Reintegrating disadvantaged communities into the fabric of urban life: The role of community development

Abstract

This article analyzes the extent to which systematic spatial variations in opportunities in metropolitan areas provide a persuasive rationale for three current strategies for stimulating the development of urban communities: enterprise zone programs, community development financial institutions, and community development corporations. It examines whether the strategies are appropriately designed to respond to serious deficiencies in opportunities in distressed inner cities and reviews available evidence about their efficacy in addressing those deficiencies.

A review of the literature reveals that poor inner‐city neighborhoods, particularly communities of color, have unequal access to opportunities in numerous areas, including employment, credit and financial services, housing, neighborhood shopping, and social networks and services that provide access to information and resources. The limited best‐case evidence indicates that the three strategies vary greatly in their ability to address these inequalities.     

高职女大学生心理健康教育初探

随着社会的发展,大学生心理健康问题受到人们越来越多的关注。本文针对高职女生产生的自足、自卑、空虚、嫉妒和情绪化等心理健康问题,探讨了这一群体心理问题产生的历史现象及自身的原因,提出了解决高职女生心理健康的对策。     

The physical and mental health status of homeless adults

Abstract

This paper reviews recent research on the physical and mental health status of homeless single adults and briefly summarizes definitional, sampling, and measurement problems. It presents findings from research examining the physical health status of homeless adults; the data suggest that homelessness places people at greater risk for specific health problems and also complicates treatment. The authors then review findings on the mental health status of homeless adults from several methodologically rigorous studies that carefully define and measure mental illness among the homeless population. The final section discusses what is known about the short‐ and long‐term service needs of the physically and mentally disabled homeless population.

The studies reviewed suggest that individuals with chronic physical or severe mental illnesses are more vulnerable than others to homelessness. Homelessness exacerbates physical and/or mental conditions and complicates their treatment. Despite myths to the contrary, research and demonstration programs have shown that most homeless individuals are willing to receive assistance. By linking health and mental health services to appropriate housing, such individuals can be treated and cared for in community settings. However, local communities often do not have the necessary resources to meet the long‐term needs of severely mentally ill or physically disabled homeless people.     

Gated communities: The new ideal way of life in natal,Brazil

Abstract

Gated communities have been growing quickly in Brazil's urban and suburban areas since the 1980s, bringing challenges to society through their privatization of public space, conflict with planning norms, and interference with the integrated planning of the cities in which they are built. My article analyzes this phenomenon to establish a clear basis for purposeful public policies in Brazil. The analysis is based on a case study of the first three closed condominiums in Natal. It involves 31 semistructured interviews focusing on legal, urban/architectural, and segregational factors and their implications.

Federal and local governments have contributed, deliberately or unwittingly, to the development of such enclosed complexes, which have social and spatial impacts and guarantee that the upper class will remain wealthy. There also seems to be a close relationship between the spread of fortified residences and the promotion of a “culture of fear.”     

农村集体经济薄弱问题的探索

介绍了农村集体经济组织的概念,分析了我国农村集体经济组织发展的制约因素,并提出了发展策略。     

金融危机下对高职毕业生就业问题的再探讨

在金融危机背景下,高职院校毕业生就业优势也出现了挑战。这与高职院校超越社会发展速度的膨胀式增长有关,也跟高职院校自身不能很好地跟社会相调适有关。要解决这些问题,除政府和社会采取相关措施外,作为高职院校要以就业为导向,强化服务角色。同时,作为学生自身来说,要树立市场意识,增加自身的就业竞争力。     

《论语》教育思想探微

《论语》一书中包含了非常丰富的教育思想,不仅对教师的品德提出了要求,同时对教育的目的、方法、内容等也作了深入的探讨,这对我们现今社会教育的发展、公民整体道德水准的提高以及我国精神文明建设均有诸多的启发和指导意义。     

“入世”后我国财税政策的选择

1998年以来,为扩大内需、刺激经济,我国已连续4年实施积极的财政政策。从一定意义上说,我国短期性的积极财政政策正在向中长期的战略性财政政策转变。本文探讨了“入世”后财税作为政府宏观调控的重要手段,需要作出哪些相应的对策以及如何进一步稳定并完善现行税制等问题。     

职工素质工程对不同职工群体的适用性

在知识经济时代,知识由服务于经济的地位正逐步变为经济发展和增长的主要因素之一。知识经济的发展对作为知识和智力载体的职工队伍将产生巨大的影响,也提出了新的要求。因此,如何提高职工队伍的整体素质,迎接知识经济挑战,是摆在我们面前的一个重要课题。     

