IHS publications cover the entire field of urban management, including topics such as urban governance and economics, climate change and sustainability, resettlement, and smart cities. In this article, we summarised the papers published by the IHS academic staff in 2023. The article is divided into our main focus areas: Urban Economics and Governance, Urban Sustainability and Climate Change Resilience, and Urban Social-Spatial Development.
Urban Economics and Governance
The Urban Economics and Governance Department focuses on how cities and urban areas develop economically and how governance processes shape urban development. One of the focuses of this department is on urban economy. The experts look at how cities and regions can become resilient to shocks and manage economic transitions to achieve sustainable development.
The second theme of this department is governance, or the complex interactions of urban stakeholders in cities and the processes by which decisions are made within a specific social and economic context. This focus is central to understanding how to improve the policies, networks, and managerial and administrative structures in place to guide cities.
The IHS academic staff in this department specialises in topics such as public policy analysis, economic geography, capacity building, local economic development, and multi-level governance. In this overview, you will find their recent papers, published in 2023.
Summary
The purpose of this study is to examine how five different multi-level governance (MLG) models affect place branding (PB) performance in Saudi Arabia. The study reveals that different MLG models indeed affect PB performance differently. Direct access to central leadership and resources boosts branding performance, while privatization promotes flexibility with similarly positive effects.
Publication
Alsayel, A., Fransen, J., Jong, M. de; (2023) City branding in a multi-level governance context: comparing branding performance across five institutional models for urban development in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Place Management and Development
Summary
Among Polish cities facing socio-economic difficulties are the former regional capitals, which lost their administrative status due to the 1998 reform, reducing the number of regions from 49 to 16. Making use of this quasi-experimental setting, the study assesses the impact of the loss of administrative status on the affected cities with difference-in-differences models. The findings show a significant negative impact on the economy and, partly, on other dimensions of development.
Publication
Cieślak, B., Nagler, P. & Oort, F. van (2023). Regional capital no more. How the reform of the territorial government has marginalized Polish middle-sized cities
Summary
Adaptive governance describes the purposeful collective actions to resist, adapt, or transform when faced with shocks. As governments are reluctant to intervene in informal settlements, community-based organisations (CBOs) self-organize and take the lead. This study explores under what conditions CBOs in Mathare informal settlement, Nairobi, initiate and sustain resilience activities during COVID-19.
Publication
Fransen, J., Hati, B., Simon. H. K. and Stapele, N. van (2023). Adaptive governance by community-based organisations: community resilience initiatives during Covid-19 in Mathare, Nairobi. Sustainable Development
Summary
This study compares eleven urban transformations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland to shed light on the degree to which programmatic urban transformations have been successful in shifting the urban fabric from an industrial to a post-industrial state. It examines the combinations of factors that, over time, have contributed to a qualitative urban change. Using primary and secondary sources, the researchers perform a Trajectory-Based Qualitative Comparative Analysis (TJ-QCA) to identify recipes for successful urban transitions.
Publication
Gerrits. L., Pagiarin, S., Klein, K. U. and Knieling, F. (2023). Tracing complex urban transformations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria using trajectory-based qualitative comparative analysis (TJ-QCA). Cities
Summary
Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) are concentrations of urban economic activity where businesses start-up, innovate, grow, and create opportunities for other businesses. Successful cases of EE in cities in the global South call for a contextualisation of the framework to those challenging conditions. Based on the case of ICT in Yaba, Nigeria, this study argues that their success results from their vitality, defined by growth and reputation, density and diversity of actors, and networks coordinated on trust and resilience.
Publication
Gómez, G. M.. Manya, V. and Fransen, J. (2023). Vital entrepreneurial ecosystems: The case of ICT in Yaba, Nigeria, Cities
Summary
How do artists value their political action in view of their artistic reputation, and why? A promising theoretical entry to this question is Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory. The researchers in this paper used his concept of field-specific symbolic capital in cultural production to study political expression by artists; findings are based on empirical research in the cities of Hamburg, Hanover, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Publication
Kirchberg, V., Hoop, M. & Kaddar, M. (2023). The influence of political engagement on artistic reputation. Self-evaluations of artists: Der Einfluss von politischem Engagement auf die künstlerische Reputation. Selbsteinschätzungen von Künstlern. Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy/Zeitschrift für Kulturmanagement und Kulturpolitik
Summary
This paper aims to explain how the governance model changes in smart cities by using South Korea’s experience as a case study. South Korean smart city development is divided into three phases according to the national master plan and maturity of smart cities. The cases under consideration are three representative smart cities: Seoul, Songdo, and Sejong.
