NGOs as Intermediaries for Pro-Poor Electrification in India

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 178-204
Author(s):  
Bipasha Baruah
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
Basic Service ◽  
Multiple Stakeholder ◽  
Alternative Practices ◽  
The City

Neoliberalism is generally associated with certain paradigmatic regulatory experiments, such as privatisation, deregulation, trade liberalisation, financialisation, structural adjustment, welfare cutbacks and monetarist shock therapy. Prominent observers of the global economy swiftly proclaimed the “end of neoliberalism” after the global economic crisis of 2008. This paper shares the experiences of two Indian NGOs participating in a multiple-stakeholder pro-poor urban electrification programme that was designed to demonstrate a viable alternative to neoliberal models of basic service provision. By 2008, close to 100,000 homes had been electrified in the city of Ahmedabad and the programme is currently being replicated in smaller cities in Gujarat and in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan. The broader findings from this research suggest that the news of neoliberalism’s demise may be greatly exaggerated. The “alternative” practices and strategies that have emerged more recently, such as the ones documented in this article, may challenge certain aspects of neoliberal thinking even as they reconfigure and recalibrate others. Although this case study cannot in any way enable us to gauge if India is moving toward “post-neoliberalism”, it does highlight the importance of documenting and understanding sub-national scales and actors in experimenting with and testing alternatives to market-based solutions.

scholarly journals COVID-19 triggering homecare professionals’ change of attitudes towards e-Welfare

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-249
Author(s):  
Päivikki Kuoppakangas ◽  
Juha Lindfors ◽  
Jari Stenwall ◽  
Tony Kinder ◽  
Antti Talonen
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Continuous Work ◽  
The City

During 2020, the COVID-19 crisis expanded the use of digital tools in public health and social care. The aim of this qualitative, single-case study was to scrutinize how homecare professionals experienced meaningfulness in their work in the midst of a crisis and with the utilization of the videophone in long-term homecare service provision. The empirical data consisted of 20 thematic interviews carried out among homecare professionals and their managers in the city of Tampere, Finland. The results indicated that the videophone can generate significance, self-realization and broader purposes among homecare professionals, thus providing meaningfulness for work in the midst of a crisis and continuous work-related changes. In addition, a crisis may support change in the meaningfulness of e-welfare in work-related tasks and aid in overcoming reluctance amongst public-sector social care (homecare) professionals towards an e-welfare initiative: the videophone (VideoVisit).

scholarly journals Assessing Resilience of Urban Critical Infrastructure Networks: A Case Study of Ahvaz, Iran

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadi Alizadeh ◽  
Ayyoob Sharifi
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Design Pattern ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Infrastructure Networks ◽  
The Past ◽  
The City ◽  
Different Parts

Cities around the world increasingly recognize the need to build on their resilience to deal with the converging forces of urbanization and climate change. Given the significance of critical infrastructure for maintaining quality of life in cities, improving their resilience is of high importance to planners and policy makers. The main purpose of this study is to spatially analyze the resilience of water, electricity, and gas critical infrastructure networks in Ahvaz, a major Iranian city that has been hit by various disastrous events over the past few years. Towards this goal, we first conducted a two-round Delphi survey to identify criteria that can be used for determining resilience of critical infrastructure networks across different parts of the city. The selected criteria that were used for spatial analysis are related to the physical texture, the design pattern, and the scale of service provision of the critical infrastructure networks. Results showed that, overall, critical infrastructure networks in Ahvaz do not perform well against the measurement criteria. This is specially the case in Regions 1, 2, 4, and 6, which are characterized by issues such as old and centralized infrastructure networks and high levels of population density. The study highlights the need to make improvements in terms of the robustness, redundancy, and flexibility of the critical infrastructure networks in the city.

scholarly journals Sustaining Public–Private Partnerships for Public Service Provision Through Democratically Accountable Practices

