Urban Studies Commons^™

Environmental Advocacy: Insights From East Asia, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

Community-Engaged Operations Research: Trends, New Frontiers And Opportunities, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Measuring Success: Community Analytics For Local Economic Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Sandeep Jani

Michael P. Johnson

Rating The Cities: Constructing A City Resilience Index For Assessing The Effect Of State And Local Laws On Long-Term Recovery From Crisis And Disaster, John Travis Marshall

John Travis Marshall

Superstorm Sandy, the 2008 Iowa floods, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita all supply recent reminders that U.S. cities can no longer adopt an ad hoc approach to threats presented by climate change and natural hazards. The stories detailing long-term recovery from these disasters underscore that federal, state, and local governments are struggling to appreciate the legal tools and institutions necessary to implement the large-scale infrastructure, housing, and community development programs that climate change and more frequent natural disasters demand. This Article calls for development of a tool allowing succinct evaluation of the range of community capacities that will figure critically …

The Smart Cities Movement And Advancing The International Battle To Eliminate Homelessness - Barcelona As Test Case, John Travis Marshall, Jessica Venegas

John Travis Marshall

Barcelona is a leader in the smart cities movement, a movement that aims to help cities deliver services to citizens more efficiently and economically as a way of making the city a more inviting and inclusive place to live and work. As with any city committed to forward-looking economic, social, and urban development initiatives, it is important to consider whether ambitious goals to reinvent the city include an agenda to solve the persistent problems that have faced major cities for decades, including affordable housing and caring for roofless or homeless men and women. This article ties together the challenges Barcelona …

Affordable Housing For Sustainable Cities: A North American Perspective, Detroit Metropolitan Area And Montreal (Quebec), Courtney Lauren Anderson, Maryse Grandbois

Courtney L Anderson

Housing is an integral part to elevating and maintaining a quality of life to ensure a healthy and productive citizenship. The overwhelming number of citizens in Montreal and the United States who are unable to find housing that is less than 33% of their income stifles that economic progression of individuals and the society in which these individuals live. The ability for cities to dictate their own plans for creating and maintaining affordable housing without mandates from the federal vacillates among the various levels of government with each level having certain positive and negative elements. Although city autonomy can provide …

Increasing Environmental Performance In A Context Of Low Governmental Enforcement: Evidence From China, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

Strategy Design For Community Response To Distress And Decline Using Data Analytics, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

The foreclosure crisis in the U.S. has resulted in immense economic and social losses for individuals and neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods face long-term declines in population and economic activity that have been compounded by the foreclosure crisis. How can government and non-profit organizations design responses to neighborhood distress that reflect distinctive community characteristics and are consistent with long-term policy and planning goals? In this talk, I discuss alternative decision modeling strategies that support neighborhood health. Where foreclosure responses are likely to ensure that neighborhoods remain vital places for residential housing, productive strategies may include property acquisition and redevelopment. Other neighborhoods, however, …

Feasibility Study Of Consolidating Public Safety Answering Points In Highland Heights, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village And Richmond Heights, Ohio, Daila Shimek, Kyle Johnson, Eugene L. Kramer, Charles Post

Daila Shimek

This study found that – based on certain configurations of communities and cost considerations – it is economically viable to consolidate public safety answering points (PSAPs) in Highland Heights, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village and Richmond Heights, Ohio. When comparing 2012 staffing and noncapital costs to estimated staffing and noncapital costs for a consolidated PSAP, the consolidated PSAP would provide an estimated collective reduction in staffing and noncapital costs of ranging from $775,400 to $1.19 million. When comparing 2012 staffing and noncapital costs to estimated staffing and noncapital costs for a consolidated PSAP – plus costs for additional staff to …

Feasibility Study Of Consolidating Public Safety Answering Points In Berea, Broadview Heights, Brook Park, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Seven Hills, And Strongsville, Ohio, Daila Shimek, Kyle Johnson, Eugene L. Kramer

Daila Shimek

This study found that – based on selected configurations of communities and specific cost considerations – it is economically viable to consolidate public safety answering points (PSAPs) in Berea, Broadview Heights, Brook Park, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Seven Hills, and Strongsville. When comparing 2012 staffing and noncapital costs to estimated staffing and noncapital costs for a consolidated PSAP, the consolidated PSAP would provide an estimated collective reduction in costs ranging from $117,500 to $1.72 million. The analysis also revealed that consolidation is legally feasible. It would also offer improved service by ensuring all dispatchers are certified professionals and would provide …

Data, Analytics And Community-Based Organizations: #11;Transforming Data To Decisions For Community Development, Michael P. Johnson Jr.

