Lively Infrastructure

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 137-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ash Amin

This paper examines the social life and sociality of urban infrastructure. Drawing on a case study of land occupations and informal settlements in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, where the staples of life such as water, electricity, shelter and sanitation are co-constructed by the poor, the paper argues that infrastructures – visible and invisible – are deeply implicated in not only the making and unmaking of individual lives, but also in the experience of community, solidarity and struggle for recognition. Infrastructure is proposed as a gathering force and political intermediary of considerable significance in shaping the rights of the poor to the city and their capacity to claim those rights.

Author(s):  
Г.А Акимниязова

Развитие торговли и экономических связей привело к необходимости строительства специальных заведений, предназначенных для торговцев, путников, с помещениями для вьючных животных. Это в свою очередь привело к появлению постоялых дворов. У каракалпаков постоялый двор назывался шарбақ. Он были двух видов: для кратковременного пребывания, расположенный в черте города недалеко от базара, и долговременного пребывания, устанавливавшийся при въезде в город. Второй из них предпочитали путешествующие издалека. Посетители же первых постоялых дворов останавливались в нем для разгрузки привезенного для продажи товара, реализовав который в течение дня, покидали заведение. Функции шарбақ заключались не только в предоставлении приюта, возможности отдыха, размещения товаров и животных, но и в общении, обмене новостями. В базарные дни сюда стекались жители со всей округи для того, чтобы узнать последние новости. Для старшего поколения шарбақ был, в первую очередь местом проведения досуга. Постоялый двор играл важную роль в жизни каракалпаков. Об этом свидетельствует их количество. К середине XX века постоялый двор начинает терять свою значимость в связи с развитием городской инфраструктуры и появлением гостиниц. The development of economic ties entailed arranging special establishments for traders and travelers, with premises for beasts of burden. This resulted in the construction of hostelries. The Karakalpaks called them sharbak. There were two types of sharbaks: located within the city near the bazaar, intended for a short stay, and installed at the entrance of the city for the long-term visitors. Travelers from far away preferred the second type. Guests of the first type of hostelries usually stayed there just to unload the goods and sell them at the bazaar during the day. The sharbaks not only provided shelter, recreation, and accommodation of goods and animals, but also served as a place for communication and news exchange. On market days, residents from all over the area flocked there to find out the latest news. For the older generation, sharbak was a place of leisure. The hostelry played an important role in the social life of the Karakalpaks, which is evidenced by their large number. By the middle of the 20th century, the sharbak began to lose its significance due to the development of urban infrastructure and modern hotels


2013 ◽  
Vol 778 ◽  
pp. 943-950
Author(s):  
Tulay Canitez ◽  
Ilker Salih Canitez

The protection of traditional architectural heritage that witnesses the social and cultural life of a society, and its usage with its original function while protecting its material, construction technique and design, its transmission to next generations while giving new functions if necessary, are important from the perspective of social and cultural sustainability. Edirne, which is chosen as the field of study, had been homeland of civilizations e.g. Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman for years with different national and religious values. Edirne has many traditional houses that reflect the cultural and social life of the city which should be preserved as part of the cultural and architectural heritage. However, due to current changes of socio-cultural and economical circumstances their-inappropriate usage and the wrong restoration practices, the number of traditional houses diminishes. In this study, the state of conservation of the existing wooden houses in Edirne are evaluated. As a case study, a restored building is examined in terms of its measures and practices of protection and according to the compatibility of modern conservation concepts and criteria. Keywords: Wood Construction, Restoration, Traditional House, Edirne


Author(s):  
Carlos Machado

This book analyses the physical, social, and cultural history of Rome in late antiquity. Between AD 270 and 535, the former capital of the Roman empire experienced a series of dramatic transformations in its size, appearance, political standing, and identity, as emperors moved to other cities and the Christian church slowly became its dominating institution. Urban Space and Aristocratic Power in Late Antique Rome provides a new picture of these developments, focusing on the extraordinary role played by members of the traditional elite, the senatorial aristocracy, in the redefinition of the city, its institutions, and spaces. During this period, Roman senators and their families became increasingly involved in the management of the city and its population, in building works, and in the performance of secular and religious ceremonies and rituals. As this study shows, for approximately three hundred years the houses of the Roman elite competed with imperial palaces and churches in shaping the political map and the social life of the city. Making use of modern theories of urban space, the book considers a vast array of archaeological, literary, and epigraphic documents to show how the former centre of the Mediterranean world was progressively redefined and controlled by its own elite.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Feng Qu

The case study in this paper is on the Daur (as well as the Evenki, Buriat, and Bargu Mongols) in Hulun Buir, Northeast China. The aim of this research is to examine how shamanic rituals function as a conduit to actualize communications between the clan members and their shaman ancestors. Through examinations and observations of Daur and other Indigenous shamanic rituals in Northeast China, this paper argues that the human construction of the shamanic landscape brings humans, other-than-humans, and things together into social relations in shamanic ontologies. Inter-human metamorphosis is crucial to Indigenous self-conceptualization and identity. Through rituals, ancestor spirits are active actors involved in almost every aspect of modern human social life among these Indigenous peoples.


Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 004209802097265
Author(s):  
Matthew Thompson ◽  
Alan Southern ◽  
Helen Heap

This article revisits debates on the contribution of the social economy to urban economic development, specifically focusing on the scale of the city region. It presents a novel tripartite definition – empirical, essentialist, holistic – as a useful frame for future research into urban social economies. Findings from an in-depth case study of the scale, scope and value of the Liverpool City Region’s social economy are presented through this framing. This research suggests that the social economy has the potential to build a workable alternative to neoliberal economic development if given sufficient tailored institutional support and if seen as a holistic integrated city-regional system, with anchor institutions and community anchor organisations playing key roles.


2012 ◽  
Vol 450-451 ◽  
pp. 999-1003
Author(s):  
Peng Chen ◽  
Jun Min Zhang ◽  
Ji Nan

Along with the progress of society, the development of the city and economic prosperity, outdoor advertising has achieved great development and plays an increasingly prominent role in the social life. In this paper, the development present situation of outdoor advertising management of Jinan as the starting point, we analyze the problems in the management of outdoor advertising and put forward corresponding countermeasures.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujayita Bhattacharjee ◽  
Sanjukta Sattar

PurposeThe lives of the poor in the urban spaces of India are filled with hardships. They live amidst poverty and struggle to survive within other problems such as insecure jobs, lack of proper housing, unsanitary conditions and low levels of health immunity. This vulnerable section of the population has been rendered furthermore vulnerable by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that were never imagined before. Taking this into consideration, the purpose of this article is to examine the vulnerability of the poor in the urban settings of India with special reference to Mumbai in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology adopted in the study is based on the analysis of secondary data and content analysis of the existing literature. In addition to this, the study also makes use of certain narratives of the urban poor in Mumbai that have been captured by various articles, reports and blogs.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal how the urban poor of India, with special reference to Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has emerged as the worst sufferers of the socioeconomic crisis caused by the social distancing and lockdown measures imposed for combating the pandemic.Originality/valueThe study tries to explore the reality of the urban poor's right to the city in the wake of the pandemic.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Osman Nabay ◽  
Abdul R. Conteh ◽  
Alusaine E. Samura ◽  
Emmanuel S. Hinckley ◽  
Mohamed S. Kamara

The paper examined and brought to the fore the typical characteristic of urban and peri-urban farmers in Freetown and Bo communities which serves as major source of supply of agricultural products into the cities’ markets. The social and environmental aspect and perception of producers involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture was examined. Descriptive statistics and pictograms were used to analyze and present the data. Results indicate that 56.34% never went to formal school and mostly dominated by women, showing that farming became the alternative means of livelihood support for those groups. Crops grown are purely influenced by market orientation—demand and cost, as is evident in Gloucester (lettuce, cabbage and spring onions). Potato leaves were commonly grown in almost all communities, reason being that it serves as common/major sauce/vegetable cooked in every household in Sierra Leone. Maize and rice were featured in Ogoo farm—government supervised land set aside purposely for growing crops to supply the city. Findings also revealed that majority of the farmers are resource poor, judging from calculation about their monthly income earning and available household assets and amenities. About 70.4% of the lands the farmers grow their crops on is leased for production. Except for Gloucester community, when costs of production will be summed, minimal benefit seem to be realized from the farming activities. Even though some of these farmers are engaged in organization, many have limited access to micro financial organization that would probably loan them money to upscale production.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Kumar Banjara ◽  
Meena Poudel

Epistemology of organic agriculture is logically and practically associated with the conventional farming practices. Organic agriculture can contribute in the social life of people by improving health and ecology. It is even more important for the preservation of natural resources. In relation to the importance of organic agriculture, the main objective of this study was to develop the sustainable model of organic agriculture. The study was based on the inductive approach; qualitative design. Study was conducted in 4 districts of Nepal among the 614 respondents. The result found that there was significant contribution made by the organic agriculture to improve the socio-economic status of farmers as well as to care the relationship between the human being and their environment. Family farming system is the fundamental base for changing trend of agriculture in worldwide practices. There is need to protect and enhance family farming through farmers’ cooperative for the sustainability of organic agriculture. The study developed the sustainable model covering the need of infrastructure development, policy improvement, and motivational factors for farmers and changing process of modern agriculture to organic agriculture. The roles of government, non-government, private sectors, individual farmers and consumers are equally important for the sustainability of organic agriculture. The model focuses on the collective effort of all responsible stakeholders. There is need to test the effectiveness of this model.


Author(s):  
Stephan F. De Beer

In the past decade, significant social movements emerged in South Africa, in response to specific urban challenges of injustice or exclusion. This article will interrogate the meaning of such urban social movements for theological education and the church. Departing from a firm conviction that such movements are irruptions of the poor, in the way described by Gustavo Gutierrez and others, and that movements of liberation residing with, or in a commitment to, the poor, should be the locus of our theological reflection, this article suggests that there is much to be gained from the praxis of urban social movements, in disrupting, informing and shaping the praxis of both theological education and the church. I will give special consideration to Ndifuna Ukwazi and the Reclaim the City campaign in Cape Town, the Social Justice Coalition in Cape Town, and Abahlali baseMjondolo based in Durban, considering these as some of the most important and exciting examples of liberatory praxes in South Africa today. I argue that theological education and educators, and a church committed to the Jesus who came ‘to liberate the oppressed’, ignore these irruptions of the Spirit at our own peril.


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