bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimal Cities
Authors: Ho Lok-Sang
Published: October 2006

Using a simple model, this paper demonstrates that efficient pricing of factors of production within the city may make a city efficient, yet this does not guarantee that the equilibrium city size will be optimal. Efficiency only means that whatever service level is produced is produced at minimum cost. The failure to take account of the size dimension not only means that a city may be too big or too small, but also means that the service level is non-optimal. The analysis suggests that rather than relying on property taxes to finance municipal expenditures, which tends to make production inefficient, an optimal city should impose a residence tax that equates the benefit of the last resident admitted to the marginal cost of servicing that resident. The central government should be responsible for income redistribution matters as well as revenue transfer between profitable and unprofitable cities.
The Role of the Metropolitan Milieu as an Incubation Centre for Technological Innovations: A Dutch Case Study
Authors: Davelaar Evert Jan , Nijkamp Peter
Published: October 2006

In this article the generation of product and process innovations in Dutch manufacturing firms will be analysed. In this context, the impact of both intra-firm and spatial variables are considered by using a multivariate logit analysis. From this analysis it appears that the generation of product and process innovations varies according to type of firm considered. As to the spatial dimension different types of municipalities are distinguished according to their degree of urbanisation. The empirical results suggest that firms located in the most urbanised municipalities perform relatively poorly regarding the generation of (high quality) process innovations, but not in terms of the generation of product innovations. These results also indicate that the importance of internal and external R & D efforts for the generation of product innovations varies - and in an opposite pattern - according to the degree of urbanisation. These results underscore the spatial dimension of innovative behaviour.
Capital and Labour Efficiencies: A Regional Analysis
Authors: Williams Martin , Moomaw Ronald L.
Published: October 2006

We use Sato's factor-augmenting technical progress approach to calculate rates of growth of capital efficiency, labour efficiency, and efficiency-based total factor productivity growth in manufacturing by state. Capital efficiency gains, but not labour efficiency gains, have accompanied the rapid output growth of southern and western states. Regression analysis indicates that variables measuring scale effects, education, urbanisation, capital intensity, and research and development activity are directly associated with productivity and/or input-efficiency growth and that variables measuring regulation, interest-group effects, and unionisation effects are inversely associated.
Jobs in Space: Some Evidence on Spatial Uniformity in the Job Generation Process
Authors: Dobson S.M.
Published: October 2006

The paper presents evidence on and suggests an explanation for spatial uniformity in the job generation process. In other components of change studies plant location is an important determinant of variations in the processes underlying employment change. This study for the West Yorkshire subregion whilst confirming the importance of plant size raises questions as to the importance of plant location in this process. This is explained with regard to the changing nature of the demand and supply of labour and land and to structural changes in manufacturing. Both factors may be working to fundamentally change the relationship between centre and periphery in terms of the ability to generate new jobs.
New Jobs in the Inner City: The Employment Impacts of Projects Assisted Under the Urban Development Grant Programme
Authors: Martin Steve
Published: October 2006

A recent evaluation of a sample of projects which had received assistance under the Urban Development Grant (UDG) Programme demonstrates that the number of new jobs which were attributable to this assistance was far smaller than had been anticipated when funding was approved by the Department of the Environment. There is therefore a need for a more rigorous definition of 'new jobs' to be adopted, and for the procedures by which projects are appraised to be revised, in order that their potential impacts can be more accurately assessed in the future. However, it seems clear that whatever appraisal methods are adopted, programes such as the UDG and its recently announced successor, City Grant, are likely to lead to the creation of only modest numbers of new job opportunities in inner city areas, and must therefore be complemented by other, more substantial initiatives.
Income, Housing Wealth and Gender Inequality
Authors: Smith Susan J.
Published: October 2006

Gender inequalities in income are relatively widely documented, but their realisation in the housing system is less well understood. This paper examines the relationship between incomes, access to housing and housing costs among widowed, divorced, separated and never-married single people in Australia. While the relative financial advantages of single men are sustained throughout the housing system, there is some evidence that gender discrepancies in income are reduced once housing costs are taken into account. Lone mothers, however, fare least well, and face a disproportionate loss of disposable income through housing expenditures.
A Note on the Cost of Crime to Victims
Authors: Cohen Mark A.
Published: October 2006

