Assessing City Responses to Federal Subventions

1986 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
J W Fossett

This paper reports on a series of case studies in which the consequences are examined of the major buildup in federal grants to urban areas over the 1970s in eleven major US cities. Conventional economic models of the impact of this buildup are argued to rely overmuch on assumptions about the manner in which local officials perceive and structure choices, neglecting important program features and ignoring variations across place and time in the structure of utility functions and in the types of behavior seen as likely to achieve a desired outcome. The case studies suggest that local uses of federal funds are structured by the uncertainty in both level and form of grant receipts and by a propensity for risk-aversion behavior on the part of local general-purpose officials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 525
Author(s):  
Yann Forget ◽  
Michal Shimoni ◽  
Marius Gilbert ◽  
Catherine Linard

By 2050, half of the net increase in the world’s population is expected to reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driving high urbanization rates and drastic land cover changes. However, the data-scarce environment of SSA limits our understanding of the urban dynamics in the region. In this context, Earth Observation (EO) is an opportunity to gather accurate and up-to-date spatial information on urban extents. During the last decade, the adoption of open-access policies by major EO programs (CBERS, Landsat, Sentinel) has allowed the production of several global high resolution (10–30 m) maps of human settlements. However, mapping accuracies in SSA are usually lower, limited by the lack of reference datasets to support the training and the validation of the classification models. Here we propose a mapping approach based on multi-sensor satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-1, Envisat, ERS) and volunteered geographic information (OpenStreetMap) to solve the challenges of urban remote sensing in SSA. The proposed mapping approach is assessed in 17 case studies for an average F1-score of 0.93, and applied in 45 urban areas of SSA to produce a dataset of urban expansion from 1995 to 2015. Across the case studies, built-up areas averaged a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% between 1995 and 2015. The comparison with local population dynamics reveals the heterogeneity of urban dynamics in SSA. Overall, population densities in built-up areas are decreasing. However, the impact of population growth on urban expansion differs depending on the size of the urban area and its income class.



2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalinda Pineda Ofreneo ◽  
Mylene D. Hega

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the knowledge gained from the experiences of community-based, women-led organizations of workers in the informal economy which strengthen food security, enhance livelihoods in peri-urban areas through solidarity economy initiatives, and advance women’s empowerment as they respond to disasters arising from climate change. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on case studies of Buklod Tao in San Mateo, Rizal, and the PATAMABA chapter in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo. The study was conducted within the tradition of gender-responsive participatory action research anchored on a human rights-based approach. Findings – Experience of flooding motivated mature organizations of women informal workers to establish community-based peri-urban gardens connected to other solidarity-based sustainable livelihood initiatives to address food security concerns, increase income, and mitigate the impact of similar disasters. Although women have been empowered through these initiatives, much still has to be done to transform gender relations in various spheres. Research limitations/implications – This research process lends itself toward unearthing gender inequalities which would otherwise remain hidden. Practical implications – The solidarity-based initiatives documented in these case studies may be adopted by women informal workers’ organizations in similar situations to advocate for and attain food security. Originality/value – Solidarity-based strategies to attain food security among women informal workers are rarely documented for assessment and knowledge sharing. How they are or can be further empowered by these initiatives is a significant contribution to the literature on gender and disasters.



1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Cropf ◽  
G D Wendel

Cities have started to rely more on debt in recent decades, in large part in response to changes occurring externally. In this paper the authors analyze the impact of important social, political, and economic factors on municipal debt behavior. They examine the 42 largest US cities from 1980 to 1990, using a pooled time-series regression model. It was found that, generally speaking, these factors had the effect of increasing cities' reliance on revenue debt, which is less accountable to the voters than full-faith and credit debt. It is difficult to say whether local officials have consciously pursued a policy of insulating municipal debt decisions from the voters. However, it is clear that these officials are responding to environmental cues that lead them to prefer revenue debt over general-obligation debt by a large margin. Recent research has shown that cities have historically pursued a ‘politics of circumvention’. With the demand for debt increasing as other means for financing local services are constrained the effects on the polity of these preferences warrant serious attention.



