Potential impact assessment of climate-related hazards on urban public health services: interaction of changing climate-related hazards and urban development in the future, Khon Kaen City, Thailand

Current understanding of the interactions between the future urban development change and climate change in the local context, considering infrastructure operation & functionality, is still primitive, especially in public health services. This study offers a climate-resilient operationalization framework for urban public health services considering the interaction between urban development change and climate change across scales, the so-called Health Integrative Climate Resilience and Adaptation Future (HICRAF). HICRAF integrates collaborative scenario planning and composite indicators developed based on the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) 's climate risk concept. It combines a mixed-methods approach of quantitative and qualitative techniques and demonstrates how different methods and scales (spatial and temporal) can be linked and create new knowledge on cascading risk patterns in a medium-sized city with a universal health care coverage setting; Khon Kaen city, Thailand. The results show that the approach allows local public health care to operationalize their potential impact and climate-resilient targets in a forward-looking manner with multiple service operation aspects. The scenario assessment outcomes prove that public health devotions can help their operation and functionality fail-safe when confronting future climatic and non-climatic challenges. However, achieving climate-resilient targets requires sectoral integration with urban development and health determining domains. Hence, more integrated spatial planning of public health services and critically revisiting conventional cost-benefit assessments on public health infrastructure investment are key entry points for creating climate-resilient urban health services. In addition to addressing missing links between global climate trajectories and local climate adaptation scenarios that involved stakeholders' normative judgements and cross-sectoral interests. HICRAF highlights a clear constraint of applying a purely place-based concept on climate vulnerability/risk assessment in reflecting the realities of network operation and functionality of urban systems. Thus, the co-existing paradox between the place-based and network-based concepts should be investigated further in climate vulnerability/risk assessment studies. Furthermore, exploration and disputation of HICRAF and its composite indicators with a wider scale and diversified settings are invited to enhance its robustness and universality

Towards a holistic interpretation of resilient cities' concept: The case of Doha, Qatar

Resilience and resilient cities are heavily used terms in the current architecture and planning discourse. Given the mixed interpretations of the concept of “Resilient Cities”, this paper calls for a more holistic understanding of the concept and its impact on the way cities are designed, planned and developed. By labelled as resilient, cities should transcend the current limited definition of the resilient cities concept which focuses merely on facing environmental challenges and readiness for climate change impact and other forms of natural disasters. Resilience as an attribute for cities and as will be shown in the case of Doha, the capital city of Qatar, should be holistic and inclusive to embrace all aspects of city development including economical base, cultural assets, social structure and urban development. Using the case of Doha, the paper illustrates a new conceptual understanding of cities’ resilience. The paper analyses the contemporary evolution in Doha and highlights the milestones in structuring the new vision for Doha’s development as a resilient city holistically. In the last decade, the city was subjected to several radical transformations started from winning the bid to host the 2022 FIFA world cup, decrease in oil prices and finally the sea, air and land blockade imposed on Qatar by its adjacent neighbors. The paper illustrates Doha’s model in providing a worthy case of resilience which allows the city to successfully cope with the consequences of all the major shocks, stress and unforeseen challenges, the city have faced in the last decade

Behavioural insights into housing relocation decisions: The effects of the Beijing Olympics

This article examines the impact of mega events on Beijing housing market from a behavioural perspective. By exploring the situation surrounding the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, we analyse the relationship between mega-event regeneration and expected residential relocation outcomes. Our findings suggest that Beijing Olympic regeneration caused disadvantaged groups to anticipate relocation to undesirable areas, as a result of improved infrastructure, public security, and urban environment. Behavioural sciences research indicates that expectation influences decision-making by serving as a salient reference point. Agents who perceived themselves as in a disadvantaged position or holding a gloomy prospect of their future are more likely to end up in such a situation. This paper offers insights into an effect of mega event regeneration projects that has been largely overlooked in the literature, i.e., the expected housing relocation outcomes. The research calls for government intervention and public attention to this important behavioural aspect of mega-event effects.This is the accepted manuscript for a paper published in Habitat International Volume 47, June 2015, Pages 20–28, DOI: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.01.00

Rio de Janeiro and the 2016 Olympic Games: A Critical Frame Analysis of Competing Legacies

The Olympics Games is a spectacle that attracts international attention. This focus comes with scrutiny and expectations for the host countries and its urban spaces. There are many constituents involved in the preparation and management of mega-events like the Olympics. The international event presents a stage where power and inequality in urban settings are on display. Dramatic transformations of urban space that make way for Olympic infrastructure are justified in the name of accelerated development. The existing power dynamics are magnified by this spotlight. Rio de Janeiro, the former capital of Brazil, is hosting the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 and the competing discourse surrounding the preparation foreground the urban challenges and power struggles within Brazil. Competing legacies exist in which the Olympic growth machine is promoting a legacy of positive development and an image of a progressive and global Brazil, while marginalized Brazilians are promoting a legacy of inequality. This conflict of meaning is played out in the historically, highly public and politicized arena of athletics. Using frame analysis, this project presents a sociological analysis of Rio de Janeiro’s urban transformation in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games. In particular, this study focuses on the competing economic, social, and political discourses of various International-, State-, and local-level social agents (i.e., International Olympic Committee, Brazilian Government, and local grassroots organizations) working to shape the legacy of this mega-event