Hedonic pricing models have been used to infer the cost of crime by estimating property value differences in high versus low crime areas. However, previous studies have been unable to disentangle the cost of individual crimes. This note reports on an attempt to estimate the cost of individual crimes by examining the pain, suffering and fear endured by crime victims. Actual victim injury rates are combined with jury awards in personal injury accident cases to estimate pain, suffering and fear. Crime-related death rates are combined with estimates of the value of life to arrive at monetary values for the risk of death. Not only does this approach yield crime-specific cost estimates, but these estimates are quite consistent with the property value methods of valuing aggregate crime.
Targeting Jobs to Local People: the British Urban Policy Experience
Authors: Haughton Graham
Published: October 2006

The paper compares the effectiveness of a number of employment-generating schemes in terms of the proportion of jobs created going to locally resident unemployed workers. Whilst the paper establishes that considerable leakages do occur, a wide range of experience is identified which may in part be due to the differing methodologies used by the policy analysts concerned. This is due to the often inadequate attention paid to the study of local labour market institutions and dynamics. Some categories of workers continue to be systematically discriminated against, and policies which are currently being developed may help some of these workers overcome obstacles but without identifying and dismantling labour market barriers.
Rent Control and Housing Maintenance
Authors: Albon Robert P. , Stafford David C.
Published: October 2006

Controls on the conditions of renting housing can take many different forms, with different consequences for the market. This paper contains analyses of the effects of different regulatory forms on, in particular, the maintenance decision. We review and extend previous approaches and find that not all of the familiar predictions of the basic neoclassical model can be generated by a more sophisticated model. Others have extended the basic model, focusing on the maintenance aspect, but we cannot agree entirely with their conclusions. A careful specification of the relationship between costs and quality is necessary to derive useful predictions about the effects of rent and eviction controls.
The Demand for Housing, and Permanent Income, in Indonesia
Authors: Shefer Daniel
Published: October 2006

This study reports the results and conclusions derived from a data analysis of urban household expenditure on housing in Indonesia. The urban households were stratified by income group, urban size and urban location; in these respects, this study is unique. Household expenditures on housing were computed for each income group and subgroup (by urban size and location). Expenditure on housing is increasing at a faster rate than income (except in the very low income groups). The proportion of income allocated by the average household to housing ranges from less than 15 per cent to close to 25 per cent (the latter being found in the upper income group). Similarly, significant variations in household expenditures on housing are observed for urban size and location. In Jakarta, for example, the average household expenditure on housing is almost twice as much as in the small urban localities (fewer than 20000 inhabitants). This observation, however, must be mitigated by income distribution: average household income in Jakarta is almost twice that of urban households elsewhere in Indonesia. Estimates of marginal propensities to consume (MPC) housing, and of income elasticities of demand for housing, reveal that the MPC varies between 0.15 and 0.40, depending upon urban size and location. Similarly, the income elasticities vary from 0.80 to 1.20, depending upon urban size and location (in Jakarta, for example, the estimated income elasticity was found to be 1.24).
The Japanese-Australian Multifunction Polis: Context and Issues
Authors: Winchester Hilary P. M. , Chalkley Brian S.
Published: October 2006

The Multifunction Polis (MFP) is jargon for a proposed Japanese-Australian new city, which is currently the subject of a major feasibility study. The joint project is expected to result in a new city in Australia of 50 000-100 000 population, but its location and viability have yet to be determined. The MFP is viewed by both governments as highly significant for future industrial, urban and international development in the Pacific region. This article examines the background to the MFP concept, the issues being considered by the feasibility study, and the motives and perceived benefits for both partners. Some of the possible problems are also outlined, particularly those of social polarisation.
Explaining the Recent Performance of the European Community's Major Urban Regions
Authors: Cheshire Paul
Published: October 2006

An earlier paper set out and applied a methodology for measuring the comparative incidence of urban problems in the European Community (EC). An 'output'-rather than 'input'-based measure was generated, using weights which were derived using discriminant analysis. In the present paper these results are updated to 1988. This allows an estimate to be made of the changing incidence of urban problems in the EC for the whole period 1971-88. It is argued that urban problems are best viewed as the symptoms of adjustment to changes in the functions and supply side conditions of particular cities, interacting with the adaptive capacity of their local economy and their social structure. Statistical measures of the characteristics of each city, reflecting these factors, are suggested and then used as independent variables to explain the measured change in the incidence of urban problems in each city. Equations are presented which account for up to 80 per cent of the observed variance in the change in urban problems. It is argued that not only does this throw light on the causal factors in urban problems, which include the influence of European integration, and on the nature of those problems, but that it also provides support for the methodology used to measure their incidence. The residuals from these equations, however, reflect the influence of unmeasured variables and represent a form of purely local 'performance factor'. There is then an analysis of the pattern of these residuals, using qualitative data for individual cities. Since urban policy is not included as an independent variable, this approach provides some quantitative measure of its influence in generating urban revival. A further finding is that there has been a growing polarisation between 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' cities.
Choice of Residential Environment in the Randstad
Authors: Deurloo M.C. , Clark W.A.V. , Dieleman F.M.
Published: October 2006