2021 ◽  
pp. 009539972110305
Author(s):  
Moses Onyoin ◽  
Christopher H. Bovis
Keyword(s):  
Information Asymmetry ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
The Public ◽  
Multiple Stakeholder ◽  
Public Service Provision ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

Despite the multiple stakeholder-centered complexities involved, the public–private partnership (PPP) modality is increasingly the vehicle of choice for the provision of public services in the developing world. This article asks how PPPs might overcome sustainability challenges in a meaningful way while examining which stakeholder-centered interventions are effective in facilitating rather than undermining the continuity of the partnership operations. We draw on the notion of democratic accountability and an in-depth qualitative sector-level case study in Uganda. The findings underscore the primacy of practices that help to reduce stakeholder information asymmetry, increase partnerships’ procedural legitimacy, and improve the understanding of substantive partnership outcomes.

scholarly journals Beyond (anti)utilitarianism: khat and alternatives to growth in northern Madagascar

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 582
Author(s):  
Lisa L. Gezon
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Cognitive Orientations ◽  
State Infrastructure

Abstract: Madagascar has one of the lowest GDPs in the world. Colonization brought the country into the global economy, but left it at its margins—vulnerable to the hardships of structural adjustment and limitations of state infrastructure. This analysis reveals economic decision-making that defies the utilitarian logic of homo economicus and inspires creative thinking about alternatives to growth as a dominant paradigm. In northern Madagascar, the economy of the stimulant khat is part of one socionatural world characterized by low levels of production and consumption. Madagascar provides a case study for suggesting that "making a living" invokes an intricate web of material desires, cultural meaning, and social connections that do not necessarily revolve around a capitalist growth motive. This article proposes that a path to sustainability is not only in changing social imaginaries but also in valorizing and leveraging cognitive orientations and practices that exist but that may fall below the radar of traditional economic analysis. Keywords: Madagascar, khat, utilitarian, degrowth, economy, urban

scholarly journals Modeling is designed to promote cultural tourism with approach future studies (Case Study: Esfahan)

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1548-1551
Author(s):  
Ali Lavafan
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
The Body ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
New Information ◽  
The City ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Activity Behaviour ◽  
Main Factor

Cultural tourism is a move from people to visit cultural attractions with the aim to obtain new information and experience in order to satisfy the cultural needs.Esfahancan be considered as one of the world's major cities and a unique exception due to the body of the city which can be regarded as a valuable solid unit carrying specific Thinking and viewpoints. Esfahan is not only a crystallization of a worldview but because of its spatial variation, it is one of the most unique cities with dozens of historical, cultural, religious, and natural attractions. The restructuring the global economy is the main factor of which depends the future of sustainable development, major changes being needed in the human behavior, In order to raise peoples sensitivity regarding the importance of constructing ties between natures and cultures, between different world cultures must be used as efficiently as possible. This case study may be considered a useful instrument for identifying malfunction in the touristic sector in the south ofEsfahanregion, in order to supply all necessary information for further development strategies and policies in the field. The statistics in tourism is used in the study of the most stable features of touristic activity behaviour. This study will allow the configuration of a general outlook, which is necessary in order to take the best decisions when it comes to elaborating forecasts in the field

Study of Interior Materials as Passive Fire Protection in Karaoke Building (Case Study: Masterpiece Signature Family KTV Medan)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-43
Author(s):  
Saras Ayu Faradita ◽  
Vinky Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Fire Protection ◽  
Analytical Hierarchy Process ◽  
Passive Protection ◽  
Fire Incident ◽  
Fire Disaster ◽  
Passive Fire Protection ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Hierarchy Process ◽  
The City

The fire incident in karaoke buildings in Indonesia which claimed many lives has occurred several times. According to the National Academy of Science US, the smoke toxins that come out of the fire disaster cause 50-80% of deaths. Refers to the data, it is necessary to check further about the building material response to fire during a fire incident. Masterpiece Signature Karaoke is a karaoke building that classified as large and magnificent in the city of Medan which has various material so that it is necessary to study the interior material as passive fire protection. The purpose is to find out how to assess the reliability of fire passive protection regard to the interior materials and recommendations or descriptions of right interior material planning using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). This method is efficacious to solve the problem of reliability in using interior materials as passive fire protection in Masterpiece Signature Family KTV Medan building with the results of an Adequate Level of reliability. Then, design recommendations were given for the use of interior materials in karaoke building to improve the reliability results to be better.The results are useful as information for other researchers and karaoke buildings regarding passive fire protection systems at the Masterpiece Signature Family KTV Medan.

