Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106791
Safar Ghaedrahmati , Mohamad Rezapour
Vacant housing in Iran represents a significant economic and social challenge, exacerbating housing speculation and deepening market instability. This study investigates the structural and institutional drivers behind vacant homes in Tehran using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). We triangulate 30 expert interviews (2013−2023) with national housing policy documents and empirical literature, employing Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Our findings identify five key drivers: (1) state-market collusion, particularly through military-affiliated banks; (2) failed enforcement of vacancy-related tax laws; (3) speculative accumulation and land banking; (4) weak inter-agency coordination; and (5) inadequate regulatory oversight. Theoretically, the study advances Harvey's circuits of capital by introducing Tehran's military-financialization nexus. Empirically, it informs urban housing policies in Global South cities dealing with similar institutional vacancy traps.
{"title":"Vacant Housing in Tehran: Speculation, capitalization, and policy failures in a global context","authors":"Safar Ghaedrahmati , Mohamad Rezapour","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106791","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106791","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vacant housing in Iran represents a significant economic and social challenge, exacerbating housing speculation and deepening market instability. This study investigates the structural and institutional drivers behind vacant homes in Tehran using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). We triangulate 30 expert interviews (2013−2023) with national housing policy documents and empirical literature, employing Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Our findings identify five key drivers: (1) state-market collusion, particularly through military-affiliated banks; (2) failed enforcement of vacancy-related tax laws; (3) speculative accumulation and land banking; (4) weak inter-agency coordination; and (5) inadequate regulatory oversight. Theoretically, the study advances Harvey's circuits of capital by introducing Tehran's military-financialization nexus. Empirically, it informs urban housing policies in Global South cities dealing with similar institutional vacancy traps.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106791"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146077875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Residential spatial differentiation is a long-standing issue in the study of social space. Previous research has predominantly emphasized measurement techniques and phenomenal analyses, with explanatory models often restricted to spatial factors or subjective experiences. This study examines residential spatial differentiation between migrants and local residents through a macro-scale, large-scale analysis of spatio-temporal big data and assesses how spatial factors drive these patterns. A complementary small-sample social survey then integrates individual socioeconomic attributes and subjective perceptions, adopting a bottom-up perspective to uncover the decision-making processes that underpin residential choices. Our findings demonstrate that residential spatial differentiation emerges from two intertwined dimensions. In the spatial dimension, housing characteristics, location, price, and other housing attributes are differentiated as urban space expands, creating a competitive context that manifests as migrants and locals engaging in a strategic game for high-quality housing resources. In the social dimension, households negotiate trade-offs among heterogeneous housing options based on their income and residence preferences; meanwhile, the government guides and regulates the creation of urban spaces and the resettlement of communities. This paper advances a genuinely integrated socio-spatial framework, one that enriches the research on social segregation in the era of big data and social surveys. The insights offer actionable guidance for urban planners aiming to synchronize urban regeneration efforts with equitable mobility and housing policies, thereby promoting more inclusive and sustainable urban futures.
