Urban open space transition and management in Lagos, Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 951-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Adeniran Adedeji ◽  
Joseph Akinlabi Fadamiro

Purpose – The poor outdoor quality of highly populated third-world cities is a consequence of the misuse of public open spaces as refuse dumps and for informal trading activities. This describes the situation of Lagos metropolis before the present political will that has infused great landscaping transition into the cityscape. However, the challenges of maintenance are germane to the sustainability of these landscape products. The purpose of this paper is to assess the quality and characteristics of the landscapes that have undergone transition and to formulate a framework for maintenance strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The study objectively evaluates the physical qualities of 22 randomly selected sites that have undergone transition through on-site assessment and photographic recording. The management regimes were subjectively studied to appraise the level of their effectiveness and to guide future strategies. This was carried out by collecting the opinions of 130 selected government officials in charge of maintaining the spaces with the aid an interview guide. Findings – Analyses of the data revealed rich values of the landscapes and management strategies in favour of a public-private partnership. It recommends public open space transformation for recreational activities in cities as a vital means of enhancing urban living and city outlooks. Practical implications – The study concludes with formulation of sustainable management framework for the landscapes and argues in its favour. It thus has policy implications on the maintenance of urban open spaces that have undergone transition in Lagos and Nigeria at large. Originality/value – The study was carried out in May 2011. Its significance lies in its capacity of enhancing the quality of urban open spaces through appropriate policy formulation of management regimes.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1144
Author(s):  
Rosa Aguilar ◽  
Monika Kuffer

Open spaces are essential for promoting quality of life in cities. However, accelerated urban growth, in particular in cities of the global South, is reducing the often already limited amount of open spaces with access to citizens. The importance of open spaces is promoted by SDG indicator 11.7.1; however, data on this indicator are not readily available, neither globally nor at the metropolitan scale in support of local planning, health and environmental policies. Existing global datasets on built-up areas omit many open spaces due to the coarse spatial resolution of input imagery. Our study presents a novel cloud computation-based method to map open spaces by accessing the multi-temporal high-resolution imagery repository of Planet. We illustrate the benefits of our proposed method for mapping the dynamics and spatial patterns of open spaces for the city of Kampala, Uganda, achieving a classification accuracy of up to 88% for classes used by the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL). Results show that open spaces in the Kampala metropolitan area are continuously decreasing, resulting in a loss of open space per capita of approximately 125 m2 within eight years.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Liang ◽  
Jingqi Dang ◽  
Shuai Chen

PurposeThis study aims to establish the linkage among export tax rebate (ETR), firm innovation and product quality of Chinese agricultural product processing industry (APPI), so that more targeted policy implications can be discussed.Design/methodology/approachUsing highly disaggregated firm-product-destination-level data through 2001 to 2013 of Chinese APPI, this study employs a two-way fixed effects specification to establish the linkage between ETR and product quality, while the mediational model is adopted to examine potential mechanisms.FindingsBaseline estimates show that a 1% increase in ETR rate leads to a significant increase in the product quality of APPI by 0.12% on the whole. However, there is a nonlinear, inverse-U shaped relationship between ETR and product quality, and the optimal inflection point occurs when ERT rate equals 0.15. Mechanism analyses show that firm innovation is an important impact channel, which explains 9.8% of quality improvement induced by raising ETR. Further heterogeneous analyses reveal both the total effects of ETR on product quality and the mediation effects of innovation are dominated by young SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises).Practical implicationsAuthorities can promote the innovation and then product quality improvement of young SMEs by moderately increasing ETR rate. To ensure ETR more effective in improving quality, it is necessary for the government to encourage innovation. Authorities can reduce the risk of innovation failure for low-tech firms by increasing R&D subsidies, while ensuring innovation returns for high-tech firms in combination with stronger intellectual property protection.Originality/valueFirst, this is one of the earlier studies to explore the relationship between ETR and product quality specifically for Chinese APPI. Second, we show firm innovation as an important mediator so that policies aim at raising ETR rates are eventually beneficial to product quality. Third, using the highly disaggregated data, we allow ETR rate to vary across different products, which is an improvement in the accuracy of previous literature. Finally, our research provides additional empirical evidence for revealing the micro-mechanism of ETR affecting firm behaviors.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hichem Khlif ◽  
Achraf Guidara ◽  
Khaled Hussainey

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relationship between the level of sustainability and tax evasion and test whether the level of corruption moderates such a relationship. Design/methodology/approach The sample consists of 65 developed and developing countries. Tax evasion is measured using a macro indirect approach used by Schneider et al. (2010). The sustainability level and corruption variables are collected from The Global Competitiveness Report for 2012-2013. Findings This study finds that the level of tax evasion is negatively associated with the level of sustainability (overall score and social and environmental score) and the quality of infrastructure. When we distinguish between low- and high-corruption countries, we find that this negative association is significant for low-corruption countries and insignificant for high-corruption countries. These results imply that the level of corruption may reduce the tendency of individuals in a given state to accept and trust their government in general and comply with the tax rules in particular. Originality/value Our empirical findings have policy implications for governments with high levels of tax evasion, as they highlight the importance of states’ engagements towards their citizens in reducing tax evasion.


