UTA Department of Public Affairs and Planning’s Post

🏠 How will Scotland house its 2040 population? 🏚️      Our new data-rich report reveals where housing demand is highest, the types of homes needed, and the key opportunities for developers across every region in Scotland.    To build this fascinating picture of the future population, we worked with socio-economics experts at Marrons to analyse:    ✅More than 700 pieces of data    ✅Across 32 local authorities ✅In all 6 Scottish regions    Curious to see what the future holds for Scotland’s housing? Get your free copy 👉 https://lnkd.in/gzXS97wW #HousingNeed #Scotland #Housing2040 #SocioEconomics #HousingCrisis

🌇 Children and young people are not just the future inhabitants of cities but also the designers of tomorrow's urban environments. 🗣️It is paramount to ensure that young people’s voices are heard and their needs considered in government agendas for sustainable urban change. ♻️Geographers from the University of Birmingham investigated the diverse ways in which children participate in community building and the importance of this for cohesion, sustainability, and designing safer, better places for all. ✅The research shaped international policy by influencing the metadata used to monitor progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. National governments are now mandated to report on the ‘participation of women, young men and women, and/or other marginalised (i.e. young people) groups’ in urban planning and governance. Read more here 👉 https://ow.ly/CIp950RvzIM #UsingGeography

NEW | Harare: City report ACRC has published a new report exploring the political dimensions of urban development in Harare, Zimbabwe. Authored by Dr. George Masimba and Anna Walnycki, it synthesises key findings from studies undertaken by in-city researchers, analysing how Harare’s political settlement and city systems shape its urban development domains. Harare’s political terrain is highly complex, providing both challenges and opportunities for transformative urban progress in the city. Over the last two decades, the city's infrastructure has largely collapsed – connected to national-level macro-socioeconomic and political developments. The research findings show the contested and contingent nature of urban systems in Harare, with hyperinflation, exclusionary regulatory frameworks and a growing population only compounding these difficulties. Across the four urban development domains studied – informal settlements, land and connectivity, neighbourhood and district economic development, and structural transformation – informality was found to be a binding constraint, with recommendations highlighting the need for council-led integration, regulation and institutionalisation of informal practices. The research highlights that development processes in Harare are inseparable from politics, meaning that politically nuanced approaches and sustained commitment from elites are critical to confront urban challenges. With thanks to Kudzai Chatiza, McDonald Lewanika, Selina Pasirayi, Teurai Anna Nyamangara, Mfundo Mlilo, Evans Itayi Banana, Thomas Karakadzai, Shiela Muganyi, Thulani Mswelanto, Tariro Nyevera, Hazel Musvovi, Tatenda Chatiza and Artwell Nyirenda for their contributions.

If you are interested to learn more about #slums and #informality, then I do recommend the #PlanetofSlums #book by #MikeDavis The book is an eye-opening exploration into the expansion of slums, closely tied to the rapid urban growth that doesn't bring enough jobs for its inhabitants. Davis dives deep into the resilience of slum dwellers, who navigate a shadow economy to survive, due to the lack of formal employment opportunities, inadequate policies, economic disparities and post colonial residues. He critically examines how neoliberal #policies, which prioritize free-market principles, have deepened urban #poverty by reducing essential public services and access to affordable housing. Davis calls to rethink urban policy and development strategies, advocating for a more inclusive approach that leaves no one behind. #sustainableurbandevelopment #cities #SDG11

