scholarly journals Singapore vs. the ‘Singapore of Africa’—Different Approaches to Managing Urban Agriculture

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 987
Author(s):  
Ada Górna ◽  
Krzysztof Górny
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Efficient Solutions ◽  
Aerial Images ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Unused Land ◽  
Agriculture Management

Through structured comparison, this article seeks to present the different approaches to urban agriculture in the cities of Singapore and Kigali. The former is seen as a model ‘smart city’ worth following worldwide, while the latter is frequently referred to as the ‘Singapore of Africa’. The research conducted was divided into two stages. The first one was desk-based and included the analysis of satellite and aerial images along with the analysis of legal documents regarding land ownership and urban agriculture management. The second one was based on field work carried out in 2019 in both cities and comprised the mapping of areas encompassed by urban agriculture, the collection of photographic documentation, field observations, as well as semi-structured interviews. The research was summarized in line with a comparative analysis of institutional and legal framework of urban agriculture and policy towards its development; spatial features of urban agriculture, including distribution, location, and area; as well as inherent features of urban agriculture, including systems of production, main crops, production methods, and functions. The process makes it clear that despite the fact that urban agriculture is considered in planning documents of both cities, the scale of the activity and the approach towards it differ markedly. In Singapore, the authorities support mainly the high-technology and land-efficient solutions, with other, low-profit forms of agricultural activity being pushed out from the urban space. In turn, in Kigali, where the scale of agricultural activity is incomparably greater, the inhabitants enjoy a certain freedom to make use of unused land in cultivation, which increases their food security and enhances their ability to cope with external stresses.

scholarly journals Challenges for the revitalisation of peri-urban agriculture in Spain: Territorial analysis of the Madrid and Oviedo metropolitan areas

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nerea Morán Alonso ◽  
Ícaro Obeso Muñiz ◽  
Agustín Hernández Aja ◽  
Felipe Fernández García
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Aerial Images ◽  
Land Quality ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
New Policies

Abstract Contemporary urban sprawl and urban functional centrality at the regional scale have made the classical urban-rural dichotomy no longer valid. Instead, urban development generates a range of peri-urban transitional areas in which urban and rural uses are mixed in a fragmented land mosaic. The main objective of this paper is to detect opportunitites for the revitalisation of peri-urban agriculture based on an analysis and comparison of its evolution in two different regional contexts in Spain. The peri-urban space is delimited according to density, topography and perceptual criteria. Aerial images and cartographic bases are used to identify land quality and land use changes in the areas, concluding that peri-urban agriculture has suffered both urban occupation and internal changes in crops and agricultural uses, experiencing a process of decline. Innovative initiatives performed in these spaces are also explored as opportunities for revitalisation from a multifunctional approach, linking urban population to peri-urban agriculture, organic farming or landscape management. This analysis serves as a prerequisite to develop new policies for the planning of peri-urban agriculture at local and regional scales, based on a deep understanding of the territory and its evolution.

scholarly journals Remote Sensing for Property Valuation: A Data Source Comparison in Support of Fair Land Taxation in Rwanda

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 3563
Author(s):  
Mila Koeva ◽  
Oscar Gasuku ◽  
Monica Lengoiboni ◽  
Kwabena Asiama ◽  
Rohan Mark Bennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Aerial Images ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Property Valuation ◽  
Land Administration

Remotely sensed data is increasingly applied across many domains, including fit-for-purpose land administration (FFPLA), where the focus is on fast, affordable, and accurate property information collection. Property valuation, as one of the main functions of land administration systems, is influenced by locational, physical, legal, and economic factors. Despite the importance of property valuation to economic development, there are often no standardized rules or strict data requirements for property valuation for taxation in developing contexts, such as Rwanda. This study aims at assessing different remote sensing data in support of developing a new approach for property valuation for taxation in Rwanda; one that aligns with the FFPLA philosophy. Three different remote sensing technologies, (i) aerial images acquired with a digital camera, (ii) WorldView2 satellite images, and (iii) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images obtained with a DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus quadcopter, are compared and analyzed in terms of their fitness to fulfil the requirements for valuation for taxation purposes. Quantitative and qualitative methods are applied for the comparative analysis. Prior to the field visit, the fundamental concepts of property valuation for taxation and remote sensing were reviewed. In the field, reference data using high precision GNSS (Leica) was collected and used for quantitative assessment. Primary data was further collected via semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The results show that UAVs have the highest potential for collecting data to support property valuation for taxation. The main reasons are the prime need for accurate-enough and up-to-date information. The comparison of the different remote sensing techniques and the provided new approach can support land valuers and professionals in the field in bottom-up activities following the FFPLA principles and maintaining the temporal quality of data needed for fair taxation.