This contribution adds to our earlier work on the residential choices of households who move, by studying the role of the residential environment in the relocation process. This is done by analysing individual household flows within and between residential environments. When residential environment is introduced, it aids the understanding of choices of tenure and type of dwelling. When residential environment is added as a characteristic of the choice set, we are able to show the way in which environment acts as a context for households' choices. Households choose almost uniformly to relocate within residential environments that are the same as those in which they originate, but the transitions between dwelling types (owning, single-family renting and multi-family renting) are most revealing of the relative roles of context (environment) and household composition. In particular, as in other Western countries, there is a sustained transfer to suburban environments, but mostly for family households.
Poverty as a Constraint to Citizen Participation in Urban Redevelopment in Developing Countries: a Case Study
Authors: Onibokun Adepoju G.
Published: October 2006

Urban redevelopment and infrastructural rehabilitation have been suggested as the solutions to the rapidly declining urban centres in developing countries. In order to qualify for external loans and aid for such redevelopment efforts and to ensure the replicability of such projects, the principles of cost-recovery and cost effectiveness have been advocated. Many World Bank assissted urban development projects have been implemented, based on these principles. Unfortunately, these principles have become difficult or perhaps impossible to achieve in most of the past urban development ventures. Our hypothesis is that the abject poverty of the people and a wrong assessment of what the beneficiaries can afford may be the most important factors which make the principles unrealisable. The case study from Ibadan, Nigeria, reported in this article, confirms this hypothesis. The paper explores the capacity and the willingness of people to pay for urban improvement programmes. The study reveals that poverty is a major constraint to urban redevelopment in Nigeria. The people are found to be willing and able to contribute more in kind than in cash to urban redevelopment efforts. The paper identifies and discusses the implications of the findings for urban redevelopment in developing countries.
White Flight from Racially Integrated Neighbourhoods in the 1970s: the Cleveland Experience
Authors: Galster George C.
Published: October 2006

An econometric model of 1970-80 residential turnover rates for white households is estimated for census tracts in Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, Ohio. Results indicate that 1970 tract percentage black, coupled with its interaction with estimated segregationist sentiment for white residents, was the dominant explanatory variable, although the relationship was highly non-linear. Ceteris paribus, the maximum rate of racially motivated turnover by whites occurred in tracts that were at least 55 per cent black in 1970, regardless of whites' segregationist sentiments. However, tracts had negligible amounts of such turnover if they had below-average levels of segregationist sentiment and blacks did not represent a majority in the tract. Application of the results to the Schelling model indicated that white neighbourhood 'tipping-out' points varied from 98 per cent to 53 per cent white, within 1 standard deviation of the mean level of segregationist sentiment. Integration management policies conducted by the suburban Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights jurisdictions during the period did not succeed in dampening this pattern of white flight. On the contrary, ceteris paribus, Heights tracts had white turnover rates 16.6 percentage points greater.
Planning for the Information City: the Challenge and Response
Authors: Hepworth Mark E.
Published: October 2006

The emergence of the information city based upon new technologies such as converging computer and telecommunications innovations may signify the onset of a new historical era, comparable with the social transformation wrought by the industrial revolution. New types of urban economy are being built around these new technologies and their applications. The paper describes the broad economic and technical aspects of the information city, goes on to consider the economic and social issues raised and evaluates some of the main policy alternatives currently being pursued by local authorities in different countries.
Spatial Stratification in Sapporo, Japan, 1975
Authors: Uyeki Eugene S.
Published: October 2006

Urbanisation and industrialisation took place in Japan later than in the USA from a different historical and cultural background. Japanese society is more homogeneous and exhibits lesser extremes of socio-economic differences than does society in the USA. Land costs in Sapporo, a city in Hokkaido prefecture, Japan, are distributed regularly from the centre of the city, which provides a basis for ordering population activities, including residences. Dissimilarity indexes computed for 371 'meshes'-each 1 km square—show residential segregation by occupation, marital status and type of housing to be similar in pattern and range to that in the USA.
The Declining Guestworker Population in West German Cities: the Case of Nuremberg
Authors: Jones Philip N.
Published: October 2006