{"title":"Space–society dynamics of residential differentiation: An integrated big data and interview study of migrants and locals in Hangzhou","authors":"Liang Ding , Ziqian Huang , Elisabete Silva , Chaowei Xiao , Chengyang Yu , Junshen Zhang , Yuexin You , Yongheng Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106778","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106778","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Residential spatial differentiation is a long-standing issue in the study of social space. Previous research has predominantly emphasized measurement techniques and phenomenal analyses, with explanatory models often restricted to spatial factors or subjective experiences. This study examines residential spatial differentiation between migrants and local residents through a macro-scale, large-scale analysis of spatio-temporal big data and assesses how spatial factors drive these patterns. A complementary small-sample social survey then integrates individual socioeconomic attributes and subjective perceptions, adopting a bottom-up perspective to uncover the decision-making processes that underpin residential choices. Our findings demonstrate that residential spatial differentiation emerges from two intertwined dimensions. In the spatial dimension, housing characteristics, location, price, and other housing attributes are differentiated as urban space expands, creating a competitive context that manifests as migrants and locals engaging in a strategic game for high-quality housing resources. In the social dimension, households negotiate trade-offs among heterogeneous housing options based on their income and residence preferences; meanwhile, the government guides and regulates the creation of urban spaces and the resettlement of communities. This paper advances a genuinely integrated socio-spatial framework, one that enriches the research on social segregation in the era of big data and social surveys. The insights offer actionable guidance for urban planners aiming to synchronize urban regeneration efforts with equitable mobility and housing policies, thereby promoting more inclusive and sustainable urban futures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106778"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146090548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106734
Kwan Ok Lee , Alex Hey Yeung
This study examines how multiple dimensions of urban green space (UGS)—accessibility, greenness, and physical features—shape visits and mental well-being, and how these relationships shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using city-wide indicators and individual-level survey data from Singapore and Hong Kong, two high-density cities with contrasting UGS planning models, we link objective contextual patterns to satisfaction with UGS, visit behavior, and pandemic-period changes in mental well-being. We find that residents respond more strongly to UGS dimensions that are relatively scarce in their local context, and that the salience of accessibility increases during the pandemic, especially in Singapore. In Singapore, where spatial access to UGS is more constrained, satisfaction with accessibility is the dominant predictor of visit frequency and duration, and its association with time spent in UGS becomes markedly stronger during COVID-19, whereas in Hong Kong, characterized by smaller and more fragmented parks, satisfaction with greenness plays a greater role overall. Using structural equation modeling, we estimate direct and indirect pathways from satisfaction with UGS attributes to pandemic-period changes in mental well-being. In Singapore, well-being improvements are primarily mediated by increased visits, indicating that better accessibility sustained green space use that, in turn, supported mental well-being. In Hong Kong, indirect effects are weaker, suggesting that psychological benefits may arise even without behavioral change, potentially through visual or symbolic cues associated with perceived accessibility. These findings advance a context-sensitive understanding of green space utility and underscore the need for multidimensional, behaviorally informed UGS planning in dense urban environments.
{"title":"Urban green space dimensions, visit behavior, and mental well-being: A comparative study of Singapore and Hong Kong","authors":"Kwan Ok Lee , Alex Hey Yeung","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how multiple dimensions of urban green space (UGS)—accessibility, greenness, and physical features—shape visits and mental well-being, and how these relationships shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using city-wide indicators and individual-level survey data from Singapore and Hong Kong, two high-density cities with contrasting UGS planning models, we link objective contextual patterns to satisfaction with UGS, visit behavior, and pandemic-period changes in mental well-being. We find that residents respond more strongly to UGS dimensions that are relatively scarce in their local context, and that the salience of accessibility increases during the pandemic, especially in Singapore. In Singapore, where spatial access to UGS is more constrained, satisfaction with accessibility is the dominant predictor of visit frequency and duration, and its association with time spent in UGS becomes markedly stronger during COVID-19, whereas in Hong Kong, characterized by smaller and more fragmented parks, satisfaction with greenness plays a greater role overall. Using structural equation modeling, we estimate direct and indirect pathways from satisfaction with UGS attributes to pandemic-period changes in mental well-being. In Singapore, well-being improvements are primarily mediated by increased visits, indicating that better accessibility sustained green space use that, in turn, supported mental well-being. In Hong Kong, indirect effects are weaker, suggesting that psychological benefits may arise even without behavioral change, potentially through visual or symbolic cues associated with perceived accessibility. These findings advance a context-sensitive understanding of green space utility and underscore the need for multidimensional, behaviorally informed UGS planning in dense urban environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106734"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146090549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-28DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106792
Menglin Liu , Ang Liu
Housing constitutes one of the most significant assets for ordinary citizens in China, yet its political implications remain underexplored. Existing political economy theories, largely developed in democratic contexts, predict that property ownership reduces support for redistribution. This study examines whether these expectations hold in China by analyzing the heterogeneous effects of homeownership on policy support for policies related to redistribution. Using nationally representative survey data and combining matching techniques with instrumental variable analysis, we find that homeownership increases support for policies related to redistribution. This positive effect is significantly stronger among employees of state-owned enterprises than among private-sector workers. Mediation analysis further suggests that this relationship operates through channels including family wealth, perceptions of inequality, and marital status. These findings challenge dominant asset-based theories of redistribution and demonstrate that the political consequences of homeownership are fundamentally shaped by institutional context. More broadly, the study highlights how housing functions not only as an economic asset but also as a socio-political mechanism through which states mediate welfare expectations and social stability.
