bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Use of Computing Techniques in the Design of Residential Buildings
Authors: Avdot'in L N
Published: October 2006

This section of the book The Application of Computer Techniques and Modelling in Architectural Design introduces the architecture student to uses of graph theory in modelling and manipulating the functional structures of dwelling plans. It demonstrates the use of mathematical and computing techniques for the following purposes: (a) to exhaustively generate permutations of plan elements; (b) to optimise the plan parameters of individual apartments, of standard clusters of the apartments, and of whole buildings and housing developments, in relation to different economic objectives or to the demographic mix required; and (c) to reconcile spatially ideal plans with the constraints of standard constructional systems or with the requirements of modular coordination. It discusses certain approaches to systematic site planning (including some Western examples), and problems of establishing optimal selections of external walling panels for particular housing schemes.

Extensive appendices to the book as a whole give the student an “introduction to the elements of modern applied mathematics and computer programming” that includes matrices and determinants; linear, nonlinear, discrete, whole-number, stochastic, and dynamic programming; elements of graph theory; basic concepts of probability theory and mathematical statistics; and basic principles of computer programming, including machine codes, machine-oriented languages, and problem-oriented languages, with considerable attention to the details of ALGOL, FORTRAN-4 and some of the principles of COBOL.
The Use of Semiotic Modelling Principles in Managing the Development of a City as a Large System
Authors: Egorov A I
Published: October 2006

This paper presents one variant upon the use of models in the processes of managing a city as a large system.

It outlines the advantages and the field of application of semiotic modelling, whose methodology makes it possible to build up semiotic (sign) models of the objects to be managed on the basis of textual materials expressed in natural language. Its advantages lie in the possibilities for a combination of ‘human’ management mechanisms with the particular abilities of the computer, on the one hand, for handling the vast masses of information that are being utilised, and on the other, for evaluating the multitude of permissible management variants.

The paper describes the basic categories of words and phrases which constitute the language for generating and using semiotic models in the computer memory. An iterative procedure has been devised for simulating the execution of development directives, and thereby reproducing the managed development of the city as a large system.

There is a description of the dialogue that takes place within the iterative procedure of simulating the development of a city when it is under management, a procedure which facilitates the preparation of recommendations and decisions. It is envisaged here that correctives will be introduced periodically into the management trajectory in response to the real functioning of the urban system. From the point of view of the executive organs of city administration, such correctives serve as the medium for refining and enhancing the balanced long-term development processes of the city.
A Systems Model of the City and Experiments in Using it for a Functional and Spatial Analysis of Moscow
Authors: Posokhin M V , Gutnov A E , Popkov Iu S , Shmul'ian B L
Published: October 2006

This paper examines general principles of the approach to mathematical modelling of the urban system adopted in the authors' work on Moscow. It describes the formal model that has been constructed of spatial interactions between the city's functional subsystems, and indicates the general structure of its data base. It introduces certain quantitative indices of the urban territory that have been formulated for use in solving various town planning problems and describes some of the useful general observations that have already emerged from their application to problems of Moscow and its immediate region.
A Note on the Description of Designs
Authors: Stiny G
Published: October 2006

Shape grammars elucidate the composition of designs and at the same time provide the basis for the description of these designs in other terms.
The Bungalows of Buffalo
Authors: Downing F , Flemming U
Published: October 2006

Measured drawings of seven bungalows that were built between 1914 and 1926 in Buffalo, New York, are presented. The paper concentrates on the conventions which govern the organization of spaces in these bungalows and establish linkages with other house types in the popular tradition. The conventions found are expressed through the schemata of a parametric shape grammar which allow differences between bungalows to be explained as different geometric realizations of a shared set of conventions.
The Language of the Prairie: Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Houses
Authors: Koning H , Eizenberg J
Published: October 2006

The following parametric shape grammar generates the compositional forms and specifies the function zones of Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie-style houses. The establishment of a fireplace is the key to the definition of the prairie-style house. Around this fireplace, functionally distinguished Froebelean-type blocks are recursively added and interpenetrated to form the basic compositions from which elaborated prairie-style houses are derived.

The grammar is based on a corpus of eleven houses from the Winslow house, the evolutionary precursor of the style, to the Robie house, considered by many as the culmination of the style.

