UNESCO, Idanha-a-Nova, and the UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The chapter's main objective is to study the city's rising role as a driver for implementing the 2030 SDGs and UNESCO Creative Cities Network's part as UNESCO's mechanism to support cities in the effort. The results show that there is a changing nature of authority in the policy cycle on a more holistic level, where alongside the nation-state, international organizations and cities play a vital role in the problem definition, decision-making, agenda-setting, transfer, and implementation of policies. The increasing importance of cities internationally stretches the municipal policy cycle from the local to regional, national, and international levels. Orchestration complemented with an inter-organizational relations framework is used to study the case of Idanha-a-Nova UNESCO Creative City of Music. The case study shows that Idanha-a-Nova drove the implementation of the SDGs locally with the Portuguese state's support. However, because it lacked expertise and mechanisms of implementing the goals, it reached out to private consultancy and individual experts.

Scenario-Based Comprehensive Assessment for Community Resilience Adapted to Fire following an Earthquake, Implementing the Analytic Network Process and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enriched Evaluation II Techniques

Natural hazards bring significant influences on and socioeconomic loss to cities and communities. Historic events show that fire following earthquake (FFE) is the most influential uncertain disturbance on the urban infrastructure system. Under the FFE scenario, the concept of resilience is widely implemented to make up the shortcomings derived from the traditional disaster management methodology. Resilient cities and communities are required to improve the systemic performance in responding to the FFE. To fulfill these goals, measuring community resilience is an essential work for municipal policy makers. Therefore, this study conducted a comprehensive assessment on community resilience adapted to the FFE scenario. The systematic literature review (SLR) was employed to identify the indicators, and the analytic network process (ANP) technique was implemented to determine their weights. 20 indicators were extracted, and 4 communities that encountered FFE in China were selected for the empirical analysis. Thereafter, the preference ranking organization method for enriched evaluation (PROMETHEE) II technique was selected through using the multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods selection framework to fulfill the comprehensive assessment. The results were discussed and demonstrated with graphical analysis for interactive aid (GAIA) technique. The findings revealed that the G Community won the highest score and had the strongest performance. However, H Community had the lowest score and the weakest performance. The proposed comprehensive methods could benefit the decision-makers and the policy executors achieving the community resilience adapted to the FFE scenario by improving the effective indicators.

A Questionnaire Survey on Contaminated Site Regulators’ View of Implementing Green and Sustainable Remediation in China

Government contaminated site regulators, as policy executors and makers, have a profound impact on the development of green and sustainable remediation (GSR), but their cognitive level of GSR has not been well-studied. China has some experience in the management of contaminated sites and has the foundation to promote GSR. This study was conducted in the form of a questionnaire to investigate the understanding of GSR among Chinese site regulators at different levels. The study found that there was still a lot of resistance to promoting GSR in China. Firstly, even though the regulators thought GSR was necessary in China, most of them did not know GSR very well or lacked practical experience. Secondly, existing national and provincial policy standards did not have a good balance between the environmental, social and economic aspects, but gave priority to the environmental factors. Thirdly, the lack of standard and regulatory requirements was the most significant barrier to the implementation of GSR. The results of the survey can provide a reference for China or other developing countries to implement GSR. Practitioners should provide more knowledge and cases for regulators, supplement national policies or improve the provincial and municipal policy system.

More “Europe” in Municipal Policy Structures? Anchoring European Youth Policy at the Municipal Level in Germany

Against the background of the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy (2010–2018) in Germany, the article explores the question of how European youth policy can be anchored at the municipal level. The article discusses (1) federal and regional efforts to incorporate the municipal level in implementing European youth policy, (2) arising challenges and (3) the significance of European policy for national, regional and municipal youth policy. Results suggest that although the involved actors stipulate the importance of municipal level involvement in designing the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy in Germany, the Strategy is actually implemented as a top-down strategy in which the municipal level receives impulses from other levels, rather than being incorporated in policy development. The article concludes that, in order to successfully strengthening European impulses in sub-national youth welfare discourses, mutual understanding and dialogue between levels is just as necessary as a content-related rather than process-related discussion.