Emplacing Berlin: Digital Itineraries and Short-term Study Abroad in the City

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B. Apgar
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Term Study ◽  
Digital Maps ◽  
Short Term Study ◽  
The City

As destination of choice for many short-term study abroad programs, Berlin offers students of German language, culture and history a number of sites richly layered with significance. The complexities of these sites and the competing narratives that surround them are difficult for students to grasp in a condensed period of time. Using approaches from the spatial humanities, this article offers a case study for enhancing student learning through the creation of digital maps and itineraries in a campus-based course for subsequent use during a three-week program in Berlin. In particular, the concept of deep mapping is discussed as a means of augmenting understanding of the city and its history from a narrative across time to a narrative across the physical space of the city. As itineraries, these course-based projects were replicated on site. In moving from the digital environment to the urban landscape, this article concludes by noting meanings uncovered and narratives formed as we moved through the physical space of the city.

Modernisation of Higher Education – Willful Action or Wishful Thinking? The Case of Bulgaria

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Elena Blagoeva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The impact of the last global economic crisis (2008) on the European economy put a strain on higher education (HE), yet it also pushed the sector towards intensive reforms and improvements. This paper focuses on the “Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2014-2020”. With a case study methodology, we explore the strategic endeavours of the Bulgarian government to comply with the European directions and to secure sustainable growth for the HE sector. Our research question is ‘How capable is the Bulgarian HE Strategy to overcome the economic and systemic restraints of Bulgarian higher education?’. Because the development of strategies for HE within the EU is highly contextual, a single qualitative case study was chosen as the research approach. HE institutions are not ivory towers, but subjects to a variety of external and internal forces. Within the EU, this is obviated by the fact that Universities obtain their funds from institutions such as governments, students and their families, donors, as well as EU-level programmes. Therefore, to explore how these pressures interact to affect strategic action on national level, the case method is well suited as it enabled us to study the phenomena thoroughly and deeply. The paper suggests the actions proposed within the Strategy have the potential to overcome the delay, the regional isolation and the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country. Nevertheless, the key elements on which the success or failure of this Strategy hinges are the control mechanisms and the approach to implementation. Shortcomings in these two aspects of strategic actions in HE seem to mark the difference between gaining long-term benefits and merely saving face in front of international institutions.

Analysis of geodetic and legal documentation in the process of expropriation for roads. Krakow case study

2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Anna Trembecka
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The State ◽  
Property Value ◽  
Real Property ◽  
Construction Design ◽  
Special Rules ◽  
The City

Abstract Amendment to the Act on special rules of preparation and implementation of investment in public roads resulted in an accelerated mode of acquisition of land for the development of roads. The decision to authorize the execution of road investment issued on its basis has several effects, i.e. determines the location of a road, approves surveying division, approves construction design and also results in acquisition of a real property by virtue of law by the State Treasury or local government unit, among others. The conducted study revealed that over 3 years, in this mode, the city of Krakow has acquired 31 hectares of land intended for the implementation of road investments. Compensation is determined in separate proceedings based on an appraisal study estimating property value, often at a distant time after the loss of land by the owner. One reason for the lengthy compensation proceedings is challenging the proposed amount of compensation, unregulated legal status of the property as well as imprecise legislation. It is important to properly develop geodetic and legal documentation which accompanies the application for issuance of the decision and is also used in compensation proceedings.

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