Gated communities in America: Walling out the world?

Abstract

Gated communities—enclaves of homes surrounded by walls, often with security guards—are becoming increasingly popular in America. This article introduces and analyzes findings of a Fannie Mae Foundation—sponsored panel on gated communities held at the 1997 Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning annual conference. A key finding is that many people choose to reside in gated communities because they believe that such places reduce risk, ranging from the mundane (e.g., unwanted social exchanges) to the high stakes (e.g., declining home values).

In many ways, gated communities deliver what they promise, by providing an effective defense against daily intrusions. However, some of their benefits entail a high social cost. A sense of community within gated communities comes at the expense of a larger identity with the region outside. Gated communities manifest and reinforce an inward‐focused community culture, where the tension between the individual and society tilt toward self‐interest.     

Federal colonias policy in California: Too broad and too narrow

Abstract

This article presents data on the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States to compare the metropolitan population density in the eastern and western parts of the country. The data show that the West often has more densely settled metropolitan areas than the East, especially when compared with the Southeast. The difference is due in part to the arid and rugged environment in the West.

The article also develops a new understanding of Sunbelt development by comparing its eastern and western halves. The growth patterns of the Sunbelt are often contrasted with those of the Northeast and Midwest, the assumption being that its newer metropolitan areas share a common, lower‐density urban form. However, this study shows that intraregional differences within the Sunbelt make such comparisons difficult and deceptive.     

Wrestling Sprawl to the Ground: Defining and measuring an elusive concept

Abstract

The literature on urban sprawl confuses causes, consequences, and conditions. This article presents a conceptual definition of sprawl based on eight distinct dimensions of land use patterns: density, continuity, concentration, clustering, centrality, nuclearity mixed uses, and proximity. Sprawl is defined as a condition of land use that is represented by low values on one or more of these dimensions.

Each dimension is operationally defined and tested in 13 urbanized areas. Results for six dimensions are reported for each area, and an initial comparison of the extent of sprawl in the 13 areas is provided. The test confirms the utility of the approach and suggests that a clearer conceptual and operational definition can facilitate research on the causes and consequences of sprawl.     

‘I am an American’: protesting advertised ‘Americanness’

How are citizenships and nationalisms constructed, connected, and contested in the post-9/11 USA – performatively, affectively, and visually – and how do their relationships figure ‘Americanness’? This article takes up this question (1) by tracking how Americanness was advertised in the American Ad Council's ‘I am an American’ campaign and (2) by introducing the multimedia project ‘I am an American’: Video Portraits of Unsafe US Citizens, which engages the Ad Council's campaign as a practice-based protest of the Ad Council's advertised ‘Americanness’. The article traces how the Ad Council's campaign advertises what Evelyn Alsultany calls ‘diversity patriotism’. It also constructs a complex, mobile system of differentiation that marks some citizens as ‘safe’ and others as ‘unsafe’, which runs counter to the idealized notion of a unified ‘Americanness’ that it advertises. The article then examines how the practice-based protest project ‘I am an American’ takes these ‘unsafe citizens’ – US citizens who either will not or cannot make their differences normatively conform to the national ideal of the ‘One’ composed of the ‘Many’ propagated by the Ad Council's campaign – as its point of departure to reflect upon how citizenship protests function for and against citizenship, nationalisms, and various figurations of Americanness.     

检察机关参与社会管理创新的路径--以法律监督实践为视角

社会管理与检察工作密切相关,既是检察机关履行职责的重要内容、发挥职能的重要领域,也是检察机关必须承担的重要社会责任。检察职能具有多样性,参与加强和创新社会管理的路径也有多种。根据法律规定和检察实践,以执法办案为依托,完善检察环节的各项工作机制,配合相关部门深化犯罪预防、制发检察建议、完善行政执法与刑事司法衔接机制、参与社会管理综合治理、参与“两新组织”和虚拟社会的服务管理,是检察机关参与社会管理创新的有效路径。     

村落文化景观保护利用的原则及制度思考

当前村落文化景观的保护与利用是一个热点问题。文章在分析贵州村落文化景观保护与利用的现状及存在问题的基础上,提出了贵州村落文化景观保护与利用应该遵循可持续发展、整体保护、以人为本等原则,并从法律层面设计了贵州村落文化景观保护与利用的一些制度。     

加强和改善社会管理对政府建设提出的要求

社会建设滞后、社会矛盾多发是当前和今后一段时期我国社会面临的、具有紧迫性、全局性的重大问题。加强社会建设、改善社会管理,是各级政府当前和今后一段时期内的工作重心之一。做好这一工作,必须按照以下要求加强政府自身建设:由建设型政府向公共管理型政府转型;由事业领导型政府向公共服务型政府转变;由行政命令型政府向法治政府转变;由权威型政府向平民化、亲民化政府转变;由封闭型政府向开放、透明型政府转变;由无限权力的政府向有限权力的政府转变;由权力、责任不对等向责任政府转变;由管治社会的政府向与社会合作的政府转变。各级政府应加快更新思想、观念,创新体制、机制,革新方式、方法,使政府自身建设与社会发展趋势相一致,为加强社会建设、改善社会管理提供体制保证。     

业主拖欠物业服务费的法律问题研究

目前,物业服务行业的发展存在一种问题,业主由于各种原因对物业服务企业存在不满,进而拖欠物业服务费,而业主认为这是一种维护自己权利的行为。于是就出现了实践中物业服务企业继续降低服务质量、业主继续拖欠物业服务费的恶性循环。因此,了解业主拖欠物业服务费相关法律原理,对于促进物业服务行业的良性发展能起到促进作用。     

着力推进中国特色公共文化服务体系建设

中国特色公共文化服务体系,是指以政府为主体的公共部门向公民提供公共文化产品与服务的制度和系统的总称。中国特色公共文化服务姓"公",它以服务全体公民为对象,主要任务是保障公民的文化权利、满足公民的文化需求、促进公民的文化消费。中国特色公共文化服务主体是政府,主要职能是指政府为满足公民的基本文化需求所提供的基本文化服务,包括明确公共文化服务目标、增加公共文化服务供给、完善公共文化服务制度。这里的公共文化服务制度,不是指顶层设计和具体政策,而是指如何规范和制约政府行为的制度安排。推进中国特色公共文化服务体系建设的举措,包括用科学理论指导实践、以核心价值凝聚共识、靠道德建设规范行为,以及全面整合文化资源、加快文化事业发展、扶持文化产业发展等。