Pub Date : 2023-09-26DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1244439
Sameh Al-Shihabi
This paper examines the environmental effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles used by tourists in Dubai. Unfortunately, tourists residing in Dubai hotels must depend on these single-use plastic water bottles that have negative environmental impacts associated with their production and disposal. Thus, the government of Dubai launched an initiative to reduce the usage of PET bottles, and this paper discusses whether this initiative is adequate to change hotels' dependence on PET water bottles. Therefore, this paper tries first to find the reasons that would drive hotels to comply with this initiative and then assesses the compliance of hotels with this initiative 1 year after its launch. It is found that pressures from hotels with the same and higher ratings are crucial drivers for hotels to replace PET bottles with other alternatives. Officials affiliated with the Dubai Can initiative confirmed these findings. They have also anticipated that UAE residents who spend their vacations in Dubai hotels will exert substantial pressure on hotels to abandon PET bottle use. Decision-makers affirmed that a good percentage of five-star hotels, in addition to several four-star hotels, have abolished the use of PET bottles. Moreover, it is anticipated that all hotels are expected to stop using PET bottles. Consequently, this study shows that promoting environmentally responsible behavior without enacting laws is possible.
{"title":"The polyethylene terephthalate water bottles problem in Dubai hotels—Would an initiative solve this problem or does it need a law?","authors":"Sameh Al-Shihabi","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1244439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1244439","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the environmental effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles used by tourists in Dubai. Unfortunately, tourists residing in Dubai hotels must depend on these single-use plastic water bottles that have negative environmental impacts associated with their production and disposal. Thus, the government of Dubai launched an initiative to reduce the usage of PET bottles, and this paper discusses whether this initiative is adequate to change hotels' dependence on PET water bottles. Therefore, this paper tries first to find the reasons that would drive hotels to comply with this initiative and then assesses the compliance of hotels with this initiative 1 year after its launch. It is found that pressures from hotels with the same and higher ratings are crucial drivers for hotels to replace PET bottles with other alternatives. Officials affiliated with the Dubai Can initiative confirmed these findings. They have also anticipated that UAE residents who spend their vacations in Dubai hotels will exert substantial pressure on hotels to abandon PET bottle use. Decision-makers affirmed that a good percentage of five-star hotels, in addition to several four-star hotels, have abolished the use of PET bottles. Moreover, it is anticipated that all hotels are expected to stop using PET bottles. Consequently, this study shows that promoting environmentally responsible behavior without enacting laws is possible.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135719086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-25DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1135513
Alexander Chantilas, Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi, Emily Gvino, Kristen Downs, Cate Byrne, Elizabeth Christenson-Diver, Ranger Ruffins, Aaron Worley, Felix Dodds
Current approaches to flood management are increasingly insufficient to deal with intensifying flood trends. In this paper, we define and map out the responsibilities and relationships of local, state, and federal governing entities at various levels. We use these relationships to identify gaps in governance needed to address the high financial, human, and infrastructure costs of flooding. This paper offers a description of current flood policies and provides recommendations for innovations in policy solutions to improve governance gaps. We identify three themes from the literature on intergovernmental relations and flood governance: (1) intergovernmental relations (interlinkages and gaps) for flood governance; (2) risks inherent to flood governance (financial, physical, social and individual, and perception of risk); (3) data adequacy and interoperability.
{"title":"Interlinkages and gaps: a review of the literature on intergovernmental relations for flood management in the face of climate change","authors":"Alexander Chantilas, Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi, Emily Gvino, Kristen Downs, Cate Byrne, Elizabeth Christenson-Diver, Ranger Ruffins, Aaron Worley, Felix Dodds","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1135513","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1135513","url":null,"abstract":"Current approaches to flood management are increasingly insufficient to deal with intensifying flood trends. In this paper, we define and map out the responsibilities and relationships of local, state, and federal governing entities at various levels. We use these relationships to identify gaps in governance needed to address the high financial, human, and infrastructure costs of flooding. This paper offers a description of current flood policies and provides recommendations for innovations in policy solutions to improve governance gaps. We identify three themes from the literature on intergovernmental relations and flood governance: (1) intergovernmental relations (interlinkages and gaps) for flood governance; (2) risks inherent to flood governance (financial, physical, social and individual, and perception of risk); (3) data adequacy and interoperability.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135864866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-21DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1267964
Božena Kadeřábková, Pavel Řežábek
This study focuses on the housing market in Central European countries. We analyze the housing prices and their sensitiveness to selected variables, especially regarding construction activity in the V4 countries and Austria. By employing a specification of a recursive VAR model for each country, we show that the most responsive to changes in construction activity is housing market in Austria. Meanwhile housing prices in the V4 countries do not exhibit any strong association with construction activity, perhaps due to under-supply of housing in the countries. The paper provides discussion on the variables dependencies explanations.
