Top-down processes derail bottom-up objectives: a study in community engagement and ‘Slum-Free City Planning’

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naganika Sanga ◽  
Odessa Gonzalez Benson ◽  
Lakshmi Josyula
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
The State ◽  
Outcome Indicators ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Southern City

Abstract Participatory processes in housing policies and planning that engage urban poor communities through grassroots networks have been widely celebrated, but scholars have also scrutinized these policies for their limitations on the ground. Such scholarship has primarily focused on outcome indicators and local implementation, relegating the state to the background. This study focuses on everyday practices rather than outcomes and on multi-level rather than local-level implementation, using India’s national Slum-Free City Planning initiative, Rajiv Awas Yojana, in the mid-sized, southern city of Madurai as a case study. This paper draws from development studies literature to ‘bring the state back in’ to critically examine participatory planning with India’s urban poor. Findings illustrate how community participation ideals are sacrificed by different players for procedural expediency and bureaucratic convenience. We suggest that the deprioritizing of community participation is not an isolated deviation from policy, but it is shaped by two structural impediments embedded within urban housing policy mechanisms: the lack of federal constitutional mandates for housing and, in their absence, the proliferation of time-bound and project-based conditional grants through national housing programmes for the urban poor. Together, they result in an arbitrary policy environment and a push-pull of power between different levels of government, thereby sidelining community participation objectives.

Spatial and Institutional Analysis of the Voivodships Expenditure on Culture in the Years 2003 – 2015

e-Finanse ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Adam Mateusz Suchecki
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Location Quotient ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
National Heritage

AbstractFollowing the completion of the process of decentralisation of public administration in Poland in 2003, a number of tasks implemented previously by the state authorities were transferred to the local level. One of the most significant changes to the financing and management methods of the local authorities was the transfer of tasks related to culture and national heritage to the set of tasks implemented by local governments. As a result of the decentralisation process, the local government units in Poland were given significant autonomy in determining the purposes of their budgetary expenditures on culture. At the same time, they were obliged to cover these expenses from their own revenues.This paper focuses on the analysis of expenditures on culture covered by the voivodship budgets, taking into consideration the structure of cultural institutions by their types, between 2003-2015. The location quotient (LQ) was applied to two selected years (2006 and 2015) to illustrate the diversity of expenditures on culture in individual voivodships.

scholarly journals Sharing Lisboa: A Digital Social Market to Promote Sustainable and Energy Efficient Behaviours

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Catarina C. Rolim ◽  
Patrícia Baptista
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
City Planning ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Urban Mobility ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
New City ◽  
Social Market ◽  
The City ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Change Mitigation

Several solutions and city planning policies have emerged to promote climate change and sustainable cities. The Sharing Cities program has the ambition of contributing to climate change mitigation by improving urban mobility, energy efficiency in buildings and reducing carbon emissions by successfully engaging citizens and fostering local-level innovation. A Digital Social Market (DSM), named Sharing Lisboa, was developed in Lisbon, Portugal, supported by an application (APP), enabling the exchange of goods and services bringing citizens together to support a common cause: three schools competing during one academic year (2018/2019) to win a final prize with the engagement of school community and surrounding community. Sharing Lisboa aimed to promote behaviour change and the adoption of energy-saving behaviours such as cycling and walking with the support of local businesses. Participants earned points that reverted to the cause (school) they supported. A total of 1260 users was registered in the APP, collecting more than 850,000 points through approximately 17,000 transactions. This paper explores how the DSM has the potential to become a new city service promoting its sustainable development. Furthermore, it is crucial for this concept to reach economic viability through a business model that is both profitable and useful for the city, businesses and citizens, since investment will be required for infrastructure and management of such a market.

scholarly journals Transnational Lived Citizenship – The Case of the Eritrean Diaspora

2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Tanja R. Müller ◽  
Milena Belloni
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Diaspora Studies ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Key Questions

This special focus section analyses state–diaspora relationships with a focus on the case of Eritrea, a paradigmatic example, as we show in this introduction, to elaborate on the following key questions: What determines loyalty between diaspora and the state? How can we understand the dynamics of co-optation, loyalty, and resistance that characterise many diaspora–state relationships? What is the role of historical events and memory in building alliances as well as divides among different generations and different groups in the diaspora? How do diaspora citizens interpret and enact their citizenship in everyday practices of engagement? By engaging with both citizenship and diaspora studies, this introduction shows the significance of analysing these questions through the lens of “transnational lived citizenship.” This concept enables a look at the intersections between formal aspects of citizenship as well as the emotional and practical aspects related to feelings of belonging, transnational attitudes, and circulation of material cultures.

