Urbanization in Developing Areas

Mammals of Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Malaysian Borneo. 2011

by M.T. Abdullah, PhD

Some important species observed during the expedition.

We observed some species of small mammals  of Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Malaysian Borneo.
2011.... more We observed some species of small mammals  of Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Malaysian Borneo.
2011. Malaysian Academy of Science

Housing in Madras: public and private land developments

by Mark Wolffe

Co-authored with Jan Turkstra
Series Title Urban research working papers
Editors: J. Matthew Schoffeleers and Pim Schoorl ; by Jan van der Linden
Publisher Amsterdam : Vrije Universiteit (1985).

Based on research carried out in 1984, this paper concentrates on public housing schemes and private, unauthorised... more Based on research carried out in 1984, this paper concentrates on public housing schemes and private, unauthorised plot developments. It discusses the physical and spatial aspects of low income settlements in Madras (Chennai) as well as the social and economic circumstances of the people who live in them.

Conceptualizing Islamic Movements: The Case of Turkey

by Kayhan Delibas

Conceptualizing Islamic Movements: The Case of Turkey
International Political Science Review January 2009 30: 89-103,
IPSR - Volume 30, Number 1, January 2009

The September 11 atrocities have brought Islamic movements to the focus of world media and academic discussions on an... more The September 11 atrocities have brought Islamic movements to the focus of world media and academic discussions on an unforeseen scale. However, not only the media reports but most academic discussions have confused the reason with the results in their studies. Sociological analyses suggested that these movements arise not solely on religious grounds or based on the 'hatred of the Western civilization', but as a response to diverse socio-economic and political conditions that are being aggravated by rapid urbanisation and globalisation processes. In order to shed light on the way in which Islamic movements emerge and raise the case of Turkish Islamic movement will be analyzed.

Key words: Islamic movements, globalization, neoliberlism, grassroots activism, rapid urbanization.

An ethnographic look at the status of health of women living in an urban squatter settlement of Karachi.

by Sabeena Jalal

co authored with Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah, Published in Pakistan journal of Gender Studies.

Urbanização brasileira: redescobertas

by Leonardo Castriota

Introdução ao livro "Urbanização Brasileira: Redescobertas". (Belo Horizonte : Editora C/Arte, 2003, 340 p)

Se a urbanização vem sendo cada vez mais discutida no Brasil, ela ainda continua a ser encarada predominantemente de... more Se a urbanização vem sendo cada vez mais discutida no Brasil, ela ainda continua a ser encarada predominantemente de um ponto de vista estatístico-demográfico e econômico. Neste quadro, onde se negligencia a componente espacial, cabe-nos perguntar pela contribuição que os arquitetos e urbanistas teriam a dar numa leitura do fenômeno urbano contemporâneo no Brasil. Qual seria a sua perspectiva específica ao interrogarem o “conteúdo e o significado” da urbanização brasileira? Como se analisariam, sob sua ótica, as transformações trazidas às nossas cidades pela globalização e reorganização produtiva das últimas décadas? Essas questões são respondidas por este livro, que reúne contribuições de pesquisadores da área das principais universidades brasileiras.

Neo Delhi: Urban Mediations in an Era of Neoliberal Globalization

by Rohan Kalyan

Doctoral Dissertation

This dissertation is a study of the role global ideologies play in constructing new urban landscapes in the... more This dissertation is a study of the role global ideologies play in constructing new urban landscapes in the postcolonial world. In an era of intensified global interaction, cities are increasingly positioned as sites for managing and mediating processes of economic production and exchange. In recently economically "liberalized" countries like India, cities carry the additional burden of showcasing the image and availability of "emerging markets" for global capitalist incorporation, so that urban mediation becomes a means for re-articulating the identity of the postcolonial city and nation. My dissertation studies the way in which urban space and postcolonial identity are mutually transformed in practices of urban mediation, where new lines of social inclusion/exclusion and spatial division pose critical ethical challenges to democratic political life. I use India’s National Capital Region of Delhi, and in particular the neoliberal satellite city of Gurgaon, as a case-study.