{"title":"Homeownership and preferences for government redistribution in China: Mediating roles of employment sector and socioeconomic perceptions","authors":"Menglin Liu , Ang Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106792","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106792","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Housing constitutes one of the most significant assets for ordinary citizens in China, yet its political implications remain underexplored. Existing political economy theories, largely developed in democratic contexts, predict that property ownership reduces support for redistribution. This study examines whether these expectations hold in China by analyzing the heterogeneous effects of homeownership on policy support for policies related to redistribution. Using nationally representative survey data and combining matching techniques with instrumental variable analysis, we find that homeownership increases support for policies related to redistribution. This positive effect is significantly stronger among employees of state-owned enterprises than among private-sector workers. Mediation analysis further suggests that this relationship operates through channels including family wealth, perceptions of inequality, and marital status. These findings challenge dominant asset-based theories of redistribution and demonstrate that the political consequences of homeownership are fundamentally shaped by institutional context. More broadly, the study highlights how housing functions not only as an economic asset but also as a socio-political mechanism through which states mediate welfare expectations and social stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106792"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146090648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-26DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106787
Eunkyung Lee , Juhyun Lee , Hyungchul Chung , Yang Lu
With the advancement of autonomous driving and sharing solutions, future mobility is expected to offer a multi-faceted experience, connecting individuals to their built environments and communities. Ensuring an equitable and smooth transition amid technological and societal uncertainties is a key challenge. This interdisciplinary study seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of the heterogeneous needs of urban residents through segmentation based on their preferences across four possible future mobility situations in two pioneering Chinese cities: Shanghai, a global innovation hub, and Suzhou, a strategic satellite city. Moving beyond traditional adoption-focused models, we emphasize users' anticipated broader benefits of future mobility, especially relating to quality of life. Based on a previous study identifying preferences and perceptions on future mobility, we conducted two separate cluster analyses of responses from 1968 participants. The results revealed that user heterogeneity transcends conventional models, with segments prioritizing privacy, economic pragmatism, or technological enthusiasm, most of which preferred the most transformative mobility future (shared autonomous vehicles). Shanghai's dense, transit-rich environment fosters greater acceptance of shared automated mobility among affluent users, while Suzhou's decentralized structure and dispersed land use produced a unique additional segment of Tech-Aspiring Public Transit Riders. This study underscores the imperative for human-centric, context-sensitive approaches to mobility planning that critically account for user heterogeneity and local urban characteristics. Future mobility may foster societies that are as inclusive as they are innovative.
{"title":"Anticipation of urban mobility futures beyond adoption: User segmentation across scenarios in two pioneering Chinese cities","authors":"Eunkyung Lee , Juhyun Lee , Hyungchul Chung , Yang Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106787","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106787","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the advancement of autonomous driving and sharing solutions, future mobility is expected to offer a multi-faceted experience, connecting individuals to their built environments and communities. Ensuring an equitable and smooth transition amid technological and societal uncertainties is a key challenge. This interdisciplinary study seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of the heterogeneous needs of urban residents through segmentation based on their preferences across four possible future mobility situations in two pioneering Chinese cities: Shanghai, a global innovation hub, and Suzhou, a strategic satellite city. Moving beyond traditional adoption-focused models, we emphasize users' anticipated broader benefits of future mobility, especially relating to quality of life. Based on a previous study identifying preferences and perceptions on future mobility, we conducted two separate cluster analyses of responses from 1968 participants. The results revealed that user heterogeneity transcends conventional models, with segments prioritizing privacy, economic pragmatism, or technological enthusiasm, most of which preferred the most transformative mobility future (shared autonomous vehicles). Shanghai's dense, transit-rich environment fosters greater acceptance of shared automated mobility among affluent users, while Suzhou's decentralized structure and dispersed land use produced a unique additional segment of <em>Tech-Aspiring Public Transit Riders</em>. This study underscores the imperative for human-centric, context-sensitive approaches to mobility planning that critically account for user heterogeneity and local urban characteristics. Future mobility may foster societies that are as inclusive as they are innovative.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106787"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146077874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-24DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106784
Sheeja Krishnakumar
Street vendors sell goods or services in public spaces, playing a significant role in urban economies by providing convenient products to consumers. This paper focuses on the socio-economic, working conditions, psychological, and official support for street vendors after the pandemic through the lens of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. The paper analyses the responses from 302 street vendors in selected residential and commercial places in Bangalore, India. For doing business confidently, proper working conditions and official support are significant compared to social, economic, psychological, and family functioning aspects is confirmed through this study. From the analysis, the confidence to do street vending is possible through the support from officials and good working conditions that contribute to street vendors' psychological well-being. Hence, as per the COR theory, official support and adequate working conditions inhibit further resource depletion and stimulate resource gain phases, improving psychological well-being.
{"title":"Street vendors in the post-COVID-19 era: A conservation of resources theory perspective","authors":"Sheeja Krishnakumar","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106784","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106784","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Street vendors sell goods or services in public spaces, playing a significant role in urban economies by providing convenient products to consumers. This paper focuses on the socio-economic, working conditions, psychological, and official support for street vendors after the pandemic through the lens of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. The paper analyses the responses from 302 street vendors in selected residential and commercial places in Bangalore, India. For doing business confidently, proper working conditions and official support are significant compared to social, economic, psychological, and family functioning aspects is confirmed through this study. From the analysis, the confidence to do street vending is possible through the support from officials and good working conditions that contribute to street vendors' psychological well-being. Hence, as per the COR theory, official support and adequate working conditions inhibit further resource depletion and stimulate resource gain phases, improving psychological well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106784"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-24DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106780
Lin Chen , Kaiqing Huo , Eddie Chi-Man Hui , Haitao Du
While there has been a proliferation of literature on housing precarity in recent years, less attention has been paid to the development of the Housing Precarity Index (HPI) and the comparison of levels of housing precarity between the public and private rented sectors. To address these gaps, this article draws on data from the 2019 Guangzhou Housing Survey and introduces a novel approach to developing the Housing Precarity Index (HPI) by integrating six dimensions: perceived tenure security, housing affordability, housing quality, commuting, access to public education and healthcare, and access to surrounding living facilities. Using robust quantitative methods, this article disentangles the relationship between rental types and the magnitude of housing precarity, as well as the role of hukou in this relationship. Research results indicate that access to public rental housing can alleviate housing precarity for young, low- and middle-income renters compared to private renting. Furthermore, hukou status does not moderate the relationship between rental types and housing precarity. The experiences of housing precarity among young low- and middle-income renters in China are likely to be mirrored in other developing countries, particularly those with similar housing systems. This article calls for future research on housing precarity in developing countries.