Building Italianità in Northern Adriatic: The case of organized migration of population from Pola/Pula

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 992-1007
Author(s):  
Miha Kosmač
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Italian Population ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Border Areas ◽  
Complex Activities

The article analyzes the process of buildingitalianitàin the case of migration of population from Pola/Pula that started as early as May 1945 and culminated in an organized process that officially began on 23 January 1947 and lasted until 20 March that same year. The article sheds light on the premises of that identity by analyzing complex activities of the Italian authorities who wanted to “defend Italianism” in Pola/Pula, as well as in other border areas of former Venezia Giulia. At the state level, they were mainly carried out by the Office for the Julian March/Ufficio per la Venezia Giuliaand following reorganization beginning at the end of 1946 by the Office for Border Areas/Ufficio per le Zone di Confine, and at the local level by a network of pro-Italian organizations and groups. Analysis contributes to the understanding of the top-down and bottom-upitalianitàbuilding process. On the local level, common identity was built upon the myth of thepatria, reiteration of traumatic/“wounded” memories and victim presentation of the “Italian” population, fear to be separated from thepatria, and unjust peace treaty propaganda. Simultaneously, the “Italian” population understood the Italian state as their defender.

scholarly journals Voting Rights for Non-Citizens: The European Multilevel and the US Federal Constitutional Systems Compared

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Federal System ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
The Us ◽  
Comparative Methodology ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Regulatory Models

Voting rights – Citizens and aliens – European multilevel architecture – US federal system – Comparative methodology – Different regulatory models for non-citizens suffrage at the state level in Europe – Impact of supranational law – Challenges and tensions – Analogous dynamics in the US constitutional experience – Recent European legal and jurisprudential developments in comparative perspective – What future prospects for citizenship and democracy in Europe?

Can Russia Fight Organized Crime and Corruption?

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
Louise I. Shelley
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Economic Elite ◽  
High Level ◽  
Personal Interests

The murder of Valentin Tsvetkov, the governor of Magadan in central Moscow in broad day light in October 2002 highlights that organized crime and corruption are still alive and well and highly destructive of life and governance in Russia (Wines, 2002). His murder once again raises the question, “Why has Russia not been able to stop organized crime and high level corruption?” The answer is that Russia docs not have the political will at the national, regional or local level to fight these problems. This is true because the Kremlin and economic elite push their personal interests over those of the state and the society. Structural problems such as low salaries of state personnel and the embedding of organized crime and corruption make reform very difficult.

CIVIL SOCIETY AS THE MAIN DRIVER SUSTAINABILITY OF COMMUNITIES IN CONDITIONS OF DECENTRALIZATION

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Orlova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
National Security ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Community Sustainability ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Business Structures ◽  
The Impact

The article considers a set of issues related to the formation of sustainability in the state at different levels of government: national, regional and local, with an emphasis on the sustainability of territorial communities. The concept of "sustainability" is defined, the criteria of sustainability for national security and its components at the local level are analyzed, in particular, in the formation of affluent communities. Sustainability is considered in various aspects: as a component of national security and defense of the state, in relation to the concepts of "cohesion" and "national security". Financial stability is justified as an important sign of the viability of local communities. The role of civil society in shaping the sustainability of communities is revealed, as well as different views of scientists on the impact of civil society on sustainability are analyzed. The foreign experience of implementation of the basic principles of sustainability in the life of communities is studied. The most important component of sustainability is the ability of the community to consolidate to counteract harmful and dangerous external and internal influences. Open partnership of public authorities with business structures and the public should be a prerequisite for this. It is proved that in the conditions of decentralization and various internal and external challenges, civil society (active citizens and civil society institutions) can and should be a driver of community sustainability. It is assumed that the implementation of state policy to promote the development of civil society should create a solid foundation of democracy in Ukraine as a component of national sustainability. Since the systemic mechanisms for ensuring national sustainability in the Ukrainian state at both national and local levels are not yet fully formed, the development and implementation of comprehensive strategic decisions in this area requires proper scientific substantiation, which is why the author’s contribution to this topic.

Food charity and the changing welfare state

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Lambie-Mumford
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Food Markets ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Food Standards ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Food Charity ◽  
Access To Food

Chapter 7 looks at the role of the state and examines the changing nature of the UK welfare state and the impact these changes are having on the need for and shape of emergency food provision. The chapter argues that social security and on-going reforms to it are impacting on need for emergency food in two key ways: through changes to the levels of entitlement; and problematic administrative processes. Furthermore, the consequences of welfare reforms are impacting on the nature of these systems. As the level of need is driven up, projects are re-considering their operations, contemplating logistics and means of protecting projects’ access to food. At a local level, particular reforms appear to be embedding local welfare systems which increasingly incorporate local food projects.The question of the state as duty bearer is discussed. By right to food standards the welfare state can be considered a vital aspect to both fulfilling and protecting people’s right; but the state’s role is much broader, encompassing action in relation to labour markets, commercial food markets and other spheres where it could exercise influence to respect and protect people’s human right.

From Local Activism to Local Politics: The Case of Moscow

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Gorokhovskaia
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Private Realm ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Local Problems ◽  
Training And Support

Conventional wisdom holds that civil society is a sphere of activity separate from the state and the private realm. Due to a combination of historical, developmental and institutional factors, Russian civil society today is dominated by the state. While not all interactions with the state are seen as harmful, scholars acknowledge that most politically oriented or oppositional non-governmental organizations today face difficult conditions in Russia. In response to the restrictions on civil society and the unresponsive nature of Russia’s hybrid authoritarian regime, some civil society actors in Moscow have made the transition into organized politics at the local level. This transition was motivated by their desire to solve local problems and was facilitated by independent electoral initiatives which provided timely training and support for opposition political candidates running in municipal elections. Once elected, these activists turned municipal deputies are able to perform some of the functions traditionally ascribed to civil society, including enforcing greater accountability and transparency from the state and defending the interest of citizens.

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