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"URBAN SETTLEMENTS"
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The Problems of Small Towns in Ukraine and Poland
The development of particular towns is a factor that determines the economical, social and spatial development of the country. Therefore we turn our attention to it with a critical eye. On 20
October 2015 the government in Poland accepted a bill connected with the Country Town Policy 2023, that is addressed to towns. Its main point is to strengthen towns in their sustainable development, betterment of standards of living and workplace creation. The socio-economical transformation that occurred in Poland in 1989 has caused a lot of changes in the country. In Ukraine it happened in 1991 and it appears that due to various reasons, its transformation seems to be a much longer process and the process has not finished yet. This article focuses on the development of small towns in Ukraine and Poland, which, in currently difficult times, find themselves in a hard and unstable socio-economic situation. This article analyzes the economic, demographic and spatial aspects of small towns in Ukraine and Poland.
Journal Article
Welfare migration or migrant selection? Social insurance participation and rural migrants’ intentions to seek permanent urban settlement in China
The welfare system can be a crucial factor in the urban settlement of rural migrants, but its effects are difficult to determine because to do so one must distinguish the effect of welfare entitlement from the effect of ‘migrant selectivity bias’, which widely exists in cities in developing countries. Using survey data from 15 Chinese cities, this study examines the ways in which social insurance – the most critical social welfare package in China – affects rural migrants’ urban-settlement intentions. The results show that there is a ‘migrant selectivity bias’ in Chinese cities, that is, rural migrants who are better off socio-economically are more inclined to participate in social insurance and are more inclined to pursue permanent urban settlement. Meanwhile, social insurance participation is significantly and positively related to rural migrants’ urban-settlement intentions, and this positive relation remains even after we discount the effect of ‘migrant selectivity bias’ in the analysis. We argue that, for rural migrants in China, the effect of social insurance participation on urban settlement intentions closely resembles that experienced by those who move to migration-managed regimes. We conclude that the Chinese government should establish a more inclusive social welfare system to enable rural migrants to permanently settle in cities.
福利制度可能是农村移民在城市定居的一个关键因素，但其影响很难确定，因为要做到这一点，必须将福利待遇的影响与发展中国家城市普遍存在的“移民选择性偏见”的影响区分开来。利用来自中国15个城市的调查数据，本研究考察了社会保险（中国最重要的社会福利一揽子计划）如何影响农村移民的城市定居意向。结果表明，中国城市存在“移民选择性偏见”，即社会经济条件较好的农村移民更倾向于参加社会保险，更倾向于寻求永久性的城市定居。同时，参与社会保险与农民工的城市定居意愿显著正相关，即使我们在分析中忽略“移民选择性偏见”的影响，这种正相关仍然存在。我们认为，对于中国的农村移民来说，参加社会保险对城市定居意愿的影响非常类似于那些向移民管理体制迁移的人所经历的影响。我们的结论是，中国政府应该建立一个更具包容性的社会福利体系，让农村移民能够永久定居城市。
Journal Article
The great urban transformation : politics of land and property in China
This book emphasizes the centrality of cities in China's ongoing transformation. Based on fieldwork in twenty-four Chinese cities between 1996 and 2007, the author forwards an analysis of the relations between the city, the state, and society through two novel concepts: urbanization of the local state and civic territoriality. Urbanization of the local state is a process of state power restructuring entailing an accumulation regime based on the commodification of state-owned land, the consolidation of territorial authority through construction projects, and a policy discourse dominated by notions of urban modernity. Civic territoriality encompasses the politics of distribution engendered by urban expansionism, and social actors' territorial strategies toward self-protection. Findings are based on observations in three types of places. In the inner city of major metropolitan centers, municipal governments battle high-ranking state agencies to secure land rents from redevelopment projects, while residents mobilize to assert property and residential rights. At the urban edge, as metropolitan governments seek to extend control over their rural hinterland through massive-scale development projects, villagers strategize to profit from the encroaching property market. At the rural fringe, township leaders become brokers of power and property between the state bureaucracy and villages, while large numbers of peasants are dispossessed, dispersed, and deterritorialized; their mobilizational capacity is consequently undermined.
eBook
Urban region formation of small cities and the growth of urban settlements in peripheries: the case of Tegal and Pekalongan urban regions in Central Java, Indonesia
The expansion of urban areas has become spatial feature in the urbanization process of cities in Indonesia. As the most densely populated island in the world, Java has experienced such formation in both large and smaller cities. In most cases of expanded urban formations of small cities in Java, the formation has also created growing towns or urban settlements in the peripheries. Using the cases of the expanded urbanization process occurring in Tegal City and Pekalongan City, two smaller cities of Java whose urban areas have expanded into the territory of surrounding regency (regencies or non-urban districts), this paper aims to elaborate on an understanding of the extent of which the growth of urban settlements in peripheries in the expansion process of small cities. The research, which uses the territory of subdistricts to delineate the towns, tries to find how the spatial process affects the formation of urban regions as well as the towns in the peripheries. The analysis on villages’ transformation in peripheries was implemented by showing the spatial evolution of population density in the regions. Next, the development of towns in peripheries was analyzed to show the influence of such an urbanization process on the formation of towns in the peripheries of small or medium cities in Java. Time series and comparison analysis are employed to develop an understanding of how urbanization affects spatial formation in peripheries. The results show that the urbanization process of small cities needs to be managed in integrated manner so then the urbanization and peri-urbanization processes can be directed to produce better formation of the urban region.