The afterlife of megastructures in the aftermath of mega-events: the case of Cape Town Stadium

Large scale global spectacles such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games demand infrastructure of a suitably grand magnitude - the stadium being the centrepiece of this infrastructure. However, because the mentioned events are hosted in a different location each time they take place, the stadia they leave behind often face uncertain futures, as the events and capacity for which they are originally designed are difficult to maintain following the spectacle. The intention of this dissertation is to explore how adaptive reuse can be considered as an approach towards stadia in the aftermath of global mega-events. This exploration focuses on Cape Town Stadium, a venue for the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa. The dissertation engages Cape Town Stadium in terms of an exploration into understanding the nature of stadia as very large buildings, and the challenges and opportunities adaptive reuse presents to their continued use. Cape Town stadium is understood as a robust concrete structure with a high embodied energy and a variety of spatial and environmental conditions created by contrasting deep and shallow spaces, and different engagements with external environments. These conditions present a challenge to providing the spatial and environmental requirements of an alternative programme, especially where spaces are deep, isolated, inappropriately scaled or articulated by structure. Informed by Metabolist megastructure thought, adaptive reuse is explored in an approach that regards the existing as a robust permanent structure and introduces a secondary order of architecture: more delicate and less robust - that augments the existing structure to provide for the spatial and environmental requirements of a new programme - an educational campus - introduced to occupy the underutilised portion of the Stadium

‘Festivalisation’ in South Africa’s host cities: Themes and actors of urban governance in the media discourse on the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The hosting of the FIFA Football World Cup has been perceived in South Africa both as a challenge of accelerated social, economic, and spatial transformation, and as an opportunity to showcase the nation’s ability to successfully provide the structures and capacities for one of the biggest sports tournaments in the world. The thesis of ‘festivalisation’ sees mega-events (like the Football World Cup) as a form of translocal dynamics which is embedded in the context of increased inter-urban competition in the era of globalisation. This paper aims at investigating some effects of such globalised forms of festivalisation (Häußermann and Siebel 1993) on the urban sphere in South Africa. The focus is on identifying key actors and key topics in relation to urban governance in the host cities. The method applied is a mix of various strands of discourse analysis, since every approach has its shortcomings and a combination might point out directions of how to systematically link these perspectives in future research. To a certain extent, the path presented here remains methodologically explorative. Still, the paper shows that an analysis of language-based communication, or more specifically, an approach that takes media representations as a point of entry to the field of urban dynamics, might produce insights otherwise overlooked, and thus adds a critical angle to the study of urban governance

Place-based Approach to Regional Policy – Polish, Slovakian and Ukrainian Youth Perspective. Selection of Proceedings

This collection of proceedings is divided into three parts. First one gives examples on the strategic approach to regional development. First chapter, presented by Agnieszka Dembicka-Niemiec is attempt to outline the impact of sustainable development approach to urban policy. It is followed by the contribution of Andrea Miškovičová, who presented some Slovakian experience on the implementation of a creative city strategy. Last work, by Olga Janiszewska and Katarzyna Wiśniewska, is a comparative analysis of development strategies of the city of Lublin and Lubelskie regions, searching for the cohesion between these documents. Second part of the book is the presentation of some specific and practical solutions in the field of urban development policy and regional policy. Here, Edyta Szafranek presents the integrated territorial investments as a tool for implementing the regional policy in the spirit of place based approach. Second chapter of this part provides a Reader with a case study of implementing more and more popular tool of for engaging local communities, which is a participatory budgeting. An example used here by Barbara Skórzak and Piotr Salata-Kochanowski comes from Lodz – a third-largest city in Poland, which is the pioneer of this approach in Central Europe. The last of tools presented here comes from the work of Agnieszka Pietrasik, who presented a model of integrated water resources management in the city of Łódź. It can be concluded that this is a tangible example of the application of sustainable development approach to city ecosystems’ design. Last part of the monograph is devoted to the most universal trends, that can be perceived as a “global framework” for local and regional development policies. Here, a contribution of Iryna Skavronska shows the advantages and disadvantages of using sports mega-events as a tool of regional and urban transformation, while last chapter, prepared by Lesya Kolinets, outlines the impact of global financial crisis: impact on Central and Eastern Europe.Despite over 40 years of European Cohesion Policy experience, it is still evolving to meet the changes of the socio-economical situation. During the recent years, there is more and more common belief that what can decide about the power of the European Union, it is a variability of institutional contexts of regional development. It means that both studies on local and regional aspects of socio-economic development, as well as relevant policy tools in this matter, should consider on larger and larger scale, so called place-based approach to regional policy. The latter refers to the necessity of capturing “territorial” diversity of European space on different scales of policy intervention. Regional scientists gathered in the European Regional Science Association – Polish Section decided to verify, how this modern paradigm of regional policy is perceived by students and young scientists living in Central European countries. For this purpose, a seminar for Polish, Ukrainian and Slovakian participants has been organized. What was particularly interesting in this context, it was both the perception of the advantage of being a member of European community for these countries who joined UE at the beginning of 21st century, and the expectations of young Ukrainians, whose country is nowadays on a serious political crossroad, from the EU. This monograph is a material effect of a reunion of Polish, Slovakian and Ukrainian students and young scientists, for whom the European Regional Science Association – Polish Section created a forum for strengthening cross-border cooperation, exchange of experience and development of skills and competencies in the field of regional policy and regional economy, broadly defined

