Urban

Small-area population forecasting in an urban setting: a spatial regression approach

by Guangqing Chi

Hanging out with "Trouble-Causers": Planning and Governance in Urban Zimbabwe

by Amin Y. Kamete

Published in Urban Studies

Taking the relational nature of participatory governance as a point of departure, this paper interrogates the... more Taking the relational nature of participatory governance as a point of departure, this paper interrogates the attitude, behaviour and thinking of planners in urban Zimbabwe. Particular emphasis is placed on the planners' interaction with the public. The discussion analyses one city's planning system as it implements an ambitious “governance outreach programme” which involves interacting with youths who are using public space illegally. The central argument of the paper is that it is difficult to operationalise participatory governance in planning mainly because the relational nature of governance requires planners to act in ways that conflict with their preferred role as technical experts. The discussion exposes how pointless it can be for bureaucrats to interact with the public, when the participants' attitude, means, behaviour and style express no confidence in the institutional framework. The paper suggests that the transformation from government to governance is not merely procedural, and requires a deep cultural change on the part of planners.

Entre las islas y el mar: fragmentación y fluidez en la poesía mapuche urbana

by Erika Rodriguez Hernandez

To be presented at the Madison-Wisconsin Civil Disobedience/Acts of Resistance Graduate Student Conference in March.

Después de siglos de experimentar re-organizaciones de tierra y territorio, el pueblo mapuche actual se encuentra con... more Después de siglos de experimentar re-organizaciones de tierra y territorio, el pueblo mapuche actual se encuentra con una nueva etapa de etnogenesis debida a la migración a las ciudades chilenas. Previamente marginalizados por su indigenidad en la ciudad y por su urbanidad en el pueblo mapuche, los warriache (mapuche urbano), ahora constituyen más de 70% de la población mapuche (Boccara 296).  Esta reelaboración de varias identidades mapuches plantea la pregunta de “how to define a Mapuche identity in this new context in which the ‘people of the land’ had lost their direct tie to the land” (Boccara 296). Desde el contexto urbano nacen con el nuevo mapuche diferentes maneras de mantener su identidad mapuche a pesar de la distancia entre ellos y su tierra de origen, e incluso esta distancia contribuye a la identidad del mapuche urbano. Boccara observa que una de las maneras en cual los mapuches urbanos se pueden adaptar a la ciudad y mantener una conexión con su tierra de origen es “through the spiritual, and imaginary character of the link to the home(land)” (296). Este vínculo espiritual e imaginario representa la experiencia nostálgica para el mapuche urbano. Debido a que se sitúan en un lugar urbano los poetas David Añiñir y Graciela Huinao se acercan a una visión nostálgica del pasado que no se enfoca en los puntos fijos que definen lo mapuche y lo urbano, sino el espacio que cae entre ellos. Tanto en “Malen Ko” de Añiñir como en “Los gansos dicen adiós” de Huinao el espacio que crean los poetas entre los puntos fijos de lo mapuche y lo urbano constituye una forma de resistencia. Al enfocarse en este espacio ambos poetas se apropian de la distancia entre su punto de origen y su posición actual y usan este nexo para negociar y extender la identidad mapuche. Los poetas desarrollan el tema de la nostalgia de maneras distintas, Huinao se enfoca en la fragmentación de su experiencia y Añiñir en la fluidez. Sin embargo, al vincular el sujeto del poema al espacio de la naturaleza y discutir el habla o silencio del sujeto, ambos mantienen tradiciones mapuches mientras extienden las posibles interpretaciones de la identidad mapuche. En términos de negociar la identidad, David Añiñir cuestiona las expectativas sociales para el mapuche urbano y Graciela Huinao crea conciencia sobre los vacíos en las historias indígenas. De este modo ambos poetas valorizan el mapuche urbano, quien tiene el poder de desarrollar su propia hibridez y de entrar en dialogo con los fragmentos de su historia cultural y contribuir a ella. En este sentido su acercamiento a la nostalgia es una forma de resistencia contra la indiferencia a la historia indígena y a sus experiencias actuales.