{"title":"Does increased construction activity transmit into housing prices and rents? Evidence from the V4 countries and Austria","authors":"Božena Kadeřábková, Pavel Řežábek","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1267964","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1267964","url":null,"abstract":"This study focuses on the housing market in Central European countries. We analyze the housing prices and their sensitiveness to selected variables, especially regarding construction activity in the V4 countries and Austria. By employing a specification of a recursive VAR model for each country, we show that the most responsive to changes in construction activity is housing market in Austria. Meanwhile housing prices in the V4 countries do not exhibit any strong association with construction activity, perhaps due to under-supply of housing in the countries. The paper provides discussion on the variables dependencies explanations.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136130550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-19DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1165296
Conor G. Fair, S. Kris Braman
The economic and ecological importance of pollinators and the increasingly evident decline of their populations have drawn concern from scientists, governments, and individuals alike. While research has focused on the ecological causes and solutions to pollinator declines, it is less understood how to motivate actual behavior changes to help conserve pollinators. Behavioral psychologists have developed many theories to explain how human behavioral drivers affect the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors such as recycling and other sustainability actions. A comprehensive model incorporating norm activation theory, the new ecological paradigm, values-belief-norm theory, and the theory of planned behavior suggests various psychological determinants that drive changes in pro-environmental behaviors. A survey was constructed using Qualtrics software to measure and analyze >1,500 individuals' responses to questions designed to test the relationships between different types of pollinator conservation behaviors and the sociopsychological determinants of an individual's intention to perform said behaviors. Previous behaviors, issue awareness, and positive attitudes toward pollinators consistently predict increased intention to perform pollinator conservation behaviors, which supports related research on pro-environmental behaviors. Other determinants, such as ascription of responsibility and perceived behavioral control, had positive effects on the intention to perform some of the tested pollinator conservation behaviors. Understanding these relationships could help improve efforts to educate and increase the adoption of these pollinator conservation behaviors. Finally, many determinants had mixed and fewer significant relationships with the intention to perform conservation behaviors, which suggests the need for revisions to the specific wording of the survey tools and additional testing of these psychological determinants.
{"title":"Harnessing behavioral psychology to encourage individuals' adoption of pollinator conservation behaviors","authors":"Conor G. Fair, S. Kris Braman","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1165296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1165296","url":null,"abstract":"The economic and ecological importance of pollinators and the increasingly evident decline of their populations have drawn concern from scientists, governments, and individuals alike. While research has focused on the ecological causes and solutions to pollinator declines, it is less understood how to motivate actual behavior changes to help conserve pollinators. Behavioral psychologists have developed many theories to explain how human behavioral drivers affect the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors such as recycling and other sustainability actions. A comprehensive model incorporating norm activation theory, the new ecological paradigm, values-belief-norm theory, and the theory of planned behavior suggests various psychological determinants that drive changes in pro-environmental behaviors. A survey was constructed using Qualtrics software to measure and analyze >1,500 individuals' responses to questions designed to test the relationships between different types of pollinator conservation behaviors and the sociopsychological determinants of an individual's intention to perform said behaviors. Previous behaviors, issue awareness, and positive attitudes toward pollinators consistently predict increased intention to perform pollinator conservation behaviors, which supports related research on pro-environmental behaviors. Other determinants, such as ascription of responsibility and perceived behavioral control, had positive effects on the intention to perform some of the tested pollinator conservation behaviors. Understanding these relationships could help improve efforts to educate and increase the adoption of these pollinator conservation behaviors. Finally, many determinants had mixed and fewer significant relationships with the intention to perform conservation behaviors, which suggests the need for revisions to the specific wording of the survey tools and additional testing of these psychological determinants.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135107633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-19DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1207652
Natalia Dias Tadeu, Micaela Trimble, Marila Lázaro, Paula Venturini, Mauricio Venegas
The Montevideo Metropolis, where more than half of Uruguay's population resides, is supplied with water from the Santa Lucía River (SLR), which faces increasing problems of water quality and quantity. In 2020, in the context of national government political changes, a hydraulic project (called Neptuno) involving the construction of a purification plant using water from the Río de la Plata estuary (close to the SLR basin), was proposed by a consortium of private companies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the arguments to support and oppose the Neptuno Project, as well as the hydrosocial transformations promoted by it in the SLR basin, including the scalar strategies adopted. Primary and secondary data (interviews, participant observation, and document analysis) were triangulated. Coalitions pro and against the greater involvement of the private sector with water supply services were identified. Our research shows that diverse perspectives of water security, related to different hydrosocial projects, reflect opposed interests and divergent objectives in a context of disputes within asymmetrical power relationships. This has been reactivating the coalition of the historic conflict against the privatization processes that preceded the constitutional reform in Uruguay in 2004. This coalition, against the Neptuno project, carried out a “jump scale,” taking the issue from the local to the national scale.
乌拉圭一半以上的人口居住在蒙得维的亚大都会,该市的水源来自Santa Lucía河(SLR),这条河面临着越来越多的水质和水量问题。2020年,在国家政府政治变化的背景下,一个由私营公司组成的财团提出了一个水力项目(称为Neptuno),该项目涉及使用Río de la Plata河口(靠近SLR盆地)的水建造一座净化厂。本文的目的是分析支持和反对海王星项目的论据,以及该项目在SLR盆地推动的水文社会转型,包括所采取的标量策略。主要和次要数据(访谈、参与者观察和文献分析)进行三角测量。确定了支持和反对私营部门更多地参与供水服务的联盟。我们的研究表明,在不对称权力关系的争议背景下,与不同水文社会项目相关的水安全的不同视角反映了对立的利益和不同的目标。这一直在重新激活反对私有化进程的历史性冲突联盟,这种冲突发生在2004年乌拉圭宪法改革之前。这个反对海王星项目的联盟进行了“跳跃式规模”,将问题从地方扩大到国家层面。
{"title":"Divergent perspectives about water security: hydrosocial transformations in the metropolitan region of Montevideo (Uruguay)","authors":"Natalia Dias Tadeu, Micaela Trimble, Marila Lázaro, Paula Venturini, Mauricio Venegas","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1207652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1207652","url":null,"abstract":"The Montevideo Metropolis, where more than half of Uruguay's population resides, is supplied with water from the Santa Lucía River (SLR), which faces increasing problems of water quality and quantity. In 2020, in the context of national government political changes, a hydraulic project (called Neptuno) involving the construction of a purification plant using water from the Río de la Plata estuary (close to the SLR basin), was proposed by a consortium of private companies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the arguments to support and oppose the Neptuno Project, as well as the hydrosocial transformations promoted by it in the SLR basin, including the scalar strategies adopted. Primary and secondary data (interviews, participant observation, and document analysis) were triangulated. Coalitions pro and against the greater involvement of the private sector with water supply services were identified. Our research shows that diverse perspectives of water security, related to different hydrosocial projects, reflect opposed interests and divergent objectives in a context of disputes within asymmetrical power relationships. This has been reactivating the coalition of the historic conflict against the privatization processes that preceded the constitutional reform in Uruguay in 2004. This coalition, against the Neptuno project, carried out a “jump scale,” taking the issue from the local to the national scale.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135107459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-18DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1260892
Yue Qian, Guanmin Qiao, Tonglu Li, Renfeng Ma
Background Equalization of medical servic e s is fundamental to the development of people-centered urbanization in Chinese-style modernization. In the past few decades, the achievements of the Chinese economy have remarkably increased the quantity and quality of healthcare services. Under rapid urbanization, large-scale population floating has led to a mismatch between supply and demand for healthcare services and raised the tension between spatial demographic reorganization and the relative stability of public healthcare service facilities. The current studies of healthcare spatial deprivation (HSD) mainly are focus on either supply, or demand, or accessibility based on census data. Therefore, it is necessary to build a multiple index that could give a physical result by using ordinary indices and mixing them together by relative methods to overcome this problem. Measure We chose Ningbo city, Zhejiang province, located in the eastern coastal region of China, as the study area. Moreover, from 2000 to 2020, the urbanization rate of Ningbo rapidly increased from 55.75 to 78.0%. In order to show the HSD in a rapidly urbanizing city, we first consider the subdistrict as the scale, innovatively absolve the medical accessibility to the IRD (Index of Relative Disadvantage), and construct the Index of Healthcare Relative Spatial Deprivation (IHRSD) framework. Based on the seventh national census data, we apply an IHRSD with Entropy Weight Method, 2SFCA (Two-step Floating Catchment Area Method) and GDM (Geographical Detector Model) to measure where and who are vulnerable to deprive in healthcare. Result Measured by IHRSD, (1) There is stronger healthcare spatial deprivation in peri-urban and developed-town in Ningbo; (2) Young childhood and fertile-women are vulnerable to healthcare spatial deprivation, in fact, they are spatially deprived in healthcare; (3) The socio-demographic attribute is a significant factor in healthcare spatial deprivation, especially the level of aging and population clustering; and (4) The relationship between healthcare spatial deprivation and accessibility shows an inverted U -shaped structure. Conclusion Our experiments show that the problems of HSD are mainly from the characteristics of the population, the layout of healthcare service institutions, the accessibility of the traffic system and the natural conditions. Although the constructions of equalization of primary medical and health services, hierarchical diagnosis, and treatment, and the “healthcare complex” are currently trying to reduce the phenomenon of HSD. Faced with groups and location, the acquisition of the accurately healthcare service supply is the key to realizing healthcare spatial equity.
{"title":"Measuring the healthcare spatial deprivation in multiple perspectives: a case study of Ningbo city","authors":"Yue Qian, Guanmin Qiao, Tonglu Li, Renfeng Ma","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1260892","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1260892","url":null,"abstract":"Background Equalization of medical servic e s is fundamental to the development of people-centered urbanization in Chinese-style modernization. In the past few decades, the achievements of the Chinese economy have remarkably increased the quantity and quality of healthcare services. Under rapid urbanization, large-scale population floating has led to a mismatch between supply and demand for healthcare services and raised the tension between spatial demographic reorganization and the relative stability of public healthcare service facilities. The current studies of healthcare spatial deprivation (HSD) mainly are focus on either supply, or demand, or accessibility based on census data. Therefore, it is necessary to build a multiple index that could give a physical result by using ordinary indices and mixing them together by relative methods to overcome this problem. Measure We chose Ningbo city, Zhejiang province, located in the eastern coastal region of China, as the study area. Moreover, from 2000 to 2020, the urbanization rate of Ningbo rapidly increased from 55.75 to 78.0%. In order to show the HSD in a rapidly urbanizing city, we first consider the subdistrict as the scale, innovatively absolve the medical accessibility to the IRD (Index of Relative Disadvantage), and construct the Index of Healthcare Relative Spatial Deprivation (IHRSD) framework. Based on the seventh national census data, we apply an IHRSD with Entropy Weight Method, 2SFCA (Two-step Floating Catchment Area Method) and GDM (Geographical Detector Model) to measure where and who are vulnerable to deprive in healthcare. Result Measured by IHRSD, (1) There is stronger healthcare spatial deprivation in peri-urban and developed-town in Ningbo; (2) Young childhood and fertile-women are vulnerable to healthcare spatial deprivation, in fact, they are spatially deprived in healthcare; (3) The socio-demographic attribute is a significant factor in healthcare spatial deprivation, especially the level of aging and population clustering; and (4) The relationship between healthcare spatial deprivation and accessibility shows an inverted U -shaped structure. Conclusion Our experiments show that the problems of HSD are mainly from the characteristics of the population, the layout of healthcare service institutions, the accessibility of the traffic system and the natural conditions. Although the constructions of equalization of primary medical and health services, hierarchical diagnosis, and treatment, and the “healthcare complex” are currently trying to reduce the phenomenon of HSD. Faced with groups and location, the acquisition of the accurately healthcare service supply is the key to realizing healthcare spatial equity.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135203063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-12DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1285175
Federico Cugurullo, Sarah Barns, Vincent J. Del Casino, Natalie M. Gulsrud, Tan Yigitcanlar, Xiaoling Zhang
{"title":"Editorial: The governance of artificial intelligence in the “autonomous city”","authors":"Federico Cugurullo, Sarah Barns, Vincent J. Del Casino, Natalie M. Gulsrud, Tan Yigitcanlar, Xiaoling Zhang","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1285175","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1285175","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2023-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139340970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-30DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1149087
Anneli Kährik, Ingmar Pastak
The current housing affordability crisis, driven mainly by the financialization of housing and the government's retrenchment of social policies and provision of affordable housing, have affected growing inequalities in access to housing. The crises have hit young people especially hard. The recent trends call for systematic studies on the mechanisms generating such intergenerational inequality, considering the specifics of the prevailing housing regimes. Housing affordability in Tallinn has decreased due to fast-growing housing prices, as a result of an ultra-liberal housing regime, exemplified by housing financialization, capital accumulation, low level of governmental interventions and an overall increase in social inequalities. Based on EU-SILC data, it is shown how the recent trends during the decade between 2010 and 2020 have negatively impacted young people's access to homeownership—access has been greatly reduced for young cohorts, and it has become more differentiated, based on the socio-economic and labor market performance of households, as well as intergenerational transfers. Young households are increasingly residing in private rental dwellings, and many still rely on parental housing until their 30s. Rental housing, as compared to homeownership, has fewer advantages compared to homeownership—it brings no capital gains and is less secure, and rental stock tends to be located unevenly across urban space and to be in slightly worse condition compared to owner-occupied housing. This positions young people in an unfavorable position in the perspective of their housing career, and this can have severe consequences on their social inclusion.