Municipal policy as a priority area of legal policy in the context of reforming the territorial organisation of power and European integration of Ukraine

The present study investigates the problems of development and implementation of municipal policy in Ukraine. It was found that the essence of municipal policy of Ukraine, given the ongoing decentralisation reform, is that it is a relatively stable, organised, purposeful activity of public authorities and local governments, which aims to build a capable local government, adequate to the needs and interests of territorial communities. The study describes the elemental composition of municipal policy. The authors of this study established that its elemental composition includes: the concept of system-structural and organisational-functional organisation and activities of local authorities at different levels of administrative-territorial organisation; a coordinated system of regulations that govern the organisation and activity of local bodies of state executive power and local self-government, establish the scope and limits of their competence, determine the features of interaction and the procedure for resolving disputes between them; regulatory basis of resource provision of local self-government; legislative definition of a body or official in the structure of state executive bodies, which represents the interests of the state in the corresponding territory, has the right to exercise control powers, and constitutes a link between the territorial community, local governments and the system of state executive bodies; formally defined decision-making algorithm on issues relating to local self-government; system of monitoring the national municipal policy. The authors also identified the main blocks of issues under study, which require further use of a comprehensive scientific approach to their legislative solution

The Role of Demographic Data Bias in the Under-Provision of Retail: A Quasi-Experimental Case Study of Low Food Access Neighborhoods in Twenty-Five Southern Metros

Municipal policy attempting to remediate low food access neighborhoods tends to focus on improving demand conditions in these neighborhoods. We investigate the role of two fundamental measures of food demand (population and income) and the biases inherent in these data in creating low food access neighborhoods. Population and income data were collected for a 1-mile radius surrounding seventy-one grocery desert sites in Southern U.S. metro areas, those results were compared to thirty-eight low-income, non-desert sites in the same metros. No significant difference between the demand characteristics of desert and non-desert sites was found in our sample—suggesting that policy may need to be refocused on issues other than demand metrics. In addition, we detected significant demand underestimation bias from one source commonly used by grocery stores. Given these findings we believe that parcel level characteristics such as visibility, accessibility, and buildability may play a larger role in remediating low food access than addressing demand conditions.

Working in Rexdale: creating a long-term vision for the Rexdale employment area

While the City of Toronto recognizes the importance of retaining employment lands, it is becoming evident that long-term visions are needed to fully conceptualize the possibilities and realities of these aging, eclectic manufacturing hubs found in the inner suburbs. The purpose of this research is to identify the conditions, constraints and opportunities of the Rexdale Employment Area and develop the groundwork for a Secondary Plan. The first phase of this research project involves conducting a literature review of suburban industry and collecting historical information on Rexdale's employment lands. This is followed by a provincial and municipal policy review for employment lands and how these impact the longevity of the Rexdale Employment Area. A case study analysis of industrial districts in Chicago and Vancouver helps identify possible best practices to implement in Rexdale. Finally, interviews with planners, local employees, industrial associations and com munity organizations were used to provide perspectives absent from existing literature. A site study of the vacant land at 555 Rexdale Boulevard is used as a way to conceptualize the conditions and opportunities of the Rexdale Employment Area.

Working in Rexdale: creating a long-term vision for the Rexdale employment area

While the City of Toronto recognizes the importance of retaining employment lands, it is becoming evident that long-term visions are needed to fully conceptualize the possibilities and realities of these aging, eclectic manufacturing hubs found in the inner suburbs. The purpose of this research is to identify the conditions, constraints and opportunities of the Rexdale Employment Area and develop the groundwork for a Secondary Plan. The first phase of this research project involves conducting a literature review of suburban industry and collecting historical information on Rexdale's employment lands. This is followed by a provincial and municipal policy review for employment lands and how these impact the longevity of the Rexdale Employment Area. A case study analysis of industrial districts in Chicago and Vancouver helps identify possible best practices to implement in Rexdale. Finally, interviews with planners, local employees, industrial associations and com munity organizations were used to provide perspectives absent from existing literature. A site study of the vacant land at 555 Rexdale Boulevard is used as a way to conceptualize the conditions and opportunities of the Rexdale Employment Area.

Development Of A Template To Benchmark Municipal Climate Change Action

The goal of this thesis is to produce a benchmarking template that can be applied by municipalities across Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. This template will provide a common set of indicators for benchmarking municipal emissions. It will attempt to link the academic literature to existing conditions and practices within municipalities. It also provides original insight through interviews with municipal officials and municipal policy experts. Research has shown that municipalities can mitigate climate change. Municipalities have authority to enact policies which reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While many municipalities have taken action, benchmarking initiatives still do not exist to allow for direct comparison of municipalities. Following a review of academic literature interviews were held with a panel of nine municipal policy experts to assess existing programs and a proposed benchmarking template. An indicator set with nine categories and 18 individual indicators measuring corporate and community GHG emissions was developed through consultations with the panel. A questionnaire was sent to 32 municipalities with a response rate of 25%. Based on the results participating municipalities were compared against one another to determine best practices and areas for improvement. Indicators for residential densities, municipal building heating, solid waste, and municipal buildings and operations had the highest tCO An examination of indicator set development, improved methods for modelling community emissions, assessment of the benefits of climate action and municipal networking for small municipalities would build upon this research.