2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ondřej Slach ◽  
Tomáš Boruta

Abstract This paper is focused on the role of cultural and creative industries in the regeneration of the inner city of Ostrava. The first part outlines the basic relationship of cultural and creative industries and urban areas in market economies, with emphasis on industrial cities. Ostrava is a post-socialist city, therefore essential characteristics of one are briefly given. The empirical part presents three case studies demonstrating the impact of cultural and creative industries on the regeneration of the inner city of Ostrava. In the conclusion, the case studies are discussed in a comparative perspective with special accent on the role of the public sector as an actor of culture-led regeneration in Ostrava.





2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 116-123
Author(s):  
A. P. Korzh ◽  
T. V. Zahovalko

Recently, the number of published works devoted to the processes of synanthropization of fauna, is growing like an avalanche, which indicates the extreme urgency of this theme. In our view, the process of forming devices to coexist with human and the results of his life reflects the general tandency of the modern nature evolution. Urbanization is characteristic for such a specific group of animals like amphibians, the evidence of which are numerous literature data. Many researchers use this group to assess the bioindicative quality of the environment. For this aim a variety of indicators are used: from the cellular level of life of organization up to the species composition of the group in different territories. At the same time, the interpretation of the results is not always comparable for different areas and often have significantly different interpretations by experts. Urban environment, primarily due to the contamination is extremely aggressive to amphibians. As a consequence, the urban populations of amphibians may be a change in the demographic structure, affecting the reproductive ability of the population, the disappearance of the most sensitive species or individuals, resizing animals, the appearance of abnormalities in the development, etc. At the same time play an important amphibians in the ecosystems of cities, and some species in these conditions even feel relatively comfortable. Therefore, it is interesting to understand the mechanisms of self-sustaining populations of amphibians in urban environments. To assess the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on the development of amphibian populations were used cognitive modeling using the program Vensim PLE. Cognitive map of the model for urban and suburban habitat conditions were the same. The differences concerned the strength of connections between individual factors (migration, fertility, pollution) and their orientation. In general, factors like pollution, parasites, predators had negative impact on the population, reducing its number. The birth rate, food and migration contributed to raising number of individuals. Some of the factors affected on the strength to of each other as well: the majority of the factors affected the structure of the population, had an influence on the fertility. Thanks to it the model reflects the additive effect of complex of factors on the subsequent status of the population. Proposed and analyzed four scenarios differing strength and duration of exposure. In the first scenario, a one-time contamination occurs and not subsequently repeated. The second and third scenario assumes half board contamination, 1 year (2 scenario) and two years (scenario 3). In the fourth scenario, the pollution affected the population of amphibians constantly. In accordance with the results of simulation, much weaker than the natural populations respond to pollution - have them as an intensive population growth and its disappearance at constant pollution is slow. Changes to other parameters of the model showed that this pollution is the decisive factor -only the constant action leads to a lethal outcome for the populations. All other components of the model have a corrective effect on the population dynamics, without changing its underlying trand. In urban areas due to the heavy impact of pollution maintaining the population is only possible thanks to the migration process – the constant replenishment of diminishing micropopulations of natural reserves. This confirms the assumption that the form of existence metapopulations lake frog in the city. In order to maintain the number of amphibians in urban areas at a high level it is necessary to maintain existing migration routes and the creation of new ones. Insular nature of the placement of suitable habitats in urban areas causes the metapopulation structure of the types of urbanists. Therefore, the process of urbanization is much easier for those species whicht are capable of migration in conditions of city. In the initial stages of settling the city micropopulationis formed by selective mortality of the most susceptible individuals to adverse effects. In future, maintaining the categories of individuals is provided mainly due to migration processes metapopulisation form of the species of existence is supported). It should be noted that the changes in the previous levels are always saved in future. In the case of reorganizations of individuals we of morphology can assume the existence of extremely adverse environmental conditions that threaten the extinction of the micropopulations. 





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