Author(s):  
Do Duy Thinh ◽  
Nguyen Van Xuan ◽  
Nguyen Ngoc Long Giang

Urban open spaces (e.g. urban parks) play a pivotal role in improving the quality of life of city dwellers through accommodating various physical and social activities, while further creating social coherence for sustainable development. Due to the shortage of open green spaces in the city, caused by rapid urbanization in developing countries, some big, long-standing urban public spaces such as district parks have been retained, and improved to serve as the main public space for local people. However, such spaces commonly provide outdated, low quality facilities that discourage people from using the park. To satisfy users’ needs, local governments have launched campaigns to improve parks based on the ideas of domestic or foreign designers. The purpose of this research is to explore different behaviors of residents in an open space in Da Nang (Vietnam) which can support the future development and improvement of local open space in accordance with environmental behavior theory. User behaviors were identified and categorized based on their activities in the open space, collected using the place-centered behavior mapping method. Results of the statistical analysis revealed that this open space could be divided into three types, each of which had four dimensions: public facilities setting; openness; accessibility; and recreational facilities. The findings showed some aspects that need to be considered during the development process of open space as follows: 1) increasing the quantity and quality of public amenities; 2) separating accessible space and/or buffer space from already used space inside the park, particularly in the entrance zone; 3) providing space adjacent to the lake; and 4) removing obstacles (e.g. walls around the park) to give a clearer view from inside the park to the streets outside and vice versa. Also, the calculation model of evidence-based designs provides input data for re-planning or creating public space/parks to help designers, planners and authorities improve or design better open spaces in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Yu

PurposeThis study examines the relationship between quality and quantity of open space in residential areas and the sense of community of Chinese older adults in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with 257 adults aged 55 and over in Kwun Tong, Hong Kong. The quality of open space was assessed from four dimensions: social and recreational facilities, entrance, location and environment. Geographic information system (GIS) was used to evaluate the quantity of open space in terms of size and amount.FindingsThe result shows that the environment has a strong influence on the sense of community, while the quantity of open space does not. The results provide urban planners with evidence for open space planning in the future. Urban planners should consider building more people-oriented environment; such as green areas instead of merely increasing the size, amount and facilities of open space. The Hong Kong Government also needs to review the current standardised planning guideline in order to maximise the social connection of older adults.Originality/valueThis cross-sectional study tried to understand the relationship between the quality and quantity of open spaces and sense of community in Chinese older adults in Hong Kong. It is one of the few studies to simultaneously examine both the quality and quantity of open spaces when studying its relationship with sense of community.


Author(s):  
Bambang Prayitno

abstrakUndang-undang Republik Indonesia No 26 Tahun 2007 tentang Penataan Ruang, menetapkan harustersedia Ruang Terbuka Hijau sebesar 30% dari luas Daerah Aliran Sungai (DAS). Dan dalam Permen ATRNomor 16 tahun 2018 ditetapkan harus tersedia RTH privat sebesar 10%. Hal itu bertujuan untukmeningkatkan kualitas lingkungan hidup di wilayah perkotaan, diantaranya penyediaan resapan, penyegaranudara, dan tentunya aspek estetika. Namun tidak banyak masyarakat Indonesia yang mengetahui adanyaperaturan tersebut. Bahkan banyak pengembang yang tidak memperhatikan aspek tersebut. Sehingga parapembeli rumah tidak tahu adanya persyaratan dalam mendirikan atau mengembangkan bangunan yang harusmenyediakan RTH.Di Perumahan Karanglo Indah (dalam kasus ini sebagai percontohan adalah wilayah RT 8) masihdirasakan kurangnya Ruang Terbuka Hijau di sebagian besar rumah, seperti lingkungan hijau. Hal ini karenahalaman rumah sudah penuh tertutup bangunan. Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (PkM) ini bertujuan untukmemberikan pemahaman kepada masyarakat tentang arti pentingnya RTH. Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat inidilaksanakan saat pandemi Covid-19, yang harus mengikuti protokol kesehatan dan physical distancing, makapemberian pemahaman hanya diberikan kepada Ketua RT, ketua PKK dan dasa wisma. Hasil dari pelaksanaankegiatan berupa percontohan lingkungan hijau berupa penanaman tanaman sayur, baik secara hidroponikvertikal maupun apung dan tanaman dalam polybag. Upaya ini selain untuk menambah lingkungan hijau jugamendukung kegiatan Kemandirian Pangan di era pandemi Covid-19 AbstractLaw No.26 of 2007 on Spatial Planning determines that 30% of Watershed must be available for open spaces. TheRegulation of The Minister of Agragrian and Spatial Planning Number 16 of 2018 determines that 10% of openspaces must be available for private open spaces. It aims to improve the quality of environment in urban areasincluding the availability of infiltration, air freshening, and aesthetic aspects. However, not many Indonesians knowthis regulation. Even many developers do not pay attention to this aspect and house buyers do not know the openspace requirements for building or developing buildings. Most houses at Karanglo Indah Housing ( as a pilotproject, RT 8, RW 4) are still lack of open spaces as the green environment. This is because the yard is full ofbuildings. This Community Service aims to provide information to that community so that they understand theimportance of open space. Since the Community Service was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic which mustcomply with health protocols and physical distancing, the information is only given to the head of NeighborhoodAssociation, head of Family Welfare Group and head of a Group of ten families. The result of this activity is a pilotgreen environment as planting vegetable plants, both vertical and floating hydroponics and plants in polybags.Besides enlarging the green environment, this activity also supports food independence activities in the era ofCovid-19 pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Rodolfo Di Tommaso ◽  
Antonio Angelino

