Housing challenge and urban regeneration: A contribution of faith-based action with special reference to a case study from the City of Tshwane

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezekiel Ntakirutimana
Keyword(s):  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Gauteng Province ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Housing Value ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods Framework ◽  
The City

The main objective of this article is to describe a problem portrayed into critical human conditions in urban margins characterised by the deprivation of most basic human needs, housing in particular. This is undertaken in search of alternative ways that promote a bigger plan of urban regeneration while exploring whether faith-based action makes a special contribution to this goal, both sustainably and innovatively. The article uses a case study of faith-based action from the City of Tshwane in Gauteng province, South Africa. It first begins with constructing an untoward paradoxical narrative of urban marginalisation and housing crisis scenario. It proceeds, responding to marginalisation in light of values of spatial justice and housing. This insight leads the article to sketch a paradigmatic point of departure addressing urban margins, looking at the sustainable livelihoods framework and its basic tenets that mobilise livelihood assets (tangible and intangible) to tackle urban marginalisation from its roots. The article moves on to explore a contribution of faith-based action in urban regeneration through housing value. The penultimate point of the article engages the case study followed by drawing the general conclusion and way forward. The article adds to the existing literature, employing an epistemological approach that integrates multidisciplinary sources and empirical reports on urban marginalisation. Unstructured interviews, participatory observations and personal experience on housing practice help to achieve the main objective of the study.

scholarly journals Assessing Sustainability in Housing LED Urban Regeneration: Insights from a Housing Association in Northern England

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Dean ◽  
Claudia Trillo
Keyword(s):  
Housing Association ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Assessment Methods ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Current Assessment ◽  
Social Spillovers ◽  
The City ◽  
Regeneration Processes

How far do current assessment methods allow the thorough evaluation of sustainable urban regeneration? Would it be useful, to approach the evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of housing regeneration schemes, by making both hidden pitfalls and potentials explicit, and budgeting costs and benefits in the stakeholders’ perspective? The paper aims at answering these questions, by focusing on a case study located in the Manchester area, the City West Housing Trust, a nonprofit housing association. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and including several interviews with key experts from this housing association, the paper first attempts to monetize the environmental and social value of two extant projects – a high-rise housing estate and an environmentally-led program. It then discusses whether and how a stakeholder-oriented approach would allow more engagement of both current and potential funders in the projects at hand. Findings from both the literature and the empirical data that was gathered show how in current housing regeneration processes, room for significant improvements in terms of assessment methods still exist. Findings additionally show that the environmental and social spillovers are largely disregarded because of a gap in the evaluation tools. This may also hinder the potential contributions of further funders in the achievements of higher impacts in terms of sustainability.

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.

Transmedia Journalism and the City

2018 ◽  
pp. 147-161
Author(s):  
Renira Rampazzo Gambarato
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Participatory Culture ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The City ◽  
Alternative Solutions

This chapter discusses the participatory flair of transmedia journalism within the concreteness of urban spaces by examining The Great British Property Scandal (TGBPS), a transmedia experience designed to inform and engage the public and offer alternative solutions to the long-standing housing crisis in the United Kingdom. The theoretical framework is centered on transmedia storytelling applied to journalism in the scope of urban spaces and participatory culture. The methodological approach of the case study is based on Gambarato's (2013) transmedia analytical model and applied to TGBPS to depict how transmedia strategies within urban spaces collaborated to influence social change. TGBPS is a pertinent example of transmedia journalism within the liquid society, integrating mobile technologies into daily processes with the potential for enhanced localness, customization, and mobility within the urban fabric.

scholarly journals Faith-based action and urban regeneration

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan F. De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Urban Transformation ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
African Cities ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Urban Problems ◽  
Urban Spirituality ◽  
South African Cities

After describing the challenges, myths, exclusions and opportunities of urban regeneration, this article explores the potential interface between faith-based action and different forms of urban regeneration. Focusing on different South African cities, it considers how faith-based action could participate in regenerative urban work. Faith-based action will refer to the varied responses of churches and faith-based organisations to urban challenges and transitions. It interrogates whether faith-based action only represents many similar approaches that address urban problems superficially without mediating long-term, systemic change, or whether it indeed contributes to urban transformation in the sense of radical inclusivity and socio-structural spatial justice. Finally, it considers socio-theological sources that could potentially ground urban faith-based action theologically – such as an urban spirituality, an understanding of regeneration as integral liberation and mobilising socio-spiritual capital – whilst making a distinctive contribution to the processes of socially inclusive urban regeneration.

scholarly journals Detection of silent subsidence over extensive area by SBAS DInSAR: a case study of Southern Bali, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 153 ◽  
pp. 02003
Author(s):  
Putu Edi Yastika ◽  
Norikazu Shimizu ◽  
Ni Nyoman Pujianiki ◽  
I Gede Rai Maya Temaja ◽  
I Nyoman Gede Antara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Groundwater Extraction ◽  
Severe Damage ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Points Of Interest ◽  
Linear Behavior ◽  
The World ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The City

Numerous cities around the world are facing the problem of land subsidence. In many cases, it is the excessive groundwater extraction to meet human needs that leads to this subsidence. Since land subsidence rates are very slow (a few centimeters per year), the subsidence usually remains unnoticed until it has progressed to the point of causing severe damage to buildings, houses, and/or other infrastructures. Therefore, it is very important to detect the presence of subsidence in advance. In this study, screening for the presence of land subsidence in the city of Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia is conducted. The Sentinel-1A/B SAR dataset, taken from October 2014 to June 2019, is processed using the SBAS DInSAR method. Subsidence is found in the districts of Denpasar Selatan, Denpasar Barat, and Kuta, which falls in the range of -100 mm to -200 mm in an area of about 93.03 ha. All the extracted points of interest show the subsidence having linear behavior. The spatio-temporal behavior of the subsidence in Denpasar is presented clearly. However, the mechanism and the deriving factors of the subsidence remain unclear. Therefore, further studies are needed.

