Regional Institutional Structure and Industrial Strategy: Richards Bay and the Spatial Development Initiatives

This paper provides an institutional analysis of the South African Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) policy. It deals, firstly, with the concept of regional institutional structure, secondly, with the SDI program in South Africa and how it attempts to address national industrial strategy concerns in a spatially redistributive fashion, and thirdly, describes the case study of the growth-pole bulk-export port of Richards Bay

The Targeted Wage Subsidy: How Program Design Creates Incentives for “Creaming”

Across most developed nations, including Canada, parallel systems of social welfare and employment insurance have increasingly been replaced by programs that emphasize work as a means to achieve welfare goals within the so-called re-employment framework. Various authors have drawn attention to the tension between the goal of long-term sustainable employment, and re-employment-based strategies that emphasize short-term and stand-alone interventions. In this paper, we focus on the implementation of one such program in Canada, the Targeted Wage Subsidy. This program seeks to place the most marginal qualifying participants in employment by offering employers a financial inducement. By paying close attention to the experiences of those tasked with monitoring and implementing the program in Toronto, we identify various ways in which program design elements may systematically disadvantage the intended recipients. These program delivery mechanisms are shaped both in the practices of implementing agents, as well as by the public accountability framework that enforces rigid timelines and reporting requirements, resulting in a practice commonly referred to by employment service providers as “creaming.” Our observations lead us to question whether the target population is, in fact, the one benefiting from these return-to-work supports

Reinventing Urban Waterfronts Beyond the Urban Core: Public Space and Redevelopment in Squamish and the Vancouver Region

Urban waterfront research has concentrated primarily on the redevelopment of the core areas of major portcities; yet just as cargo handling activities have extended from their traditional core urban port locations into themetropolitan hinterland, urban waterfront redevelopments have spread into smaller and suburban communities.Both processes have occurred without much scholarly attention. In this paper, we trace the implications ofwaterfront redevelopment processes in smaller suburban communities beyond the urban core. We show howsuburban waterfront developments tend to ignore local cultural histories and communities while threateningthe values of diversity that might be embraced in all public spaces, regardless of location.To accomplish this, we provide a case study of waterfront redevelopment and public space formation inthe town of Squamish, British Columbia, in comparison to other suburban waterfront redevelopments aroundthe metropolis of Vancouver. Typically, these redevelopments are in communities that used to host signifi cantindustrial operations and are now trying to “reinvent” themselves. We identify the limited publics celebratedby, and the constrained forms of publicness created through, contemporary suburban waterfront planningpractices. We also pay specifi c attention to the changing planning discourses that strongly infl uence the designand marketing of contemporary suburban waterfront communities.La recherche sur les fronts d’eau urbains s’est concentrée principalement sur le réaménagement des zonescentrales des grandes villes portuaires; cependant, tout comme les activités de manutention du fret se sontétendues de leurs zones portuaires centrales traditionnelles à l’arrière-pays métropolitain, les réaménagementsde front d’eau urbain se sont étendus à des communautés plus petites et suburbaines. Les deux processus ont eulieu sans beaucoup d’attention par les chercheurs. Dans cet article, nous retraçons les implications des processusde réaménagement de front d’eau dans les petites banlieues situées au-delà du noyau urbain. Nous démontronscomment les aménagements de front d’eau en banlieue ont tendance à ignorer les histoires et les communautésculturelles locales tout en menaçant les valeurs de diversité qui pourraient être bien accueillies dans tous lesespaces publics, quel que soit leur emplacement.Pour ce faire, nous fournissons une étude de cas sur le réaménagement de front d’eau et la formation d’espacespublics dans la ville de Squamish, en Colombie-Britannique, par rapport à d’autres réaménagements de frontd’eau en banlieue autour de la métropole de Vancouver. Généralement, ces réaménagements se trouvent dans descommunautés qui hébergeaient d’importantes activités industrielles et essaient maintenant de se « réinventer ».Nous identifi ons les publics limités célébrés par les pratiques de planifi cation contemporaines de front d’eausuburbain, ainsi que les formes restreintes de publicité créées par celles-ci. Nous accordons également uneattention particulière aux discours changeants en matière de planifi cation qui influencent fortement la conceptionet la commercialisation des communautés contemporaines de front d’eau en banlieue

Ride-hailing applications in Vancouver, Canada: Representation, local empowerment and resistance

Technological applications have caused a revolution in the way individual transportation rides are offered and taken in cities all over the world. The adoption and regulation of ride-hailing has been the subject of heated discussion involving elected officials, bureaucrats, industry proponents, the traditional taxicab industry, and civil society. To implement ride-hailing, proponents and platform operators confront an intricate web of decision-making processes and institutional politics. In this way, existing normative processes shape the emergent regulation of such transportation network companies. This article analyzes the case of Vancouver, Canada, one of the largest cities in North America where ride-hailing companies belatedly secured authorization to operate from the provincial government in 2019. Focusing on the policy debate since 2012, the research identifies the interactions and processes of interest representation among various actors regarding this new transportation technology. The analysis shows how a variety of political, economic and regulatory strategies contributed to the delayed adoption.Les applications technologiques ont révolutionné la manière dont les trajets de transports individuels sont proposés et empruntés dans les villes du monde entier. L’adoption et la réglementation du covoiturage a fait l’objet de discussions animées impliquant des élues, des bureaucrates, des promoteurs de l’industrie, l’industrie traditionnelle des taxis et la société civile. Pour mettre en oeuvre le covoiturage, les promoteurs et les opérateurs de plateformes sont confrontés à un réseau complexe de processus décisionnels et de politiques institutionnelles. Cela faisant, les processus normatifs existants façonnent la réglementation émergente de ces sociétés de réseau de transport. Cet article analyse le cas de Vancouver, au Canada, l’une des plus grandes villes d’Amérique du Nord où les entreprises de covoiturage ont tardivement obtenu l’autorisation d’opérer du gouvernement provincial en 2019. En se concentrant sur le débat politique depuis 2012, la recherche identifie les interactions et les processus de représentation des intérêts entre les différents acteurs concernant cette nouvelle technologie de transport. L’analyse montre comment diverses stratégies politiques, économiques et réglementaires ont contribué au retard de l’adoption

