29 research outputs found
Establishing a new UK finance escalator for innovative SMEs: the roles of the Enterprise Capital Funds and Angel Co-investment Fund
This paper examines UK public policy addressing the seed and early stage equity finance gap since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Drawing on lessons learned from recent studies of UK and international government equity schemes, two contemporary models of government backed equity finance are examined. The focus is on the Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) and the Angel Co-investment Fund (ACF), the UK governmentâs main schemes operating in the sub-ÂŁ2m equity finance gap to address the capital requirements for developing the UKâs young, potential high growth businesses.
The paper highlights the shortcomings of traditional interim fund performance analysis and presents current demand and supply side evidence that establishes that these schemes are making attributable impacts on their portfolio businesses and the wider UK economy. It also demonstrates that they are playing important roles in the establishment of a new post GFC UK finance escalator. However, whilst these schemes were found to be currently complementary and effective, their future roles within the UKâs evolving post GFC seed and early stage equity markets are also considered.
Key Words: Government Equity Schemes, Venture Capital, Potential High Growth SME
The terrain of urbanisation process and policy frameworks: A critical analysis of the Kampala experience
Kampala is urbanising in an unplanned manner, but without a clear picture
of the underlying dynamics. The city is characterised by lack of proper zoning
of economic activities and construction of physical infrastructure without regard to
subsequent spatial quality and environmental conservation. Consequently, there are
sharp differences in residential standards where expensive housing and luxury flats
co-exist with shanty towns and informal settlements, with about 60% of the cityâs
population living in unplanned informal settlements and often faced with challenges
of unemployment. The unprecedented increase in the urban population in
Kampala and the prospects for further increases in the near future have economic
and social implications concerning employment, housing, education and health,
among others. Understanding the nature of the dynamics of the growth or decline
of cities like Kampala helps planners to support the processes that lead to harmonious
urban development and to deal with the negative consequences of urban
growth. This paper reflects the urbanisation dynamics explaining Kampalaâs urbanisation
process with the view to analysing the implications for an alternative urban policy framework. It argues that the conditions that have allowed the situation to
exist have serious policy implications which require the need for an integrated policy
framework that can be used to effectively prevent or halt Kampalaâs unplanned
urbanisation while promoting planned urbanisation. Induced by the migration and
lack of information, understanding urban dynamics is crucial to the development of
urban policies that can effectively ensure that further urban changes occur in a systematic
and satisfactory manner. The current urban process in developing countries
like Uganda is associated with poverty, environmental degradation and population
demands that outstrip service capacity
The Visibility of (In)security: The Aesthetics of Planning Urban Defences Against Terrorism
Urban defences against terrorism have traditionally been based on territorial interventions that sought to seal off and surveil certain public and private spaces considered targets. Lately, though, a much wider range of crowded and public spaces have been viewed as potential targets and thus have been identified as requiring additional security. This has immense implications for the experience of the âeverydayâ urban landscape. Drawing on contemporary notions that incorporate the study of aesthetics and emotions within critical security and terrorism studies, this article discusses the visual impact of counter-terrorism security measures. It analyses the âtransmissionâ of symbolic messages, as well as the variety of ways in which security might be âreceivedâ by various stakeholders. The analysis takes place against the backdrop of concern that obtrusive security measures have the capacity to radically alter public experiences of space and in some cases lead to (intended and unintended) exclusionary practices or a range of negative emotional responses. The article concludes by outlining a âspectrum of visible securityâ ranging between traditional obtrusive fortified approaches and approaches that embed security features seamlessly or even âinvisiblyâ into the urban fabric
Report.
1934/35- reproduced from type-written copy.Report year irregular.Mode of access: Internet.1934/35- issued by the Alley Dwelling Authority for the District of Columbia
Masterplanning public memorials: an historical comparison of Washington, Ottawa and Canberra
Australian examples of residential integrated water cycle planning: accepted current practice and a suggested alternative
Australian examples of Integrated Water Cycle Planning (IWCP) for residential development demonstrate that providing multiple household-water connections is a generally accepted practice. These connections typically include a potable mains supply, a separate non-potable supply utilising reclaimed water and/or a household roofwater tank for non-potable uses. Stormwater is not fully exploited as a potential urban water source. The advent of national guidelines for using recycled water for drinking purposes is expected to simplify IWCP towards a single-line household-water supply reclaimed from a range of different sources. An IWCP approach is suggested in this paper based on a single household supply complemented by: 1) potential separation of blackwater to reduce human health risk and to enhance community acceptance of recycled water, 2) the use of water sensitive urban design requirements of storing and slowly releasing urban stormwater, and 3) taking advantage of economies of scale by integrating communal roofwater tanks into the urban stormwater system
Influences of urban characteristics on cycling: Experiences of four cities
Cycling level was investigated for four cities with similar land area namely, Beijing, Berlin, Canberra and Singapore. Four characteristics namely, urban structure, transport policy, public transport service and cycling infrastructure, as affecting cycling activities in urban areas were compared. A cycling line was devised and used to position and compare each city by the stages of cycling level. Cycling level in Berlin is comparatively high and remains on an increasing trend which is at the promising stage. Recommendations are given for the other three cities (Beijing, Canberra and Singapore) that could improve cycling level
Gentrifying the state, gentrifying participation: elite governance programs in Delhi
Recent scholarship has highlighted the central role of India's ânew middle classâ in gentrifying and âcleaning upâ its cities. According to this literature, this class experienced a political awakening in the 1990s and began mobilizing to reclaim urban space from the poor. Using the example of Delhi's Bhagidari scheme, a governance experiment launched in 2000, I argue that urban middle-class power did not emerge from internal changes within this class itself (as is commonly argued), but was rather produced by the machinations of the local state. In particular, I show how Bhagidari has realigned the channels by which citizens can access the state on the basis of property ownership. In so doing, it has undermined the electoral process dominated by the poor, and privileged property owners' demands for a âworld-classâ urban future. By examining the ânew state spacesâ it constructs, I show how Bhagidari has effectively gentrified the channels of political participation, respatializing the state by breaking the informal ties binding the unpropertied poor to the local state and thereby removing the obstacles to large-scale slum demolitions. In making this argument, the article introduces a unique approach to mapping state space that aims to reveal the relationship between state form and political participation