居民的社区依恋同时受到社区信任和社区满意度的直接影响,但两者需通过社区依恋的中介效应间接影响居民的城市依恋;④ 社区信任与社区满意度对外来移民的社区依恋和城市依恋均具有显著作用,但对本地居民的城市依恋作用较弱。基于实证结果,本文认为,相同因素对于不同尺度的地方依恋作用机理存在差异,不同人群的地方依恋机理亦有不同,地方依恋同时具有尺度差异性和群体差异性。     

“Belonging” in the gentrified Golden Horn/Halic neighbourhoods of Istanbul

Mainstream gentrification research predominantly examines experiences and motivations of the middle-class gentrifier groups, while overlooking experiences of non-gentrifying groups including the impact of in situ local processes on gentrification itself. In this paper, I discuss gentrification, neighbourhood belonging and spatial distribution of class in Istanbul by examining patterns of belonging both of gentrifiers and non-gentrifying groups in historic neighbourhoods of the Golden Horn/Halic. I use multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a methodology rarely used in gentrification research, to explore social and symbolic borders between these two groups. I show how gentrification leads to spatial clustering by creating exclusionary practices and eroding social cohesion, and illuminate divisions that are inscribed into the physical space of the neighbourhood.