Private Sector Participation in the Provision of Quality Drinking Water in Ghana's Urban Areas: Are People Willing to Pay?

Access to clean drinking water is not only a fundamental human right, but also claims a big stake in economic growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development. With an increase in population, rapid urbanization and increasing income levels, the demand for water outstrips public water supply in developing countries. As a result, private water production has been promoted in developing countries to achieve greater efficiency and expansion in order to supplement public water supply. This study used the contingent valuation method to survey households in three cities in Ghana to estimate their willingness to pay in a bid to evaluate a policy of better water supply for urban areas in Ghana. It was found that more than 80% of the respondents favour some form of private sector engagement in water quality improvement. Also, the mean willingness to pay for water quality improvement is about GH¢13.42 (US$12) per month. Given the mean household monthly water bill of GH¢10.82, these results indicate that there is demand for water quality improvement and the general view is that private sector engagement is likely to provide these services. However, the same policy measure will marginalize the poor in terms of access to water. Therefore, private sector participation in water delivery, with a corresponding complementary government programme to promote access to water among low income households, would deliver the double dividends of water quality and universal access, which characterize the debate on private sector engagement in water provision in Ghana

The cartographic perspective of the sports geography. Football players in the pre- and post-war Polish football league

Piłka nożna, jak każdy sport i jak większość zjawisk, ma swój wymiar przestrzenny. Jest także – z racji swojej popularności – odbiciem zmian społecznych i demograficznych. Artykuł prezentuje charakterystyki ilościowe i jakościowe wybranych klubów piłkarskich, z naciskiem na przestrzenno-demograficzne cechy piłkarzy. Pod uwagę wzięto trzy sezony z dwudziestolecia międzywojennego i jeden z pierwszych sezonów rozgrywanych w czasach PRL. Analiza zebranych danych zaowocowała propozycją metodyki prezentacji wieloatrybutowych danych sportowych, a także pozwoliła unaocznić m.in. wpływ geopolityki i zmian przestrzennych na sport. Dotyczy to przede wszystkim migracji powojennych, relacji zmian granic do sportowej mapy Polski oraz roli wybranych ośrodków w kształtowaniu przestrzennej charakterystyki polskiej piłki nożnej.Football, like any sport and most phenomena, has its spatial dimension. And due to its popularity, it also reflects social and demographic changes. The paper presents qualitative and quantitative characteristics of selected football clubs, with a focus on the spatial-demographic features of players. Three pre-war seasons and one of the first post-war seasons have been analysed. The result is the proposition of a methodological approach to visualise multi-attribute sports data and an insight into the influence of migration, geopolitics, border changes and history on Polish football

Preserving the (right kind of) city: the urban politics of the middle classes in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Since re-democratisation, Brazil has experienced a slow but continuous process of urban reform, with the introduction of legal and institutional developments that favour participatory democracy in urban policy. Legal innovations such as the City Statute have been celebrated for expanding the ‘right to the city’ to marginalised populations. While most studies examine the struggles of the urban poor, I focus on middle-class citizens, showing how such legal developments have unevenly affected the ways in which different social groups are able to impact the production of urban space. The two cases explored in this study concern residents’ struggles to preserve their middle-class neighbourhoods against change triggered by projects related to the hosting of the 2014 World Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The first looks at the Musas Street residents’ fight against the construction of a luxury hotel in their neighbourhood, while the second examines the Pampulha residents’ struggle against the presence of street vendors and football fans in their streets. My findings show that through the articulation of legal discourses, middle-class claims on the need for preserving the environment and the city’s cultural heritage are legitimised by the actions of the local state. The article thus looks beyond neoliberalism, showing that socio-spatial segregation and inequality should not be regarded solely as the product of state–capital alliances for engendering capital accumulation through spatial restructuring, but also as the result of the uneven capacities of those living in the city to access the state resources and legitimise certain forms of inhabitance of urban space