Much has been written about prairie-style houses—their balance, their debt to Beaux Arts and Japanese design traditions, and their organic qualities. However, such descriptions do not explicitly inform us as to how prairie-style houses are constructed, and consequently provide little help in designing new members of this style. The power of a grammar, such as the one given here, is that it establishes a recursive structure from which new designs can be constructed. Three new prairie houses generated by the grammar as well as a step-by-step generation of one of these designs are shown.
Some Simplified Parameters to Assess the Energy Efficiency of Urban Settlement Configurations
Authors: Jack H E
Published: October 2006

As the United States moves toward a future with a very probable energy shortage, the urban settlement patterns must become far more energy efficient than they are at present. This will require new planning, zoning, taxing, and financing policies and practices. For such policies and practices to be successful, however, there must be methods for identifying and characterizing the energy needs of urban settlement configurations. This paper defines and develops some parameters which act as measures of the minimal energy consumption requirements of urban settlement configurations. The specific parameters are for the thermal quality of buildings resulting from their size and shape, for some residential land-use intensities, for service-center and access distances, and for public transportation viability as functions of dwelling-unit density. Values of these parameters are calculated for several settlement configurations, specifically for detached single-family units sited on [Formula: see text] acre lots, and for several multistory multifamily configurations. Of course, as expected, the patterns with a denser population lead to more energy efficiency, but the parameters measure the contribution of each element of the settlement configuration to the overall efficiency in terms of dwelling-unit density and living-area size.
Simplicial Complexes are Not Determined by Their Structure Vectors
Authors: Earl C F
Published: October 2006

Atkin's conjecture that a simplicial complex might be uniquely determined by its structured vectors is disproved by counterexample.
Some Interchange Algorithms for Median Location Problems
Authors: Whitaker R A
Published: October 2006

A number of interchange heuristics are described for solving p-median location problems. The robustness of these algorithms is extensively evaluated in terms of optimality and mean percentage errors. The best of the proposed heuristics generated optimal solutions to 307 of 319 median problems solved drawn from six data sets.
Optimal Location of Public Facilities: The Case of Median and Quartile Locations
Authors: Alperovich G , Weksler I
Published: October 2006

In several papers, median and quartile locations are found to be attractive locations for public facilities which seek the minimization of total delivery costs. This conclusion is based on a restrictive set of assumptions regarding delivery cost function and demand distribution. The present paper derives necessary and sufficient conditions for median and quartile locations which minimize total delivery costs under general conditions regarding the cost function and demand distribution.
Contingency Planning for Local Economic Development
Authors: Malizia E
Published: October 2006

Local economic development has become a central concern of public policymakers. Urban, rural, and regional planners will encounter new opportunities to establish or restructure economic development planning in the years ahead. Local planners require an approach to planning for economic development that responds to the growing pressures on planning to achieve tangible results and accounts for the formidable political and financial constraints on public planning. The proposed approach—contingency planning—is presented in this paper. In the first section, contingency planning is placed in a planning theory context. In the body of the paper, the approach is described and critically discussed in the context of local economic development. After the conclusions, the practice of contingency planning is reviewed in the appendix to the paper.
High-Level Nuclear Waste Management: Analysis of Options
Authors: Saaty T L , Gholamnezhad H
Published: October 2006

A new approach is introduced for evaluating strategies for the safe disposal of high-level nuclear waste. Five strategies are considered, and by means of the effective method of ‘analytic hierarchy process’ these strategies are prioritized with respect to a set of tangible and intangible criteria. The results are compared with criteria adopted by the United States Department of Energy. The approach demonstrates that, when good judgments are used, one can solve complex decision problems in a simple way and make a rational decision in a short time.
Optimizing Urban Futures
Authors: Sharpe R , Roy J R , Taylor M A P
Published: October 2006

Mental, descriptive, or mathematical modelling processes are often used to predict or prescribe the future. The certainty of such projections can be improved by careful selection of the modelling criteria. Information theory is used to develop models that maximize the use of available information, which may include observed data, system constraints, and community objectives.

The use of game and information theory is explored via a combined land-use and transportation planning model to project the development of an urban system from the viewpoints of different groups and the decisions they control. This model can optimize future urban form by means of a weighted set of planning and behavioural goals. Variables include new activity, demolitions of existing activity, transport flows, and energy consumption.