The foreign guestworker population of West Germany has declined considerably since 1981, as a result of economic recession and government-induced pressures. The paper assesses the significance of these national economic and demographic trends in a major city, Nuremberg. An analysis of the spatial outcomes of the main processes involved in population contraction suggests that, within the inner city in particular, these are far from simple. Moreover, the increasing numbers of ethnic German refugees from Eastern Europe in recent years, together with considerable numbers of Third World refugees, have created additional complications in the urban scene.
Metropolitan Spatial Structure and its Determinants: A Case-study of Tokyo
Authors: Zheng Xiao-Ping
Published: October 2006

In this paper, to describe accurately the spatial structure of the Tokyo metropolitan area, the cubic-spline density function approach is applied and modified. It is shown that, during the 1975-85 decade, there was a substantial suburbanisation in the whole study area, while its three directional regions displayed three different spatial patterns. In identifying the determinants of the spatial dynamics, a varying-parameter model is proposed to confirm that increasing income and decreasing transportation cost would cause suburbanisation. The spatial differences in the directional region are also related to their different values of income and transportation cost.
The Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis: What Has the Evidence Shown?
Authors: Holzer Harry J.
Published: October 2006

This paper reviews 20 years' worth of empirical evidence on the 'spatial mismatch' hypothesis. After briefly surveying the relevant models from urban and labour economics and recent trends in employment and population suburbanisation, the empirical evidence on spatial effects is examined. This literature includes evidence on the effects of residential segregation, residential suburbanisation and employment suburbanisation, and direct measures of 'access' (such as travel times). The most recent evidence suggests that spatial mismatch is relevant for explaining black/white employment differences, though the magnitudes of these effects remain unclear.
Patterns of Economic Restructuring in Industrial-based Metropolitan Areas
Authors: Goe W. Richard , Shanahan James L.
Published: October 2006

The restructuring of the US economy has involved the divergence of employment growth in the manufacturing sector from that in the aggregate economy. It is hypothesised that the negative consequences of restructuring in the manufacturing sector have been concentrated disproportionately in the metropolitan economies of the Midwest (East North Central) region of the US. It is also hypothesised that industrial-based metropolitan economies with higher levels of manufacturing employment have a strong potential for industrial decline, regardless of regional location. This paper develops an analytical framework for examining patterns of economic restructuring across metropolitan areas. Through this framework, evidence of deindustrialisation and other economic restructuring outcomes can be inferred on the basis of aggregate measures of employment change. The framework is employed to test these hypotheses empirically by delimiting patterns of economic restructuring across industrial-based metropolitan areas of the US during the 1970-85 period and examining the distribution of these patterns across US regions.
Urban Policy and Retailing Trends in Singapore
Authors: Ooi G.L.
Published: October 2006

Urban planning policy has contributed significantly to retailing trends in the city-state and newly industrialising economy of Singapore. The major retailing trends have been the spatial distribution of retailing activities originally concentrated in the Central Area and the development of planned shopping centres. Such retail developments have simultaneously averted decline in the Central Area and promoted the growth of suburban retail centres.
Gibrat's Law and the Growth of Canadian Cities
Authors: Clark J. Stephen , Stabler Jack C.
Published: October 2006

This paper tests for the existence of diseconomies of size for Canadian cities using Gibrat's Law. If diseconomies of size are not present, then the growth rate of cities is shown to contain a unit root. Therefore, testing for Gibrat's Law is equivalent to testing for unit roots commonly found in the time series literature. Our tests indicate that Gibrat's Law cannot be rejected for the seven largest Canadian cities.
The Effect of the Social Welfare System on Metropolitan Migration in the US, by Income Group, Gender and Family Structure
Authors: Cushing Brian J.
Published: October 2006

This research paper addresses some important issues regarding out-migration from and in-migration to metropolitan areas in the US, particularly the effect of the social welfare system on migration decisions. The primary focus is on migration by income group (poor versus non-poor), with a secondary focus on how gender and family status relate to migration. The results provide only very weak support for the hypothesis that social welfare benefits influence out-migration decisions (only of non-poor female-headed households), but moderate support for the effect of such benefits on in-migration decisions, especially of low-income and female-headed households.
Highway Investment and Regional Economic Development: Decision Methods and Empirical Foundations
Authors: Rephann Terance J.
Published: October 2006

