Sponge City Policy and Sustainable City Development: The Case of Shenzhen

The massive construction of buildings has changed the city’s aquatic ecological environment. The aquatic ecological condition of the city has been deteriorated with serious water issues. To coordinate various departments to jointly build the sponge city and improve the water environment, the Shenzhen government formulated the policy note on “Interim Measures for the Construction Management of Shenzhen Sponge City”. This article discusses the impact of the policy note on Shenzhen’s construction of sponge cities. The result shows that the policy is effective from the perspective of the environment. However, in the face of a complex water ecological environment, there are still some deficiencies in the policy. We therefore put forward policy suggestions for the Shenzhen municipal government to better manage its construction of sponge city in the future.

The effectiveness of policy communication in promoting #KangPisMan program among university students

This study is aimed at measuring the effectiveness of policy communication in promoting #KangPisMan program among university students. #KangPisMan is a top priority program of Bandung Municipal Government to tackle waste management problem. In this sense, the problem of plastic waste has become a global concern about environment, therefore it is a hope that, by promoting #KangPisMan, a new lifestyle will make people more aware of environmental sustainability. The program was established in 2018, so it is necessary to measure the effectiveness of its communicating strategy. In terms of public communication, the realization of promoting the program should be measured based on its optimal value. The present study seeks to analyse the effectiveness of communication strategy by employing 7C concepts as introduced. The questionnaire was distributed to 300 respondents (based on purposive sampling) which were registered as students of Faculty of Social Sciences Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Validity of the questionnaire is measured by corrected item-total correlation. The analysis shows that communication strategy in promoting #KangPisMan was relatively effective by considering the lowest scores of continuity and consistency. It shows that the aspect of consistency in promoting the program should be enhanced. Meanwhile, the aspect of credibility had the highest value. Therefore, it is a big capital to promote the program through the role model as reflected by the team. In general, all respondents were satisfied of the communication strategy in promoting the program. However, the effectiveness is still potential to be developed in the upcoming time.

Gestão de Resíduos Sólidos e Trabalho Informal: a experiência do município de Francisco Beltrão (Paraná) ## Solid Waste Management and Informal Work: the experience of the municipality of Francisco Beltrão (Paraná, Brazil)

Este trabalho de abordagem qualitativa, buscou conhecer a trajetória de vida de agentes ambientais e a importância atribuída por eles à atividade de catador de material reciclável, bem como conhecer as experiências do município de Francisco Beltrão-PR em atividades relacionadas ao tratamento de resíduos sólidos. Foram entrevistados três trabalhadores informais que atuam na coleta de materiais recicláveis, mediante termo de consentimento com a pesquisa. E, para compreender a concepção que subsidia as ações do poder público municipal, foi entrevistado o diretor da Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente. Dentre os resultados das entrevistas com os catadores, destaca-se que a catação de material reciclável se torna alternativa na falta de qualificação para o mercado de trabalho. Estes trabalhadores são frequentemente submetidos a situações de risco à saúde e rotina diária exaustiva realizada em condições precárias, corroborando com a entrevista realizada com o diretor da Secretaria Municipal do Meio Ambiente. Os resultados da pesquisa podem contribuir no reconhecimento do trabalho exercido pelos agentes ambientais e/ou catadores de material reciclável como relevante para a sociedade. ABSTRACTThis qualitative approach work searched to know the life trajectory of environmental agents and the importance assigned by them to the activity of collecting recyclable material, and to know the experiences lived by the city of Francisco Beltrão activities related to solid waste treatment. Three informal workers that act in collecting recyclable material were interviewed, through permission form about the research. And, to understand the conception that subsidizes the actions of the municipal government, the director of Environmental Municipal Secretary was interviewed. Among the collectors’ interviews results, it is noteworthy that collecting recyclable material becomes an alternative in the absence of enough qualification to the labor market. These workers are frequently subjected on health risks situations and an exhaustive routine performed in precarious conditions, corroborating the interview conducted with the Environment Municipal Secretary director. The research results can contribute to the environmental agents and/or recyclable material collectors works recognition as relevant to the society.

Problems of Implementation of the State Youth Policy in the Reflection of Regional Youth

Introduction. The relevance of the research is due to the modern transformation of the institute of state youth policy, the change in its functions, and the need to reflect on the results of outgoing forms of administration and work with youth. Based on the conducted research, the article assesses the satisfaction of young people with the organization of the main measures to support all of their life strategies implemented by the governing bodies in the field of state youth policy. Materials and Methods. The results of a survey of young people aged 16 to 30, conducted in the Belgorod Region in 2020-2021, were used as the research materials. Based on the developed tools, including using online forms, 866 respondents were interviewed; students and working youth were interviewed through a street survey. The uniformity of diagnostics for each life strategy made it possible to obtain a comparative evaluation matrix in all areas of the state youth policy. Results. Regional Russian youth have given a reflexive assessment of the key problematic points in the implementation of the state youth policy and youth support; their interest in and the potential of involvement in activities and projects related to youth issues have been revealed. A map of youth satisfaction with the activities proposed by the governing bodies in the field of the state youth policy has been drawn. Discussion and Conclusion. The youth satisfaction with the situation that exists today in the field of state youth policy management is assessed as quite low, which makes it possible to conclude that the proposed measures are insufficiently effective and to raise the question of proposing new formats and strategies for developing work with youth. The research materials may be in demand by state youth policy administration bodies, state and municipal government bodies, youth organizations, and educational institutions. The data obtained can be a scientific increment for sectoral sociology (sociology of youth) in the methodological and demonstrative terms.

