scholarly journals The large-scale multi-story housing extensions as a prevaling expression of the post-socialist urban transformations. The case study of the neighborhood Stara Zeleznicka Kolonija, the city of Nis

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petar Vranic ◽  
Ljiljana Vasilevska ◽  
Tigran Haas

This study considers how unstructured extensive housing upgrading has influenced social relations within fully upgraded multi-story housing areas during post-socialist urban transformations in the city of Nis. Two perspectives were adopted in the analysis: the evaluation of the planning and management of the upgrading process, and changes in the social relation in respect to changes in the built environment and social structure within the neighborhood after upgrading. The investigation is based on a triangulation approach relying on interviews, policy and regulation reviews, and observations. The research was carried out as a case study, analyzing the upgrading process at the city level but elaborating its effects on the example of the neighborhood of Stara Zeleznicka Kolonija (SZK). The research suggests a regressive approach to the planning of the upgrading process with critical implications both for community life in the fully regenerated neighborhoods, and the quality of the built environment. The research also indicates that within an inconsistent legislative environment, market-driven housing regeneration processes may lead to generic development with the denial of local social and physical specificities.

Author(s):  
Amika Wardana

The article investigates the social relations between Indonesian immigrants and the multicultural Muslim community in London by examining the applicability of the Ummah concept, in the context of the diaspora. The Muslim diaspora, though their similarity of faith, has always contained internal diversity and fragmentation. Likewise, different religious trajectories of Muslim immigrants as illustrated by Indonesians in London have been identified to shape different understandings of unity and diversity of Muslims, which forge different forms of social relation with fellow Muslim immigrants in the city. The traditionalist London Indonesians have trivialized the unity of Muslim in diaspora through daily encounters yet maintained inevitable different ethnic affinities and religious-sectarian affiliations as a wall dividing them altogether. The revivalist Indonesians have construed the diasporic unity of Muslims as an idealized-normative concept that should be realized socially, culturally and politically by suppressing internal ethnic, national and religious-sectarian fragmentations. While the secularist Indonesians have shown an apathetic position to the implausibility of the diasporic unity of Muslims due to its irreconcilable perceived internal diversities and divisions.Artikel ini menelaah pola relasi sosial antara imigran Indonesia dengan masyarakat Muslim multikultural di London dengan menguji kesesuaian konsep kesatuan Ummat Islam dalam konteks diaspora. Meskipun memiliki persamaan iman, diaspora Muslim selalu terbangun dalam perbedaan internal dan perpecahan. Demikian pula dengan arah perkembangan religiusitas imigran Muslim yang beraneka-ragam termasuk yang berasal dari Indonesia yang pada akhirnya membentuk beberapa pola relasi sosial dengan komunitas Muslim lainnya di kota ini. Kelompok Muslim Indonesia tradisional menganggap biasa konsep kesatuan Ummat Islam dalam perjumpaan sehari-hari dengan komunitas Muslim lainnya sehingga tetap menjaga jarak berdasarkan perbedaan etnis dan afiliasi tradisi keagamaannya. Kelompok Muslim Indonesia revivalist memahami kesatuan Ummat sebagai konsep ideal yang perlu direalisasikan dalam kehidupan sosial, budaya dan politik sekaligus mengubur potensi perpecahan karena perbedaan etnis dan tradisi keagamaan. Sebaliknya, kelompok imigran Indonesia sekuler menunjukkan sikap apatis terhadap kesatuan Ummat karena adanya perbedaan dan perpecahan internal Ummat Islam yang tidak mungkin didamaikan.


2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10

The dance has been increasingly sought as a practice of alternative physical activity to improve the quality of life and valorization of self-esteem among other benefits. This work is a study conducted in a neighborhood association in the city of Capão do Leão-RS. The aim of this study was to investigate the benefits of dance related to quality of life, relating the empowerment of women when practicing dance. The research is of a qualitative nature, with a bibliographical character using a questionnaire as an instrument. The methodology of the case study conducted in the Associação Família Pela Vida (AFAVI) founded more than two years ago, is located in the city of Capão do Leão-RS, in the neighborhood Jardim América in the South zone of the state. In this space are provided activities for the community in general, among which we highlight the dance classes (rhythms) with a class of 22 women, these classes have the purpose of socialization, quality of life and integralization. According to the results it is concluded that these activities can really influence in the lives of these women valuing the social, emotional side and fighting the sedentarism in their daily life.


Author(s):  
Daniel Bell ◽  
Wang Pei

All complex and large-scale societies are organized along certain hierarchies, but the concept of hierarchy has become almost taboo in the modern world. This book contends that this stigma is a mistake. In fact, as the book shows, it is neither possible nor advisable to do away with social hierarchies. The book ask which forms of hierarchy are justified and how these can serve morally desirable goals. It looks at ways of promoting just forms of hierarchy while minimizing the influence of unjust ones, such as those based on race, sex, or caste. Which hierarchical relations are morally justified and why? The book argues that it depends on the nature of the social relation and context. Different hierarchical principles ought to govern different kinds of social relations: what justifies hierarchy among intimates is different from what justifies hierarchy among citizens, countries, humans and animals, and humans and intelligent machines. Morally justified hierarchies can and should govern different spheres of our social lives, though these will be very different from the unjust hierarchies that have governed us in the past. The book examines how hierarchical social relations can have a useful purpose, not only in personal domains but also in larger political realms.