Federal and state highway programmes have been established to stimulate economic development in lagging US regions. In many instances, highway route location was influenced by regional development theory. Regional development theory argues that regional policy effectiveness depends upon the existence of certain socio-economic, spatial, resource and institutional 'triggering forces'. This paper reviews criteria used in US development highway corridor selection and variables identified by various regional development theories. A synthesis of highway empirical research suggests that geographical region, urbanisation, development and public infrastructure may be important 'triggering forces' in the US. However, further rigorous empirical research is needed in order to assess the various regional development theories and highway planning practice.
Housing Prices and Geographical Scale: Australian Cities in the 1980s
Authors: Maher Chris
Published: October 2006

This paper examines the distribution of, and changes in, house prices in Australian cities during the 1980s, a period of considerable change in asset prices in general. The analysis is concerned to document the marked spatial variability of price movements and to relate these to processes of urban restructuring. Spatial variability is apparent at two scales: at the inter-metropolitan level as evidenced in trends across the major capital cities; and at the intra-metropolitan scale where differences between localities within one city, Melbourne, are identifiable. Substantial spatial differentials in both the level and in the rate of change over time of housing prices, have both efficiency and equity implications. Large regional price variations inhibit mobility and labour market adjustments; variations in the rate of increase both redistribute income and wealth in the form of capital gains, and differentially affect affordability levels. Analysis of different scales of price movement highlight the fact that some causal factors are common to all scales and some are scale dependent. At both scales, the most substantial rises and subsequent falls have been experienced in areas which have undergone of spatial restructuring consequent on a concentration of the effects of social and economic transformations. Changes in demand through long-term economic and social restructuring, however, were overwhelmed in the late 1980s by the deregulation of the financial system, which resulted in a greatly increased flow of finance into the housing sector. Despite high interest rates, a widespread belief that continued inflation would both raise the price of the commodity and reduce the real costs of borrowing, prompted a sharp but locationally specific rate of housing price increase followed by a slump in prices where the rises had been most extreme. The recession has increasingly affected all levels of the market and investment in housing generally is now being viewed much more cautiously.
The Location of High-technology Manufacturing in Great Britain: Changes in the Late 1980s
Authors: Fingleton Bernard
Published: October 2006

Positive feedback processes, set in the context of all-industry location factors, provide the theoretical background to the statistical analysis of the shift-share residual component which is used to identify the localisation and delocalisation by county of high-technology manufacturing in Great Britain. Delocalisation from London appears to be well established, but apart from the Welsh countries, where the stimulus seems to be largely policy effects, none of the other shift-share residuals are significant enough to be distinguishable from random variation. However, this is after the elimination of an 'aerospace effect' which significantly disturbs the otherwise random spatial variation. The techniques used in the paper separate signal from noise in the residual component of the shift-share method, which by itself offers no 'explanation' of the residual.
Political Parties and District Council Economic Policies, 1978-90
Authors: Hoggart Keith
Published: October 2006

Strong political party effects have previously been found in local government economic policies in London. This paper assesses whether the same holds true for the 333 non-metropolitan district councils in England and Wales, as well as assessing whether the 1980s brought significant changes to linkages between socio-economic conditions and policy variation. Political party effects are found to be weak and, while the 1980s did see significant transformations in expenditure patterns, these were not translated into distinctive trends in policy co-variation. Among the few relationships of note, a clear urban centrality effect was recorded for spending on environmental enhancement and, for the same policy, Labour councils had distinctive expenditure patterns. The absence of consistent relationships is suggested to be a product of increasingly heterogeneous styles of policy enactment and the more homogeneous socio-economic compositions of district councils which encourage locally-grounded policy solutions.
Concentration of Trade and its Urban Impact under Capitalism and Socialism: Former West Germany (Hassfurt) and East Germany (Hildburghausen) Compared
Authors: Dannhaeuser Norbert
Published: October 2006

One challenge faced by town centres is retail trade concentration in which market channels become vertically integrated and increasingly large retail facilities spread, often locating away from town centres. This paper examines the degree to which this has happened under both market and socialistic conditions. It reviews the recent history of retail developments in the former West and East Germanies and how these played themselves out in two towns near the former border. In both Germanies, trade concentration has taken place and in both it has undermined the viability of the town centres. It did so respectively through excessive innovation and extreme stagnation. The shared goal of economic growth led to convergent conditions in spite of contrasting socio-economic arrangements. After unification, the eastern town is experiencing market-driven developments in a compressed time-frame for which the fledgling retail community in the centre is ill prepared.
Estimating Potential Capital Losses from Large Earthquakes
Authors: Nemetz Peter N. , Dushnisky Kelvin
Published: October 2006

