Urban Studies recent issues

Unravelling the Global City Debate on Social Inequality: A Firm-level Analysis of Wage Inequality in Amsterdam and Rotterdam

van der Waal, J., Burgers, J. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

In this article, an assessment is made of the consequences of globalisation for urban wage inequality. Using data on employers in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, it is shown that simply equating global city formation with globalisation, when it comes to urban wage inequality—which is the common research practice in urban studies—leads to a blind spot for the impact of international competition, falsely equates economic restructuring with globalisation and strongly overrates the impact of globalisation on the urban wage structure. Global city formation does not lead to polarising tendencies, while exposure to international competition leads to upgrading tendencies.

In Quest of the Good Urban Life: Socio-spatial Dynamics and Residential Building Stock Transformation in Zurich

Koll-Schretzenmayr, M., Ritterhoff, F., Siebel, W. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

This paper discusses socio-spatial dynamics and the transformation of the residential building stock in the global city of Zurich. It deals with five questions. Does Zurich exhibit the type of social polarisation outlined by the global city hypothesis? If so, how does social polarisation become visible in the context of a European city? Which actors in the real estate market are catering to the special tastes of the new urban middle class? With whom does the new middle class compete for space in the city? The paper argues that real estate developers customise the residential building stock and produce residential units for a targeted market—the new urban middle class. Furthermore, a new socio-spatial phenomenon—ennoblement—has evolved, as the new urban middle class takes residence in traditional upper-class neighbourhoods. By investing its own economic capital, this new middle class is hoping to profit from upper-class social and cultural capital.

The Dynamics of Residential Segregation in Buffalo: An Agent-based Simulation

Yin, L. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Race and class factors have been studied as underlying causes of segregation for many years. Individual choices on race and economic constraints of living in one area versus another play an important role in residential segregation. An attempt has not yet been made to simulate the interplay of neighbourhood racial and economic composition in forming segregation using empirical micro-level data. Using City of Buffalo data, this study explores how individuals’ housing location choices with respect to racial composition and housing sale prices in their neighbourhoods can give rise to aggregate patterns of residential segregation and how segregation at one point in time was contributing to increased segregation at later stages. The results show that observed patterns of segregation in the city could plausibly arise from the interaction of racial and economic factors. This study also demonstrates the application of such models on exploring the possible effects of proposed integration efforts.

From Elevated Freeway to Urban Greenway: Land Value Impacts of the CGC Project in Seoul, Korea

Kang, C. D., Cervero, R. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

In 2003—04, the Cheong Gye Cheon elevated freeway in Seoul, Korea, was torn down and replaced by an urban stream and linear park. This bold initiative aimed to enhance the quality of central-city living by replacing a mobility asset that was also a nuisance with an attractive urban amenity. This research analyses the impacts of the freeway-to-greenway conversion on commercial and residential property values using multilevel hedonic price models. Specifically, for non-residential uses, it was found that there were land value premiums for parcels within 500 metres of the corridor for both the former freeway and the present-day urban greenway. However, premiums were notably higher for parcels within the 500-metre walkshed of the urban greenway entrance points than the freeway on-ramps. It is concluded that Seoul’s unique freeway disinvestment/greenway investment conferred net benefits to both residential and non-residential land markets.

Determinants of Urban Spatial Scale: Chinese Cities in Transition

Ke, S., Song, Y., He, M. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

The unprecedented urban economic growth in China has created a huge demand for urban land. Built upon the standard monocentric city model, this empirical study investigates the determinants of urban spatial scale of Chinese cities using a cross-sectional dataset from 650 Chinese cities. The estimates are surprisingly similar to those found for US cities, with four basic factors (population, income, commuting cost and price of rural land) explaining most of the variation in urban spatial scale of Chinese cities. The findings clearly show that although land use in Chinese cities may have inherited many centrally planned features, market forces today exert a very significant influence. The study also shows that the urban spatial scale of Chinese cities is better understood by a model that consolidates features of both ‘closed’ and ‘open’ cities proposed in the standard urban land economics literature.

Residential Redevelopment and the Entrepreneurial Local State: The Implications of Beijing's Shifting Emphasis on Urban Redevelopment Policies

Shin, H. B. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

The entrepreneurial nature of local government activities has significantly influenced socioeconomic and spatial changes in urban China. It is against this backdrop that property-led redevelopment projects were implemented in Beijing after 1990, guided by a programme whose very success depended on the participation of real estate capital for financial contributions. In 2000, however, a new policy was put in practice, which aimed at supplying affordable housing on government-provided land to increase the rehousing rate. This paper analyses the implications of this shifting emphasis on Beijing’s redevelopment policy and examines whether the local government has become less entrepreneurial and more socially inclusive in its redevelopment approach. Based on the case study of two redevelopment projects, the paper argues that the local state’s entrepreneurial nature has persisted and that this is largely due to its power to dispose of urban land use rights, effectively making local governments de facto landlords.