Towards Somali Peace

by Cornelius Gulere

Having studied the various views as presented by some of the outstanding organisations like the UN, heads of... more Having studied the various views as presented by some of the outstanding organisations like the UN, heads of government, IGAD, OAU, OIC, LAS and concerned individuals on this important issue of the Peace Plan for Somalia, we add our voice in support of the initiatives. Our belief is that peace in Somalia is peace for the world not for Africa alone. But Africa must take the lead and the rest must support in all ways possible. It will take time and patience for long lasting peace to return to Somalia.

VERTIGES MÉTROPOLITAINS. Enquêtes sur les déséquilibres dans les métropoles modernes.

by Olivier Jacques

'Author', 'Master Thesis', 'Final Version'

Metropolises are common contexts of unevenness and disproportions. In architectural and social theory, writings on the... more Metropolises are common contexts of unevenness and disproportions. In architectural and social theory, writings on the ‘great cities’ introduce a similar imbalance in the definition of the metropolitan psychological condition. The human body, naturally aroused by the subtlest sound or movement, is forced to a blasé mind-set in the midst of the ever-shifting metropolis. This resistance against over stimulation and involuntary body proximity is achieved through intellectual distance; a mental interval between the individual and the crowd, between the individual and the metropolis and between the individual and his own subjectivity. Beyond the blasé is the alienated mind, studied with Georg Simmel’s highly synchronized money metropolis. The research then looks at three modern metropolises, Paris, Berlin and New York through products of their civilization process, namely boulevards, crowds, monuments, exhibitions, neurasthenia, electricity, skyscrapers, or amusements. One finds metropolitan vertigo in instances of subjective asynchronism with the rational modern metropolis.

States of Emergency: Urban Space and the Robotic Body in the Metropolis Tales

by Lawrence Bird

published in "Mechademia", Volume 3, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (December 2008).

The tradition of the oppressed shows us that the “state of emergency” in which we live is not the exception but the... more The tradition of the oppressed shows us that the “state of emergency” in which we live is not the exception but the rule.
—Walter Benjamin, “Theses on the Philosophy of History”

This paper documents three tellings of "Metropolis": Fritz Lang's film (1926), Osamu Tezuka's manga (1949), and Rintarô's animated film (2001). It makes the case for a political and historical understanding of their imagery of bodies and cities disrupted.

I superluoghi del nostro tempo

by Mario Paris

Paris M. (2008) I superluoghi del nostro tempo in Centri Commerciali & n. 2/2008 pag. 26-28

Global Dubai, Particular Challenges Ahead

by Amir Abdella

The Intangible Boundaries of the Jewish 'Eruv'

by Michele Rapoport

Jewish rulings on ‘Eruv’ were established within the religious framework prohibiting labor on the Sabbath. On the... more Jewish rulings on ‘Eruv’ were established within the religious framework prohibiting labor on the Sabbath. On the seventh day of rest, according to Judaism, objects cannot be carried from one place to another except in zones deemed private. In order to overcome these prohibitions, religious texts permitted the demarcation of Eruv boundaries that expand the boundaries of the private zone into the public on the Sabbath, allowing many of the daily activities to become possible. Eruv boundaries - the ‘walls’ it defines and the ‘openings’ within it - are primarily conceptual, agreed upon by consent, experienced through recognition and not the senses, and relevant to only one community living among many.
By allowing for the performance of daily activities on the day of rest, the Eruv binds the working of the body and the concept of privacy to the notion of sacred time. These abstract boundaries allow one to speak of a phenomenological spatial experience that is mostly independent of physicality; instead, the non-materiality of making places is contingent on boundaries of space, time, and human performance whose power is comparable to those of tangible boundaries within the urban landscape. While debate over the Eruv has raised arguments pertaining to its demographic and urban implications, much of the intensity and fervor of opponents has taken place on ideological and symbolic levels, thus expanding the range of discourses that deal with the nature of urban boundaries. Addressing arguments by contenders of the Eruv, this study will examine the characteristics of these ‘belief’ boundaries through the later writings of Martin Heidegger on the nature of place, as these define place as gathering, as human activity, and as a revelation of truth.