{"title":"Does access to public rental housing alleviate housing precarity among young low- and middle-income renters? Evidence from Guangzhou, China","authors":"Lin Chen , Kaiqing Huo , Eddie Chi-Man Hui , Haitao Du","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106780","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106780","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While there has been a proliferation of literature on housing precarity in recent years, less attention has been paid to the development of the Housing Precarity Index (HPI) and the comparison of levels of housing precarity between the public and private rented sectors. To address these gaps, this article draws on data from the 2019 Guangzhou Housing Survey and introduces a novel approach to developing the Housing Precarity Index (HPI) by integrating six dimensions: perceived tenure security, housing affordability, housing quality, commuting, access to public education and healthcare, and access to surrounding living facilities. Using robust quantitative methods, this article disentangles the relationship between rental types and the magnitude of housing precarity, as well as the role of hukou in this relationship. Research results indicate that access to public rental housing can alleviate housing precarity for young, low- and middle-income renters compared to private renting. Furthermore, hukou status does not moderate the relationship between rental types and housing precarity. The experiences of housing precarity among young low- and middle-income renters in China are likely to be mirrored in other developing countries, particularly those with similar housing systems. This article calls for future research on housing precarity in developing countries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106780"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106794
Xize Wang , Ke Song , Qiong Liu , Ou Minghao , Lin Fang , Yanjun Liu
This paper examines the interdependent politics of policymaking through the lens of policy movement, conceptualizing it as a relation-based process embedded in shifting political-economic contexts. Focusing on housing purchase restrictions (HPR) in China, we model intercity HPR linkages to identify their network patterns and relational mechanisms across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD) megalopolitan areas from 2016 to 2023. Four main findings emerge. First, shifting national political-economic priorities foreground HPR linkages: delegated local discretion after 2016 has encouraged widespread HPR movement, whereas the post-2021 stabilization mandate has systematically dismantled these linkages. Second, reflecting this shift, the evolution of intercity HPR linkages follows a shared inverted U-shaped trajectory. Third, hierarchical relations remain a defining feature of linkage patterns despite emergent network tendencies: the BTH and YRD linkages exhibit strong concentration around core cities, while the PRD maintains a comparatively polycentric structure. Fourth, inertia and context-contingent relational mechanisms jointly govern this evolution. Temporally, inertia is punctuated by critical turning points in 2016 and 2021 that reset dominant relational logics of linkage formation. Spatially, geographical proximity endures but is increasingly overshadowed by non-geographical relations, especially regional leadership exercised either administratively or economically. These findings refine theoretical understanding of interdependent policymaking under fragmented authoritarianism and provide practical insights for more coherent regional housing governance.
{"title":"Tracking interdependent policymaking: Intercity linkages and driving mechanisms of housing purchase restriction policy in China's three major megalopolitan areas","authors":"Xize Wang , Ke Song , Qiong Liu , Ou Minghao , Lin Fang , Yanjun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106794","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106794","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the interdependent politics of policymaking through the lens of policy movement, conceptualizing it as a relation-based process embedded in shifting political-economic contexts. Focusing on housing purchase restrictions (HPR) in China, we model intercity HPR linkages to identify their network patterns and relational mechanisms across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD) megalopolitan areas from 2016 to 2023. Four main findings emerge. First, shifting national political-economic priorities foreground HPR linkages: delegated local discretion after 2016 has encouraged widespread HPR movement, whereas the post-2021 stabilization mandate has systematically dismantled these linkages. Second, reflecting this shift, the evolution of intercity HPR linkages follows a shared inverted U-shaped trajectory. Third, hierarchical relations remain a defining feature of linkage patterns despite emergent network tendencies: the BTH and YRD linkages exhibit strong concentration around core cities, while the PRD maintains a comparatively polycentric structure. Fourth, inertia and context-contingent relational mechanisms jointly govern this evolution. Temporally, inertia is punctuated by critical turning points in 2016 and 2021 that reset dominant relational logics of linkage formation. Spatially, geographical proximity endures but is increasingly overshadowed by non-geographical relations, especially regional leadership exercised either administratively or economically. These findings refine theoretical understanding of interdependent policymaking under fragmented authoritarianism and provide practical insights for more coherent regional housing governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106794"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106771
Putu Indah Adnyani , Donghyun Kim , Gi-Hyoug Cho
Shrinking cities often mask stark intra-urban disparities, yet conventional socioeconomic data seldom capture the subtle environmental cues that shape residents' daily experience. This study measures how neighborhood-level visual perception evolves in Miryang, a small declining city in South Korea, and how those perceptions are capitalized into housing prices. We assemble a longitudinal panel of street view images from 2016 and 2023, apply a pre-trained Place Pulse deep-learning model to score six perceptual attributes (safety, beauty, liveliness, wealth, boredom and depression), and link the resulting measures to 1799 housing transactions through hedonic price models that control for structural, locational and temporal factors.