Total capital losses were estimated for two earthquake scenarios in a major urban centre in the Cascadia subduction zone in the Pacific Northwest of North America. The first scenario, involving a 'design' earthquake with Richter magnitude 6.5, yields estimated total losses of $13-26bn; the second, a megathrust earthquake of magnitude 8.2-9.3 yields losses of $51-97bn. Destruction from a hypothetical subduction earthquake could represent from 28 to 93 per cent of total urban capital stock, representing a potentially serious drain on the financial reserves of the insurance industry. A principal finding of this research is that aggregate loss estimates for capital stock are sufficiently robust to reduce or eliminate the necessity of exhaustive inventorying of all urban structures, thereby permitting the relatively rapid generation of order-of-magnitude estimates of potential losses in order to facilitate the process of policy and planning for prevention and mitigation of damages.
Tenure Changes in the Context of Micro-level Family and Macro-level Economic Shifts
Authors: Clark W.A.V. , Deurloo M.C. , Dieleman F.M.
Published: October 2006

Almost all the work to date on tenure changes, specifically the move from rent to own, has been derived from cross-sectional analysis of this important housing market decision. Economists have emphasised the investment nature of the housing consumption decision, while demographers and geographers have investigated tenure change in relationship to the demographic characteristics of the household. Now, the developing notions of life-course analysis and the availability of longer panel series enable us to investigate not just the demographic relatives of tenure change, but the critical aspects of timing as well. Specifically, many couples choose to buy and make the transition to a family within 2-3 years. We show also that tenure change is influenced by both spatial and temporal economic contexts.
The Desegregation of Hillbrow, Johannesburg, 1978-82
Authors: Morris Alan
Published: October 2006

A cornerstone of apartheid was the enforcement of urban residential segregation. From the mid 1970s, however, the racial composition of the Johannesburg inner city, historically a white group area, altered dramatically. The paper illustrates that the national context in the 1970s made it increasingly difficult for the state to carry out its urban apartheid policy. The economic crisis increased the state housing shortage in the respective black group areas, thereby forcing people to migrate into the Johannesburg inner city where there was an abundance of accommodation. The political crisis and changing class composition of Afrikaners brought about hesitancy and division within the National Party as the more pragmatic verligtes battled against the conservative, verkrampte wing. This facilitated the movement of 'non-white' families into the Johannesburg inner city.
Entanglement of Interests and Motives: Assumptions behind the NIMBY-theory on Facility Siting
Authors: Wolsink Maarten
Published: October 2006

In Dutch policy documents resistance to planned trajectories and sites for facilities is accounted for in terms of the NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) attitudes held by local residents. Therefore, as a desperate effort to crush the opposition against some major projects, new physical planning legislation is proposed. A new instrument is introduced for the central authorities which drastically limits the influence of the local authorities and the public on the siting process. Since the basic idea behind it is the 'theory' of people defending their own backyard without recognising the needs of society as a whole, it is called the NIMBY instrument. If certain conditions concerning the nature of attitudes held by local residents are fulfilled, siting decisions can be theoretically described and classified as social dilemmas. Six implicit assumptions which can be distinguished in the backyard theory are examined, leading to the conclusion that the theory does not hold for most people. Interests of local residents are entangled with their behavioural motives. The new Dutch NIMBY policy will change priorities and power structures in the process of facility siting. Probably the new policy will prove to be counterproductive. The public are offended when they are treated as selfish and irrational and opposition will probably be stimulated by the use of the NIMBY instrument.
Large High-technology Firms and the Spatial Extension of Metropolitan Labour Markets: Some Evidence from Israel
Authors: Felsenstein Daniel
Published: October 2006

The role of large high-technology firms in fashioning the spatial extent of the labour markets that serve them, is examined in this paper. It is argued that the demand for highly skilled labour in these firms results in their active role in labour market extension through a strategy of employee transport. This makes for employment mobility without a commensurate impact on residential mobility. It can also result in the 'inclusion' or 'exclusion' of certain types of labour. In this context, the 'free-rider' phenomenon associated with worker transport is identified and described. On the basis of an empirical study of some of the largest high-technology firms in metropolitan areas in Israel, these processes are illustrated. The labour markets serving these firms are delimited and characterised for employees of different skill levels. In addition, the determinants of the probability of the firm utilising spatially extensive labour markets is examined. The role of firm size in explaining this behaviour is stressed.
Migration, Benefit Spillovers and State Support of Higher Education
Authors: Strathman James G.
Published: October 2006