Solutions are generated by optimizing the model under cooperative and noncooperative gaming conditions. The use of subsidies and surcharges to manipulate solutions towards a compromise or equilibrium is discussed.
Multicriteria Evaluation with Mixed Qualitative and Quantitative Data
Authors: Voogd H
Published: October 2006

In this paper attention will be focussed on the development of a new multicriteria evaluation approach for mixed ‘quantitative-qualitative’ data. First a brief overview is given of the ‘state of the art’ of multicriteria evaluation in urban and regional planning. In addition, a mixed data evaluation approach will be discussed, which includes three techniques which are all based on different interpretations of basic assumptions. Next it will be shown that there are some practical ways to deal with the weighting problem in evaluation. Finally, an illustration of the mixed data approach is provided by means of an empirical application to a housing allocation problem.
Emerging Directions for Research on Local Land-Use Planning
Authors: Healey P
Published: October 2006

This paper is an exploration of the way the new political economy approaches in the social sciences can be developed to provide a more robust knowledge-base for local land-use planning. Consideration is given to present deficiencies in our understanding and their consequences. There then follows a review of recent developments within political economy and their significance for understanding land-use policy programmes and outcomes. The potential of the approach for addressing methodological issues in the field is then examined, with a particular focus on the importance of a process emphasis, on identifying choices within structural limitations, and on evaluating outcomes.
Formal Representations: A Foundation for Computer-Aided Architectural Design
Authors: Mitchell W J
Published: October 2006

It is argued here that we must establish a demonstrably sound, comprehensive, rigorously formalized theoretical foundation upon which to base practical computer-aided architectural design software-development efforts, and a general approach to this task is suggested.

First, the basic types of primitives, structures, and operations that we might employ are considered. Next, the concept of a formal architectural language is developed. Finally, design synthesis is viewed as a process of searching within such a language to find a particular design which, under specified algorithms that establish the semantics of the language, has acceptable interpretations.

The implications of a program of formalization of architectural knowledge along these lines for research, development, teaching, and design practice are discussed.
Creating Design Worlds
Authors: Earl C F
Published: October 2006

A design world describes knowledge about possible designs. The characteristics of design worlds in engineering and architecture are compared. An implementation of three-dimensional shape grammars is outlined and the description of composite spatial relations which arise in generated shapes is considered.
On the Representation and Generation of Loosely Packed Arrangements of Rectangles
Authors: Flemming U
Published: October 2006

Several computer programs that enumerate rectangular dissections as solutions to certain layout problems have established a distinct paradigm for dealing with the crucial theoretical issues involved. In the present paper an extension of the paradigm is suggested, to include ‘loosely packed arrangements of rectangles’, which are of wider applicability in an architectural context. Orthogonal structures are introduced to represent these arrangements and the conditions of well-formedness for these structures are established. A grammar to enumerate orthogonal structures is presented and it is suggested that best use is made of the grammar if it is incorporated into a generative expert system, able to serve as a vehicle to discover, encode, and utilize a broad range of constraints and criteria in the generation of layout alternatives.
Spatial and Nonspatial Consistency in Design Systems
Authors: Borkin H
Published: October 2006

This paper is concerned with problems that arise from attempts to integrate the components of a building model in a database that reflects the current status of a design. It is based on work that began in 1976 at the Architectural Research Laboratory of the University of Michigan. This effort, which was the work of many individuals, had as its goal the construction of an integrated computer-aided building design system. Many of these ideas have been implemented in a working experimental modeling system, ARCH:MODEL. From a series of both practical and theoretical experiences using and building this system several difficult questions have come up that need research attention. Among these are: how can a design database be made consistent and how can consistency, both spatial and nonspatial, be maintained as the design develops? These questions are related to the general problem of what is the relationship between the design process and the designed object. It is not the intent of this paper to provide answers to these problems but to argue for their importance and to provide some direction for research.
Logic Modelling in Computer-Aided Design
Authors: Bijl A
Published: October 2006

Research into a generalized logic modelling system linked to machine interpretation of drawings and text is described. This work is related to a view of design and builds on experience of working integrated design systems. Questions are posed for future computer-aided design systems.
Design Theory versus Architectural Design
Authors: Spillers W R
Published: October 2006

This paper is an attempt to track the path of architectural design both on design-theoretical and on practical (computer-aided design) planes. It begins with the practical problems of design which can be couched in terms of mathematical programming problems. The potential for applications of artificial intelligence and knowledge-based systems in architectural design is then considered. Last the place of architectural design within design theory is discussed.
“Let's Build in Lines” Revisited
Authors: Echenique M H
Published: October 2006