Urban Structure and Polycentrism: Towards a Redefinition of the Sub-centre Concept

Roca Cladera, J., Marmolejo Duarte, C. R., Moix, M. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

This paper seeks to extend the definition of a sub-centre beyond the usual definition as a place with significantly larger employment density that has an effect on the overall employment density of the nearby locations. Together with the previous conditions, it is suggested that it is necessary to include another which represents a structural element of an urban sub-system within the metropolitan configuration—that is, a place with intense spatial interaction with its hinterland. Therefore, a metropolitan area can be seen as one comprising urban sub-systems characterised by greater or lesser polycentrism. In this paper, a ‘bottom—up’ methodology based on commuter flows is proposed in order to detect metropolitan sub-centres. Using empirical data from the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona, the proposed methodology is tested, comparing its results with those of other commonly used methodologies (cut-offs, parametric and non-parametric models). The results suggest that the proposed methodology permits optimising the sub-centre delimitation process.

A Property Rights Approach to Externality Problems: Planning Based on Compensation Rules

van der Krabben, E. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Most European countries have implemented some kind of land use planning based on exclusionary zoning principles to achieve spatial goals. This paper argues that, to reduce externality problems, regulatory planning is not always the best planning solution. Therefore, an alternative planning approach, which makes use of compensation rules, is suggested in this paper. This compensatory planning approach is based on property rights theory and refers to recent applications of this theory to planning practice. To illustrate the usefulness of such an approach, it is applied to the planning of out-of-town retail development in The Netherlands. The paper aims to demonstrate how deficiencies in the property rights regime can be repaired to deal with externality problems, achieving a more socially acceptable outcome of out-of-town retail development. The paper concludes with a discussion of the value of spontaneous order solutions for planning practice, by introducing four pragmatic rules on how to choose between different types of government interventions.

Urban Hierarchies and City Growth in the Balkans

Dimou, M., Schaffar, A. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

This paper uses empirical evidence from the Balkan peninsula during the 1981—2001 period, in order to study the dynamic patterns of a conflict-affected city-size distribution. By examining the time variations of the Pareto exponent on the one hand and by exploring cities’ relative growth patterns and intradistribution mobility on the other, the paper shows that city growth dynamics follow a ‘hybrid’ pattern, where city size filters the effects of external shocks. City-size dynamics thus seem more complex than that predicted by random growth or endogenous growth theories. In the Balkan peninsula, during the 1981—2001 period, medium-sized city demographics have resisted external shocks due to conflicts, redrawing of national frontiers and institutional upheaval better than large conglomerations. However, this does not lead to convergence towards a steady city size.

Poor Neighbourhoods and Poor Services: Evidence on the 'Rationing' of Environmental Service Provision to Deprived Neighbourhoods

Hasting, A. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

There is growing political concern that poor neighbourhoods often receive inadequate public services, although little research to date which explores how and why this may be the case. Earlier research on environmental services has suggested that poor neighbourhoods do not tend to get levels of this service which are proportionate to their needs. This paper extends an earlier analysis to explore the processes by which this underprovision occurs. It is argued that three ‘rationing’ processes are central to explanations: institutional rationing which describes a systemic bias against fully meeting the needs of poor neighbourhoods; reactive rationing in which service practices and standards are varied between neighbourhoods; and political rationing where service levels and standards are sensitive to variations in the political resources of neighbourhoods. The analysis reveals how these rationing processes produce levels of environmental maintenance in poor neighbourhoods which are insufficient to address needs.