The analysis reveals two intertwined patterns. First, perceived safety, beauty and liveliness improved or held steady in the historic center but deteriorated across many peripheral streets, accentuating a long-standing core–periphery divide. Second, the housing market rewarded positive perceptual change in the center, yet showed little response where perceptions darkened, leaving vulnerable districts without either improved surroundings or compensating wealth effects.
These findings demonstrate the value of integrating computer-vision perception metrics with property data to provide planners with a timely, low-cost diagnostic of neighborhood appeal. Targeting streets where perceptual decline is deepest and market signals are weakest could prevent demographic shrinkage from further entrenching spatial inequality.
{"title":"Shrinking on the margins: Spatial inequality in neighborhood perceptions and housing prices","authors":"Putu Indah Adnyani , Donghyun Kim , Gi-Hyoug Cho","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106771","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106771","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Shrinking cities often mask stark intra-urban disparities, yet conventional socioeconomic data seldom capture the subtle environmental cues that shape residents' daily experience. This study measures how neighborhood-level visual perception evolves in Miryang, a small declining city in South Korea, and how those perceptions are capitalized into housing prices. We assemble a longitudinal panel of street view images from 2016 and 2023, apply a pre-trained Place Pulse deep-learning model to score six perceptual attributes (safety, beauty, liveliness, wealth, boredom and depression), and link the resulting measures to 1799 housing transactions through hedonic price models that control for structural, locational and temporal factors.</div><div>The analysis reveals two intertwined patterns. First, perceived safety, beauty and liveliness improved or held steady in the historic center but deteriorated across many peripheral streets, accentuating a long-standing core–periphery divide. Second, the housing market rewarded positive perceptual change in the center, yet showed little response where perceptions darkened, leaving vulnerable districts without either improved surroundings or compensating wealth effects.</div><div>These findings demonstrate the value of integrating computer-vision perception metrics with property data to provide planners with a timely, low-cost diagnostic of neighborhood appeal. Targeting streets where perceptual decline is deepest and market signals are weakest could prevent demographic shrinkage from further entrenching spatial inequality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106771"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106730
Áxel De León Marcos , Víctor Quesada-Cubo
This mixed-methods study explores how the urban environment influences self-perceived health, with particular attention to the generational differences that became evident during and after the COVID-19 pandemic call for urban planning strategies that respond to all dimensions of health. The research was carried out in a medium-sized Spanish city, combining qualitative data from 27 in-depth interviews and quantitative survey responses from 185 residents across neighbourhoods with varying environmental characteristics. Although the study initially focused on built environment factors such as green space access, walkability, and infrastructure quality, the qualitative findings showed that mental health—especially among younger participants—emerged as a central factor shaping health perceptions. Feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and confinement were frequently described by younger respondents, often tied to perceptions of spatial and social marginalization in their living environments. In contrast, older participants reported greater resilience and a more positive outlook on their health. These findings highlight the need to address mental health disparities within urban policy and underscore the importance of creating inclusive, equitable environments that support psychological well-being across age groups. The study demonstrates the value of allowing emergent themes to guide mixed-methods research and points to the need for urban planning strategies that integrate improvements in the physical environment with attention to the emotional experiences of residents, particularly in post-pandemic settings.
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