Urban destruction and land disputes in periurban Hanoi during the late-socialist period

by Danielle Labbé

Forthcoming paper in Pacific Affairs, September 2011: Vol. 84, No. 3

This paper discusses the recent rise in land disputes in the rapidly urbanizing outskirts of Hanoi. It presents... more This paper discusses the recent rise in land disputes in the rapidly urbanizing outskirts of Hanoi. It presents emerging social conflicts as resulting from a clash between the rules and practices of urbanization as devised and regulated locally by periurban people and the territorialisation project that municipal authority and land developers try to impose on them. At the heart of these conflicts is the compulsory acquisition of large tracts of periurban land by state-backed developers and reforms of local institutions that facilitate this process. Using the case of a village recently annexed to the city, this paper examines how local people resort to contentious politics to resist this urban encroachment. The paper finds that groups of elderly assumed a leading role in crafting and deploying acts and discourses of resistance, relying on state-promoted values to support their claim. It further suggests that, while periurban villagers acknowledge the necessity of integrating their locality into Hanoi's urban fabric and governance system, they rise up when this process threatens moral relationships inherited from the prerevolutionary and collectivization periods.

Impact of Urbanization on Land Use/Land Cover Change Using Remote Sensing and GIS: A Case Study

by Prashant K. Srivastava

The monitoring of urbanization is very important for the planner, management, governmental and non-governmental... more The monitoring of urbanization is very important for the planner, management, governmental and non-governmental organizations and the scientific community, for implementing policies to optimize the use of natural resources and accommodate development whilst minimizing the impact on the environment. The study here aims at analyzing the changes that occurred in Land use/Land cover (LULC) over a time span of 1991 to 2007 using multi-date data of part of Punjab area, India and its relation to urbanization behavior. The digital data consisted of two sets of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data and one set of IRS-1C data. Utilizing hybrid classification technique for interpretation and on-field validation, it has been found that there is increase in urban area by 10564.31 hectare in span of 16 years followed by other attributes. The other indicator parameter for urbanization that is Land consumption ratio (LCR) and Land absorption coefficient (LAC) show a significant change in their value at both spatial and temporal scale, LCR value changes from 0.048 to 0.109, whereas LAC varies from 0.414 to 0.266 in between 1991 to 2007.

Understanding the causes of urban fragmentation in Hanoi: the case of new urban areas

by Danielle Labbé

Paper published in the International Development Planning Review, Volume 33, Number 3, pp-273-291 (2011)

Since the late 1990s, a new model of urban development has been promoted in Vietnam. So-called 'new urban areas' are... more Since the late 1990s, a new model of urban development has been promoted in Vietnam. So-called 'new urban areas' are being built on the agricultural lands at the periurban interface of cities across the country. These large-scale redevelopments feature commodity housing and public services, along with commercial and office space. Foreign scholars have criticised the lack of integration between these built environments and existing urban agglomerations. The resulting urban fragmentation is commonly blamed on the imposition of a foreign model of urban development that promotes a break with previous urban space production mechanisms. This paper provides a nuanced view on these ideas by exploring the history of housing policy in Vietnam and in the region of Hanoi in particular. This approach underscores the locally situated nature of the new urban area experiments. At the same time, it reveals the need to explore ongoing shifts in the way various groups straddling the state, markets and society interact in contemporary urban space production processes.

A Short History of Urban and Regional Development in the Red River Delta

by Danielle Labbé

Working paper published by: Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Centre - Urbanisation Culture Société.

This working paper discusses the evolution of urbanization and regional development in Việt Nam’s Red River Delta... more This working paper discusses the evolution of urbanization and regional development in Việt Nam’s Red River Delta region focusing on the period from the late pre-colonial era up to the beginning of the socio-economic reforms of the Đổi mới.It identifies and characterizes the major societal, economic and urban and rural spatial transformations which occurred in the
delta during the 19th and 20 th centuries. These changes are examined in relation to territorial land features, historical events, successive political regimes and their associated urban and regional planning ideologies. The discussion considers endogenous processes that drive the development of urban centres and the countryside as well as interactions between these processes and state-led urban policies, plans and strategies. 

Facing the urban transition in Hanoi

by Danielle Labbé

Working paper published by: Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Centre - Urbanisation Culture Société

Vietnam is currently experiencing one of the most intensive urban transitions in the world. Over the next 25 years,... more Vietnam is currently experiencing one of the most intensive urban transitions in the world. Over the next 25 years, its cities and towns are expected to grow at an average rate of 6% per year, increasing the national share of Vietnam’s urban population from
one-third to one-half (MoC 2009). As the nation’s capital city and second largest agglomeration after Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi is one of the key sites of this urban transition. This paper explores the various issues that this swift transition creates and how the local authorities are currently coping with rising demands for infrastructure, social services, housing, environmental controls, and public amenities.The first section provides a contextual background on Hanoi, sketching a portrait of its history, territory, population, and economy. The subsequent sections describe problems and initiatives taken in five urban planning areas: heritage preservation, public space, transportation, housing production, and peri-urban integration. Existing conditions in each of the areas along with the mechanisms proposed by planning authorities and other stakeholders to cope with emerging issues are presented. The report concludes by identifying areas in need of further research