A picture is worth a thousand words: a photo-thematic analysis of city hospitality in municipal popular reporting

Purpose This paper aims to study the disclosure of information about city hospitality within municipal popular reporting documents, by conducting a photo-thematic analysis of the photographic imagery contained therein. These documents have great potential for integrating supplementary information in a simplified, short and attractive form. Supplementary disclosure by means of pictures, such as that concerning city hospitality, has not previously been researched. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative research uses visual data, specifically photographs, as a data source. To capture city hospitality disclosure, a photo-thematic analysis was conducted on a total of 495 photographs contained in a sample of 30 US municipal Popular Annual Financial Reports singled out for best practice. Photographs were inductively thematized using the qualitative data analysis software “QDA Miner”. Findings The photo-thematic analysis yielded an array of themes and sub-themes important to an overall understanding of municipal government disclosure about city hospitality. Going far beyond hosting the hospitality industry segment, city hospitality proved to be a complex area involving city livability and sustainability; it encompasses environmental and landscape resources, facilities, services, activities, events, culture, history, sociability, innovation and much more. Photographs were able to suitably provide supplementary nonfinancial disclosure in popular reports, conveying a welcoming image to the city’s guests – including both its citizens and visitors – in a timely and appealing way. Originality/value This study is the first to examine information disclosure via photographs in popular reporting, focusing on municipal government disclosures about city hospitality. It, therefore, offers new knowledge in both the areas of city hospitality and popular reporting, using an innovative qualitative research approach which gives insight into the power of pictures to generate and convey information beyond textual data.

Communicating Heat-Health Information to the Public: Assessing Municipal Government Extreme Heat Event Website Content

Extreme heat events pose a threat to human health. Forecasting and warning strategies have been developed to mitigate heat-health hazards. Yet, studies have found that the public lacks knowledge about their heat-health risks and preventive actions to take to reduce risks. Local governmental websites are an important means to communicate preparedness to the public. The purpose of this study is to examine information provided to the public on municipal government webpages of the 10 most populous U.S. cities. A two-level document and content analyses were conducted. A direct content analysis was conducted using federal government websites and documents to create the Extreme Heat Event Public Response Rubric. The Rubric contains two broad categories of populations and actions that are further specified. The Rubric was then used to examine local government extreme heat event websites for the 10 most populous cities in the U.S. The examination of the local government sites found that information included on the websites failed to identify the breadth of populations at greater risk for adverse heat-health outcomes and omitted some recommended actions designed to prevent adverse heat-health events. Local governments often communicated concrete and simple content to the public but more complex information was not included on their websites.

Waste Management Strategy Through Community Participation In Realizing Good Governance In Kupang City

This study aims to formulate a strategy for waste management through community participation in realizing good governance in Kupang City. This type of research is quantitative descriptive using a questionnaire with SWOT analysis. Respondents are residents of Kupang City. The results found that the increase in the population of the city of Kupang has an impact on increasing waste production. Even though waste production continues to increase, as the central government of NTT, stakeholders are trying to improve waste management and make Kupang a healthy, friendly and clean city. The strategies used are 1) synchronizing waste management programs and budgets between the City Government and stakeholders, 2) expanding the collaboration between the City Government and Universities in designing effective and efficient waste management technology, 3) advocating to build public awareness of waste management, 4) exploring opportunities for collaboration between The municipal government with third parties who are concerned with waste management including the preparation of waste processing volunteers, 5) soft skill trainings on waste management and joint budget waste management, 6) build and facilitate coordination with stakeholders and regular communication to the community through Kelurahan and RT/ RW, 7) budget allocation in the APBD to recruit field workers who are committed to managing waste, and the City Government budget allocation for spending on the procurement of public area trash cans that separate organic and non-organic waste.

Application of the Nexus Approach as an Integrated Urban Planning Framework: From Theory to Practice and Back Again

Urbanization has created some of the world's greatest development challenges. At the same time, cities present an opportunity to tackle these challenges comprehensively. For this, an integrated urban development approach is needed. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus approach offers cities an integrated urban planning framework to devise sustainability pathways. However, so far there exist no comprehensive guidelines to aid municipal government decision-making on how to apply the Nexus approach in an urban context. This paper highlights the origins of the WEF Nexus approach within the integrated urban planning discourse. It explains the method to introduce Nexus with special emphasis on Nexus training supporting the implementation of the Nexus approach. The “Urban Nexus Development Cycle” as part of the Nexus training, guiding urban practitioners to overcome “silo thinking” is the innovative element as well as the pro-active involvement of universities in the Nexus process.