In this paper the ideas put forward in 1967 by Lionel March are reconsidered. He argued for the development of linear cities as opposed to the traditional compact form of nuclear development, based on their superior efficiency in transport and service provision. The idea of linear development is applied to an infrastructure plan for the Central Region of Chile around Santiago. Linear development is seen as a natural extension of the traditional form rather than its opposite. Existing cities are expanded through the use of integrated corridors within which urban land use follows transport provision. The plan is seen as a rationalisation of the use of infrastructure and is implemented through an efficient system of investment, pricing, and regulation. The plan was formulated and evaluated through the use of MEPLAN land-use and transport interaction model.
Experiential and Formal Models of Geographic Space
Authors: Mark D M , Frank A U
Published: October 2006

In this paper human experience and perception of phenomena and relations in space are studied. This focus is in contrast to previous work where space and spatial relations were examined as objective phenomena of the world. This study leads in turn to a goal: to identify models of space that can be used both in cognitive science and in the design and implementation of geographic information systems (GISs). Experiential models of the world are based on sensorimotor and visual experiences with environments, and form in individual minds, as the associated bodies and senses experience their worlds. Formal models consist of axioms expressed in a formal language, together with mathematical rules to infer conclusions from these axioms. In this paper we will review both types of models, considering each to be an abstraction of the same ‘real world’. The review of experiential models is based primarily on recent developments in cognitive science, expounded by Rosch, Johnson, Talmy, and especially Lakoff. In these models it is suggested that perception and cognition are driven by image-schemata and other mental models, often language-based. Cross-cultural variations are admitted and even emphasized. The ways in which people interact with small-scale (‘tabletop’) spaces filled with everyday objects are in sharp contrast to the ways in which they experience geographic (large-scale) spaces during wayfinding and other spatial activities. We then address the issue of the ‘objective’ geometry of geographic space. If objectivity is defined by measurement, this leads to a surveyor's view and a near-Euclidean geometry. These models are then related to issues in the design of GISs. To be implemented on digital computers, geometric concepts and models must be formalized. The idea of a formal geometry of natural language is discussed and some aspects of it are presented. Formalizing the links between cognitive categories and models on the one hand and between geometry and computer representations on the other are key elements in the research agenda.
Spatial Impacts of Locally Enacted Growth Controls: The San Francisco Bay Region in the 1980s
Authors: Shen Q
Published: October 2006

In this paper the regionwide, spatial consequences of locally enacted growth controls are examined on the basis of a case study of the San Francisco Bay Region. A quasi-experimental methodology is employed. An ex post projection of population distribution among the region's cities in 1990 is generated by means of a model that represents the before growth control urban structure. A comparison is then made between the projected distribution and the actual distribution depicted by the 1990 census data. The differences, indexed as percentage projection errors, provide an empirical basis for assessing the impacts of local growth-control policies. Statistical analyses of the projection errors indicate that the local policies have caused a major redistribution of population growth from growth-controlled cities to the rest of the region. Geographic information systems-based spatial analyses of the projection errors suggest that the spatial process of growth control is driven primarily by NIMBYism. The main conclusions are that: (1) the existing decentralized system of growth management has created a spatial pattern of urban development that has undesirable economic and distributional effects; and (2) a carefully developed coordinated regional system of growth management is preferable because many critical growth problems can be addressed appropriately only at the regional or metropolitan level.
Analyzing Growth-Management Policies with Geographical Information Systems
Authors: Lee J , Tian L , Erickson L J , Kulikowski T D
Published: October 2006

It has been argued that urban sprawl leads to inefficient land-use patterns with leapfrogging and low-density development in the urban fringe. Communities can implement a number of growth-management programs to encourage more efficient and environmentally sound development patterns. However, a long time period is needed to monitor the progress of growth-management techniques and to determine if they have achieved the intended effects. Unfortunately, urban development is mostly an irreversible process that leaves no room for experiment. As a result, we use GIS to simulate the impact of various growth-management policies on future land-development patterns in Portage County, Ohio. A comprehensive database and population growth forecasts are compiled to support the GIS analyses that generate a set of alternative residential growth scenarios. As a spatial decision support system, the GIS is found to be an efficient tool to simulate the form and process of development for detailed assessment and planning. As an educational tool, development simulation with GIS allows the generation of alternative scenarios to help citizens and local officials make sound planning decisions today, define future policies, and plan for new growth.
Comparing the Complexity of Wayfinding Tasks in Built Environments
Authors: Raubal M , Egenhofer M J
Published: October 2006

Wayfinding is a basic activity that people do throughout their lives as they navigate from one place to another. Many theories of spatial cognition have been developed to account for this behavior. However, most of the computational models focus on knowledge representation (for example, cognitive maps) and do not consider the process of how people structure wayfinding tasks and space. In this paper we present a computational method to compare the complexity of wayfinding tasks in built environments. As a measure for such complexity, we use a simple wayfinding model that consists of two critical elements: choices and clues. We show that elements of people's perception and cognition can be used to determine the elements of the wayfinding model and, therefore, to compare the complexity of wayfinding tasks in built environments. A case study of wayfinding in airports demonstrates the applicability of the method. The integration of this method into the computational design process of built environments will help to identify architectural problems with regard to wayfinding prior to construction.
How to Make Housing Sustainable? The Dutch Experience
Authors: Priemus Hugo
Published: October 2006

Sustainable housing has been a major topic of national policy in the Netherlands for fifteen years. The author argues that sustainable housing is a badly defined concept, both in scientific literature and in policy documents. The Dutch government has never indicated how the sustainability of housing could be measured, or realized a zero measurement, which would enable researchers to evaluate environmental policies to promote sustainable housing properly. A narrow definition of sustainability is adopted, whereby the author concentrates on the ecological dimensions of the concept of ‘sustainability’: the environmental impact on the greenhouse effect; the quality of air, water, and soil; noise nuisance; stench; the stock of nonrenewable materials; and biodiversity. An overview of ways in which the sustainability of housing can be measured is given and the use of a multivariate yardstick advocated. A set of recommendations is presented for politicians and public officials about the way in which sustainable housing can be promoted, and a research agenda on sustainability in housing presented. The author concludes by pointing out the analogy between the Dutch government's policy to promote sustainable housing and the story of the emperor's new clothes. The moral is that it is better to acknowledge that we do not know essential things about sustainable housing than simply to ‘believe’ in it.
The Contribution of the EC Energy Certificate in Improving Sustainability of the Housing Stock
Authors: Beerepoot Milou , Sunikka Minna
Published: October 2006

In 2003 the European Commission introduced the EC Directive on the energy performance of buildings in recognition of the importance of energy savings in the urban housing stock. The Directive gives the member states freedom to design the different elements in practice. The energy certificate for existing buildings demanded by the EC Directive can be used as a communicative instrument, or combined with economic or regulatory principles. The authors discuss the anticipated efficiency and effectiveness of different policy approaches in the application of the EC energy certificate for the urban housing stock. They argue that, although energy certificates as a communication instrument for household appliances have appeared to be relatively successful, the different nature of the building sector may mean that their effectiveness here will be rather limited. The combination of energy certificates with tax schemes seems promising, but will have to be coupled with general income taxes or in housing-related taxes in order to prevent regressive social effects. Combination of the energy certificate with subsidies should be limited, because of the ‘free-rider effect’, and subsidies should only cover innovative products at the beginning of their ‘learning curve’. Effective results can probably be expected from the introduction of regulations combined with energy-certificate standards, but this requires a rather drastic approach and needs time to receive sufficient commitment, as has been the case for new buildings where there has been a gradual development of energy regulations over the last thirty years. However, an introduction of energy standards for the existing urban housing stock through the EC energy certificate offers great potential in the realisation of CO2 reductions. The introduction of an energy standard, by means of the energy certificate in combination with progressive taxes or other economic measures to reward better and punish worse energy-performance levels, seems an interesting approach that needs further research.
GIS for Understanding Physical and Social Change in Urban Settings: A Case from Amman, Jordan
Authors: Abu-Dayyeh Nabil , Ziadat Firas
Published: October 2006

Data-poor environments, or where data are not routinely collected and/or poorly archived, or where public records are not easily accessible understandably create a major obstacle to research and the reaping of the benefits of research for urban policy and urban management. However, in such rather unwelcoming research environments GIS seems to provide enhanced opportunities for maximizing the benefits of whatever data are available, as scarce as they may be. This research condition may not be unique to the case study presented here but presumably may apply to most countries in the developing world. The authors' use of GIS for the analysis of the case of an old neighborhood of Amman outlines a procedure for zooming in on areas of construction activity and understanding the relation between physical and social change, social change being here represented by change in landownership.
Modeling the Dynamics of the Hong Kong Office Market under Economic Structural Change
Authors: Ho Winky K O
Published: October 2006