3. Intervening with Agriculture: A Case Study of Guerrilla Gardening in Kingston, Ontario

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Crane
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Community Gardening ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

The purpose of this study was to analyze guerrilla gardening’s relationship to urban space and contemporary notions of sustainability. To achieve this two case studies of urban agriculture, one of guerrilla gardening and one of community gardening were developed. Through this comparison, guerrilla gardening was framed as a method of spatial intervention, drawing in notions of spatial justice and the right to the city as initially theorized by Henri Lefebvre. The guerrilla gardening case study focuses on Dig Kingston, a project started by the researcher in June of 2010, and the community gardening case study will use the Oak Street Garden, the longest standing community garden in Kingston. The community gardening case study used content analysis and semi-structured long format interviews with relevant actors. The guerrilla gardening case study consisted primarily of action based research as well as content analysis and semi-structured long format interviews. By contributing to the small, but growing, number of accounts and research on guerrilla gardening this study can be used as a starting point to look into other forms of spatial intervention and how they relate to urban space and social relations. Furthermore, through the discussion of guerrilla gardening in an academic manner more legitimacy and weight will be given to it as a method of urban agriculture and interventionist tactic. On a wider scale, perhaps it could even contribute to answering the question of how we (as a society) can transform our cities and reengage in urban space.

Edible public space. Experimenting with a socio-environmentally just urbanism

TERRITORIO ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
Chiara Tornaghi
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Agriculture ◽  
Critical Geography ◽  
Space Project ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

This paper presents an English case of urban agriculture, the Edible Public Space Project in Leeds, contextualised in a context of urban agriculture initiatives committed to social-environmental justice, to the reproduction of common goods and the promotion of an urban planning which promotes the right to food and to the construction of urban space from the bottom up. The case study emerged as the result of action-research at the crossroads between urban planning policies, community work and critical geography. As opposed to many similar initiatives, the Edible Public Space Project is not intended merely as a temporary initiative hidden within the tiny folds of the city, but rather as an experiment which imagines and implements alternatives to current forms of urban planning within those folds and it contextualises them in the light of the ecological, fi nancial and social crisis of the last decade.

The ‘reverse bamboo network’: Sociocultural dialectics of China’s FDI in housing (FDIH) in Iskandar Malaysia

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 1786-1802 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasniyati Hamzah
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Chinese Diaspora ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Economic Region ◽  
Mainland Chinese ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Desk Research

The ‘bamboo network’ is used to conceptualise the investment flow into China from the Chinese diaspora, particularly those who resided in South-east Asia. However, global economic events have decimated the wealth of overseas Chinese whilst mainland Chinese businesses prospered, resulting in what is now reimagined as the ‘reverse bamboo network’. In Iskandar Malaysia (IM), which is a transnational economic region bordering Singapore, the foreign direct investment in housing (FDIH) from China has surpassed that of IM’s more prosperous neighbour Singapore, yet the interscalar interactions between market and actors in FDIH have yet to be unpacked. The aim of this paper is to examine how mainland Chinese developers operate within a bamboo network country by arguing that the similar socioculture helps in moderating institutionalised barriers, such as the unfamiliar legal framework and local personnel management. Framed by the ‘reverse bamboo network’ argument and underpinned by the sociocultural explanation, this paper explains the spatial and business transformations caused by FDIH from China. Data and information from desk research and fieldwork are used to construct macro-, meso- and micro-level dialectics in the paper. Ultimately, this paper argues that the sociocultural dialectic provides a complementary explanation of transnational shapers of the urban space in IM, and having political and cultural allies in the host country could tremendously improve business operations of international developers.

Exploring destination brand disengagement in a top-down policy context

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narcís Bassols ◽  
Thomas Leicht
Keyword(s):  
Place Branding ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Brand Strategy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Depth Study

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the case of Cartagena, Colombia, as a case of a failed destination branding. It also broadens the findings by connecting them to the extant literature about place branding, thus making this paper more explanatory. It tries to fit the fieldwork’s findings into the two main streams of branding research (bottom-up vs top-down). This paper also gives practical insights into the destination’s network of stakeholders and discusses ways to improve the destination’s management and branding. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a mixed methodology approach. Field work consisted of online questionnaire to hospitality employees in the city plus semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 “expert” stakeholders in the destination. This paper is of empirical nature. Findings The main cause of the destination’s brand failure is found to be the top-down approach to the place brand strategy. The literature shows that cases such as this one are more common than assumed, and a possible way out of the problem is the application of bottom-up or “mixed” approaches, as these may circumvent the problems found. Research limitations/implications Cases like this one illustrate very well a local context but might be difficult to transfer to other contexts, so the generalization power of this paper is limited to similar places in the sociopolitical sense of the term. Practical implications For place branding practitioners and destination management organizations , this paper is a call for participative approaches which include all of the stakeholders of a place. Originality/value This paper offers an in-depth study of a branding case in Latin America, a part of the world relatively unexplored in the branding literature. On the basis of the presented case, this paper pitches top-down versus bottom-up approaches. Finally, it explains the findings by connecting the place to its broad geographical context.

Exercising agency in a hostile environment: How do refused asylum seekers find work?