Playing snakes and ladders in Ciutat de Mallorca. An ethnographic approach to the production of the neighbourhood scale

by Marc Morell

Urban Food Security in South Africa: Case study of Cape Town, Msunduzi and Johannesburg

by Jane Battersby

Battersby-Lennard, J., Fincham, R., Frayne, B. and Haysom, G. (2009) Urban food security in South Africa:
Case study of Cape Town, Msunduzi and Johannesburg Development Bank of South Africa Working Paper Development Planning Division Working Paper Series No. 15

Berlino. Rigenerazione ed equità sociale.

by Angelica Fortuzzi

published in 'Urbanistica Informazioni', 231 (2010), p. 11.

Paper about some results of the research about the integrated policy for urban development “Die Soziale Stadt -... more Paper about some results of the research about the integrated policy for urban development “Die Soziale Stadt - Gebiete mit besonderem Entwicklungsbedarf” in Germany and the city of Berlin, as case study.
The research is part of the research project “Urban regeneration issues. Scenario, strategies, tools, competence”, which concerns different European case studies.
Coordinator: Prof. Anna Laura Palazzo, DIPSU, Università Roma Tre

Berlino tra gestione e trasformazione

by Angelica Fortuzzi

published in 'Urbanistica Informazioni', 237 (2011), p. 23.

Conceptualising Rural-Urban Dynamics

by Alex M Thomas

Published in The India Economy Review, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 46-49, January 2011

This paper revisits the work of Richard Cantillon and Francois Quesnay in order to conceptualise the dynamics between... more This paper revisits the work of Richard Cantillon and Francois Quesnay in order to conceptualise the dynamics between rural and urban areas in an economy. Concepts of social surplus and economy as a circular flow are presented in order to highlight the interrelationship between the growth processes in the rural as well as urban areas. The paper concludes by pointing out the significance of the works of Cantillon and Quesnay.

The Village, the Market, and the Street: A Study of Disadvantaged Areas and Groups in Mogadishu, Somalia

