Landlords,fear, and children's respiratory health: an untold story of environmental injustice in the central city

Recent research has explored the role of environmental inequalities in explaining health disparities, especially in urban environments. This paper investigates the role of the landlord in shaping indoor environmental injustices. Specifically, we rely on interview data from low-income parents in South Phoenix, AZ, with elementary-aged children with asthma. We found families living in poor quality rental housing that impacted children's breathing. Landlords were directly involved in keeping the homes in poor condition, even when asked by the tenant to fix the property, and immigrants were especially at risk. In general, relationships between landlords and tenants were unequal and coloured by the tenant's poverty and fears of eviction. Among the immigrant tenants, many had accompanying fears of authorities and deportation. The cycle of fear, poverty, and a lack of power compounded as tenants were hesitant to report problems, which reinforced the power of the landlord over the tenant and did nothing to improve living conditions. Recognising the role of landlords in creating substandard housing conditions is important as they represent a group that can be targeted for interventions.     

An integrated approach: managing resources for post-disaster reconstruction

A lack of resources for post-disaster housing reconstruction significantly limits the prospects for successful recovery. Following the earthquake in Wenchuan, China, in May 2008, housing reconstruction was not immune to resource shortages and price inflation. Difficulties in sourcing materials and labour considerably impeded recovery. This paper provides evidence of the resourcing bottlenecks inherent in the post-Wenchuan earthquake reconstruction process. Its aim is to present an integrated planning framework for managing resources for post-disaster housing rebuilding. The results are drawn from in-field surveys that highlight the areas where stakeholders need to concentrate effort, including revising legislation and policy, enhancing capacity for rebuilding in the construction industry, strengthening the transportation network, restructuring market mechanisms, and incorporating environmental considerations into overall planning. Although the case study presented here is country-specific, it is hoped that the findings provide a basis for future research to identify resourcing constraints and solutions in other disaster contexts.     

苏南地区农村宅基地转型研究：基于利用状态的视角

农村宅基地转型是土地利用转型研究的重要内容。目前学界关于宅基地转型的研究主要集中在规模结构等显性形态方面,对隐性转型的研究仍较欠缺。以乡村经济发达的苏南地区为例,通过对正常使用、空置、废弃等不同利用状态宅基地空间分异规律的刻画,探索其功能转型的一般规律,并进一步分析宅基地空置与废弃的影响因素。结果表明：在乡村振兴战略实施背景下,“房子不用来住”的问题在农村地区同样存在,而且在不同代际和空间区位上农村宅基地的利用状态有所差异。具体地,1980年以前的老宅基地从距离城镇较远和较近的“两端”开始,其空废比率向中间地带递减;随着市场化和城镇化水平提升,1980—2000年的中龄宅基地空废比率呈现由近郊向外递减的趋势,城镇化影响下的距离衰减规律明显。近年来,伴随农村宅基地财产/资产属性的逐步显现,农村宅基地的利用状态与空间区位之间的关联关系弱化。2010年以后新宅基地的空置率出现反弹,尤其靠近城镇的农村地区“囤地”现象严重,发端于城镇地区的“地产霸权”正在向乡村地区蔓延。     

INTEGRATING DEMOGRAPHIC AND LANDSAT (TM) DATA AT A WATERSHED SCALE1

ABSTRACT: Recurrent calls for integrated resource management urge that an understanding of human activities and populations be incorporated into natural resource research, management, and protection efforts. In this paper, we hypothesize that watersheds can be a valuable geography for organizing an inquiry into the relationship between humans and the environment, and we present a framework for conducting such efforts. The framework is grounded in the emerging field of landscape ecology and incorporates demographic theory and data. Demography has been advanced by technological capabilities associated with the 1990 Census. Employing Geographic Information System (GIS) tools, we couple Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) land cover data with census‐derived housing density data to demonstrate the operation of our framework and its utility for better understanding human‐landscape interactions. In our investigation of the Kickapoo Watershed and two sub‐ watersheds, located in southwestern Wisconsin, we identify relationships between landscape composition and the distribution and social structure of human populations. Our findings offer insight into the interplay between people and biophysical systems.     

Strategic planning for post-disaster temporary housing

Temporary housing programmes suffer from excessively high cost, late delivery, poor location, improper unit designs and other inherent issues. These issues can be attributed in part to a prevalence of ad hoc tactical planning, rather than pre-disaster strategic planning, for reconstruction undertaken by governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the chaotic post-disaster environment. An analysis of the process and outcomes from six case studies of temporary housing programmes after disasters in Turkey and Colombia in 1999, Japan in 1995, Greece in 1986, Mexico in 1985, and Italy in 1976 yields information about the extent to which strategic planning is employed in temporary housing programmes, as well as common issues in temporary housing. Based on an understanding of these common issues, this paper proposes a framework for strategic planning for temporary housing that identifies organisational designs and available resources for temporary housing before the disaster, but allows modifications to fit the specific post-disaster situation.     