This paper tests the hypothesis that benefit spillovers from public higher educationproxied by out-niigration-led to lower higher education appropriations by state legislatures. A model addressing legislative appropriations, tuition and out-migration activity is developed and estimated. The results support the benefit spillover hypothesis, indicating that for each percentage point increase in out-migration, appropriations per student decline by $100. The results also reveal a bi-directional relationship between tuition and state appropriations. This is in contrast with the view that tuition is a 'residual' source of revenue representing the difference between the institutional budgets endorsed by educational policy-makers and the level of state appropriations.
Lifestyles and Locational Choices—Trade-offs and Compromises: A Case-study of Middle-class Couples Living in the Ile-de-France Region
Authors: Brun Jacques , Fagnani Jeanne
Published: October 2006

We explore certain aspects of the 'gentrification' process in the city of Paris and try to explain the growing fashion among upper-middle-class families for the centre of the capital. Based upon data from a survey and in-depth interviews of couples who had recently moved, we focus on their trade-offs and compromises and identify their residential choices, by comparing various aspects of the lifestyle of those who live in a Paris neighbourhood with the lifestyle of those who live in the near and the more distant suburbs. Living in the centre often means the subordination of housing to the choice of a location which expresses a strong attachment to urban values. Commuting time is also a determinant factor in the choice of housing location.
Crisis, Chaos, Crunch? Planning for Urban Growth in the Developing World
Authors: Choguill C.L.
Published: October 2006

Urban development within the developing world was, until just over a decade ago, seen primarily as the responsibility of government. A shift has taken place from the traditional approach of centralised, top-down decision-making to one in which government's role involves the creation of an environment which enables urban residents to solve many of their own problems. This shift not only involves new responsibilities for urban residents, but for government, particularly local authorities, as well. Four problems are singled out for detailed consideration. The first of these is shelter. Although it is increasingly recognised that governments should not be in the business of providing houses for people, misdirected policies of imposing unaffordable standards and inappropriate approaches have the effect of preventing the urban poor in developing nations from solving their own problem. A consideration of urban service provision in such cities underlines the need to involve the community itself in the planning and supply of such services. A crucial constraint on meeting the financial demands for the provision of shelter and services is found in the official discouragement that is frequently directed toward informal-sector employment which comprises a significant proportion of all employment opportunity. Tolerance of this sector is a prerequisite for sustainability. Finally, the case is made for deriving local solutions to local urban problems within both the areas of urban physical planning and urban development projects. The paper concludes that appropriate policies must be adopted by governments which involve local communities in the planning process. As each sector interacts with others, comprehensiveness is required for any feasible and sustainable solution.
The Dual City and the Poor: Social Polarisation, Social Segregation and Life Chances
Authors: van Kempen Eva T.
Published: October 2006

Despite its appeal and apparent clarity the dual city idea hides a rather vague and confused image of the post-industrial city and its socio-spatial patterning. This paper focuses on the meaning of the dual city as a spatial model and its relation to the modern poverty idea. First, the presuppositions of the dual city concept are discussed, underlining the ambiguous relations between the concepts of economic restructuring, social polarisation and social stratification and the socio-spatial divide the dual city suggests. Evidence from the Netherlands is used to sustain the argument. Secondly, the concept of life chances is introduced to clarify the role of the spatial concentration of poverty in shaping the urban poverty problem. Following the discerned three dimensions of the life chances concept as a lead, it is argued that the spatial concentration of poverty is both an outcome and a part of the restricted life chances of the urban poor.
Gentrification and the Urban Poor: Urban Restructuring and Housing Policy in Utrecht
Authors: Van Kempen Ronald , Van Weesep Jan
Published: October 2006

A major housing policy shift is occurring in the Netherlands in the early 1990s. Its main thrust is the decentralisation of control from the national to the regional level. The trend toward deregulation and budget cuts will give market principles more leeway in housing. This paper traces the impact of these policies on the housing situations of low-income groups. Some of the anticipated effects are illustrated in a case-study of housing and neighbourhood change in the Utrecht metropolitan region. The paper starts with a sketch of the shifting housing market positions of various residents against the backdrop of social trends. This state of flux is related to current economic restructuring and to the new housing policies. Competition between population groups is highlighted in the case-study of Utrecht where gentrification and the regional cooperation of housing authorities are changing the rules of the game. At present, displacement is the lesser evil, compared to the debilitating effects of renewed suburbanisation. But in the future, the effects of gentrification will depend on the regional redistribution of socio-economic groups. It may create serious problems if the low-income population is not offered housing opportunities in the suburbs.
Housing Neighbourhoods and Urban Regeneration
Authors: Cameron Stuart , Doling John
Published: October 2006