Book Review: Towards Safe City Centres? Remaking the Spaces of an Old-industrial City: Gesa Helms, 2008 Aldershot: Ashgate 221 pp. {pound}55.00 hardback ISBN 978 0 7546 4804 8 hardback

Huxley, M. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Book Review: Encountering Urban Places: Visual and Material Performances in the City: Lars Frers and Lars Meier (Eds), 2007 Aldershot: Ashgate 190 pp. {pound}55.00 hardback ISBN 978 0 7546 4929 8 hardback

Ozkan, D. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Book Review: Ordinary Places/Extraordinary Events: Citizenship, Democracy, and Public Space in Latin America: Clara Irazabal (Ed.), 2008 London: Routledge 254 pp. {pound}70.00 hardback ISBN 978 0 415 35452 3 hardback

D'Arcus, B. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Book Review: China's Urban Space: Development under Market Socialism: T. G. McGee, George C. S. Lin, Andrew M. Marton, Mark Y. L. Wang and Jiaping Wu, 2007 London: Routledge 260 pp. {pound}75.00 hardback; no price given ebook ISBN 0 415 43805 5 hardback; 0 203 93479 2 ebook

Leontidou, L. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Book Review: Globalisation, the City and Civil Society in Pacific Asia: Mike Douglass, K. C. Ho and Giok Ling Ooi, 2008 London: Routledge 293 pp. {pound}75.00 hardback; no price given, ebook ISBN 978 0 415 39789 6 hardback; 978 0 203 93938 3 ebook

Li, Z. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Books Received

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:43 PST

Regulating Design: The Practices of Architecture, Governance and Control

Imrie, R., Street, E. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

Putting Architecture in its Social Place: A Cultural Political Economy of Architecture

Jones, P. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

As well as being shaped by bureaucratically codified state regulations, architecture is also fundamentally conditioned by the broader political-economic context in which it is commissioned, designed and understood. However, drawing attention to these noncodified regulations can be controversial, as it necessitates questioning the complex social production of architecture, in the process challenging those discourses that position architecture as a practice concerned primarily with the design of socially meaningful form and meaning. Such discourses have been problematised elsewhere and, building on these contributions, this paper suggests a framework for taking seriously architecture’s distinctive relationship with aesthetics and semiotics while also maintaining a sense of architects’ position as a cultural élite working in definite political-economic contexts. Drawing primarily on theories associated with Pierre Bourdieu and cultural political economy, the paper uses the case of iconic architecture to illustrate this argument. The central role of architecture in recent place-marketing strategies is understood as a resonance between the agendas of high-profile architects and those political and economic agencies ‘selling places’. The role of architecture in providing a culturalised frame within which economic transformation is embedded is a crucial consideration here. In short, this paper suggests the necessity of a non-reductionist, political-economic foundation to the regulation and built environment research agenda.

The Regulation of Design in Global Architecture Firms: Embedding and Emplacing Buildings

Faulconbridge, J. R. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

The emergence of global architecture firms and their role in the production of city architectures raises a number of questions for social scientists. For example, how— indeed do—global architects ensure that the buildings they design are ‘in place’ and appropriate for the urban cultural, economic, social and political contexts in which they are to be built? The aim of the paper is to consider this question. ‘Regulation’ is taken in its broadest sense and the paper explores the role of standards and codes as well as other forms of social regulation in the process of emplacing designs. It is argued that, in order to understand how buildings are put in their place, analysis is needed of both the design-side adaptations architects make to buildings and also the consumption side regulation of designs and the way the behaviours of those inhabiting buildings produce ‘local’ meaning.

Risk, Regulation and the Practices of Architects

Imrie, R., Street, E. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

There is a plethora of regulation relating to building form and performance and, seemingly, much more emphasis on risk identification and its management, particularly in relation to the processes underpinning the development and delivery of building projects. It appears that the practices of architects, like other urban design professionals, are implicated in the construction of risky objects and their mitigation by recourse to systems of managerial governance. Drawing on survey and interview data, it is suggested that a new focus for the understanding of architecture, and urban design more generally, ought to be consideration of the interrelationships between creativity, risk and regulation. The paper describes and evaluates architects’ understanding of, and responses to, what they perceive to be increased exposure to risk (and its regulation) in the design process. The paper is built around the proposition that risk and its regulation are entwined with organisational changes in the nature of project development and delivery, and linked with the emergence of what might be regarded as diffused or dispersed organisational forms that in and of themselves become harbingers of risk while also being one of the means to create new forms of risk governance. In turn, many of architects’ responses to risk revolve around procedures to secure reputation in contexts where loss of standing and repute is perceived to be a significant threat.

Re-interpreting Regulations: Architects as Intermediaries for Low-carbon Buildings

Fischer, J., Guy, S. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

Regulations are highly influential in shaping urban places and architectural form. This paper investigates the impact of changing regulation on the working practices of architects. First, it outlines how the building regulations have grown in scope and complexity, especially with regard to energy regulations. Secondly, the relationship of regulation and design is explored, showing a shift from a dialectic of constraint and autonomy to one of interpretation of pathways. This is partly linked to performance-based regulation and weak state enforcement. Thirdly, the response of architects to this emerging mode of design is identified. The division of labour in the design process changes, with the architect focusing increasingly on intermediation. Finally, opportunities and threats to architects and their role are examined.

