Cities最新文献

This paper examines whether the intensity of Airbnb is associated with city-level crime rates. This research sheds light on matters adjacent to current activities in public policy as cities engage in city-level Airbnb regulation. At the same time, Airbnb continues to expand. In the aggregate, Airbnb usage is associated with no significant crime increase but rather significant decreases in crimes of private conflict that persist in direction, significance, and magnitude over time. I do uncover evidence that two types of rooms, private rooms (44%) and shared rooms (1.5%), appear to be positively associated with both property crimes and crimes against society, though it is not always significant. Those same crimes have a roughly mirrored reduction as entire place usage increases, representing the majority and remainder (54.5%) of Airbnb rentals. More importantly, the crime reduction retains the same approximate magnitude for 12 months afterward, and no pretrends are apparent. This aligns with the idea that Airbnb offerings in the aggregate are generally crime-neutral or modestly crime-reducing rather than the prevailing opinion that they are criminogenic while highlighting considerable heterogeneity in their offerings.

Spatial inequality is a common urban phenomena in cities around the world, where stark contrasts in a variety of different social and economic outcomes paint a vivid picture of compound inequalities. Tackling these influences from a policy perspective remains challenging, as political economies often span multiple actors and municipal bodies, lacking effective policy instruments to challenge multiple forms of inequality at once. This paper provides a new data-driven perspective, which seeks to improve how policy is developed when trying to mitigate the impacts of compound inequality. Utilising a place-based approach, we present an evidence base which has been co-produced with policymakers, comprising composite spatial indicators and a city dashboard for Liverpool City Region. The assembled evidence base highlights clear patterns of compound inequality across the region, identifying places in greatest need of support. In the paper we discuss how this evidence base is now being used to distribute investment from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, generating positive outcomes for people and places across the region. Finally, we conclude by reflecting on the benefits of building collaborative relationships between academics and policymakers, and the utility of our approach, which uses urban indicators and city dashboards, which we argue can secure a more equitable future for cities globally.

This article responds to the significant amount of urban growth in sub-Saharan Africa that is occurring in historically rural areas. As towns become reclassified as ‘urban’, many will be declared local government units and statutory planning areas. Yet, knowledge of urbanisation, and the current and potential role of urban planning, has been overwhelmingly biased towards existing urban centres, especially the largest. This article seeks to decentre urban planning debates from larger agglomerations by contributing to the re-invigorating scholarship on small town growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Key questions include: how do rural villages become towns, how does rural governance transform, and what are the implications for establishing urban planning systems? These questions are approached through a comparative analysis of towns in Tanzania, Malawi and Ghana. The article concludes with a set of questions aimed at guiding further case studies in this increasingly important, though largely overlooked, terrain of planning research, theory and practice.

Previous research identified influencing factors in sustainability of public services but exclusively in large local governments, despite the fact that depopulation is currently a serious problem that affects rural areas of many European countries. However, despite that >80 % of European municipalities have fewer than 5000 inhabitants, more work is needed on the factors influencing the financial sustainability of small local governments, that are being greatly affected by the loss of population. This study identifies influencing factors in the financial sustainability of local governments of different population sizes. We analyse the behaviour of 3625 Spanish municipalities during 2009–2017. Our findings are useful for public managers interested in promoting the financial sustainability of small municipalities as an instrument to fight against depopulation and prevent effects of economics crisis in small and medium municipalities.

The rapid urbanization of modern societies has heightened the need to understand how urban environments can enhance residents' well-being. This study addresses this by exploring the roles of leisure environments and activities in the process of restoration and their contributions to leisure satisfaction. The findings indicate that both the perceived restorativeness of the leisure environment and the perceived restorativeness of leisure activities have a positive influence on the outcome of restoration, with the former exhibiting a slightly stronger effect. The restoration outcome significantly predicts leisure satisfaction—specifically, the restoration outcome fully mediates the relationship between the perceived restorativeness of leisure environment and leisure satisfaction, while it partially mediates the association between the perceived restorativeness of leisure activities and leisure satisfaction. Furthermore, the overall impact of leisure activities on leisure satisfaction is considerably greater than that of the leisure environment. This study advances the existing literature on restorative environments research by uncovering the relative effectiveness of settings and activities in the restoration process, thereby providing significant implications for managers of urban public spaces and leisure business establishments.