The author adopts reduced-form equilibrium models to investigate the relations among vacancy, employment, space consumption, and rent in the Hong Kong office market under economic structural change. The models are estimated with the aid of data from Hong Kong during the period 1980–2002—a total of twenty-three yearly observations. It is hoped that empirical results will shed light on the adjustment mechanism of the local office market. In line with the existing literature, the author shows that, on the one hand, office rent is positively related to office employment, but inversely related to office stock. On the other hand, the demand for office space is inversely related to rent, but positively related to office employment. Moreover, the elasticity of space consumption with respect to rent is estimated to be inelastic. Historical simulations of the model are performed, and it is suggested that the equations simulate reasonably well as indicated by Theil's inequality.
Decentralisation in Britain: A Critique of the Case in the Light of West German Experience
Authors: Johnson N
Published: October 2006

The regional decentralisation of government has been persistently advocated in Britain, but none of the attempts to move in this direction has had any success. The comprehensive proposals published on behalf of the Social Democratic Party in July 1982 are taken as a basis for examining why this reform theme nevertheless persists. The assumptions underlying the call for regional government in Britain are set out and then examined in the context of West German federalism. It is argued that the main assumptions in the British case for regional decentralisation were of relatively little importance in the reshaping of a federal system in West Germany, nor have they had much influence on the subsequent consolidation of such a system. Further light is thrown on the obstacles to decentralisation in Britain by considering some of the centralising tendencies which have actually been reinforced after the structural reform of local government. The conclusion is that proposals for extensive regional decentralisation in Britain fail because they work against the grain of British experience in the structuring of government.
The Socialist Reorganization of French Local Government—Another Jacobin Reform?
Authors: Ashford D E
Published: October 2006

The problem addressed is whether or not the Socialist reorganization under President Mitterrand of French local government constituted a Jacobin reform. The passage of the loi Defferre (the law on the rights and liberties of the communes, departments, and regions) through the National Assembly and the Senate is discussed. This law outlines the legal foundations of the new local political structure in France. It impinges on three major policy problems that involve local government, but which also have direct consequences for competitive national policies, namely, fiscal and tax policy, public investment policy, and planning. It is shown that what have often been interpreted as Jacobin tendencies in French government may be no different than the concentration of policy power in many areas of policymaking in all modern welfare states. The difference in France is that local government has such an influential role in many key economic activities of the State.
A Model of the Change, Attributable to Government Health Insurance Plans, in Location Patterns of Physicians—With Supporting Evidence from Ontario, Canada
Authors: Thrall G I , Tsitanidis J G
Published: October 2006

The introduction of government health insurance programs may induce physicians to change location trends that prevailed under previous market conditions. The subsequent change in geographic accessibility of people to medical services may be measured by the change in the stock of physicians per capita across space. An example of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan suggests that following its introduction, the change in the stock of physicians per capita is most sensitive to the initial stock of physicians and whether the physician is a specialist or not.
The Effects of Rating Reform in Britain: A Case Study of Derby
Authors: Wyatt C M
Published: October 2006

The likely effects of a proposed reform to the British domestic rating system are examined. Data for Derby suggest that using capital values to determine rates would correct the anomalies in rateable values which at present exist between individual properties in different areas of a town. It would also result in rate burdens shifting from newer to older, from smaller to larger, and from cheaper to more expensive properties. In addition, burdens would shift away from less desirable districts of a town. That capital values are so influenced by such speculative social factors poses problems in changing to a capital basis for evaluating rates.
Intraurban Spatial Variations in Local Government Service Provision: 1. Methodology
Authors: Whitehead P
Published: October 2006

A methodology is developed which enables intraurban spatial variations in local government service provision to be measured. The methodology is sufficiently general to be applied to any service delivered by British local government. The allocation of expenditure to different geographical areas of the authority and contributions in the form of taxation from these zones are each identified in order to estimate net fiscal incidence. A brief review of existing studies is presented, which shows that although increasing attention has been given to the geographical distribution of local government spending, there have been few systematic studies examining expenditure and revenue flows. The problems associated with measuring expenditure incidence are discussed and reviewed. It is suggested that ‘participation’ forms a basis for estimating expenditure distribution to the household sector. Revenue is contributed by households in various roles. Here, contributions through income are used as a surrogate. Household incomes can in turn be estimated by category analysis techniques. In addition, contributions through the rating system are assessed. Finally, a systematic statement of the methodology is outlined and its possible contribution to important policy areas suggested.
The British Ministry of Transport's Study of the Portbury Dock Proposal, 1966: A Reappraisal of the Spatial Analysis
Authors: Senior M L
Published: October 2006