Site-specific television as urban renewal: Or, how Portland became Portlandia

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Morgan Parmett
Keyword(s):  
Urban Renewal ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Television Industry ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Television Production ◽  
Local Alternative ◽  
Production Practices ◽  
The City

This article addresses the rise of what I call ‘site-specific television’, where the dispersion of television production outside traditional centers results in shooting locations that also serve as the crux of the televisual narrative. I argue that site-specific television constitutes ‘TV renewal’, in which on-location shooting practices are constitutive of urban regeneration efforts that draw on local, alternative, and creative cultures of production to help promote, rebrand, and revitalize marginalized city spaces with, often, gentrifying implications. Taking up Portlandia as a case study of site-specific television, I argue its on-location production practices depend on decentralized and embedded practices of production that align with recent economic and cultural changes in the television industry and in the city.

scholarly journals Increasing Urban Walkability through Citizens’ Participation Processes

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5835
Author(s):  
Francesco Scorza ◽  
Giovanni Fortunato ◽  
Raffaella Carbone ◽  
Beniamino Murgante ◽  
Piergiuseppe Pontrandolfi
Keyword(s):  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Syntax Analysis ◽  
Local Characteristics ◽  
Cognitive Framework ◽  
Neighbourhood Scale ◽  
Space Syntax Analysis ◽  
The City

The work is focused on the integration of space syntax analysis (SSA) in a process of participatory planning focused on a neighbourhood scale where the challenge of promoting pedestrian-friendly regeneration process is a bottom-up priority. The promotion of active mobility is one of the main themes of the urban regeneration project CAST operating on the western part of the city of Potenza (capital of the Basilicata region, Italy). Both the state of the art of the case study area and the potential effects of the intervention proposed on the basis of the participatory process have been assessed by SSA as a walkability assessment method. By measuring a street network’s syntactic parameters, it was possible to further enrich the cognitive framework relating to the current situation and to simultaneously evaluate the effects (in terms of potential movement and social usage) deriving from design interventions. The paper presents a methodology to evaluate the urban pedestrian environment and to provide an insight for walking-related intervention and improvements in neighbourhood-scale planning, according to a participatory approach. The research, based on specific local characteristics, represents a transferable approach to supporting and informing policy-makers and designers engaged in inclusive and participative urban regeneration projects.

scholarly journals A DECISION SUPPORT TOOL ON DERELICT BUILDINGS FOR URBAN REGENERATION

2018 ◽  
Vol IV-4/W7 ◽  
pp. 19-25
Author(s):  
I. Blečić ◽  
A. Cecchini ◽  
M. Minchilli ◽  
L. F. Tedeschi ◽  
G. A. Trunfio
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Search Algorithm ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
The City ◽  
Selection Of

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> We present a decision suppport tool for the comparison and selection of projects of integrated renovation of derelict buildings and areas for the purpose of urban regeneration. Each project is defined as a subset of derelict properties to renovate together with their respective designated use, and is scored by the decision support tool on two criteria: expected effort and estimated effectiveness in terms of improved urban capabilities in the urban area of interest. The expected effort is estimated as a global transformation cost, factoring in legal and management overhead costs as well as possible economies of scale. The effectiveness in evaluated in terms of extension of urban capabilities centred on walkable distances. We have implemented a bi-objective evolutionary search algorithm to address the computational complexity of the problem of search for efficient (non-dominated) projects over the two criteria. For the purpose of illustration, we present an example case-study application on the historical core of the city of Sassari, Italy.</p>

scholarly journals Understanding the Living Conditions of Chinese Urban Neighborhoods through Social Infrastructure Configurations: The Case Study of Tianjin

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Sun ◽  
Weikai Wang ◽  
Tao Sun ◽  
Ya Wang
Keyword(s):  
Urban Neighborhoods ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Residential Communities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The City

Under the unprecedented wave of urbanization and pace of economic development, the living conditions of residents have been unevenly changed in Chinese cities. To understand the diversified living conditions in Chinese urban neighborhoods from the supply-side point of view, new spatial and residential data were gathered to investigate the social infrastructure configurations around the residential communities. Using Tianjin as a case study, the research focuses on six important categories of human needs: education, healthcare, leisure, culture, entertainment, and transportation. Based on the cumulative accessibility measurements of 25 types of facilities, the social infrastructure configurations within neighborhoods are statistically and spatially analyzed and compared. The study discovered that: (1) despite the great diversity of living conditions in the city, the neighborhoods that have better services and strong associations with entertainment and education are prominent; (2) the neighborhoods with advantageous living conditions in different aspects tend to cluster at different places; (3) the neighborhoods of different types of communities, belonging to different administrative districts, or in different urban zones, all have distinctive characteristics in living conditions.

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