Measuring the Size, Scope & Scale of the Social Enterprise Sector in Manitoba

This project surveyed social enterprises in Manitoba during the spring and summer of 2011 to develop clear indicators of their size, market activities, and socio‐economic contributions. In this study, a social enterprise is defined as a business venture, owned or operated by a nonprofit organization that sells goods or provides services in the market to create a blended return on investment; financial, social, environmental, and cultural. Using this definition, researchers identified 266 operating social enterprises in Manitoba. Of the 266 social enterprises that received the survey, 118 responded. Indicators of socio‐economic contribution included sales and revenue, expenditures, employment, volunteer engagement, and clients served and trained. Respondents were asked to report results of the 2010 financial year. The following report is a summary of the survey findings. Prior to revealing the survey findings, this paper provides a brief history of the innovative approaches to community economic development that have been used in Manitoba. The province’s roots in community‐based economic models laid the foundation for Manitoba’s current social enterprises, which are found to be a diverse sector, composed of businesses meeting a range of poverty reduction, social, cultural or environmental goals. The survey results suggest that in 2010, the 118 responding social enterprises generated at least $55.4 million in cumulative revenue, including at least$41.5 million generated through sales. Responding social enterprises paid at least $25.3 million in salaries and wages to 3,752 people, of whom 3,450 were employed as part of the mission of the organization. We estimate that Manitoba social enterprises paid, on average, just over$20,000 in wages and salary per full‐time equivalent employee. Additionally, social enterprises trained 6,890 individuals, generated 5,870 volunteer opportunities, and provided services to an average of 4,200 people. This paper builds a strong case for stakeholders, community, funder, and government, to collaboratively value these distinct contributions and to support hospitable environments for social enterprises.BC‐Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA), Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), Manitoba Social Enterprise Working Group, Assiniboine Credit Union, United Way of Winnipeg, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Mount Royal Universit

2,2-Disubstituted-1,3-Propanediamines and Related Diurethans, Diureides and Hexahydropyrimidin-2-Ones

2,2-Disubstituted-1,3-Propanediamines Have Been Prepared and Converted to Diurethans, Diureides and Hexahydropyrimidin-2-Ones. a Practical Synthesis of 5-AlkyI-5-Phenylhexahydropyrimidin-2-Ones Has Been the Major Achievement. as a Cyclization Reagent Diphenyl Carbonate Was Superior to Diethyl Carbonate. © 1957, American Chemical Society. All Rights Reserved

Associations of blood pressure with body composition among Afro-Caribbean children in Barbados

Despite complex presentation of adult hypertension and a concomitant obesity epidemic, little is known about overweight in relation to blood pressure among Caribbean children. We examined blood pressure in relation to body size in a cross-sectional study of 573 Barbadian children aged 9–10 years (2010-2011).The United States normative blood pressure percentiles were used to identify children with high (≥ 95th percentile) or high normal blood pressure (90th – 95th percentile). The World Health Organization body mass index cut-off points were used to assess weight status. Major findings: Thirty percent of children were overweight/obese. Percentage fat mass differed between girls (20.4%) and boys (17.72%) (p< 0.05). Mean systolic blood pressure among girls was 106.11 (95% CI 105.05, 107.17) mmHg and 105.23 (104.09, 106.38) for boys. The percentages with high or high-normal mean systolic blood pressurewere14.38% (10.47, 18.29) for girls and 8.08% (4.74, 11.41) for boys. Height and body mass index were independent correlates of systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Mean systolic blood pressure was related to lean mass but not fat mass, while diastolic blood pressure was associated with fat mass index and overweight. Principal conclusion: One third of 9-10 year old children in Barbados were overweight/obese and 12% had elevated mean systolic blood pressure. BP was related to body size. These findings signal potential adverse trends in weight gain and BP trends for children growing up in the context of a country that has recently undergone rapid economic transition

Histospline Method in Nonparametric Regression Models with Application to Clustered/Longitudinal Data

Kernel and smoothing methods for nonparametric function and curve estimation have been particularly successful in standard settings, where function values are observed subject to independent errors. However, when aspects of the function are known parametrically, or where the sampling scheme has significant structure, it can be quite difficult to adapt standard methods in such a way that they retain good statistical performance and continue to enjoy easy computability and good numerical properties. In particular, when using local linear modeling it is often awkward to both respect the sampling scheme and produce an estimator with good variance properties, without resorting to iterative methods: a good case in point is longitudinal and clustered data. In this paper we suggest a simple approach to overcoming these problems. Using a histospline technique we convert a problem in the continuum to one that is governed by only a finite number of parameters, and which is often explicitly solvable. The simple expedient of running a local linear smoother through the histospline produces a function estimator which achieves optimal nonparametric properties, and the raw histospline-based estimator of the semiparametric component itself attains optimal semiparametric performance. The function estimator can be used in its own right or as the starting value for an iterative scheme based on a different approach to inference