A Test of Character: Regulating Place-identity in Inner-city Melbourne

Dovey, K., Woodcock, I., Wood, S. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

During the 1990s, urban planning in Melbourne changed from prescriptive regulation to a place-based performance framework with a focus on existing or desired ‘urban character’. This paper is a case study of a contentious urban project in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy: a highly valued place characterised as an irregular and transgressive mix of differences: between building types, functions, forms, heights and people. Contrasting conceptions, experiences and constructions of ‘character’ are explored from the viewpoints of residents, architect/developer and the state. To what degree does the regulation of ‘character’ open or close the city to creative innovation? Can it become camouflage for creative destruction? How to regulate for irregularity? The paper concludes with a discussion of theories of place (Massey vs Heidegger) and the prospects of concepts such as habitus (Bourdieu) and assemblage (Deleuze) for the interpretation of a progressive sense of place.

Contested Construction of Green Building Codes in North America: The Case of the Alley Flat Initiative

Moore, S. A., Wilson, B. B. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

Building codes are both an index of social values and a strategy to enforce those values. On these grounds an examination is made of the emergence of green building codes in North America as a category of building codes that is particularly important for sustainable development. The classical definition of sustainability proposes that multiple, competing frames of interpretation—economic development, environmental protection and social equity—can, in theory, be balanced. It is found, however, that in practice equity is generally ignored. Through historical and theoretical investigation, it is hypothesised that codes which are successful in incorporating equity as a criterion emerge from public talk and social learning, not abstract speculation. The paper concludes by articulating a change-oriented research design for an ongoing project to test this hypothesis.

Design Coding and the Creative, Market and Regulatory Tyrannies of Practice

Carmona, M. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

This paper reflects on a pilot programme to evaluate the use and effectiveness of design coding. It focuses on the roles and relationships between the different stakeholders in the coding process and compares the preconceptions about coding with actual experiences in use. The paper reveals the gulf in professional cultures that impact on the development process. This is underpinned by the continuing struggle between creative, market-driven and regulatory modes of praxis. The paper is polemical in that it points the finger at approaches that potentially undermine the creation of the built environment as a collective endeavour. It is also propositional in that it draws from the evidence-base provided by the pilot programme to propose that design coding could, if used correctly, positively regulate the essentials of urbanism, whilst leaving room for design creativity and enhanced market value. Effective coding can help to mediate the tyrannies of practice.

Written and Unwritten Building Conventions in a Contested City: The Case of Belfast

Brand, R. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

Many design conventions are legally binding, state-issued building codes and regulations, but many others derive their authority from other sources, are enforced by other means and exist for other purposes. This paper therefore introduces a scheme to cover the wide variety of de facto building conventions. Particularly interesting examples of seemingly atypical conventions can be found in Northern Ireland where the specific socio-political situation requires particular design approaches. Many design conventions guide the creation of artefacts that attempt to influence people’s behaviour. The distinction between corpo-active versus symbolic mechanisms and socio-fugal versus socio-petal effects is introduced in order to grasp further differences between such socio-active artefacts. The latter are of special significance in situations where communities in strife are slowly learning to practise a peaceful co-existence, as is demonstrated with one specific case study.

Commentary: Designing Codes: Trends in Cities, Planning and Development

Ben-Joseph, E. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

Commentary: From the Consumerist/ Oppressive City to the Functional/ Emancipatory City

Sklair, L. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:45 PDT

Seeing from the South: Refocusing Urban Planning on the Globe's Central Urban Issues

Watson, V. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

Urban planning in many parts of the world reflects an increasing gap between current approaches and growing problems of poverty, inequality, informality, rapid urbanisation and spatial fragmentation, particularly (but not only) in cities of the global South. Given past dominance of the global North in shaping planning theory and practice, this article argues that a perspective from the global South can be useful in unsettling taken-for-granted assumptions about how planning addresses these issues. The article takes a first step in this direction by proposing a ‘clash of rationalities’, between techno-managerial and marketised systems of government administration, service provision and planning (in those parts of the world where these apply) and increasingly marginalised urban populations surviving largely under conditions of informality. It draws together theoretical resources beyond the boundaries of conventional planning theory to understand the nature of this conflict, and the nature of the ‘interface’ between those involved, where unpredictable encounter and contestation also open the possibility for exploring alternative approaches to planning.

