Mapping Urban Revitalization: Using GIS Spatial Analysis to Evaluate a New Housing Policy

This longitudinal, multimethod study uses geographical information system (GIS) software to evaluate the community-wide impact of a neighborhood revitalization project. Unsystematic visual examination and analysis of GIS maps are offered as a complementary tool to quantitative analysis and one that is much more compelling, meaningful, and effective in presentation to community and nonscientific professional audiences. The centerpiece of the intervention was the development of a new, middle-class housing subdivision in an area that was declining physically and economically. This represents three major urban/housing policy directions: (1) the emphasis on home ownership for working-class families, (2) the deconcentration of poverty through development of mixed-income neighborhoods, and (3) the clean up and redevelopment of contaminated, former industrial brownfields. Resident survey responses, objective environmental assessment observations, and building permit data were collected, geocoded at the address level, and aggregated to the block level on 60 street blocks in the older neighborhoods surrounding the new housing in two waves: during site clearing and housing construction (Time 1: 1993–95) and three years post-completion (Time 2: 1998–99). Variables mapped include (a) Time 1–2 change in self-reported home repairs and improvements, (b) change in the assessed physical condition of yards and exteriors of 925 individual residential properties, (c) change in residents' home pride, and (d) a city archive of building permits at Time 2. Physical conditions improved overall in the neighborhood, but spatial analysis of the maps suggest that the spillover effects, if any, of the new housing were geographically limited and included unintended negative psychological consequences. Results argue for greater use of GIS and the street block level in community research and of psychological and behavioral variables in planning research and decisions.     

From the State to the Streets: The Debate over the Civil Union Bill and Conservative Strategic Change in Peru

The adoption of SOGI policies depends on the strategies activists choose to support or oppose them. Nevertheless, the conditions that explain why some strategies are prioritised over others are not evident. In Peru, the 2013 debate over civil unions prompted a strategic shift in which the conservative wing started to benefit from intensive street mobilisation strategies. Why did this change occur? We argue that a deeply divided electoral competition and the decay of the Catholic Church's moral authority favoured this outcome. This article analyses the trajectory of these strategies over time to identify the conditions that contributed to the shift.     

“中国式过马路”的原因及对策探析--以信息不对称视角

中国式过马路问题是中国目前一大社会顽疾，问题的实质在于路权之争，但并不是原因，真正的原因在于路权冲突的双方存在着信息不对称，即行人与机动车驾驶人互动过程中因为存在着对交通规则、平等、人权、执法者与司法者的倾向性等问题认识的某种信息不对称——认识偏差，才会出现社会交通领域的“劣币驱逐良币”现象，解决问题的途径在于通过一系列的措施促使正确信息对行人的影响，即纠正行人的意识，才是根除“中国式过马路”问题的根本之道。     

Meaning and material in the language of the street

This paper describes the materiality of street signs, an unappreciated and ubiquitous type of everyday written text. Drawing on social semiotics, linguistic landscapes and writing system research, it uses a categorisation of social roles associated with street signs and of the functions of street signs applied to street signs in Newcastle upon Tyne, with some other wider examples. The materials are divided into: stone and metal signs, which use capitals and archaic letters, convey permanence and quality, and are locating in function; signs handwritten or printed on paper, which also use capitals, convey temporary status and novelty and are mostly informing; painted signs, which often use lower case, have highly individual letter forms to express identity, and are usually informing; other materials ranging from glass to snow, expressing diverse ideas of permanence. The conclusion is that the meaning of street signs depends in part on the materials they are made of, particularly to convey permanence and identity.     

儿童流浪行为分析及其干预策略

流浪儿童问题是一个综合性问题,既有社会结构变迁、家庭功能失调的影响,也是儿童和青少年个体适应不良的结果,因此解决流浪儿童问题需要运用综合发展的策略。从社会工作的视角,我国流浪儿童保护机构应有的干预策略包括机构内的行为、学业和就业辅导,机构外的家庭维系服务和社区安置,从而保障儿童和青少年的健康成长。     

Overcoming resistance to resistance in public administration: Resistance strategies of marginalized publics in citizen‐state interactions

There has been a general resistance to resistance studies in public administration (PA) research. Although previous research has documented instances of selective policy implementation by PA practitioners that put minority groups at a comparative disadvantage, we still have a limited understanding of the different ways in which these groups contest discriminatory administrative practices especially within non‐western developing countries. To address this gap, in this article, I discuss the various strategic responses the Khawaja Sira—a genderqueer group of Pakistan—employ in their interactions with the frontline police workers to contest their hyper‐surveillance and moral policing. The discussion illustrates that while Khawaja Sira mostly rely on individual acts of contestation in their interactions with police officers, the emerging leadership of the Khawaja Sira is enabling emergence of new forms of resistance based on social capital and collective protests. In addition to contributing to the limited literature on citizen perspectives and LGBT issues in PA research, the theoretical framework of resistance presented here can serve as a good template to analyze citizen responses to discriminatory frontline practice in other sociopolitical contexts as well.     

Street Trees,the Private Finance Initiative and Participatory Regeneration: Policy Innovation or Incompatible Perspectives

In common with other northern cities, Sheffield has experienced a dramatic reduction in funding from central government. Its response has been twofold. Firstly, to reduce the cost of service delivery, in part through augmenting or replacing public sector service provision through transfer to voluntary bodies and/or the private sector; the latter through private finance initiative (PFI) contracts. Secondly, the local authority has sought to promote economic regeneration through increased citizen involvement and participation. The problem for this combined strategy is that the two approaches have clashed over a previously underrated and overlooked area of public provision, namely the maintenance of street trees. Issues relating to the design of the contract, the economic imperative inherent within PFI contracts, initial reaction to popular protests, and reluctance to acknowledge the authority of alternative perspectives, have combined to undermine the salience of the participatory regeneration model for key sections of the local community.     

街头犯罪打击防控对策——以奥运为背景

侦查实践中街头犯罪主要有：涉车盗窃、拎包、扒窃、抢夺、抢劫以及诈骗。除了街头犯罪的一般特点，奥运期间其可能呈现新的特征：涉外街头犯罪可能会增加；犯罪可能后果更严重，甚至造成恶劣国际影响；可能增加严重暴力犯罪类型；街头犯罪可能占据更多侦查资源。侦查部门应采取相应对策，以有效打击和防控。具体包括：强化证据意识；利用电子监控设备；加强对潜在街头犯罪主体的服务、管理和教育工作；强化基层基础工作；慎重处置涉外街头犯罪；警惕爆炸、绑架严重暴力犯罪。