Global Health Crisis

The emergence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with its attendant coronavirus disease in late 2019 (COVID-19) have brought untold social and economic hardships on the global society but with severe impacts on the sub-Saharan African households. The social and economic impacts were severe given that lifestyle in Africa is largely characterised by poor infrastructure development and social amenities. This situation increased food insecurity arising from complete loss or temporary halt of means of livelihood of the continent's households. Alongside this is loss of social security with resultant psychological stress and anxieties. This notwithstanding, developed resilience and social protection support have strengthened the African households to cope and possibly recover from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rebirth of urban subcenters: How subway expansion impacts the spatial structure and mix of amenities in European cities

Why do some neighborhoods thrive, and others do not? While the importance of the local amenity mix has been established as a key determinant of local livability, its link to urban transport infrastructure remains understudied, partially due to a lack of data. Using spatiotemporal social media data from Foursquare, we analyze the impact of metro stations which opened between 2014 and 2017 on the amenity mix of surrounding neighborhoods in nine European cities: Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Budapest, Warsaw, Sofia, Vienna, Helsinki, and Stuttgart. Thereby, we study three properties of the local amenity mix: its density, multifunctionality, and the heterogeneity between amenity types. For this purpose, we propose a new measurement of multifunctionality, which calculates the entropy of the locally present amenity set incorporating the degree of similarity between amenity types. For causal inference, we use Difference-in-Difference Regression based on Propensity Score Matching and Entropy Balancing. Our findings show that in most cities, subway expansion had a significant positive impact on the local amenity density and multifunctionality and that especially the social amenities—Arts & Entertainment, Restaurants and Nightlife—responded strongly. Moreover, considerable agglomeration forces seem to prevail, causing existing subcenters to benefit most from new metro stations.

Migrants and non-migrants' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana: Multidimensional poverty index approach

PurposeThe study assessed welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana, using multidimensional poverty index (MPI) with four dimensions (education, health, dietary diversity, living standards) and 21 indicators. Specifically, we examined and compared non-monetary welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana by adopting MPI approach. Also, we explored the factors affecting labourers' welfare.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 400 labourers was used. Qualitative and quantitative data were used. Quantile regression was used to investigate factors affecting labourers' deprivation in the different domains of non-monetary welfare.FindingsLabourers on cocoa farms are generally deprived in all the welfare indicators. Apart from having low education, labourers were underfed and lived under poor conditions. Though both migrants and non-migrants were multidimensionally poor, welfare of the later was higher than the former. Welfare of migrants and non-migrants on cocoa farms are influenced by similar factors: secondary occupation, income, credit accessibility, nature of contract and distance to social amenities.Research limitations/implicationsFor migrants, permanent status improves welfare. To improve labourers' welfare for enhanced productivity, cocoa farmers should provide permanent/long-term contracts for labourers and government should provide social amenities in cocoa-producing communities.Originality/valueMost previous welfare studies focused on farmers, with little attention paid to welfare of labourers on cocoa farms. We examined and compared the factors that affect migrant and non-migrant labourers' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana. Moreover, we adopted the MPI (non-monetary) approach to assess labourers' welfare, instead of the expenditure and income approaches prevalent in literature.

Colonial Legacy

Based on interviews with thirty-eight French retirees living in the seaside city of Nha Trang, Vietnam, this article queries their reasons for migrating and investigates how they make sense of their life abroad. I consider Vietnam’s historical connection with the French empire as a possible component of lifestyle migration and meaning. This small-scale study indicates that colonial memories and historical ties between France and Vietnam do influence many interviewees’ choice of place of retirement. However, for most, the personal and social amenities afforded by a tropical life in the present tend to eventually displace such memories.

Building performance evaluation of public housing in Harare, Zimbabwe

This study sought to evaluate the performance of residential building spaces in public housing in Harare, Zimbabwe. It specifically measured building performance indicators determined by the building’s characteristics and the physical, locational and service attributes of buildings. A quantitative research design was adopted, in which questionnaires and observations were used in data collection. A two-stage sampling technique was used, because the population could be subdivided into clusters. From residents in three clusters, which include Highfield-Venice Flats, Avenues Flats and Mbare Flats, 263 respondents were conveniently chosen. Results from the independent t-test that was conducted showed that, at 95% confidence level, there exist significant differences in residential satisfaction among residents of Highfield-Venice Flats and those of Avenues Flats (t = 2.159, p-value= 0.035>0.05). Overall, residents are dissatisfied with the attributes of the buildings in which they live and the general residential situation. There is a general dissatisfaction with the buildings, suggesting that the building performance is not meeting their needs and expectations. Housing attribute preferences, privacy, dwelling proximity, and neighbourhood attachment showed a significant and positive impact on general residential satisfaction. Hence, there is a need to improve housing attribute preferences such as improving the quality of air and lighting as well as noise levels, since respondents expressed dissatisfaction with these attributes. Housing ceilings can be installed to reduce noise levels. More so, the quality of air and lighting can be improved by inserting more air ventilations and wider windowpanes. Privacy should be improved by ensuring that the residential structures have boundary walls that may be needed by the residents. More so, dwelling proximity ought to be improved. The Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities and other public housing institutions can consider developing structures such as shopping centres, public schools as well as roads and social amenities such as parks, pools and workout facilities before they build residential houses.

Demographic Dividend in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A Far-Fetched Dream?

This research was set out to assess whether ‘demographic dividend’ is a far-fetched dream for most countries in Sub Saharan Africa. To achieve this aim, the research draws from a wide range of secondary sources, including data from publications as well as past research and evidence gathered from this study shows that the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region is still at the early stage of demographic transition thereby lagging when compared to other regions. The research concluded by aligning with the position that achieving demographic dividend may be a far-fetch dream for most countries in the Sub Saharan African region. Some policy recommendations were made with key emphasis on education, dulling out of modern and safe contraception, bridging the gap of gender inequality and investing in social amenities.