{"title":"Access to homeownership in decline—rising housing inequalities for young people in the neoliberal housing market of Tallinn","authors":"Anneli Kährik, Ingmar Pastak","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1149087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1149087","url":null,"abstract":"The current housing affordability crisis, driven mainly by the financialization of housing and the government's retrenchment of social policies and provision of affordable housing, have affected growing inequalities in access to housing. The crises have hit young people especially hard. The recent trends call for systematic studies on the mechanisms generating such intergenerational inequality, considering the specifics of the prevailing housing regimes. Housing affordability in Tallinn has decreased due to fast-growing housing prices, as a result of an ultra-liberal housing regime, exemplified by housing financialization, capital accumulation, low level of governmental interventions and an overall increase in social inequalities. Based on EU-SILC data, it is shown how the recent trends during the decade between 2010 and 2020 have negatively impacted young people's access to homeownership—access has been greatly reduced for young cohorts, and it has become more differentiated, based on the socio-economic and labor market performance of households, as well as intergenerational transfers. Young households are increasingly residing in private rental dwellings, and many still rely on parental housing until their 30s. Rental housing, as compared to homeownership, has fewer advantages compared to homeownership—it brings no capital gains and is less secure, and rental stock tends to be located unevenly across urban space and to be in slightly worse condition compared to owner-occupied housing. This positions young people in an unfavorable position in the perspective of their housing career, and this can have severe consequences on their social inclusion.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46183782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1119399
N. Livingstone, Stefania Fiorentino, M. Short
This mini review explores perspectives on density and discretionary planning policy in relation to the emergent landscapes of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) across selected English university cities. It examines the nexus between density in planning policies and transformations in student accommodation, presenting a research gap requiring further investigation. Our research builds upon limited literature on UK PBSA within which there has been inadequate interrogation of policy impacts on the substantial growth of this now mature market sector. By better understanding the relations between national planning policies and their local interpretations regarding PBSA, we can move toward improving understandings for urban futures. The intersectionality between the evolution of the PBSA sector and the planning system are currently underexplored. The paper highlights the proliferation, densification, and concentration patterns of PBSAs and their connections to the surrounding planning system. The emergence of privately developed PBSA in the UK is typically characterized by medium to high rise, and medium to high density development. Higher density PBSA has created a dynamic spectrum of impacts reflecting subjective perceptions of their emergence in university cities. Our mini review illustrates the growth trajectory and direction of the PBSA sector. We conclude with a reflection on the discretionary nature of planning policies for density that often create regulatory loopholes allowing PBSA to thrive as a niche real estate asset class but not necessarily as a local and social collective asset.
{"title":"Density, planning, and the emergent landscapes of purpose-built student accommodation in England","authors":"N. Livingstone, Stefania Fiorentino, M. Short","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1119399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1119399","url":null,"abstract":"This mini review explores perspectives on density and discretionary planning policy in relation to the emergent landscapes of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) across selected English university cities. It examines the nexus between density in planning policies and transformations in student accommodation, presenting a research gap requiring further investigation. Our research builds upon limited literature on UK PBSA within which there has been inadequate interrogation of policy impacts on the substantial growth of this now mature market sector. By better understanding the relations between national planning policies and their local interpretations regarding PBSA, we can move toward improving understandings for urban futures. The intersectionality between the evolution of the PBSA sector and the planning system are currently underexplored. The paper highlights the proliferation, densification, and concentration patterns of PBSAs and their connections to the surrounding planning system. The emergence of privately developed PBSA in the UK is typically characterized by medium to high rise, and medium to high density development. Higher density PBSA has created a dynamic spectrum of impacts reflecting subjective perceptions of their emergence in university cities. Our mini review illustrates the growth trajectory and direction of the PBSA sector. We conclude with a reflection on the discretionary nature of planning policies for density that often create regulatory loopholes allowing PBSA to thrive as a niche real estate asset class but not necessarily as a local and social collective asset.","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47689818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-25DOI: 10.3389/frsc.2023.1277926
N. Livingstone, M. Short, Stefania Fiorentino, Susannah Bunce
{"title":"Editorial: Density, sustainability and the governance of urban futures","authors":"N. Livingstone, M. Short, Stefania Fiorentino, Susannah Bunce","doi":"10.3389/frsc.2023.1277926","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2023.1277926","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":33686,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Cities","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42781472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}