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the main features of the Vietnamese economic transition and industrial development pattern analyzing the evolution of the industrial policy formulation in the light of the changes in the country’s productive specialization and competitive position in the international division of labor. The authors also aim at stressing the role exerted by different external paradigm of influence on the Vietnamese policy making and the function of selectivity as an instrument to upgrade the competitiveness of the Vietnamese production system. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides a descriptive analysis of the Vietnamese recent economic trends and structural transformation dynamics. It realizes a literature review concerning the academic debate on the role and the effects of industrial policy in Vietnam identifying a categorization between different theoretical perspectives. In addition, it implements an in-depth analysis of the main industrial planning strategies promoted by the government investigating the evolution of the lines of the country’s economic policy agenda. On the basis of the previous analyses, the paper draws out some conclusions about the application of selective criteria in Vietnamese industrial policy interventions. Findings An in-depth examination of the planning prescriptions suggests that the Vietnamese government has undertaken a pronounced paradigm change in the course of last 15 years. The Vietnamese planning approach displays a shift toward a systematic and extended vision concerning the role of industrial policy, which result to be in clear discontinuity with respect to the market-friendly approach supported by Washington institutions. Nevertheless, this configuration outlines several limits characterizing the Vietnamese planning activity, connected to the lack of transparency and efficiency of the governance mechanisms that risk to undermine the effectiveness of the upgrading policies. Originality/value The paper focuses on Vietnam, an emerging economy in transition whose development trajectory has been characterized by peculiar economic and policy dynamics. The hybrid character of the government policy-making approach makes it difficult to identify univocal interpretations concerning the country’s industrial development dynamics and the resulting policy implications. In this perspective, the analysis has shed light on the mechanisms conditioning the formulation of industrial policy in Vietnam, focusing on the external influences exerted on its definition and on the domestic interactions associated to its implementation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Van Wyk

<p>This paper provides an overview of the various datasets pertaining to education in South Africa that are informing or could inform policy making in education. The paper serves as an inventory for anyone interested in understanding what data is available, how it may be accessed, what the quality of the data is and in what formats it may be accessed. <br />The paper is divided into three parts. The first part provides a description of existing education datasets and the basic data elements contained in each of these datasets. When discussing each of the existing education datasets, the paper addresses the quality of the education data available in South Africa. The first part also refers to the policy implications and the important role that data plays in policy-formulation. No information system on its own is comprehensive enough to provide all the information needed in strategic decision-making. Hence, part two of this paper discusses the need for data integration as an important data management strategy. The third part examines the effectiveness of implementing a learner unit record system nationally in comparison with the EMIS system that is currently in place and that is based on aggregate or summary institution–level data.</p><p> </p>


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana Bugs Antocheviz ◽  
Caroline Arsego ◽  
Antônio Tarcísio Reis

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effects of transformations of the levels of visual and functional permeability and the types of uses on the ground floors of buildings on the perception of security and the occurrence of residential burglary, theft in residence, pedestrian mugging, vehicle robbery, vehicle theft and theft of items inside a vehicle on selected blocks.Design/methodology/approachNine blocks divided into three groups were selected in Capão da Canoa, a Brazilian city that has been undergoing morphological transformations, including the replacement of buildings with residences and shops on the ground floor, with doors and windows facing the street, by buildings with a predominance of garage doors and blind walls on the ground floors. Data were collected through the application of questionnaires and interviews.FindingsThe results reveal, for example, that perception of greater security is related to the blocks with a greater number of functional and visual connections between the ground floor interfaces of the buildings and the open public spaces. In addition, the night period records the higher number of criminal occurrences, even on blocks with higher rates of visual and functional connections between the ground floor interfaces and the public open space and higher rates of residential and commercial uses on the ground floor of the buildings.Originality/valueIt is expected that the results of this paper will allow for greater knowledge and the revision of many urban guidelines regarding the effects of the transformations of ground floor interfaces from traditional to contemporary buildings in the perception of security and the occurrence of crimes in public open spaces and in neighbouring residential units. It is further evidenced the need to recognize the ground floor interface as an element of public interest, even if it belongs to a private property. Nonetheless, further research is needed on the relationships between the quantifications of the levels of visual and functional permeability, the different types of uses on the ground floor of buildings, movement of people and crimes in open spaces and buildings in different periods of the day.


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