Michael P. Johnson

Big data and analytics for community-focused nonprofits can improve analytic capabilities and increase impact. However, Community-based organization needs do not match well with conventional notions of data and analytics. Decentralized model for data-driven research may be preferred, but centralized model is dominant. CBOs can articulate data needs, but are often not yet able to access relevant data easily and use data effectively. Finally, certain values maximize impact of big data and analytics

Curriculum Vitae, Judah J. Viola

Judah J. Viola, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Feasibility Study Of Consolidating Public Safety Answering Points In South Euclid, Beachwood, Euclid, Shaker Heights, And University Heights, Ohio, Daila Shimek, Kyle Johnson, Eugene L. Kramer, Nathaniel Neider

Daila Shimek

The study conducted by the Center for Public Management (PM) found that, for two of three scenarios analyzed, it is legally, technologically, and financially feasible to consolidate public safety answering points (PSAPs) in South Euclid, Beachwood, Euclid, Shaker Heights, and University Heights, Ohio. Of the scenarios found feasible, the study estimates a decrease in costs ranging from almost $687,700 to $1.1 million, depending upon the configuration of the PSAP. When factoring in capital costs, the savings ranges from $555,000 to $898,000, but lead to an increase in costs of $189,000 in a PSAP dispatching for police only. At the local …

Feasibility Study For Consolidation Of Public Safety Answering Points In Perry County Ohio, Daila Shimek, Kyle Johnson, Eugune L. Kramer, Patrick Johnson, Nat Neider

Daila Shimek

This report provides an assessment of the feasibility of consolidation of the public safety answering points (PSAPS’s) in Perry County, Ohio and the Village of New Lexington (in Perry County), Ohio. The report describes the methodology used to assess the feasibility of consolidating these PSAPs. The findings are that consolidation of PSAPs and dispatch services among the participating entities would not be feasible if the decision is made purely on costs. However, a consolidated PSAP would reduce the duplication of services and redundant capital projects. This in turn would free up funds to maintain and replace capital items as they …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Sally Miller

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Nonpunctuated And Sweeping Policy Change: Bhutan Tobacco Policy Making From 1991 To 2009, Michael S. Givel

Michael S. Givel

This paper examines policy outputs associated with the 2004 Bhutan antitobacco law, including 2009 amendments, to determine if the law is congruent with punctuated equilibrium or social policy realism theories of policy change. There was no direct and sudden tobacco policy output change in Bhutan due to a shock to the policy system contrary to what punctuated equilibrium theory would predict. Rather, policy change was sweeping but nonpunctuated. This paper reconfirms prior findings of social policy realism theory that various and complex policy output patterns occur due to a mixture of contingent and complex factors. Under social policy realism, a …

Bureaucratic Advocacy And Ethics A State-Level Case Of Public Agency Rulemaking And Tobacco Control Policy, Michael S. Givel, Andrew Spivak

Michael S. Givel

Before 2001, the Oklahoma Department of Health achieved little to protect the public from the dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke. In an ongoing effort between 2000 and 2003, the department joined with health groups to lobby for stronger requirements, resulting in a new Oklahoma administrative rule in 2002 and legislation in 2003 regulating secondhand tobacco smoke. This action was congruent with the American Society of Public Administration's Code of Ethics for interactive democratic policymaking, in which administrators are required to serve the public interest with compassion, benevolence, fairness, and optimism.

Regional Industrial Structure And Agglomeration Economies: An Analysis Of Productivity In Three Manufacturing Industries., Joshua Drucker, Edward Feser

Joshua Drucker

El Paso Economic Development System Review & Recommendations, Edward Feser

Edward J Feser

This report, commissioned by the City of El Paso, recommends that El Paso city government undertake a substantial reform of its economic development effort and that public and private sector stakeholders in the broader El Paso region mobilize to create an organizational vehicle for the kind of public‐private collaboration that is driving innovative economic development in many other major city‐regions in the United States. The analysis also calls for a stronger integration of physical, land use, and economic development planning activities in the city and region, consistent with a trend in international best practice in local and regional economic development.