It is widely suggested that recent policies for physically and economically restructuring the cores of cities have often not brought benefits to the residents of low-income urban neighbourhoods. This issue is examined using two case-studies—the cities of Birmingham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is argued that, because of housing market segmentation and the dominance of social renting in deprived neighbourhoods around the urban core, regeneration policies in the UK do not generally have a negative effect on these neighbourhoods through gentrification and displacement. On the other hand, because of labour market segmentation, they do not have a positive influence because economic opportunities are not shared by disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The paper goes on to examine City Challenge, a regeneration initiative in England which generally focuses more directly on deprived urban residential neighbourhoods than did the property-led commercial regeneration of the 1980s. The paper discusses what kinds of policies might improve the access of residents of deprived areas to economic opportunities, and how these relate to housing policies.
Middle-income Housing Programmes in American Cities
Authors: Varady David P.
Published: October 2006

There is increasing consensus among policy-makers and scholars that in order to ensure the social, economic and political viability of American central cities it will be necessary to address middle-income as well as low-income housing needs. The popularity of equity planning—with its focus on the most needy-implies, however, that these programmes would be so controversial that politicians would be reluctant to implement them. Case-studies of seven North American cities (Baltimore, Cleveland, Montreal, New York, St Louis, St Paul and Wilmington) failed to support this hypothesis. Middle-income housing programmes have developed a strong constituency among community leaders and minority politicians who see these programmes playing an important role in neighbourhood revitalisation efforts. Although tax abatements and below market-rate mortgages are not reversing patterns of central-city decline, they are achieving more modest objectives such as encouraging banks to provide more loans in inner-city areas. The future expansion of these programmes will be dependent on changes at the federal level. At present, federal housing regulations and taxation policies hurt these efforts. For academics to play a more significant role in the development of these programmes, they will need to go beyond equity planning and recognise the need for a more comprehensive regeneration strategy including the maintenance of a solid middle-income population base.
Income Multiples and Mortgage Potential
Authors: McLaverty Peter , Ming Yip Ngai
Published: October 2006

In this paper we examine the potential of council tenants and private-sector renters in England to become owner-occupiers, using data from the 1988 General Household Survey (GHS). Methods pioneered by Littlewood in her analysis of data from the 1978 GHS are applied in this paper. A sensitivity analysis is also presented which shows the impact of different loan to income ratios on the ability of council and private-sector tenants to buy a dwelling. Finally, we consider the impact of the right to buy discounts on the ability of council tenants to buy their homes.
Regional Labour Market Influences on Managerial Remuneration in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in England: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Storey David J. , Watson Robert , Wynarczyk Pooran
Published: October 2006

This paper empirically examines the factors that determine managers' remuneration in a sample of 97 UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The sample was partitioned into two groups, one comprising of 69 managers working for firms located in the South East (SE) economic planning region and the other comprising 28 managers working for firms located in 'other English regions' (OR). The average remuneration of managers located in the SE in the latter half of 1988 was £30 000 whilst for those located in the OR their remuneration was significantly less and averaged only £17 500 for the same period. Several wage equations were then estimated to determine if this difference in remuneration was due primarily to differences in the managers' human capital and/or employing-firm characteristics or whether, after con trolling for these factors, it was possible to detect a significant independent locational influence. The results indicate that both human capital (primarily the managers' age and qualifications) and firm/job-specific factors (their relative workloads, the size and growth of the firm in terms of assets) and the location of their employing firms were able to explain a large proportion of the variance in remuneration. Though the locational effect was statistically significant, after controlling for differences in human capital and job/firm-specific factors, the remuneration of the SE managers was estimated to be only some £3000 higher than that of managers located elsewhere in England.
Urban Residential Redevelopment in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Dowall David E.
Published: October 2006

This paper reports on an evaluation of urban redevelopment policies and practices in the People's Republic of China. In most Chinese cities, redevelopment regulations require the on-site replacement of demolished housing, the provision of additional community facilities, and the payment of numerous fees, taxes and charges. These regulations greatly impair the feasibility of most urban redevelopment projects, and result in a very low level of redevelopment activity across urban China. To spur much-needed urban redevelopment, Chinese cities should consider following the example of Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore and allow real estate development companies to pay cash compensation for buildings and land given up for redevelopment. Such an approach would enhance the financial feasibility and transparency of redevelopment projects.