Journal Article
Exploring the benefits and dis-benefits of climate migration as an adaptive strategy along the rural-peri-urban continuum in Namibia
The scale of climate migration across the Global South is expected to increase during this century. By 2050, millions of Africans are likely to consider, or be pushed into, migration because of climate hazards contributing to agricultural disruption, water and food scarcity, desertification, flooding, drought, coastal erosion, and heat waves. However, the migration-climate nexus is complex, as is the question of whether migration can be considered a climate change adaptation strategy across both the rural and urban space. Combining data from household surveys, key informant interviews, and secondary sources related to regional disaster, demographic, resource, and economic trends between 1990 and 2020 from north central and central dryland Namibia, we investigate (i) human migration flows and the influence of climate hazards on these flows and (ii) the benefits and dis-benefits of migration in supporting climate change adaptation, from the perspective of migrants (personal factors and intervening obstacles), areas of origin, and areas of destination. Our analysis suggests an increase in climate-related push factors that could be driving rural out-migration from the north central region to peri-urban settlements in the central region of the country. While push factors play a role in rural-urban migration, there are also several pull factors (many of which have been long-term drivers of urban migration) such as perceived higher wages, diversity of livelihoods, water, health and energy provisioning, remittances, better education opportunities, and the exchange of non-marketed products. Migration to peri-urban settlements can reduce some risks (e.g. loss of crops and income due to climate extremes) but amplify others (e.g. heat stress and insecure land tenure). Adaptation at both ends of the rural–urban continuum is supported by deeply embedded linkages in a model of circular rural–urban-rural migration and interdependencies. Results empirically inform current and future policy debates around climate mobilities in Namibia, with wider implications across Africa.
Journal Article
Indicators for Sanitation Quality in Low-Income Urban Settlements: Evidence from Kenya, Ghana, and Bangladesh
In recent years, shared facilities have contributed substantially to increased access to sanitation in urban areas. While shared sanitation is often the only viable option in densely-populated, low-income urban areas, it is currently considered a “limited\" solution by the international community. In this paper, we analyze the conditions under which shared sanitation could be considered of adequate quality and propose a set of indicators associated with sanitation quality to be included in national household surveys. We conducted a survey with 3600 households and 2026 observational spot-checks of shared and individual household toilets in Kisumu (Kenya), Kumasi (Ghana), and Dhaka (Bangladesh). We develop a composite sanitation quality outcome measure based on observational data. Using regression analysis, we identify self-reported indicators that correlate with the spot-checked composite measure and are, therefore, robust with regard to reporting bias. Results show that (pour-) flush toilets are a highly informative indicator for sanitation quality compared to other toilet technologies. In contrast to previous arguments and depending on the context, sharing a toilet has a comparatively lower correlation with sanitation quality. Toilets still show good quality if shared among only 2–3 households. Toilet location and lighting, as well as the presence of a lockable door, are equally strong indicators for sanitation quality and could serve as alternative indicators. The findings suggest that the sanitation service levels defined by the WHO and UNICEF might be reconsidered to better capture the quality of sanitation facilities in low-income urban settlements.
Journal Article
Governance of Urban Green Infrastructure in Informal Settlements of Windhoek, Namibia
Facing increased rural-urban migration, population growth, climate change impacts, and cascading natural, security, and health hazards, many municipalities in sub-Saharan Africa are beginning to consider the benefits of urban green infrastructure for improving the resilience and wellbeing of residents living in informal settlements. However, present governance systems are often ill-equipped to deliver the scale of planning needed. Integration of urban green infrastructure into local government mandates, spatial planning and targeted action plans remains limited, further inhibited by scarce empirical research on the topic in Africa. Taking Windhoek, Namibia, and specifically Moses ǁGaroëb, Samora Machel, and Tobias Hainyeko constituencies as a case study, we fitted key informant interview (n = 23), focus group (n = 20), and participant observation data into existing governance theory to investigate (a) benefits and trade-offs of present urban green infrastructure in Windhoek’s informal settlements; (b) urban green infrastructure governance in terms of institutional frameworks, actors and coalitions, resources, and processes; and (c) the key desirable pathways for future urban green infrastructure governance in informal settlements. To this end, we used five green infrastructure initiatives to dissect governance intricacies and found diverse opportunities for innovative governance mechanisms. The urgent need for climate resilience in Namibia offers a policy and practice window to adopt context-specific approaches for multifunctional urban green infrastructure. However, for these initiatives to succeed, collaborative governance platforms and clearly delineated mandates are necessary, with explicit integration of urban green infrastructure into strategies for in-situ informal settlements upgrading and green job growth.
Journal Article
Assessing the resilience of informal urban settlements against earthquakes: a case study of Mashhad, Iran
The expansion of urban areas and increasing marginalization has resulted in the proliferation of inappropriate settlements susceptible to significant hazards like earthquakes. Unsuitable land use, inadequate building construction and design, and deficient urban infrastructure contribute to the vulnerability of human settlements. This study aims to evaluate the resilience of Koi Nah Dareh, a neighborhood situated on the outskirts of Mashhad, and identify the factors rendering it vulnerable to earthquakes using exploratory factor analysis. The study focused on disadvantaged areas with poor physical conditions and numerous inefficiencies, including aging residential units and areas with unfavorable natural conditions for construction. The present study adopted the Analytic Hierarchy Process to assess the relative importance of vulnerability factors and indicators and identify the vulnerability zone. The findings revealed five key factors: convenient access to services, physical retrofitting, environmental adaptation, improvement of the road network, and enhancement of public transportation. Convenient access to services held the highest importance coefficient (0.315) as the top priority followed by physical retrofitting with an importance coefficient of 0.184, signifying its significant impact on earthquake vulnerability. The assessment demonstrated that all habitable areas of the neighborhood exhibited high vulnerability indicators, indicating a low level of resilience to earthquakes.
Journal Article