Ethnicities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1049-1070
Author(s):  
Paul May
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Structuration Theory ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Informal Labor ◽  
Anthony Giddens ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Informal Labor Market

Using Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory, this article analyzes the specific ways refused asylum seekers use agency to find employment, despite a legal framework that prevents them working. It is based on a total of 34 semi-structured interviews conducted in Paris. Three points are to be noted. Firstly, there is a hierarchy in the type of jobs available: the most popular jobs can be accessed by borrowing the identity of a third person with regular status, while people who cannot use this means are confined to jobs on the more precarious fringes of the job market. Secondly, our research highlights the existence of an informal labor market that asylum seekers can approach, sometimes even before their asylum application is filed. It is also a space for discussion, advice, and contact with other undocumented job seekers, accessible in specific locations or via the Internet. Thirdly, any long-term prospects are hindered by the precariousness of a person’s migration status: although French legislation officially makes regularization possible, under certain conditions, for people who can justify working without ID, our research reveals a series of obstacles on the ground that make this prospect unlikely. In addition to analyzing the current institutional situation, this research focuses on migrant agency, which is crucial to understanding the hidden aspects of migration.

scholarly journals Moving Urban Sculptures towards Sustainability: The Urban Sculpture Planning System in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4802
Author(s):  
Zhe Liu ◽  
Pieter Uyttenhove ◽  
Xin Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Municipal Governments ◽  
Cultural Policies ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Planning Strategies

Following the continuous development characterized by large-scale constructions, Chinese urban development has shifted to the promotion of refined urban space quality. Urban sculpture, an important part of public arts, has been receiving increased attention in China as an important carrier for highlighting urban characteristics, culture, and history within cultural policies. As a type of cultural capital, it offers innovative methods to address the issues of economic, social, and environmental sustainability, in particular cultural sustainability. Interdisciplinary theories of urban planning are creatively applied to guide, coordinate, and improve the sustainable production of urban sculptures in China. This research was initiated to: (1) Illustrate how urban sculptures are produced through an urban planning system in the context of China; (2) explain what kind of influencing factors in relation to sustainability exist, mainly within the framework of planning strategies and cultural policies; and (3) put forward sustainable planning strategies to produce urban sculptures. To answer the above inquiries, we reviewed more than 100 articles, plans, and government documents, and we conducted several semi-structured interviews. The article argues that urban planning strategies and policies have been conceived as strategic instruments by the Chinese municipal governments to realize sustainable development of urban sculptures. Our findings would enrich knowledge on geographic studies of public art planning through the contextualized analysis of a Chinese urban sculpture planning system. It also fills the gap in the literature on the sustainability of urban sculptures by approaching the perspectives of planning strategies and cultural policies.

scholarly journals Experiences of neighbourhood exclusion and inclusion among older people living in deprived inner-city areas in Belgium and England

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
TINE BUFFEL ◽  
CHRIS PHILLIPSON ◽  
THOMAS SCHARF
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Inner City ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Place And Space

ABSTRACTThis article explores conceptual and empirical aspects of the social exclusion/inclusion debate in later life, with a particular focus on issues of place and space in urban settings. Exploratory findings are reported from two empirical studies in Belgium and England, which sought to examine experiences of social exclusion and inclusion among people aged 60 and over living in deprived inner-city neighbourhoods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with an ethnically diverse sample of 102 older people in Belgium and 124 in England. Thematic analysis of interview data identifies four issues in relation to the neighbourhood dimension of social exclusion/inclusion in later life: experiences of community change; feelings of security and safety; the management of urban space; and strategies of control. The results suggest that neighbourhoods have a significant influence on shaping the experience of exclusion and inclusion in later life, with a number of similarities identified across the different study areas. The article concludes by discussing conceptual and policy issues raised by the research.

Are the indigenous media community media? Experiences of native peoples’ media practices in Argentina

Ethnicities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-407
Author(s):  
Francesca Belotti
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Audiovisual Communication ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Media ◽  
Indigenous Media ◽  
The Law

The study focuses on indigenous radio practices in Argentina under the implementation of the 2009 Law 26.522 on Audiovisual Communication Services, currently undergoing reform. This pioneering law recognised indigenous broadcasters, thereby satisfying the call of indigenous organisations, during the legislative process, for their right to ‘communication with identity’ to be included. Nevertheless, we believe that the application of the law has been weak overall, and that the legal definition of media is questionable. Furthermore, we have hypothesised that indigenous media are caught between de jure public ownership and de facto communal belonging. This hypothesis derives from a comparative analysis of the Argentinian legal framework and similar reforms implemented throughout Latin America, as well as from a dialogue between international studies on community media and the literature on indigenous media. In order to determine whether and in what terms indigenous media can be considered as community media, we carried out semi-structured interviews with key informants from indigenous communities who had been authorised to broadcast under the law’s implementation. We explored the genesis and objectives of their communication projects; programming and agendas; external relationships; internal organisation (with a focus on the sustainability strategies adopted); respondents’ definitions of ‘community communication’, ‘indigenous communication’ and ‘communication with identity’; and respondents’ opinions on the application of the law and its media definition. We found that many indigenous broadcasters in Argentina act as community media and resemble them ontically – that is to say, in how and why they remain in the (mediatised) public space. Nevertheless, indigenous radio is ontologically different from community media because it is often shaped by its ethnic identity, namely, who the indigenous peoples are and how they represent themselves in the (mediatised) public space.

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