This paper provides a critical appraisal of the use by the British Ministry of Transport of a spatial interaction model to assess the viability of the first proposal by the Port of Bristol Authority for the development of a new dock at Portbury. It is argued that the Ministry's use of the model was simplistic, and it is shown that, had more intelligent and imaginative use of the model been made, the model forecasts would have suggested that Portbury was a marginally viable, rather than a hopelessly nonviable, project. Notwithstanding this finding, arguments are produced to suggest that the government decision to reject Portbury in 1966 was sensible, even though it was based on a partially flawed analysis.
On Cost-Benefit Rules in an Economy with Natural Resources
Authors: Johansson P-O
Published: October 2006

Traditionally the rules to be used when evaluating the efficiency gains from (public sector) projects are derived from models in which there are no natural resources. If the use of a certain natural resource is discussed the implicit assumption seems to be that the traditional project evaluation rules are applicable. In this paper it is shown that the traditional cost-benefit rules are misleading if the economy is making use of exhaustible or renewable resources.
Campaign Spending and Voting in England: Analyses of the Efficacy of Political Advertising
Authors: Johnston R J
Published: October 2006

To form a government a political party must win an election. Work has suggested that to obtain votes parties (including those in government) direct some of their attention to constituencies which are most winnable. In the period prior to an election they advertise themselves to win votes. Analyses are unclear as to the efficacy of this advertising in the British context. The research reported here suggests strongly that such advertising has little impact, with implications for the general field of research linking electoral geography and the geography of public policy.
The Reconstruction of British Regional Policy: 1. The Crisis of Conventional Practice
Authors: Martin R L , Hodge J S C
Published: October 2006

In this first of two papers on rethinking British regional policy for the 1980s it is argued that British regional policy as conventionally practiced has now reached a state of crisis. Policies and programmes conceived and enacted under the circumstances of prior decades no longer match the special needs and problems created by changed conditions, and are wholly inadequate to deal with the difficulties currently facing the space economy and which seem likely to persist well into the present decade. A major recasting of regional policy is urgently required, together with a refocusing of policy priorities and objectives. The detailed discussion of specific policy options is the subject of a subsequent paper.
Area Development or Sectoral Conflict? An Example of the Discriminatory Effects of Regional Policy in Britain
Authors: Todd D
Published: October 2006

Although goal conflicts are often recognized when a particular regional-development instrument is compared to another or, indeed, when regional and national development objectives are priorized, the possibility of minority disaffection with regional instruments that are generally welcomed is only infrequently accounted for. This paper focuses on the reception by the shipbuilding sector of the regional employment-premium program of 1967–1977. It notes how a minority of firms in an industry can be disadvantaged because of their spatial exclusion from regional-policy benefits. The need to explicitly recognize the possibility of regional policy conflicting with sectoral harmony is an obvious lesson from experiences of this kind.
Regional Dimensions of Energy Scarcity
Authors: Nijkamp P
Published: October 2006

This paper contains a discussion of some issues concerning spatial aspects of energy problems. Attention is paid to regional impact analysis of energy developments. Also included is a discussion of conflict analysis in the area of energy policy, with a special view of multiobjective policy analysis. Finally, the relationships between energy consumption and transportation and between energy consumption and location patterns are described.
Public Safety Legislation and the Risk Compensation Hypothesis: The Example of Motorcycle Helmet Legislation
Authors: Adams J G U
Published: October 2006

The ‘experiment’ in the United States of America in which twenty-eight states in the latter half of the 1970s repealed their laws which made the wearing of motorcycle helmets compulsory is widely believed to have proved conclusively that helmet legislation is a highly effective public health measure. The principal statistical foundations of this belief are found in a report to Congress by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and in a study by Watson et al. These foundations are examined and found to be open to criticism.

The evidence surveyed here suggests that the effect, if any, of helmet legislation on motorcycling fatalities is perverse. The ‘risk compensation theory’ is proffered as a possible explanation of the available evidence.
Intraurban Spatial Variations in Local Government Service Provision: 2. Application and Results
Authors: Whitehead P
Published: October 2006

It is shown how the methodology used to estimate net fiscal incidence, presented in a previous paper, can be applied to British local government. The example chosen is Leeds, and four services—education, fire protection, library provision, and swimming pool provision—are studied. Estimates of net fiscal incidence are presented for the period 1966–1975. The choice of appropriate geographical areas within the city is discussed and analysis zones are defined on the basis of a principal components analysis of characteristics likely to give rise to significant variations in expenditure participation and revenue contribution. A brief outline of service delivery in Leeds is then presented. Net fiscal residuals are estimated separately for each service. Service expenditure allocation is estimated by spatial interaction techniques and it is shown that there are significant variations in the distributions. However, the spatial pattern of net fiscal imbalances in the City turn out to have some overall similarities. Because of local government reorganisation and other factors, it is not possible to directly compare changes over the study period. Nevertheless, the methods by which local authority finances are raised, movement of client groups, and changes in service delivery are all important mechanisms contributing to change. Further possible explanations are also briefly discussed.
Decentralization and Fiscal Disparities in the United States of America
Authors: Dommel P R
Published: October 2006