Author(s):  
Mar Santamaria-Varas ◽  
◽  
Pablo Martinez-Diez ◽  

The regulation of economic activity is a question of the utmost relevance in urban planning as urbanism meant to support coexistence of citizens necessities while preserving the health of the commercial economic fabric. In this context, the model of diversity embodied by the city of Barcelona (paradigm of other European cities where commercial and leisure activities play a fundamental role in constructing the social, civic and economic values) is under discussion from the urban and political perspective. The saturation of public access activities, food retailers and tourist services -consequence of previous boosting liberal policies- is affecting the habitability and the quality of life of the residents. Using the new land-use plan of Ciutat Vella (Barcelona, Spain, 2018) as a case study, we intend to frame the regulation of public access and commercial activities in an international context, explain how this particular type of plan works and discuss the circumstances of its implementation.


Author(s):  
Monika Wasilewicz-Pszczółkowska ◽  
Agnieszka Szczepanska

Current social requirements concerning the living environment tend to be more and more related to the natural values of the urban space. People are aware of the fact that contact with nature is extremely important for of mental and physical health. Therefore, the quality of the natural environment around the place of living influences the quality of life. The studies confirm that the presence of natural elements in the urban space may expressly affect the improvement of this quality. An example of a city with high quality of life is represented by Olsztyn, the capital of the Warmian- Masurian Province, located within the borders of the functional area of the Green Lungs of Poland, which is characterized by the particularly valuable quality of its natural environment. This is confirmed by the results of the social Diagnosis dated 2015, which put Olsztyn in 4th place among the largest Polish cities in the ranking concerning the quality of life. It is also influenced by the quality of the natural environment, which in the case of Olsztyn is manifested in a large number of green areas and standing bodies of water located within the administrative borders of the city. The aim of this paper is to compare the quality of the living environment of individual boroughs of Olsztyn conditioned by the natural elements (greenery, bodies of water, air, noise) in relation to the received public opinion polling results.


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.


Author(s):  
Alicja Szerląg ◽  
Arkadiusz Urbanek ◽  
Kamila Gandecka

Background: The analysis has involved social interactions in a multicultural environment. The social context has been defined by the Vilnius region (Lithuania), where national, religious, and cultural differences exist across generations (multicultural community). The space of “social relationships”, as one of the modules of the WHO quality of life assessment, has been studied. An innovation of the research has been related to the analysis of the phenomenon of community of nationalities and cultures as a predictor of quality of life (QoL). The social motive of the research has been the historical continuity (for centuries) of the construction of the Vilnius cultural borderland. Here, the local community evolves from a group of many cultures to an intercultural community. Interpreting the data, therefore, requires a long perspective (a few generations) to understand the quality of relationships. We see social interactions and strategies for building them as a potential for social QoL in multicultural environments. Methods: The research has been conducted on a sample of 374 respondents, including Poles (172), Lithuanians (133), and Russians (69). A diagnostic poll has been used. The respondents were adolescents (15–16 years). The research answers the question: What variables form the interaction strategies of adolescents in a multicultural environment? The findings relate to interpreting the social interactions of adolescents within the boundaries of their living environment. The description of the social relations of adolescents provides an opportunity to implement the findings for further research on QoL. Results: An innovative outcome of the research is the analysis of 3 interaction strategies (attachment to national identification, intercultural dialogue, and multicultural community building) as a background for interpreting QoL in a multicultural environment. Their understanding is a useful knowledge for QoL researchers. The data analysis has taken into account cultural and generational (historical) sensitivities. Therefore, the team studying the data has consisted of researchers and residents of the Vilnius region. We used the interaction strategies of adolescents to describe the category of “social relationships” in nationally and culturally diverse settings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Miguel R. Luaces ◽  
Jesús A. Fisteus ◽  
Luis Sánchez-Fernández ◽  
Mario Munoz-Organero ◽  
Jesús Balado ◽  
...  

Providing citizens with the ability to move around in an accessible way is a requirement for all cities today. However, modeling city infrastructures so that accessible routes can be computed is a challenge because it involves collecting information from multiple, large-scale and heterogeneous data sources. In this paper, we propose and validate the architecture of an information system that creates an accessibility data model for cities by ingesting data from different types of sources and provides an application that can be used by people with different abilities to compute accessible routes. The article describes the processes that allow building a network of pedestrian infrastructures from the OpenStreetMap information (i.e., sidewalks and pedestrian crossings), improving the network with information extracted obtained from mobile-sensed LiDAR data (i.e., ramps, steps, and pedestrian crossings), detecting obstacles using volunteered information collected from the hardware sensors of the mobile devices of the citizens (i.e., ramps and steps), and detecting accessibility problems with software sensors in social networks (i.e., Twitter). The information system is validated through its application in a case study in the city of Vigo (Spain).


2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifeng Huang

AbstractFor a long time, since China’s opening to the outside world in the late 1970s, admiration for foreign socioeconomic prosperity and quality of life characterized much of the Chinese society, which contributed to dissatisfaction with the country’s development and government and a large-scale exodus of students and emigrants to foreign countries. More recently, however, overestimating China’s standing and popularity in the world has become a more conspicuous feature of Chinese public opinion and the social backdrop of the country’s overreach in global affairs in the last few years. This essay discusses the effects of these misperceptions about the world, their potential sources, and the outcomes of correcting misperceptions. It concludes that while the world should get China right and not misinterpret China’s intentions and actions, China should also get the world right and have a more balanced understanding of its relationship with the world.


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