Urban Land and Housing Markets in the Punjab, Pakistan

Dowall, D. E., Ellis, P. D. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

Well-functioning urban land and housing markets are critical success factors for achieving robust economic growth. This paper provides an overview of urban land and housing market performance in Punjab Province of Pakistan. It describes the characteristics of well-functioning markets and argues that the Punjab’s present markets are not performing adequately. In fact, there exists a range of impediments to efficient urban land and housing market performance: excessive public land ownership, inadequate infrastructure services, weak property rights, pervasive public- and private-sector rent seeking, counter-productive urban planning policies and regulations, costly sub-division and construction regulations, limited financing for property development and acquisition, rent controls and inadequate property-tax-based revenue-generating mechanisms. The paper concludes by suggesting that a prioritised comprehensive reform agenda is needed to improve urban land and housing market performance in Punjab Province. The analytical and conceptual approach used to research this paper is based on standard neo-classical economics. Therefore, the paper does not address broader political economy or structural issues. Consequently, the paper’s contribution should be viewed as limited in scope.

Does Basic Services Privatisation Benefit the Urban Poor? Some Evidence from Water Supply Privatisation in Thailand

Zaki, S., Nurul Amin, A.T.M. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

Access to safe water and sanitation has been a development priority for decades. This is also included in the millennium development goal targets. Meanwhile, privatisation of water supply continues to be a subject of intense debate, particularly as to its effects on the urban poor. The arguments for and against often reflect the intellectual divide between socialist ideals and neo-liberal pragmatism. Key issues are access, quality and price. This paper reports findings from an investigation of Thailand’s first water supply privatisation scheme implemented in 1998. Household-level data for the poor, defined by community and income status, show a significant improvement in access to piped water despite an increase in the connection cost and monthly charges. The associated benefits from access include improved water quality and service. A promising plus is the prospect of improvement in tenure status for the households living in informal settlements.

Asset Value Enhancement of Singapore's Public Housing Main Upgrading Programme (MUP) Policy: A Real Option Analysis Approach

Ho, D. K. H., Hui, E. C.-m., Ibrahim, M. F. B. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

The main upgrading programme (MUP) is a major policy implemented by the Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB) since the 1990s. This heavily subsidised policy is highly targeted in order to enhance the social and economic value of public housing in Singapore. It benefits HDB households residing in the older HDB housing estates in terms of both an enhanced asset value of the household’s flat and a quality living environment. An HDB flat owner whose precinct is selected for upgrading under the MUP policy is envisaged to be holding a call option to upgrade his flat, as this option to upgrade is valuable and it has an opportunity to command a higher price in the HDB resale market. This paper estimates the option premiums for upgrading by utilising the intuitive and explicit numerical method solution of the binomial real option pricing model and the Samuelson—McKean closed-form solution. The embedded real option premiums under the MUP policy are estimated at S$10 300 and S$2 000 for the popular three-room HDB flat and four-room HDB flat respectively. It is also found that government subsidies have a significant impact on the option premiums.

Remaking the Monopoly Board: Urban Economic Change and Property Investment

Jones, C. A. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

The paper discusses the long-term relationship between property investment and urban economic change which is in turn the consequence of changing transport and industrial technologies. This is exemplified by the decentralisation of economic activities and population suburbanisation that has transformed the spatial structure of cities in the UK over the past 30 years. As part of this process, new property forms have evolved including retail parks and office parks. The paper examines the consequences for the property market and the responses of the planning system and institutional property investors that have traditionally viewed property as a long-term investment medium. The analysis begins by considering the context of urban economic change. The heart of the research examines the changing structure of property portfolios and the development of investment markets for these new property forms. The pace of urban change is shown to be slowed by property investment responses.

Defining Housing Market Areas Using Commuting and Migration Algorithms: Catalonia (Spain) as a Case Study

Royuela, V., Vargas, M. A. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

In the literature on housing market areas, different approaches can be found to defining them—for example, using travel-to-work areas and, more recently, making use of migration data. This paper proposes a simple exercise to shed light on which approach performs better. Using regional data for Catalonia, in Spain, housing market areas are computed with both commuting data and migration data. In order to decide which procedure shows superior performance, the uniformity of prices within areas is examined. The main finding is that commuting algorithms present more homogeneous areas in terms of housing prices.

