Increasing the role of local initiatives in creating liveable cities: Bodrum local habitat

'Liveability' which describes the characteristics of a 'good community', was proposed by the Turkish delegation during the preparation works of Habitat II Conference, as complementary to the principle of sustainability. 'Liveable cities' were then explained in detail in Turkish National Report with stating that local liveability criteria can be developed in the hands of local initiatives. So increasing the role of local initiatives in order to make the citizens to stand as protectors to their cities, was accepted as one of the basic principles of making our cities to survive as liveable places. And the best way of achieving this goal was the formation of large city-wide meetings which collect all the actors to discuss their problems. These formations are called Local Habitats. The paper covers a discussion about the first Local Habitat realized in Bodrum on September 1996. This was the first experience in Turkey which prepared the necessary grounds of increasing the role of local initiatives in the formulation of urban policy concerns such as the physical problems originating from Bodrum's growth as one of the most important tourism centers of Turkey and the citizens' worries about its deteriorating local characteristics. This discussion will be centered around two points: The current unliveable structure of Bodrum which led to the formation of firts Local Habitat in that city and Bodrum Local Habitat's success in enabling a lot of people from the mayor to the academicians and citizens, to come together to discuss these problems in an unhierarchical organization.g

Privatization and the Public Interest: The Need for Transparency and Accountability in Chicago's Public Asset Lease Deals

Examines the appeal and risks of infrastructure privatization and Chicago's history with privatization deals. Recommends public interest principles for future deals, rules and processes for vetting proposals, and a commitment to government transparency

Urban Acupuncture in Taipei

A number of conditions can be attributed to driving the recent revolutionary movement of urban acupuncture and locally-led interventions in cities around the world. Political, economic, and environmental uncertainty; the deindustrialization of cities that has led to an increase in vacant lots and buildings; and an increasingly mobile workforce all support the desire for more flexible and adaptable spaces and uses (Bishop and Williams, 2012). The inefficiency of institutional bureaucracy has also been identified as a contributing factor as to why citizens are taking local improvements into their own hands. These all lead to an increasing awareness that traditional planning processes are struggling in its capacity to be adaptable and resilient enough to respond to local needs. The rising sense of responsibility among citizens who actively partake in responding to local situations, separate from traditional planning processes such as attending planning consultations or sitting on community boards and commissions, reflect the discrepancy between contemporary planning processes and its adequacy in engaging stakeholders and addressing local issues. Temporary interventions have emerged as a gateway for improvements to local neighbourhoods in a more timely, efficient, and less costly and risky manner. These informal initiatives are popularly known as "urban acupuncture". In the context of Taipei, urban acupuncture is a city leading in its local transformative capacity where people-centric planning is implemented on a governmental level. Urban acupuncture is put into practice by the Taipei City Government through an apparatus called ?Urban Regeneration Station (URS)? to promote local development through the strength of local communities. URS sites are shared by all citizens - even throughout the innovative progress is public participation the main priority. Creativity, art, culture and design are integrated into the practice of urban regeneration as a catalyst of urban redevelopment. This thesis purports that urban acupuncture has a particularly important role in the future of cities and its communities because it challenges the assumption that cities can improve only through major spending and tortuous rounds of paperwork and approvals. It allows citizens and officials to test new ideas on a low-cost, low-risk model. If something works, great. If it doesn?t, well, on to the next experimental idea. Drawing upon the metaphor of therapeutic acupuncture, examples will be explored to highlight ways in which punctual interventions can activate places, asserting the importance of urban acupuncture in facilitating more holistic understandings of urban health

Public squares as a means of integrating economy, environment and society in British city centres

Sustainable Development is invariably epitomised by economy, environment and society represented as three equal sized rings in symmetrical interconnection. This assumes a separation, even autonomy, and detracts from the fundamental connections. Much debate is now centred on how to integrate these sectors, rather than seeking trade-offs between them. Up to the 20th Century, public squares, offered clear examples of this integration as they are representative of the values of the society that created them. There are numerous examples from different time periods in a variety of cultures. In the second half of the 20th Century, British cities experienced increasing competition for space, which partly led to domination by market economies. As city centres became commodities, more devices were employed to attract consumers. One of the most significant was the indoor shopping centre. As malls were constructed over city streets, increasingly public space became privatised. The public sector is now experiencing substantial decline and the balanced model of economy, environment and society has been grossly distorted. Social capital may be a means of regaining equilibrium. This paper will demonstrate the significance of squares in sustaining vibrant communities; and consider mechanisms for their re-introduction as a means of contributing to the integration of economy, environment and society

Domestic and International Firearm Laws: Can Implementation Be Used to Nationally Decrease Firearm Violence and Mass Shootings

The issue of firearm violence in the United States is highly controversial, as there are sound arguments on both sides of the discussion. Advocates of stricter gun laws often refer to both international and domestic examples that highlight the effectiveness of more restrictive firearm policies. Japan and Australia are two such countries that are continually referred to when a tragedy, such as a mass shooting, occurs in the United States and initial reactions often emphasis a need for fewer guns in the general public. Opposition to the proposed reforms of firearm policies cite the importance of the Second Amendment which grants their right to bear arms. To better understand both sides of the argument, this paper examines the effectiveness of firearm policies on an international and domestic level, and seeks to address whether or not such policies would aid in addressing firearm crime

A Reversal of Perspective: The Subject as Citizen under Absolute Monarchy, or the Ambiguity of Notions

Europe has never had a single definition for the term ‘citizen.’ Indeed, over the centuries the significance of this term has undergone far-reaching evolution. In different historical periods, different states, and different European languages, this term has had diverse meanings and has been used in varying contexts. The concept of ‘citizen’ has repeatedly been defined anew depending upon specific political, social, and economic conditions. At various periods, the term ‘citizen’ has related to a wider or narrower portion of a given state’s society. The criteria by which an individual was said to form a part of the body of citizens have also differed. The changes which have taken place in the definition of a ‘citizen’ over the centuries are enormous. This is not to say, however, that there has been no common core to the concept of citizen as it has taken shape over the course of hundreds of years. As far back as ancient times, a member of the state could influence the shaping of that state’s authorities and could participate in government. It is the Aristotelian concept of the citizen – a concept that has influenced all historical models of citizenship since – which is at the root of the citizen understood as a political animal (politikon zoon). In addition, personal freedom has always been a sine qua non for possessing citizen status. Thus, a citizen has always been, and remains, the opposite of a slave. It has also come to be accepted that citizenship implies the primacy of an individual’s rights in a state over an individual’s obligations to that state. The polar opposite of this situation in the historical dimension is subjection to the monarch in an absolute monarchy. Thus the ‘citizen’ also stands in opposition to the ‘subject.’ When speaking of the historical models containing the said ‘citizenship traits’ of a person’s status in the state, we usually refer to the model of the citizen in ancient times, in medieval municipal citizenship, and in modern times, in the fully−formed nation-state. It is difficult to imagine a citizen in an absolute monarchy, and in a world of subjection. Still, it is possible to give rein to one’s imagination and perceive citizens in such a setting; one could even go a step further and call the subject of an absolute monarch a citizen. But is imagination truly necessary in order to conduct such a seemingly obvious reversal of perspective? Published as a chapter in Krzysztof Trzciński (ed.), The State and Development in Africa and Other Regions, Warsaw University & ASPRA, Warsaw 2007, pp. 319-332