74 research outputs found
Feeling Safe in the Dark : Examining the Effect of Entrapment, Lighting Levels, and Gender on Feelings of Safety and Lighting Policy Acceptability
This research examined to what extent physical factors, notably lighting and entrapment (blocked escape), and individual factors, notably gender, affect feelings of safety and the acceptability of reduced lighting levels. The authors reasoned that acceptability of reduced street lighting depends on perceived safety, which in turn depends on entrapment, lighting, and gender. Virtual representations of a residential street were used, systematically manipulating entrapment and lighting levels. As expected, people felt less safe in lower lighting and higher entrapment settings, and these settings were evaluated as less acceptable. Although women perceived a situation as less safe compared with men, the authors found no gender differences in acceptability, which extends previous research. Importantly, as hypothesized, perceived safety mediated the effect of lighting on acceptability levels, suggesting that people can accept lower lighting levels when social safety is not threatened
Self-build in the UK and Netherlands:mainstreaming self-development to address housing shortages?
This paper examines approaches to self or custom-build in the Netherlands and the UK to offer comparative insights into self- and custom-built housing contexts and cultures, and specifically, the relationships with local and strategic planning arrangements. The paper reviews arguments for self-build as a means to address housing shortages and examines the evidence of completions in practice. It positions the discussion in light of arguments that self-build can become a mainstream source of housing provision. The paper critically considers the role of think tanks in advocating housing policy solutions. Adopting a social constructionist perspective, the paper examines the work of the National Self-Build Association which has devised and implemented an action plan to promote the growth of self-build housing in the UK. Almere, which is located east of Amsterdam, is one of the case studies explored to inform thinking around self-build in the devolved UK. The conclusions tease out some of the implications for democratic and technocratic arguments around self-development and the right to design and build one’s home
Complexity and Transition Management
This article presents a framework, transition management, for managing complex societal systems. The principal contribution of this article is to articulate the relationship between transition management and complex systems theory. A better understanding of the dynamics of complex, adaptive systems provides insight into the opportunities, limitations, and conditions under which it is possible to influence such systems. Transition management is based on key notions of complex systems theory, such as variation and selection, emergence, coevolution, and self-organization. It involves a cyclical process of phases at various scale levels: stimulating niche development at the micro level, finding new attractors at the macro level by developing a sustainability vision, creating diversity by setting out experiments, and selecting successful experiments that can be scaled up
Relationship between spatial proximity and travel-to-work distance : the effect of the compact city
In this paper, an assessment is made of the relationship between selected aspects of spatial proximity (density, diversity, minimum commuting distance, jobs-housing balance and job accessibility) and reported commuting distances in Flanders (Belgium). Results show that correlations may depend on the considered trip end. For example, a high residential density, a high degree of spatial diversity and a high level of job accessibility are all associated with a short commute by residents, while a high job density is associated with a long commute by employees. A jobs-housing balance close to one is associated with a short commute, both by residents and by employees. In general, it appears that the alleged sustainability benefits of the compact city model are still valid in a context of continuously expanding commuting trip lengths
Environmental governance in a contested state:the influence of European Union and other external actors on energy sector regulation in Kosovo
This article examines environmental governance in Kosovo, with a particular focus on the energy sector. The article considers the degree to which the emerging model of environmental governance is characterised by hierarchical and non-hierarchical modes of coordination. We examine the roles of a number of domestic institutions and actors – ministries, agencies, and regulatory bodies– and the influence of external actors, including the EU, the US, and Serbia. The EU is building Kosovo’s own hierarchical governance capacity by strengthening domestic institutions, whilst the US focuses primarily on market liberalization, whilst simultaneously supporting EU efforts. Moreover, environmental policy change is not wholly or predominantly driven by domestic actors, which can partly be attributed to Kosovo’s limited domestic sovereignty. We conclude that the emerging model of environmental governance in Kosovo is characterized by a weak hierarchy, partly as a result of external actor involvement, which disincentivises the government from responding to domestic non-state actor pressure
A preliminary fishery quality index for Portuguese streams
There is a need to quantify the multivariate quality of a recreational fishery at the site scale to
better communicate the relative quality among sites to the public and anglers. Borrowing on the general
approach of multimetric indices of biotic integrity (IBIs), we developed fishery quality indices (FQIs) from
species quality indices (SQIs) based on measures of fish abundance and size structure for northern and central
Portuguese streams. Our FQIs showed regional patterns indicating a range in fishery quality. Higher coldwater
FQI scores were mostly found in the northwestern (Minho and Lima), northeastern Douro, and northern Tagus
basins. Higher warmwater FQI scores occurred in the eastern Tagus basin. The species that contributed the
most to warmwater FQI scores were largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, pumpkinseed Lepomis
gibbosus, the cyprinid Luciobarbus bocagei, chubs Squalius carolitertii and S. pyrenaicus, and nases
Pseudochondrostoma duriense and P. polylepis. The chubs, nases, and brown trout Salmo trutta contributed
the most to coldwater FQI scores. As expected, our indices were correlated with river size and with
disturbance at the catchment, segment, and site scales. Regression models for separate coldwater and
warmwater FQIs were stronger than those for the individual SQIs and for an all-site FQI. The correlation was
positive between the coldwater FQI and a coldwater IBI but negative between the warmwater FQI and
warmwater IBIs. The proposed FQIs offer a quantitative approach for assessing relative fishery quality among
sites and for making regional assessments given an appropriate study design. The component SQIs and SQI
metrics of the FQIs can be disassociated to determine the population and species characteristics most affected
by various environmental variables
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