Is the rapid growth of African cities into surrounding rural communities perceived as a threat to regional cultural identities?   The peri-urban areas of many African cities are expanding into surrounding rural areas, often with customary land tenure arrangements and generally ethnically homogenous populations. As such, urbanization can be interpreted and conceived as an unwelcome change threatening traditional ways of life and personal and community cultural identity. Applying theories of place attachment, we examine residents' perceptions of various aspects of urban life, using Moshi, Tanzania, located in a region long identified with the Chagga people, as a case study. Based on a survey of approximately 700 respondents, stratified by location, we find that there was a significant decrease in levels of place attachment between rural, peri-urban, and urban locations. We also find that residents who associate the city with more negative characteristics report higher levels of place attachment. This suggests that urbanization is perceived as a threat to people's sense of place. Finally, we find that place attachment is positively associated with age, while being Chagga, owning land, and being native to the area are associated with greater levels of place attachment. https://lnkd.in/gkcbGGJX

The modern world is an urban one. Within a few years after the beginning of the twenty-first century, more than half the world's population will be living in cities. Because Europe was the first region where the transformation from a predominantly rural to an overwhelmingly urban society occurred, the modern European city since 1800 has a wider significance. Will massive urban growth in many developing countries, given conditions of poverty and political instability, recapitulate the worst in the European experience of urbanization? Historians are justly suspicious of models which blur the specificities of time and place. There is no simple model or series of stages of urban development which every society recapitulates. Progress is neither linear nor cumulative but is rather the result of economic circumstances, social values, and political choices which necessarily vary according to place and time. But an emphasis on the differences between countries and periods which emerges from the multiplication of local studies can also obscure some of the recurring patterns associated with urban development, patterns which give some policy relevance to a better understanding of urban history #snsinstitutions #snsdesignthinkers #snsdesignthinking #snsinstitution #snsct #sns

Ukazała się właśnie moja nowa recenzja książki Maloutas, T. and Karadimitriou, N. (eds.): Vertical Cities. Micro-segregation, Social Mix and Urban Housing Markets dostępna na stronie https://lnkd.in/dc2RMS6V Polecam zarówno książkę, jak i samą recenzję: "The book is intended to address the question about the form, size, history, and location of micro-segregation; the social actors engaged in the process; the policies regulating the micro-segregated housing stock; the relation between micro-segregation, neighbour segregation, and gentrification; and the im-pact of micro-segregation on socio-spatial inequalities".

In Urban Power, Benjamin H. Bradlow explores why some #cities are more effective than others at reducing inequalities in the built environment. For the first time in history, most people live in cities. One in seven are living in slums, the most excluded parts of cities, in which the basics of urban life—including adequate housing, accessible sanitation, and reliable transportation—are largely unavailable. Why are some cities more successful than others in reducing inequalities in the built environment? In Urban Power, Benjamin Bradlow explores this question, examining the effectiveness of urban governance in two “megacities” in young democracies: São Paulo, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Both cities came out of periods of authoritarian rule with similarly high inequalities and similar policy priorities to lower them. And yet São Paulo has been far more successful than Johannesburg in improving access to basic urban goods. Bradlow examines the relationships between local government bureaucracies and urban social movements that have shaped these outcomes. Drawing on sixteen months of fieldwork in both cities, including interviews with informants from government agencies, political leadership, social movements, private developers, bus companies, and water and sanitation companies, Bradlow details the political and professional conflicts between and within movements, governments, private corporations, and political parties. He proposes a bold theoretical approach for a new global urban sociology that focuses on variations in the coordination of local governing power, arguing that the concepts of “embeddedness” and “cohesion” explain processes of change that bridge external social mobilization and the internal coordinating capacity of local government to implement policy changes. Out now. Learn more about this insightful book: https://hubs.ly/Q02VcNx_0 #Sociology

My newest article was just published on The Friendly Urbanist page. Go have a look and share your thoughts!

Exploring the challenges of urban planning education in the Global South, this research provides insight into how institutions can foster urban equality. It emphasises the need for context-sensitive education and a collective approach towards transformation. The challenge isn't only educational, but also organizsational - we need to rethink institutional structures. To read the paper, visit: https://bit.ly/3QfWkKC Neha Sami, Geetika Anand, Ruchika Lall #IIHS #IIHS_Research #UrbanEquality #ResearchandInnnovation #KNOW