A Technique for Small-area Poverty Analyses

de la Espriella, C. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

This paper proposes a technique for undertaking poverty analyses at city level, by studying the implementation of Costa Rica’s social housing policy in the medium-sized city of Liberia. The technique was appraised in relation to its capacity to explore the links between social housing, poverty and inequality, the effects of the implementation of the selected policy and the differences between targeting implementation strategies. The technique helps to clarify the effects that housing policies have on poverty reduction in Liberia. In particular, the use of an urban residential segregation approach in small-area poverty analyses allows the identification of concrete deprived urban areas and the prioritisation of feasible pro-poor land-based actions; therefore, it shows potential as a tool for urban planning and local decision-making.

Entrance, Exit and Exclusion: Labour Market Flows of Foreign-born Adults in Swedish 'Divided Cities'

Hedberg, C. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:45 PDT

International migrants often occupy subordinate positions in the labour market or are excluded from it. Based on unique longitudinal data, this article investigates the socioeconomic mobility of the foreign-born adult population in two Swedish cities in the period 1993—2002. Patterns of entrance, exit and exclusion pertaining to the labour of foreign-born and native-born populations are compared, focusing on variations between ‘distressed’ neighbourhoods and surrounding city-regions. The results reveal that the foreign-born population experiences a high labour turnover, generally with increasing employment stability, but that considerable vulnerability still remains. However, surprisingly small differences were found between residents of ‘distressed’ and other neighbourhoods. Hence, ethnic rather than residential status influenced the employment situation of foreign-born adults in Swedish cities.

Testing O'Connor and Thomas: Does the Use of Eminent Domain Target Poor and Minority Communities?

Carpenter, D. M., Ross, J. K. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

In dissenting from the US Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo decision upholding the use of eminent domain for private-to-private transfers of property, Justices O’Connor and Thomas asserted, based on the history of urban renewal, that eminent domain for private development would disproportionately hurt poor and minority communities. This study uses US census data and a sample of redevelopment project areas using or identified for the use of eminent domain to test the assertions of Justices O’Connor and Thomas. Results reveal that such project areas are, in fact, disproportionately populated by those who are poor, minority and less educated.

Defining a Public: The Management of Privately Owned Public Space

Nemeth, J. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

This paper empirically explores the management of privately owned public space. It examines 163 spaces produced through New York City’s incentive zoning programme, whereby developers provide and manage a public space in exchange for floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses. Developers of these bonus spaces employ a variety of management approaches, each correlating with common theories of spatial control in publicly owned spaces. However, as developer priorities are often fiscally driven, most approaches severely limit political, social and democratic functions of public space and produce a constricted definition of the public. As such, privately owned public spaces have deleterious effects on concepts of citizenship and representation, even as they become the new models for urban space provision and management.

Book Review: Cities and Race: America's New Black Ghetto: David Wilson, 2006 London: Routledge 192 pp. {pound}75.00 hardback; {pound}24.99 paperback ISBN 978 0 415 35805 7 hardback; 978 0 415 35806 4 paperback

Gardener, B. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

Book Review: Chasing the American Dream: New Perspectives on Affordable Homeownership: William M. Rohe and Harry L. Watson (Eds), 2007 Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press 315 pp. $24.95 paperback ISBN 978 0 8014 7361 6 paperback

Huron, A. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

Book Review: Authentic New Orleans: Tourism, Culture and Race in the Big Easy: Kevin Fox Gotham, 2007 New York: New York University Press 288 pp. US$75.00 hardback; US$23.00 paperback ISBN 978 0 8147 3185 7 hardback; 978 8147 3186 4 paperback

Doerfler, T. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

Book Review: Transgression as a Rule: German--Polish Cross-border Co-operation, Border Discourse and EU-enlargement: Ulrich Best, 2007 Munster: Lit-Verlag 279 pp. 29.90 euro paperback ISBN 978 38258 0654 5 paperback

Neuhold, P. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

Book Review: Urban Regeneration in the UK: Phil Jones and James Evans, 2008 London: Sage 190 pp. {pound}65.00 hardback; {pound}22.99 paperback ISBN 978 1 4129 3490 9 hardback; 978 1 4129 3491 6 paperback

Matthews, P. — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

Books Received

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:50:46 PDT

Rail and Property Development in Hong Kong: Experiences and Extensions

Cervero, R., Murakami, J. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Hong Kong has aggressively pursued transit value capture to finance railway infrastructure through its ‘Rail + Property’ development programme, or R+P. More than half of all income to the railway operators comes from property development. Most R+P projects focus on housing although all have some commercial development. Recent generation R+P projects have stressed pedestrian quality. This research shows this has in turn increased ridership and housing prices. An R+P station with a transit-oriented design averages 35 000 additional weekday passengers. Housing price premiums in the range of 5—30 per cent were found. Hong Kong’s R+P model, it is suggested, is well suited for financing rail infrastructure and advancing transit-oriented designs in the rapidly growing cities of mainland China.