Water as a Social Generator: Activating social and water security in residential Kilbirnie

<p>Residential streets make up a large proportion of accessible public space while failing to facilitate community activity. These streets carry a relatively low volume of traffic, yet are standard in form. This factor in conjunction with the self-contained nature of houses in residential areas results in a lack of social capital in areas with a large amount of social potential. The suburbs of Kilbirnie on the Rongotai isthmus in Wellington have been selected as the site due to the potential of the streets; in particular due to their width and mono-functionality. The five sites that have been selected have potential far beyond their current use and are going to be used as a design case study to explore pre-emptive disaster design in conjunction with providing social amenities. The streetscape within the identified site is excessively wide with a large amount of on-street parking. This thesis argues that this extra, underutilised space has the potential to be adapted into an aesthetically pleasing, functional community amenity. The designs will break up the monotonous nature of the residential streets and create a hub for surrounding residents through the exploration of programme and form. The introduction of water storage infrastructure as a programme will pre-emptively service the suburb in the event of a disaster. The likelihood of the potable water supply being severed to both the Wellington CBD and to the Rongotai Isthmus and Miramar Peninsula is high due to the location of the service pipes in relation to the dominant fault lines in the suburb. The study proposes exploring programmes which challenge people’s perception of ownership of public land and amenity. Re-allocating and prioritising parts of street space to provide amenity for surrounding residents has the potential to initiate a change from monotone, mundane functionality into a hub of social activity, community building and disaster resilience. The design methodology uses precedents which employ techniques that can be used to challenge the norm and provide a design outcome which creates engaging residential spaces.</p>

Water as a Social Generator: Activating social and water security in residential Kilbirnie

<p>Residential streets make up a large proportion of accessible public space while failing to facilitate community activity. These streets carry a relatively low volume of traffic, yet are standard in form. This factor in conjunction with the self-contained nature of houses in residential areas results in a lack of social capital in areas with a large amount of social potential. The suburbs of Kilbirnie on the Rongotai isthmus in Wellington have been selected as the site due to the potential of the streets; in particular due to their width and mono-functionality. The five sites that have been selected have potential far beyond their current use and are going to be used as a design case study to explore pre-emptive disaster design in conjunction with providing social amenities. The streetscape within the identified site is excessively wide with a large amount of on-street parking. This thesis argues that this extra, underutilised space has the potential to be adapted into an aesthetically pleasing, functional community amenity. The designs will break up the monotonous nature of the residential streets and create a hub for surrounding residents through the exploration of programme and form. The introduction of water storage infrastructure as a programme will pre-emptively service the suburb in the event of a disaster. The likelihood of the potable water supply being severed to both the Wellington CBD and to the Rongotai Isthmus and Miramar Peninsula is high due to the location of the service pipes in relation to the dominant fault lines in the suburb. The study proposes exploring programmes which challenge people’s perception of ownership of public land and amenity. Re-allocating and prioritising parts of street space to provide amenity for surrounding residents has the potential to initiate a change from monotone, mundane functionality into a hub of social activity, community building and disaster resilience. The design methodology uses precedents which employ techniques that can be used to challenge the norm and provide a design outcome which creates engaging residential spaces.</p>

Evaluation of Economic Linkage between Urban Built-Up Areas in a Mid-Sized City of Uyo (Nigeria)

Urban growth has transformed many mid-sized cities into metropolitan areas. One of the effects of this growth is a change in urban growth patterns, which are directly linked with household income. Hence, this paper aims to assess the effect of different economic variables that trigger urban built-up patterns, using economic indicators such as city administrative taxes, a socio-economic survey of living standards, household income and satellite data. The regression model was used and adapted, and a case study is presented for the mid-sized city of Uyo in southeastern Nigeria. The result shows sparse built-up growth patterns with numerous adverse effects. Although, there is awareness of the impact of unregulated sparse built-up growth patterns in the literature, little attention has been given to this growth pattern in Africa. The results also show that increases in federal allocation (27%), investment tax (22%), direct tax (52%) and indirect tax (26%) have led to urban expansion into vegetative land and have a causal correlation with different built-up areas. Hence, medium and high-income earners migrate to suburban areas for bigger living space and a lack of basic social amenities affects the land value in suburban areas. They also assist in the provision of social amenities in the neighborhood.

Assessment of User Satisfaction Following the Transformations Resulting From Encroachment on Social Amenities in Buruburu Estate, Nairobi CityCounty, Kenya

Transformations have led to questionable environmental qualities in housing neighbourhoods. Urban areas in Africa, and Kenya in particular are faced with an increased growth of planned settlements transforming into unplanned housing units. Most researches on housing transformations have concentrated on the dwelling units but little has been done on other aspects such as social amenities. The study therefore draws attention to this neglected aspect of transformation in housing and the reactions of dwellers towards the same. Buru Buru in Nairobi city formed the location of the empirical study. The study assessed user satisfaction following transformations of social amenities in Buruburu Estate, Nairobi City County. Data was collected using interview schedules from respondents drawn from residents and architects responsible for the transformation. Qualitative and quantitative data that used various techniques including structured interviews, digital photography and analyses of archival drawings and satellite maps were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The findings showed that the user were very unsatisfied with the different social amenities in the estate. The conclusion was that social amenities should be developed at the beginning of the scheme. The study recommends inclusion of a possible model and clarification on the roles that professionals, developers and authorities need to play in any housing development in order to mitigate the phenomenon.