Following up the research on territorial capital (TC) and urban transformative capacity (UTC), this paper puts forward a joint framework that recognizes linkages between TC and UTC. As the two research areas increasingly overlap, the overarching aims of this study are to explore how the two research fields might benefit from each other's strengths and develop mutually reinforcing forces to compensate for the existing shortcomings. After presenting the similarities and distinctions between TC and UTC, with particular focus on the notion and subject addressed, domains and key constituents, targets and purposes, as well as assessment techniques enabling empirical validation, a joint framework is proposed. It is concluded that a more powerful approach can be created by combining TC and UTC, which broadens understanding of both territorial capital formation and transformations of cities and regions while allowing to enlarge the field of discussion on existing assessment practices.

As land becomes detached from its social function and market speculation intensifies, housing prices tend to rise, rendering homeownership less affordable. Following the escalation of property values, gentrification is often observed as wealthier individuals and investors are attracted to neighborhoods that offer good amenities and potential returns on their investments. Utilizing diverse datasets from multiple sources in China, this paper unveils a positive association between land financialization and the occurrence of gentrification. It also reveals that land financialization is positively linked with housing prices while negatively associated with homeownership. Further investigation uncovers a more nuanced pattern. At lower levels of land financialization, the effects of gentrification are limited or even negative due to revitalization efforts and the gradual rise in property values during early-stage urban development dynamics. However, as land financialization surpasses a certain threshold, the intensification of investment and speculative activity substantially drives property price increases, leading to heightened gentrification processes. These findings underscore the need for thoughtful urban planning and policy interventions to ensure that the impacts of land financialization are managed in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Accessible transport would increase opportunities and services for People with Disabilities (PwDs) including but not limited to work, healthcare, and social inclusion, which will translate into positive economic and community outcomes. Accessible transport will reduce restrictions on PWDs' freedom of movement, which violates their rights and undermines their dignity and inclusion. The lack of accessible transport represents one of the biggest challenges for PwDs. This paper provides an overview of accessible road vehicles and captures key information needed to design an accessible AV. A comprehensive analysis of 57 studies reveals relevant design requirements for a diverse group including PwDs. Recommendations for the design of accessible AVs are provided. The paper emphasizes the importance of user acceptance, accessibility, and trust. The design process should consider various PwD types and trip stages, employ multimodal outputs, conduct trials, explore subsidizing fares for PwDs, and create specialized vehicles for different purposes or contexts.

Street vending is vilified and extolled in equal measure. Recently, however, city authorities have sought to “sanitize” the urban space in their efforts to create the ideal city. This study focuses specifically on understanding place making decisions among food vendors in the Sunyani Municipality as a way of informing urban policy making on the siting of food vending activities, given the potential of exposure of food to contaminants and public health concerns. Mixed methods involving the use of questionnaire and Key Informant Interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data from 208 and 3 respondents, respectively. The results show that food vending in Sunyani is predominantly undertaken by less educated and skilled women in unauthorised public spaces. They are mainly driven by demand for their services; therefore, proximity to customers, proximity to the city centre, cost and availability of space, proximity to a transport terminal and proximity to a major road are the spatial considerations that influence their decisions to locate their activities at specific places. They also operate at specific times of the day. The study recommends that major city infrastructure projects be accompanied with ancillary facilities that support food vending as a spatial attribute of city planning. It is also recommended that the city authorities take control of the practice and promote allocative efficiency based on the diurnal demand for space. These measures will help reduce the haphazard spread of food vendors, enhance the permitting process by authorities, improve monitoring and revenue mobilization and contribute to new flows and improved spatial relations in the city.