A State-In-Society Approach To The Nonprofit Sector: Welfare Services In Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

This article uses the case of Japan to advocate for a new theoretical approach to the study of the nonprofit sector. In particular, it examines how theoretical models based on the European and North American experiences have difficulty explaining the relationship between the nonprofit sector and the state in Japan, and argues that a state-in-society approach is better suited to explaining complex state–society relations in diverse cultural contexts. It does this by examining the evolution of social welfare service provision in Japan. This article is motivated to explain an apparent paradox: Japan’s recent efforts toward greater government decentralization and privatization …

Mother Earth "Speaks": Change Yourself, Change The World, Use The Archetypal Energy "Harmony" As A Guide, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In relation to the Cosmos, we all, as human beings, live on this tiny planet we call Earth, a planet that supports and sustains life, as we know it. There are many different kinds of people, plants, and animals functioning in harmony with soil, air, and water--all linked to one another in a complex web of life to form one Earth community. Unfortunately, we often take this miracle and ecosystem of life for granted. When, however, we take the ecosystem of life too much for granted, Mother Earth "speaks," reflecting imbalances and dis-harmonies. When Mother Earth "speaks," her message is …

Senior Center Network Redesign Under Demand Uncertainty, Osman Ozaltin, Michael P. Johnson Jr., Andrew Schaefer

Michael P. Johnson

Senior centers off#11;er a variety of services to facilitate independent living of older adults. In the U.S., increasing suburbanization and aging of suburban residents necessitate reconfiguring senior services. We propose a two-echelon network of senior centers across large study areas and formulate a stochastic facility location/allocation model with mixed-integer recourse. We apply our model to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which has one of the oldest population in the U.S. Our model shows that a two-echelon network design is appropriate for increasing the occupancy of senior centers as community focal points while maintaining customized and accessible programming in small neighborhood areas.

The Evolution Of The Theoretical Foundations Of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory In Public Policy, Michael S. Givel

Michael S. Givel

Punctuated equilibrium theory in public policy replicated from biological punctuated equilibrium theory has concluded that public policies alternate between stasis and punctuation. However, recent research on Pacific Northwest forest policy, U.S. state tobacco policy, and U.S federal auto efficiency policy have found no punctuations despite an attempt to do so. What is the efficacy of using biological punctuated equilibrium theory to also explain punctuated equilibrium in public policy? Significant differences exist between biological and public policy punctuated equilibrium theory including time frames for change, what constitutes outside disturbances of equilibrium, venues of punctuated equilibrium, levels of analysis for change, and …

From Undemocratic To Democratic Civil Society: Japan's Volunteer Fire Departments, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How do undemocratic civic organizations become compatible with democratic civil society? How do local organizations merge older patriarchal, hierarchical values and practices with newer more egalitarian, democratic ones? This article tells the story of how volunteer fire departments have done this in Japan. Their transformation from centralized war instrument of an authoritarian regime to local community safety organization of a full-fledged democracy did not happen overnight. A slow process of demographic and value changes helped the organization adjust to more democratic social values and practices. The way in which this organization made the transition offers important lessons for emerging democracies …

The Limits And Opportunities Of Networks: Municipalities And Canadian Climate Change Policy, Christopher D. Gore

Christopher D Gore

Research on climate change policy and politics has become increasingly focused on the actions and influence of subnational governments. In North America, this attention has been particularly focused on why subnational governments have taken action in the absence of national leadership, what effect action might have on future national climate policy, and whether the collective action of networks of municipal governments are reshaping and challenging the character of national and global climate governance. This paper examines Canadian municipal climate in light of the absence of a comprehensive and effective climate national strategy. The paper considers various reasons why local governments …

How To Help Your Community Recover From Disaster: A Manual For Planning And Action, Judah J. Viola,

Judah J. Viola, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Improvement And Growth Of Local Productive Systems From Identity, Selfsufficiency, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Luciana Mercedes Girotto

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

This paper intends to begin the discussion of a new territorial development perspective. According to Boisier, the concept of territorial development is understood as one related to the idea of container, rather than content. Therefore, it is understood that, even though every portion of the earth surface is territory, not all territories are important from a developmental perspective. The aforementioned author differentiates among: “natural territory”, composed by natural elements free from any human intervention; "equipped territory" or “intervened territory”, where man has already built transport systems, infrastructure and even extractive production activities; and "organized territory", characterized by a community with …

Tobacco Use Policymaking And Administration In Bhutan, Michael S. Givel

Michael S. Givel

No abstract provided.

Review: The Limits Of Boundaries: Why City-Regions Cannot Be Self-Governing, By Andrew Sancton, Christopher D. Gore

Christopher D Gore

No abstract provided.

Archetypal Energies, The Emergence Of Obama As A Practical Idealist, And Global Transformation, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

During this time of change, AHP and kindred spirits on the edge have important roles to play. We are the keepers and nurturers of a transformative and evolutionary Vision for Consciousness and a more humane world. At issue is what I will call the “psychic politics” for global transformation, nurtured by practical idealism and the Archetypal Energies. In other writings, I have described Archetypal Energies as Higher Vibrational Energies, operating deep within our individual and collective psyches, which have their own transcendent value, purpose, quality, and “voice”, unique to the individual. We experience them as “creative urges” to move us …