The Gap between Free Market and Social Optimum in the Location Decision of Economic Activity

Malul, M., Bar-El, R. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

This article presents a simplified model for comparison of the spatial distribution (core—periphery) of economic activity resulting from free market conditions, with the distribution that would lead to a social optimum. It further examines the public policy measures required to lead the economy towards the optimal distribution. Simulations are conducted to illustrate the mechanism of intervention of public policy and to test the feasibility of various measures. An important conclusion is that public investment in the creation of competitive ability in the periphery may provide the solution to market failure and therefore lead to the achievement of a social optimum greater than the free market optimum. Another preliminary conclusion is that public policy should consider a combination of measures (such as improving both regional infrastructure and the quality of the labour force), since focusing on a single measure may not be sufficient to achieve a social optimum.

Urban Locations of Eminent Black Entrepreneurs in the United States

Boyd, R. L. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Extraordinarily successful Black entrepreneurs have received relatively little attention in the literature on Black socioeconomic progress in the US. The present study fills this gap by identifying the urban centres that have been the main locations of Black entrepreneurs who have been classified by scholars as ‘eminent’. Biographical data from highly regarded encyclopaedic sources show that these entrepreneurs have concentrated in a small number of urban centres and have a skewed spatial distribution that resembles the famous ‘Pareto curve’. These data also indicate that, over most of the 20th century, Black communities in the urban South produced a disproportionate share of the Black Americans whose business successes have been nationally recognised. However, the data suggest that, by the end of the century, the largest metropolitan areas outside the South—Chicago, New York and Los Angeles—were becoming the primary locations of eminent Black entrepreneurs in the US.

Neighbourhood Diversity, Metropolitan Segregation and Gentrification: What Are the Links in the US?

Freeman, L. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

An important yet little understood aspect of gentrification is the extent to which it affects spatial relations between various social groups. This study employs two measures of gentrification to discern how it is related to neighbourhood-level diversity and metropolitan-level segregation in the US by race and class respectively. It is found that gentrification does not decrease neighbourhood-level diversity. The evidence on whether gentrification precedes increased levels of neighbourhood-level diversity is more mixed. Depending on the outcome and the metric of gentrification used, there are some instances where gentrification appears to lead to increased diversity. However, there are other instances where gentrifying neighbourhoods start out more diverse than other neighbourhoods and remain that way over the study period. The relationship between metropolitan-level segregation and gentrification is more tenuous, with some of the evidence suggesting that gentrification reduces income segregation and weaker less robust evidence suggesting gentrification increases racial segregation.

Neighbourhood Change... Reason to Leave?

Feijten, P., van Ham, M. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Little attention has been paid to date to the role of a changing neighbourhood as a factor influencing the residential choice process. Processes of neighbourhood change are often beyond residents’ sphere of influence and if a changing neighbourhood causes residential stress, the only way to improve one’s neighbourhood is to move to a better one. This study aims to get more insight into the effect of neighbourhood change on residential stress by studying residents’ wish to leave their neighbourhood. Using data from The Netherlands, we show that there is no effect of a change in the socioeconomic status of the neighbourhood on moving wishes. A high level of population turnover and an increase in the proportion of non-Western ethnic minorities in the neighbourhood increase the probability that residents want to leave their neighbourhood. The latter effect disappears when controlled for residents’ subjective opinion about neighbourhood change.

The Embeddedness of Tourism-related Activity: A Regional Analysis of Sectoral Linkages

Beynon, M., Jones, C., Munday, M. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

The paper undertakes a linkage analysis on a regional economy, concentrating on tourism-related sectors. Recent improvements in the accounting for tourism activity, through satellite account frameworks, provide information on tourism-related sectors and their transactions with the rest of the economy. Several regions of the UK have highlighted tourism as an important development sector, but often with a less than perfect understanding of how changes in tourism demand affect tourism-related sectors and then how changes in these sectors impact the rest of the economy. The study employs a series of approaches, to construct linkage measures and to explore the regional intensity of the transactions linkages of tourism-related sectors; it also considers the extent to which, in the case study region of Wales, these same sectors might be considered as ‘key’ in terms of their linkage strength.

Firm Heterogeneity and Location Choices: Evidence from Foreign Manufacturing Investments in China

Junjie Hong, — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

This paper develops a model which indicates that foreign firms’ location choices are determined jointly by site attributes and firm heterogeneity. The model is estimated using data on 2565 foreign manufacturing investments in China. The conditional logit estimates and simulation results provide supportive evidence. An increase in a firm’s labour intensity magnifies the impact of labour cost, while a location’s local communications infrastructure has a stronger influence on foreign firms that have adopted modern information technology. It is also found that agglomeration effects decrease with firm size and labour quality. Implications for researchers and policy-makers are discussed in the conclusion.

City Size Distribution in China: Are Large Cities Dominant?

Zelai Xu, , Nong Zhu, — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

This paper examines the evolution of the size distribution of Chinese cities. Since the relaxation of restrictions on rural—urban migration in the 1980s, China has experienced rapid urban growth. However, cities of different sizes have experienced varying patterns of growth. First, the evolution of city size distribution in China is described by documenting the growth in city size and in the number of existing cities. Then, focusing on the period from 1990 to 2000, the urban evolutionary trend is analysed by means of the Pareto law estimation and the mobility of cities between different size groups is examined with the Markov transition matrix. The convergence hypothesis in the city population growth process is also tested. The results suggest that, contrary to the expected dominance of large city growth, the Chinese city size distribution evened out during the 1990s, with small cities growing more rapidly than large cities.

Is Mexico City Polycentric? A Trip Attraction Capacity Approach

Suarez, M., Delgado, J. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

The article explores whether Mexico City is a polycentric metropolis. Building upon previous methodologies, an alternative criterion is proposed for identifying employment centres, using a jobs to working residents ratio, while taking into account economic informality. Although a small set of minor sub-centres is traced, it is found that most jobs are concentrated in a large central agglomeration, with a moderate percentage of jobs concentrated in corridor-like shapes. Within this central agglomeration, are found inner nodes and corridor-like structures that had been identified in previous research as sub-centres. Additionally, economic specialisation is identified with the use of location quotients and the results are compared with those of previous methodologies. It is concluded that Mexico City has a hybrid, although still predominantly monocentric, urban form.

Partnership Diversity and Governance Culture: Evidence from Urban Regeneration Policies in Portugal

Breda-Vazquez, I., Conceicao, P., Fernandes, R. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Debates on urban regeneration highlight the processes of mobilisation of public and private agents and the diversity of models of partnership. This paper focuses on the relationship between the diversity of partnerships and the processes of institutional change, and discusses the role played by governance culture. By looking at the case of Portugal, it explores a plurality of episodes of policy experimentation and actor—network practices. The results show that it is difficult to build general transformative processes when using specific innovative experiences as a basis. Sectoral institutional agendas and practices make it difficult to establish enduring processes of ‘cross-fertilisation’ for institutional and policy learning and innovation. Governance culture has a constraining influence. In such a context, the issue of the fragmentation of urban policy becomes crucial and the role of an urban policy that establishes the conditions in which innovation can occur seems to be particularly relevant.

Book Review: Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality: Loic Wacquant, 2008 Cambridge, MA: Polity Press 360 pp. {pound}55.00 hardback; {pound}16.99 paperback ISBN 978 0 7456 31240 hardback; 978 0 7456 31257 paperback

Nicholls, W. J. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Book Review: Fear: Critical Geopolitics and Everyday Life: Rachel Pain and Susan J. Smith (Eds), 2008 Aldershot: Ashgate 256 pp. {pound} 55.00 hardback ISBN 978 0 7546 4966 3 hardback

Listerborn, C. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Book Review: Community Cohesion and Crisis? New Dimensions of Diversity and Difference: John Flint and David Robinson (Eds), 2008 Bristol: The Policy Press 288 pp. {pound}52.00 hardback; {pound}19.99 paperback ISBN 9781847420237 paperback; 9781847420244 hardback

McGhee, D. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Book Review: On the Move: Mobility in the Modern Western World: Tim Cresswell, 2006 London: Routledge 352 pp. {pound}95.00 hardback; {pound}23.99 paperback ISBN 978 0415 95255 2 hardback; 978 0415 95256 9 paperback

Bylund, J. R. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Book Review: The Ideology of Homeownership: Homeowner Societies and the Role of Housing: Richard Ronald, 2008 Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 282 pp. {pound}55 hardback ISBN 978 1 4039 8945 1 hardback

Sprigings, N. — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT

Books Received

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:53:44 PDT