Proceedings of the First Policy Forum on Urban Environmental Management in Southeast Asia

by Giovanni Velez

Improving City Environment through UEM Networks in Southeast Asia

by Giovanni Velez

Partnership with Local Organizations in Managing Vehicle Emissions: Case Study of Jeepney Associations in Davao City, Philippines

by Giovanni Velez

Enhancing Capacity of Jeepney Associations in Environmental Management and Planning in Davao City, Philippines

by Giovanni Velez

Initial Conditions as Exogenous Factors in Spatial Explanation

by Clint Ballinger

This  dissertation  shows  how  initial  conditions  play a  special ... more This  dissertation  shows  how  initial  conditions  play a  special  role  in  the  explanation  of  contingent  and  irregular  outcomes,  including,  in  the  form  of geographic  context,  the  special  case  of  uneven  development  in  the  social  sciences. The  dissertation  develops  a  general  theory of  this  role,  recognizes  its  empirical limitations  in  the  social  sciences,  and  considers  how  it  might  be  applied  to the question  of  uneven  development. The  primary  purpose  of  the  dissertation  is  to identify and correct theoretical problems in the study of uneven development; it is not  intended to be an empirical study.

Chapter  1  introduces  the  basic  problem,  and  discusses  why it  has  become  especially salient in debates concerning uneven development.

Chapter  2  develops  an  argument  for  the  importance  of  initial  conditions  in  the  philosophy of science, developed specifically in the context of the Bhaskar/Cartwright ‘open  systems’  (and  by  extension,  ‘exogenous  factor’)  emphasis  on  the  ubiquity of  contingency in  the  universe  and  rejection  of explanation based  on  laws  of  nature (regularity accounts) of causation.

Chapter 3 makes three claims concerning  the concept of contingency, especially  as  related  to the  study of  society: 1)  that there  are  eight  distinct  uses  of  the word contingency,  and its  many meanings  are detrimental  to  clarity of  discussion  and thought in history and the social sciences; 2) that it is possible to impose some order on  these different uses  through developing a  classification of contingency  into  three types based on assumptions concerning possible worlds and determinism; 3) that one of  the  classes  is  a  special  use  of  the word without  relevance  to  the  social  sciences,
while  the  two  remaining  classes  are  nothing more  than  a  variety  of  the  ‘no  hidden factors’ argument in the debate on indeterminism and determinism (and thus related to the concept of spacetime trajectories caused by initial conditions and the interference of these in the form of ‘exogenous factors’ with ‘open systems’).

Chapter  4.  The  concept  of  explanation  based  on  initial  conditions  together with laws  of  nature  is  widely associated  with  determinism. In  the  social  sciences determinism has frequently been rejected due to the moral dilemmas it is perceived as presenting. Chapter 4 considers problems with this view.

Chapter  5  considers  attitudes  among  geographers,  economists,  and  historians towards  using  geographic  factors  as  initial  conditions  in  explanation  and  how  they might  acceptably be used,  in particular  their  role  in  ‘anchoring’  aspatial  theories of social processes to real-world distributions.

Chapter  6  considers  the  relationship  of  the  statistical  methods  common  in development  studies  with  the  trend  towards  integrating  geographical  factors  into econometric development  studies.  It  introduces  the  statistical argument on  ‘apparent populations’  that  arrives  at  conclusions  concerning  determinism  consistent with Chapters 2 and 3 of the dissertation. The need for the visual interpretation of data with descriptive statistics and maps and their utility in the study of uneven development is discussed with a number of examples.

Chapter 7 applies  these concepts  to  the  ‘institutions versus geography’ debate  in development  studies,  using  Acemoglu,  Johnson  and  Robinson’s  2002  ‘reversal  of fortune’ argument as a primary example.

Chapter  8  considers  possible  directions  for  future  work,  both  theoretical  and empirical.

Chapter 9 concludes with a discussion of additional possible objections to the use of initial conditions as exogenous factors in explanation.

CUE Working Paper 1 - Subversive urban development in India: Implications on planning education

by Rutul Joshi

Co-authored with Dr. Darshini Mahadevia

CUE Working Paper 4 - Land reservations for the urban poor: the case of town planning schemes in Ahmedabad

by Rutul Joshi