试论我国行政过错责任追究制度

在推进法治政府建设的今天,如何进一步制约与监督政府权力的运行,是一个意义重大的话题。行政过错责任追究制度的建立在于规范行政权力的行使,提高行政效率。但现阶段,我国的行政过错责任追究制度存在一定的缺陷和不足,表现为:价值定位的缺陷、程序正义的缺失、过错行为过于细分和法制统一的缺失。改进和完善我国行政过错责任追究制度,应做到:程序立法规定完善、科学标准体系建立、公开公正的具体制度、简易行政法庭的设立和立法体制体例的统一。     

Blurring Boundaries: The Integration of NGOs into Governance in Kenya

This article examines the impact of the proliferation of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on governance in Kenya. Looking specifically at service provision, it analyzes how the growth of NGOs has begun to change the way decisions are made and policy is formulated. In so doing, the article explores shifting NGO–government relations over time. The governance of service provision has become a complex, intertwined affair in which NGOs sit on national policymaking committees, government integrates NGO plans and budgets into national policy, and government actors learn from and copy NGOs' participatory, accountable approach. Through (1) the integration of former NGO leaders in government, (2) increasing the variety of voices heard in government decision making, (3) lobbying by NGOs, and (4) mimicry of NGOs by government, governance of Kenyan service provision has begun to become more democratic. Through such changes, developing countries are witnessing a blurring of the line between public and private.     

Barriers to the widespread utilization of residential solar energy: The prospects for solar energy in the U.S. housing industry

Residential solar energy applications can provide a significant fraction of the U.S. energy budget. However, to do so, they must be combined with other energy-conserving strategies and diffused rapidly throughout the housing industry. Discussed are the potential resistances to the diffusion of solar energy within the U.S. housing industry; implications for the application of residential solar energy are treated.Richard Schoen is an architect and faculty member of the University of California at Los Angeles' School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He is also a staff consultant to the Solar Energy Team at Caltech.An earlier version of this paper was prepared and delivered at the International Solar Energy Conference, Le soleil au service de l'homme, Paris, July 2–6, 1973.Alan Hirshberg is an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a consultant to the City of Pasadena, California, and also a member of the Solar Energy Team of the Environmental Quality Laboratory, Dabney Hall, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109.     

The impact of the introduction of premiums into a SCHIP program.

This paper examines the introduction of premiums into the SCHIP program in Kentucky. Kentucky introduced a $20 monthly premium for SCHIP coverage for children with family incomes between 151 percent and 200 percent of the federal poverty level in December 2003. Administrative data between 2001 and 2004 is used to estimate a Cox proportional hazard model that predicts enrollment duration in this premium-paying category. The results suggest that a premium reduces the length of enrollment, with the impact concentrated in the first three months after the introduction of the premium. Similar results are not found for the non-premium-paying category.     

The emergence of stable racially and ethnically diverse urban communities: A case study of nine U.S. cities

Abstract

We examine the characteristics of 14 stable racially and ethnically diverse urban communities in 9 U.S. cities and point to policies that could strengthen these communities and encourage the growth of more diverse neighborhoods in American cities. The cities examined are Chicago; Denver; Houston; Memphis, TN; Milwaukee; New York; Oakland, CA; Philadelphia; and Seattle. University researchers and community leaders in each city collaborated on the research for this project.

We identify two types of stable diverse communities, “self‐conscious” and “laissez‐faire,” which have evolved for different reasons and with different characteristics. Stable diverse communities will not just happen, but they can be influenced by a number of policy recommendations stemming from our research. These include helping individuals and organizations take leadership roles in their communities, strengthening and enforcing fair housing and antidiscrimination laws, earmarking economic resources to encourage neighborhood diversity, and creating community safety and jobs programs.     

The "common sense" of the nonprofit hospital tax exemption: a policy analysis.

Although rarely discussed prior to the 1985 Utah Supreme Court ruling against Intermountain Health Care Inc., the question of whether to grant tax exemptions to nonprofit hospitals is currently being debated by federal, state, and local legislators, and by the courts. Changes to current policy seem likely. This policy analysis: (1) presents the historical and legal background; (2) examines the economic, political, and organizational implications of current tax-exemption policy; and (3) offers three alternatives to this current policy. The analysis indicates that the current policy provides little incentive for nonprofit hospitals to make contributions of charity care. Of the alternatives, eliminating the exemption is not politically feasible at this time; regulating hospital operations and outputs portends an implementation nightmare; and tying tax subsidy levels to output levels of charity care--perhaps the strongest and most efficient incentive--would require an unlikely political consensus on what constitute valid and reliable measures of charity care. If there is a movement toward subsidies, then linking subsidy amounts to levels of charity care will depend on whether policy analysts can design satisfactory empirical measures. With the advent of universal health coverage, the demand for charity care will decrease. The problem for tax-exempt hospitals will then become justifying the exemption by demonstrating the extent to which they generate community benefits at no or reduced cost to society.