by Rick Davies

By Rick Davies, Mogadishu, 1987. References available on request

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VII
2002 PREFACE 1
BACKGROUND 1
CHANGES MADE 1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 2
1.... more ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VII
2002 PREFACE 1
BACKGROUND 1
CHANGES MADE 1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 2
1. THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 2
2. THE PERSPECTIVE 2
3. RESEARCH STRATEGY 3
CHAPTER 2: ONE FAMILY IN MOGADISHU 7
CHAPTER 2: ONE FAMILY IN MOGADISHU 8
MUUSE AND HIS FAMILY 8
TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER: ONE FAMILY IN MOGADISHU IN 1988 12
CHAPTER 3: THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 18
1. MOGADISHU BEFORE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 18
2. MOGADISHU IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 19
CHAPTER 4: THE DEMOGRAPHIC CONTEXT 23
1. THE POPULATION OF MOGADISHU 23
2. THE GROWTH OF MOGADISHU 23
3. POPULATION DISTRIBUTION WITHIN MOGADISHU 25
4. MIGRATION INTO MOGADISHU 26
5. THE MIGRANT PRESENCE WITHIN MOGADISHU 29
6. HOUSEHOLDS 35
CHAPTER 5: LAND IN MOGADISHU 39
1. INTRODUCTION 39
2. THE PURCHASE OF LAND FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF MOGADISHU 39
3. THE PRIVATE MARKET FOR LEGALISED LAND 39
4. THE PRIVATE MARKET FOR LAND IN ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS 40
5. ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT OF LAND 41
CHAPTER 6: HOUSING CONDITIONS 49
1. INTRODUCTION 49
2. HOUSE TYPES. 49
3. DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSING TYPES 50
4. HISTORICAL CONTEXT 52
5. HOUSING AS AN INDICATOR OF HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE LEVELS 53
6. RENTAL AND OWNERSHIP 54
7. FREE HOUSING 57
8. CROWDING 58
9. SUMMARY 61
CHAPTER 7: PATTERNS OF EMPLOYMENT 62
1. INTRODUCTION 62
2. EMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES 62
3. EMPLOYMENT STATUS 64
4. STABILITY OF EMPLOYMENT 64
5. EMPLOYMENT IN SPECIFIC SECTORS OF THE MOGADISHU ECONOMY 65
CHAPTER 8: WOMEN IN THE MOGADISHU ECONOMY 79
1. INTRODUCTION 79
2. THE EXTENT OF WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN MOGADISHU 80
3. NEW RESEARCH ON WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT 85
4. FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY OF WORKING WOMEN IN WAABERI AND XAMAR JAB JAB. 87
CHAPTER 9: HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE 109
1. TRENDS IN HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE IN MOGADISHU 109
2. FOOD EXPENDITURE AS AN INDICATOR 114
3. FOOD AND HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE IN WAABERI 116
4. PREVIOUS STUDIES OF POVERTY IN SOMALIA 118
CHAPTER 10: SUPPORT NETWORKS 123
1. WELFARE SYSTEMS IN SOMALIA 123
2. INFORMATION ON THE USAGE OF SUPPORT NETWORKS 124
3. SUPPORTING VALUE SYSTEMS 134
CHAPTER 11: WATER, SANITATION AND HEALTH 139
1. WATER 139
2. SANITATION 144
3. HEALTH 148
CHAPTER 12: ACCESS TO EDUCATION 162
1. INTRODUCTION 162
2. LITERACY RATES IN MOGADISHU 162
3. PRIMARY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE IN SELECTED AREAS OF MOGADISHU 164
4. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE IN XAAFADDA FANOOLE 166
5. THE PRIVATE MARKET IN EDUCATION 172
6. SUMMARY 173
CHAPTER 13: IDENTIFYING DISADVANTAGED AREAS AND GROUPS IN MOGADISHU: AN OVERVIEW 175
1. INTRODUCTION 175
3. IDENTIFYING DISADVANTAGED HOUSEHOLDS 177
4. IDENTIFIYING OTHER DISADVANTAGED GROUPS 180
CHAPTER 14: BEESHA SHUKRI: A TWO YEAR OLD SQUATTER RESETTLEMENT AREA 182
1. THE LOCATION 182
2. HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT 182
3. DEMOGRAPHY 183
4. HOUSING 184
5. HOUSEHOLD FOOD EXPENDITURE LEVELS 184
6. WATER SUPPLY AND USAGE 185
7. FUEL 186
8. EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT 186
9. SUPPORT NETWORKS 196
10. LIVESTOCK 196
11. SERVICES 197
12. EXPRESSED PROBLEMS 198
13. SUMMARY 198
CHAPTER 15: XAAFADDA HEEGAN, DEGMADA YAQSHIID: A TWENTY FIVE YEAR OLD SQUATTER SETTLEMENT 201
1. LOCATION 201
2. HISTORY 201
3. DEMOGRAPHY 201
4. THREE HOUSEHOLDS IN HEEGAN OBBOSIBO 202
5. HOUSING IN HEEGAN OBBOSIBO 205
7. EMPLOYMENT 206
8. LIVESTOCK 208
9. SUPPORT NETWORKS 209
10. SERVICES 209
11. RECOMMENDATIONS 210
CHAPTER 16: CHILDREN IN MOGADISHU 212
1. INTRODUCTION 212
2. WORKING CHILDREN IN MOGADISHU 213
3. WORKING CHILDREN IN XAMAR WEYNE AND THE LIDO 217
4. STREET CHILDREN IN XAMAR WEYNE 228
5. CHILDREN IN INSTITUTIONS 245
CHAPTER 17: BEGGARS 255
17.1: THE INCIDENCE OF BEGGING 255
17.2: CASE STUDIES OF THREE BEGGARS 256
17.3: PROFILES OF 34 BEGGARS IN XAMAR WEYNE 258
17.4 RECOMMENDATIONS 263
17.5 THE PROBLEM OF ACCESS TO RELIABLE INFORMATION: 265
17.6 OBJECTIONS: 266
CHAPTER 18. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 267
1. MOGADISHU IN 1987 267
2. RESPONSES 267
3. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 268
4. THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 277
5. SUSTAINABILITY 278
6. PUTTING THE LAST FIRST 279
7. OVERALL STRATEGY: SOME FINAL SUGGESTIONS 279
APPENDICES 281
REFERENCES (available on request)