中国资源型城市房价时空变化与影响因素分析

基于禧泰数据库的全国城市二手房价监测数据,利用描述统计和GIS空间分析方法详细分析了2011—2018年126个中国资源型城市房价时空变化特征,并采用空间杜宾模型进一步揭示了其影响因素。研究结果表明：（1）2011年和2018年中国资源型城市平均房价分别为4105元/m²和5675元/m²,再生型城市、成熟型城市、成长型城市和衰退型城市的平均房价依次递减;（2）2011—2018年中国资源型城市平均房价呈现出波动上升的态势,房价增长率为38.2%,远低于全国城市平均房价增长幅度55.3%,且不同类型资源型城市房价的增长幅度有所差异,以成熟型和再生型城市的房价增幅相对较大;（3）中国资源型城市房价和变化存在显著的空间集聚特征,房价热点区主要集中在东部地区和中部地区城市,房价冷点区主要以东北地区和西部地区城市为主;（4）空间杜宾模型显示,人均GDP、人均住房开发投资、多样化指数、专业化指数和工业废水排放强度是影响中国资源型城市房价空间差异的主要因素。     

Container vs. dacha: The psychological effects of temporary housing characteristics on earthquake survivors

This research investigated whether the psychological wellbeing of earthquake survivors two years after the traumatic event would vary as a function of type of temporary housing. A comparison of people assigned to containers, converted into mobile homes, vs. wooden dachas vs. a control group, that had not lost their homes in the earthquake, revealed reliable effects of housing type. Compared to those in containers, earthquake victims assigned to dachas were more satisfied with and more attached to their temporary homes and reported greater psychological wellbeing (fewer psychological stress symptoms, less discomfort and a lesser feeling of being dominated by the situation). Also, home attachment and satisfaction with one's home mediated the psychological wellbeing, suggesting that the attitudes towards different types of temporary housing play a causal role in post-traumatic stress reactions. Practical implications for emergency interventions following natural disasters are discussed.     

Can area managers connect policy and tenants? Implementation and diffusion of a new waste management system in Linköping,Sweden

Recycling and reducing household waste are political goals internationally, nationally and locally. In Sweden, households in apartment buildings seem to sort their waste to a lesser extent than households in single-family houses. This paper analyses the challenges of the diffusion of a new waste management system in apartment buildings, and focuses on a municipal housing company and the actions of its area managers. It is argued that area managers can be regarded as street-level bureaucrats who act as ‘collectors’ of tenants’ everyday practices in the studied implementation process. The study is based on interviews, document analysis and observations.     

Valuing the benefits of the urban forest: a spatial hedonic approach

This paper measures the benefits of the urban forest by examining its effect on housing prices. A Geographic Information System is used to develop a measure of the urban forest, the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, from satellite imagery and to construct other variables from a variety of sources. Spatial hedonic housing price models for the Indianapolis/Marion County area are estimated. The models indicate that greener vegetation around a property has a positive, significant effect on housing price, holding everything else constant. This effect is dominated by measures at the neighborhood level. These findings indicate that property owners value the urban forest, at least in part, by the premium they pay to live in neighborhoods with greener, denser vegetation. These findings also indicate that public action to maintain and enhance the urban forest may be warranted. Planners and urban foresters can use these findings to inform public and policy debates over urban forestry programs and proposals.     

人口收缩背景下资源型城市住宅价格的差异化响应及影响因素

以中国人口收缩现象突出的资源型城市为例,分析了2005年以来案例城市人口和住宅价格的时空演变特征,从住宅价格增幅和增速两个方面比较了人口收缩期内案例城市住宅价格的差异化响应特征,通过灰色关联模型分析了住宅价格差异化响应的影响因素。结果表明：（1）中国资源型城市人口收缩现象呈加剧态势,但人口收缩期内90%的资源型城市住宅价格呈上升态势,仅黑龙江东部、甘肃西北部、山西中部等少数资源型城市住宅价格小幅下降。（2）人口收缩背景下资源型城市住宅价格响应强度差异明显。相比之下,高强度响应等级以人口中期收缩的资源型城市、衰退型与成熟型煤炭资源城市、边境与省际边缘区资源型城市为主。（3）大部分资源型城市的人口收缩和住宅价格响应关联并不紧密,其他影响因素与住宅价格响应的关联相对更为紧密,并随着住宅价格响应强度的不同存在显著差异。