This paper examines the increasingly important role of the states in the US federal system and the implications of that growing role for the allocation of intergovernmental transfers. The author argues that as intergovernmental funds become more scarce, as is occurring in the USA, the distribution of these funds needs to take more account of the relative fiscal conditions of the states and to direct a larger share of funds to the fiscally weaker states. Various approaches to altering allocation systems are presented and a specific method for adjusting for fiscal disparities among the states is offered.
Intergovernmental ‘Deregulation’: Readings from the First Reagan Years
Authors: Lovell C H
Published: October 2006

Among the most important changes in federal domestic programs in the United States of America under the first two years of the Reagan Administration has been a reduction in federal regulation of state and local governments. Three strategies of deregulation have been utilized by the Administration: (1) removal of the federal government's possibilities for regulatory involvement by cutting social programs and by devolving program responsibilities to the states; (2) reduction of federal regulations under existing statutes; and (3) relaxation in the enforcement of existing regulations. The study illustrates the three deregulatory strategies by examining their application to the civil-rights and environmental policy arenas. The conclusion presented is that the strategies have so far been successful in reducing regulatory activity in the environmental and civil-rights arenas; however, environmental and civil-rights advocates are mounting a counterattack by turning to Congress and the courts to prevent devolution and other deregulatory actions that weaken enforcement of national laws.
The Process of Program Phaseout: An Examination of the Dismantling of the US Public Service Employment Program
Authors: MacManus S A
Published: October 2006

This article examines the dynamics of the dismantling of a large US federal grant-in-aid program, the Public Service Employment Program (PSEP), to determine whether the same factors that affect program expansion affect program contraction, and in a similar manner. Specifically, an examination is made of: (1) the impact local fiscal and political pressures have on the reactions of three groups of local policymakers (elected officials; PSEP administrators; administrators of agencies employing PSEP workers); and (2) the relationship between these policymakers' reactions and changes in PSEP objectives. The units of analysis are forty-two local governments located across the USA (a representative sample). The time frame of the analysis is December 1979–December 1980—a period of rapid phaseout in the PSEP. The results show that the same factors which dictate the actions of different sets of policymakers during program expansion also determine their relative levels of involvement in the phaseout period and their policy preferences (PSEP objectives) during retrenchment. The findings also suggest that local governments with long histories of federal program participation have developed fairly sophisticated reactive strategies, since phaseouts are expected events in the lives of most federal programs. These reactive strategies vary according to the economic and political conditions existing at the time of the mandated phaseout.
Central Government Policies towards Declining Urban Economies in Western Europe and the United States of America
Authors: Wolman H
Published: October 2006

Most large urban areas in the advanced market-economy nations of the West are experiencing a decentralization trend, with population and industrial employment moving from central city to suburb. In some large metropolitan areas the entire area is losing population, and employment is either growing very slowly or declining. In the United States of America and the United Kingdom these trends have triggered a substantial amount of public concern and debate and a variety of policies designed to focus on the problems of large urban economies. In most European countries, however, metropolitan population and employment stabilization or decline are either not perceived as problems or are just beginning to be seen as such. Indeed, in many of these countries the decentralization of population and employment from large urban areas is seen as consistent with the long-term objectives of regional policy.

This article first summarizes urban-area population and employment trends in the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the Federal Republic of Germany. It then examines the way in which these trends are perceived in each of these countries and, in particular, whether they are thought to represent a ‘problem’. Finally, it sets forth and analyzes the public policies adopted by the national governments to address these problems, to the extent they are perceived to exist.
The Reconstruction of British Regional Policy: 2. Towards a New Agenda
Authors: Martin R L , Hodge J S C
Published: October 2006

In this second of two papers on rethinking British regional policy for the 1980s a number of policy options and suggested reforms around which a new agenda might be constructed are put forward for debate. Following on from the critique of current policy and the discussion of changed economic conditions given in the first paper, a range of key issues are examined, starting from the case for and objectives of future regional policy, through problems of job generation and the need for a new institutional framework, to more detailed proposals concerning the forms of regional assistance.