The Arcadia Neighborhood in Phoenix Arizona

by Don Mertes

Published online at historicphoenix.com

The lush, green, mature landscapes of the irrigated Arcadia parcels are not found many places in Phoenix. Remnants of... more The lush, green, mature landscapes of the irrigated Arcadia parcels are not found many places in Phoenix. Remnants of orange and date groves still suggest a hint of “rural” and so do the quiet streets dotted with whatever the architectural style–Ranch, Revival, Pueblo style, or some architectural blend.

The large properties (some near 5 acres, but rarely less than half an acre) and the original luxury guest resorts along Camelback Road like the Royal Palms, will give today’s house hunter an idea of Arcadia property values at a glance. This is one of the most desirable and priciest addresses in Phoenix. There are many reasons for that.


Custom-built homes from the 20s- 50s have been maintained and updated over the years. You’d be hard pressed to find a new home built to the same high quality today. As a result, the estate homes in the Arcadia Neighborhood can quickly soar to over 3 million and, even in this economy; you’ll have to be quick and aggressive when trying to buy one of these larger homes. Arcadia’s housing market is definitely an anomaly in the valley of the sun.

"Navigating Ethnic Vernacular Landscapes Then and Now,"

by Jerome Krase

Draft of : "Navigating Ethnic Vernacular Landscapes Then and Now," Journal of Architecture and Planning Research.  19: 4 (Winter) 2002: 274-281.

Ever since Robert Ezra Park and Ernest Burgess published their classic research on Chicago which described “how”... more Ever since Robert Ezra Park and Ernest Burgess published their classic research on Chicago which described “how” residential neighborhoods follow a distinct ecological pattern, generations of urban practitioners and theoreticians have been arguing about “why” they are spatially distributed. This essay is designed to demonstrate the utility of Visual Sociology and the study of Vernacular Landscapes to document and analyze how the built environment reflects the changing cultural identities of neighborhood residents. It is strongly suggested that a visual approach can also help build a bridge between various theoretical and applied disciplines that focus on the form and function of the metropolis. While discussing some of these often-competing models, the text is illustrated by a selection of photographs taken in Brooklyn, New York whose neighborhoods over the past century have been a virtual Roman fountain of ethnic transitions. Although many of the oldest and newest residents of Brooklyn such as Chinese,  Italians, Jews, and Poles would be familiar to Park and Burgess, others such as Bangladeshis, Egyptians, and Koreans would not. Ideas about Old and New cities from the “classical” to the “post-modern;” from Park and Burgess to Harvey and Lefebvre are also synthesized via the insights of J.B. Jackson.

Penfold-Mounce, R., Beer, D. and Burrows, R. ‘The Wire as Social Science Fiction?’ Sociology, 45, 1, 152-167, 2011

by Roger Burrows

This article examines the HBO television series The Wire as an example of a popular cultural form that stimulates the... more This article examines the HBO television series The Wire as an example of a popular cultural form that stimulates the sociological imagination. It provides some examples of how it functions to do this. A brief case study of one character — ‘Snoop’ — is examined to illustrate a set of more general observations. It is suggested that The Wire, although still containing strong narrative elements, provides an intriguing popular cultural example of what Andrew Abbott has recently called a ‘lyrical sociology’.