Connecting physical and social dimensions of place attachment: what can we learn from attachment to urban recreational spaces?

This paper is concerned with the ways in which people form attachments to recreational spaces. More specifically it examines the relationship between recreational spaces associated with sporting activity in urban neighbourhoods and place attachment. The focus is on the ways in which changes to these spaces exposes the affective bonds between people and their surroundings. The paper applies a qualitative methodology, namely focus groups and photo elicitation, to the case study of Parkhead, a neighbourhood in the East End of Glasgow. Parkhead has historically been subjected to successive waves of redevelopment as a result of deindustrialization in the late twentieth century. More recently redevelopment associated with the 2014 Commonwealth Games involved further changes to neighbourhood recreational spaces, including refurbishing of existing sports facilities and building new ones.This paper reflects on the cumulative impacts of this redevelopment to conclude (a) that recreational sports spaces provoke multi-layered and complex attachments that are inextricably connected to both temporal and spatial narratives and (b) that research on neighbourhood recreational spaces can develop our understanding of the intricate relationship between the social and physical dimensions of place attachment

Local councils have managed the budget cuts well, but the scope for further efficiency savings is rapidly diminishing

Many city councils who are complaining that budget cuts are leading to an impending catastrophe have good cause for alarm given the scale of the cuts. However, the perception amongst the public is that not much has changed regarding their local services. In their new research, Nick Bailey and Annette Hastings find that up to now, councils have managed the majority of the cuts through efficiency savings: removing management and central support services or consolidating offices. But the scope for further efficiency savings is rapidly diminishing, implying fundamental change is coming

Frontline public sector workers acted as ‘shock absorbers’ of the austerity cuts to local government budgets

Drawing on qualitative evidence with frontline workers in four UK local authorities significantly impacted by austerity, Annette Hastings and Maria Gannon explore coping mechanisms developed by workers to manage resource restriction

Connectivity and Conflict in Periods of Austerity: What do we Know about Middle Class Political Activism and its Effects on Public Services?

There is concern that the middle classes enjoy advantages over less affluent social groups in relation to public service provision. Research on this question is, however, fragmented across policy fields and disciplines. This paper presents the results of a realist synthesis of academic research from the UK, US and Scandinavia since 1980. It shows that there is indeed evidence of middle class advantage in relation to public services, with the evidence most secure with respect to the UK, especially schooling, health and land use planning. It also notes, however, that there is insufficient evidence to identify the scale or import of additional benefit. The paper identifies four causal theories derived from the evidence which appear to explain how this advantage comes about. It offers an overview assessment of the strength of the evidence base in relation to both the mechanisms which underpin advantage, and the contexts which support these. It argues that middle class advantage accrues as a result of the interplay between the attitudes and activities of service users, service providers and the broader policy and social context. The paper argues for a more concerted research effort designed to determine the nature, extent and import of middle class advantage. Also available from STORRE: 'Methodological Note' and 'Evidence for Causal Theories

Bourdieu and the Big Society: empowering the powerful in public service provision?

here is concern that the 'localism' promoted by the UK Coalition Government will further empower the already powerful. This paper uses Bourdieu's theory of practice to theorise middle-class public service use. Building on a previous evidence review (Matthews and Hastings, 2013) it considers whether the habitus of the middle-classes enables them to gain disproportionate benefit from public services. Service provision is understood as a 'field' marked by a competitive struggle between social agents who embody class-based power asymmetries. It finds that engagement with the state is a classed practice producing benefits to those already empowered and that localism may exacerbate inequalities

Suburbs are becoming increasingly diverse – urban development and the pandemic will transform them further

No abstract available

Understanding COVID-lockdowns through urban management systems: a novel application of administrative data

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented ‘lockdowns’ and stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of infection. Social scientists have analysed mobility during these lockdowns to understand compliance at a population-level, and whether there were systematic barriers to compliance for certain population groups. Much of this analysis has used mobility data from private companies, gathered via smartphones. In this paper, we consider an unexplored source of such data – urban management administrative data – and demonstrate its usefulness for understanding mobility, and what these patterns might reveal about socio-spatial inequality and local economic activity and suggest greater imagination when analysing such data

Unequal and gendered: Assessing the impacts of austerity cuts on public service users

A decade of austerity has amplified concern about who gets what from public services. The article considers the socio-economic and gendered impacts of cuts to local environmental services which have increased the need for citizens to report service needs and effectively ‘co-produce’ services. Via a case study of a UK council’s decade of administrative data on citizen requests and service responses, the article provides one of the first detailed analyses of the unfolding impact of austerity cuts over time on public service provision. It demonstrates the impact of austerity across the social gradient, but disproportionately on the least affluent, especially women. The article argues for the importance of detailed empirical examination of administrative data for making visible, and potentially tackling, long standing inequalities in public service provision.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin