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Articles 181 - 197 of 197

Full-Text Articles in Urban Studies and Planning

Urban Heat Island Research In Phoenix, Arizona, Winston T. L. Chow, Dean Brennan, Anthony J. Brazel Apr 2012

Urban Heat Island Research In Phoenix, Arizona, Winston T. L. Chow, Dean Brennan, Anthony J. Brazel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the past 60 years, metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, has been among the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States, and this rapid urbanization has resulted in an urban heat island (UHI) of substantial size and intensity. During this time, an uncommon amount of UHI-specific research, relative to other cities in North America, occurred within its boundaries. This review investigates the possible reasons and motivations underpinning the large body of work, as well as summarizing specific themes, approaches, and theoretical contributions arising from such study. It is argued that several factors intrinsic to Phoenix were responsible for the prodigious output: strong …


Public Housing: Appreciating Assets?, Sock Yong Phang Jan 2012

Public Housing: Appreciating Assets?, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

The topic of HDB housing is one that is close to the hearts and minds of the majority of Singaporeans. The first part of the presentation will provide a brief overview of price trends in Singapore’s housing sector. The second part delves into the market and policy factors behind the rapid increase in HDB housing prices since 2006. The monograph “Reflections on Housing a Nation” published by the Ministry of National Development in February 2011, contains numerous statements on the goals of housing policy. Briefly, the government is committed to affordable home ownership as a major pillar of Singapore’s public …


Analyses Of Nocturnal Temperature Cooling-Rate Response To Historical Local-Scale Urban Land-Use/Land Cover Change, Winston T. L. Chow, Bohumil M. Svoma Sep 2011

Analyses Of Nocturnal Temperature Cooling-Rate Response To Historical Local-Scale Urban Land-Use/Land Cover Change, Winston T. L. Chow, Bohumil M. Svoma

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Urbanization affects near-surface climates by increasing city temperatures relative to rural temperatures [i.e., the urban heat island (UHI) effect]. This effect is usually measured as the relative temperature difference between urban areas and a rural location. Use of this measure is potentially problematic, however, mainly because of unclear ‘‘rural’’ definitions across different cities. An alternative metric is proposed—surface temperature cooling/warming rates—that directly measures how variations in land-use and land cover (LULC) affect temperatures for a specific urban area. In this study, the impact of local-scale (,1 km2 ), historical LULC change was examined on near-surface nocturnal meteorological station temperatures sited …


Macroeconomic Effects Of Over-Investment In Housing In An Aggregative Model Of Economic Activity, Hian Teck Hoon Oct 2010

Macroeconomic Effects Of Over-Investment In Housing In An Aggregative Model Of Economic Activity, Hian Teck Hoon

Research Collection School Of Economics

Is there a theoretical basis for the view that the end of a period of over-investment necessarily leads to a period of below-normal employment as the excess capital stock is run down? We study the repercussions of a false boom in housing driven by prior expectations of future housing prices not justified by fundamentals. When these expectations are corrected, the result is a precipitous drop in housing prices and, on that account alone, some drop in employment. There is also a bulge in the housing stock. In the case of a closed economy, the downward shift of the term structure …


Affordable Homeownership Policy: Implications For Housing Markets, Sock Yong Phang Mar 2010

Affordable Homeownership Policy: Implications For Housing Markets, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Affordable homeownership is a policy that is often accorded a great deal of policy attention by governments of many countries. This paper aims to examine the market implications of setting a housing price to income ratio target for a market segment by the government. The policy requires active intervention by the government with regard to the targeted sector. The paper uses a simple model of the housing market with a homeownership affordability target to derive the market implications of such targets. In the presence of uncertainty and resource constraints, the objective of homeownership affordability is achieved for the targeted group …


Collaboration Between The Public And Private Sectors For Urban Development, Sock-Yong Phang Mar 2010

Collaboration Between The Public And Private Sectors For Urban Development, Sock-Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

In market economies, the government acts in many ways. In traditional public finance literature, the government taxes and provides public and merit goods. In addition, it regulates the behaviour of firms and individuals. In the context of market failures such as natural monopoly, high risk situations or long life projects, the government may choose to act as producer. In the past two decades, however, public sector collaboration with the private sector to achieve socio-economic objectives has become widely utilised as a method for the provision of the myriad of services that has come to be expected of governments.


Social Innovation & The City: What Is The Connection Between Social Innovation And Urban Innovation ... And Why Does It Matter?, Martin Stewart-Weeks Jan 2010

Social Innovation & The City: What Is The Connection Between Social Innovation And Urban Innovation ... And Why Does It Matter?, Martin Stewart-Weeks

Social Space

How we build and live in cities will come to shape the discourse on sustainability and ecologically-sound thinking for the future. Martin Stewart-Weeks examines why urban innovation holds the key to this debate.


"Eco-Cities" And "Sustainable Cities" - Whither?, Kheng Lian Koh, Asanga Gunawansa, Lovleen Bhullar Jan 2010

"Eco-Cities" And "Sustainable Cities" - Whither?, Kheng Lian Koh, Asanga Gunawansa, Lovleen Bhullar

Social Space

The concept of sustainable cities was first discussed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2003, with the idea of eco-cities entering the picture in 2007. Are the two mutually exclusive, or do they overlap? The authors consider the implications of cities as engines of growth and examine case studies that reveal what lies ahead for sustainable cities and eco-cities.


Affordable Homeownership Policy: Implications For Housing Markets, Sock Yong Phang Nov 2009

Affordable Homeownership Policy: Implications For Housing Markets, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Affordable homeownership is a policy that is often accorded a great deal of policy attention by governments of many countries. In this paper, we examine the market implications of setting a housing price to income ratio target for a market segment by the government. The policy requires active intervention by the government with regard to the targeted sector. We use a simple model of the housing market with a homeownership affordability target to derive the market implications of such targets. In the presence of uncertainty and resource constraints, the objective of homeownership affordability is achieved for the targeted group at …


Introduction, Justin O'Connor, Lily Kong Jan 2009

Introduction, Justin O'Connor, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The cultural and creative industries have become increasingly prominent in many policy agendas in recent years. Not only have governments identified the growing consumer potential for cultural/creative industry products in the home market, they have also seen the creative industry agenda as central to the growth of external markets. This agenda stresses creativity, innovation, small business growth, and access to global markets—all central to a wider agenda of moving from cheap manufacture towards high value-added products and services. The increasing importance of cultural and creative industries in national and city policy agendas is evident in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South …


Globalization, The Developmental State, And The Politics Of Urban Growth In Korea: A Multilevel Analysis, Yooil Bae, Jefferey M. Sellers Jan 2007

Globalization, The Developmental State, And The Politics Of Urban Growth In Korea: A Multilevel Analysis, Yooil Bae, Jefferey M. Sellers

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article explores the politics of urban growth in a transitional society. Korea, which is experiencing rapid industrialization, urbanization and democratic transition exemplifies a set of conditions that may seem to favor the emergence of an urban growth politics and business-led growth coalition much like that found in urban areas at the time of industrialization, and still prevalent in much of the US and other western democracies today. Yet our multilevel case analyses show that the transformations in Korea as a late industrializer, late democratizer and late adopter of urban policy have helped to consolidate more restricted policies toward urban …


The Internet And Civil Society: Environmental And Labour Organizations In Hong Kong, Yin-Wah Chu, James T. H. Tang Dec 2005

The Internet And Civil Society: Environmental And Labour Organizations In Hong Kong, Yin-Wah Chu, James T. H. Tang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To what extent has the Internet strengthened civil society? In which ways have civil society organizations (CSOs) used the internet to communicate their missions, enhance the discussion of public issues, extend networks and mobilize collective actions? This article seeks to answer these and related questions by reporting on an empirical study in Hong Kong. The study involves an analysis of the web pages launched by 14 environmental groups and 22 labour organizations on the one hand, and in-depth interviews with representatives of five of these organizations on the other. Due to the lack of resources and low level of e-readiness …


Globalisation And Urban Crime: Mean Streets Or Lost Suburbs, Mark Findlay Nov 2005

Globalisation And Urban Crime: Mean Streets Or Lost Suburbs, Mark Findlay

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This parer introduces notions of contemporary globalisation and the manner in which crime and glotalisation interrelate. In particular, the importance of analysing crime and control at both local and global levels is emphasised. Issues of crime and space are addressed in the context of urbanisation. The tendencies of the city to marginalise, and the consequential criminal outcomes from this environment of modernisation (and the modem city) are discussed. Urban planning has had a crucial part to play in humanising and at the same time distinguishing the global push towards urbanisation, and crime prevention is now a recognised feature of globalised …


Is Public Space Suited To Co-Operative Inquiry?, Sor-Hoon Tan May 2002

Is Public Space Suited To Co-Operative Inquiry?, Sor-Hoon Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article questions the nature of the philosophical commitment to the problem of 'the public' in modernity. To what extent does the natural form of the public determine the use and value of the instruments of pragmatism in the public-private divide. In this interpretation, John Dewey's ideas about 'the public' are presented in terms of how to solve a specific problem through what he sees as 'co-operative inquiry'. The article also examines the role of public space in the process of democratization through the potential of co-operative inquiry. More often than not, it appears that the politics of public space …


Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi Jan 1997

Nature And Nurture, Danger And Delight: Urban Women's Experiences Of The Natural World, Lily Kong, Belinda Yuen, Clive Briffett, Navjot S. Sodhi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In this paper, we address a research lacuna in the area of human experience of, and interaction with, nature. We focus on women in an urbanized setting, exploring their actual and desired experiences of the natural world, using Singapore as a case study. Our intention is to contribute to both the evolving theoretical and empirical discussions on this subject. Based on data collected from focus group discussions and household questionnaires, we conclude that women's relationships with nature in Singapore are underscored by a strong inclination towards nurturing: teaching, tending and caring, in a way that is not as apparent in …


'Environment' As A Social Concern: Democratising Public Arenas In Singapore?, Lily Kong Jan 1994

'Environment' As A Social Concern: Democratising Public Arenas In Singapore?, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the question of who defines the agenda of environmental concerns in Singapore. It argues that the state plays an inordinately large role in defining the agenda and implementing the solutions. Few other competing environmental agendas have been set in alternative public arenas. While this has worked generally well in Singapore, there are larger roles for environmental groups, businesses and industries, and other bodies to play. It is in the enlarged roles of these bodies that the hope for a greater democratization of public arenas in Singapore lies.


Urban Constraints, Political Imperatives: Environmental 'Design' In Singapore, Victor R. Savage, Lily Kong Aug 1993

Urban Constraints, Political Imperatives: Environmental 'Design' In Singapore, Victor R. Savage, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What lies at the heart of the continuing efforts at social education and engineering? We argue that they stem from a political elite which recognises the constraints facing Singapore and the need to deal with them at national level. Specifically, the government in Singapore has recognised the spatial constraints of an island-state and the dangers of a burgeoning population, particularly in relation to the need to sustain a viable urban ecosystem. They have therefore been conscientious in planning and population control. They have also stressed the importance of remaining economically viable in order to survive and an entire survival and …