Publication
Lim, Y., Edelenbos, J. & Gianoli, A. (2023). Dynamics in the governance of smart cities: Insights from South Korean smart cities. International Journal of Urban Sciences
Summary
This research paper addresses the need for an adaptable theoretical framework in the context of sustainable land governance for Water–Energy–Food (WEF) systems, bridging the gap between international guidelines and contextual realities. The novel framework is useful to effectively tackle the intricate challenges of rural and peri-urban revitalisation in the Global South by providing a holistic approach that considers the multi-dimensional interactions of land with water, energy, and food systems.
Publication
Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Sustainable land governance for water–energy–food systems: A framework for rural and peri-urban revitalisation. Land
Urban Environment and Climate Change Resilience
The Urban Sustainability and Climate Change Resilience Department focuses on how urban areas worldwide can transition towards more sustainable and resilient development pathways in environmental challenges and climate change dynamics. This department focuses on exploring the relationship between the natural and built environment.
It examines how green infrastructure and nature-based solutions can contribute to improving environmental performance and how innovations in managing water, energy, and transport systems can aid in this process. The cluster also studies effective and efficient ways to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation actions and measures their effects while evaluating their performance.
The IHS specialists in this department examine topics such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, nature-based solutions, ecosystem services and green cities. In this overview, you will find their papers published this year.
Summary
In the Green City Conceptual Framework (GCCF), developed by the Urban Sustainability and Climate Change Resilience Department (USCCR) from IHS, the promotion of the extensive use of greenery, the second entry point of this concept, is linked to the idea of bringing back nature to cities. This advocates for an equal balance between green and built spaces through the extensive use of greenery practices, such as increasing the presence of multifunctional Urban Green Spaces (UGS) in combination with water resources, whenever possible, green roofs, green facades, green linear corridors, etc.
Publication
Brilhante, O. and Skinner, J. (2023). Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) and Nature-Based Approaches (NBS) in the context of green cities. Environmental Analysis & Ecology Studies
Summary
In this study, a multi-centre cloud platform architecture called 3L4C was constructed, which includes a Cloud-edge-terminal Layer (3L), data centre, model centre, control centre, and customer-service centre (4C). Data fusion technology and an air-land-water coupled model were constructed. Based on HTML5, JavaScript, and Java, an integrated water environment management platform was created and applied to the Three Gorges Reservoir Basin, China.
Publication
Chen. G., Zhang, W., Liu, X., Peng, H., Zhou, F., Wang, H., Ke, Q. and Xiao, B. (2023). Development and application of a multi-centre cloud platform architecture for water environment management. Journal of Environmental Management
Summary
This paper analyzes research from three cities in India and Zimbabwe (Indore, Harare, and Masvingo) to describe the vulnerability of informal workers in several sectors. It highlights the ways in which the direct impacts of climate change are compounded by other factors, including low-quality living conditions and the absence of provision for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS).
Publication
Dodman, D., Sverdlik, A., Agarwal, S., Kadungure, A., Kothiwal, K., Machemedze, R. & Verma, S. (2023). Climate change and informal workers: Towards an agenda for research and practice. Urban Climate
Summary
Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA), as a type of green infrastructure in cities, can be seen as a multifunctional nature-based solution (NBS) to face climate change while also addressing food scarcity and accessibility, as well as income and gender inequalities, especially in informally developed urban areas of Latin America. This chapter explores, with transdisciplinarity lenses, UPA in three Andean cities: Bogotá, Quito, and Lima.
Publication
Hernández-García, J. and Pico Parra, T. (2023). Co-producing urban and peri-urban agriculture in Andean countries. In R. J. Lawrence (Ed.), Handbook of transdisciplinary: global perspectives
Urban Socio-Spatial Development
The Urban Socio-Spatial Development cluster focuses on the making of cities and the interactions with and transitions within cities. The cluster emphasizes the strong connection between urban planning and housing. It uses principles of social, spatial, and gender justice to analyze urban processes and evaluate projects, plans, and policies.
The concept of housing justice is introduced, along with the principles needed to achieve adequate housing, leading to just, inclusive, and livable cities. The topics addressed include the creation and utilization of urban space, civic engagement, and its role in transforming both the physical and social environment, as well as the right to the city, particularly the right to land and housing.
The IHS academic staff in this department has expertise in themes such as regional development planning, gentrification, informal land markets, land and housing development strategies, resettlement projects and urban heritage. In this overview, you will find the papers they published in 2023.
Summary
In its attempt to make sense of Mumbai’s real estate crisis, this paper brings to the fore important insights about the organizing logics of urban land markets. Drawing on an exhaustive database of real estate indicators combined with ethnographic fieldwork, the paper reveals a tendency among Mumbai developers to fight competition by chasing land irrespective of long-term financial prudency, which in turn hinders the development and sale of new real estate.
Publication
Baliga, A. (2023). Chasing land, chasing crisis: Interrogating speculative urban development through developers’ pursuit of land commodification in Mumbai. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Summary
This chapter sheds light on the issue of resettlement in Chennai city in the context of housing rights of urban poor women with a focus on the role of Mobile Technology for Development (MT4D) in mitigating the negative impact of the entire process of resettlement. The MT4D experiments in the field with affected women also present the dynamics of the interactions between gender, technology, and poverty in the urban resettlement context.
Publication
Bosco, S. Don and Eerd, M. van (2023). Not quite the death of distance in Chennai : challenging the resettlement utopia of Perumbakkam. In P. Arora, U. Raman and R. König (Eds.), Feminist futures of work : reimagining labour in the digital economy
Summary
This expletory research adapts a resettlement case from Bangladesh and explains how incremental housing transformation contributes to social and financial capital and helps relocates restore their livelihoods. This research aims to highlight the significance of incremental housing transformation by identifying livelihood outcomes derived from these housing transformations.
Publication
Foishal, I. H., Eerd, M. van, Al-Tanbin, S. H. and Noman, A. Al (2023). Restoring and improving livelihoods in resettlement sites through housing transformation : evidence from Gopalganj, Bangladesh. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture
Summary
This study explores community vitality in informal settlements by turning to the concept of frugal practices, defined as activities to develop and implement low-cost robust solutions that address communities' needs within resource-constrained contexts. Based on literature and case study analysis in Nairobi, the researchers define community vitality as dynamic relationships between residents and other local actors to cope with uncertainty and to meet community goals.
Publication
Fransen, J., Hati, B., Nyumba, R. & Tuijl, E. van (2023). Community vitality and frugal practices in informal settlements in Nairobi: Towards a typology. Cities
Summary
Riverine women who resettled to Altamira have lost their traditional identity and shifted their entire lives to living the majority of their days in the city, changing customs, becoming more dependent on men, and isolating themselves by deepening their responsibilities in the household. By using ethnographic methods, with walking along and participatory approaches, deeper understanding of the consequences created by resettlement was seen in the daily lives of the riverine women.
Publication
Patchineelam, S. M. & Eerd, M. van (2023). Changing traditions: The case of Amazonian riverine women and Belo Monte hydropower dam. In A. Skjerven & M. Fordham (Eds.), Gender and the sustainable development goals
Summary
Typical of an urban character, constant population growth in Enugu necessitated the need to provide adequate housing to the teeming population. In addition to the housing provision, a decent mass housing project was developed through proper spatial planning.
Publication
Agboeze, A. I., Vries, W. T. de & Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Occupants’ pinions on housing conditions: The case of affordable housing schemes in Enugu, Nigeria turning into slums. African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences
Summary
Engaging diverse stakeholders can promote shared decision-making, identify common goals, and enhance the implementation of sustainable water governance strategies. Taking this into account, this research evaluates multi-stakeholder engagement in the Bogotá River Basin in Colombia over the past 30 years to promote sustainable water management in the face of current global challenges.
Publication
Salamanca-Cano, A. K. & Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). Stakeholder engagement around water governance: 30 years of decision-making in the Bogotá river basin. Urban Science
Summary
This paper is a land-policy review of the Municipal Program for Sustainable Urban Development of San Andrés Cholula (MPSUD) and the writ of amparo, with a case-study approach for San Rafael Comac, based on a literature review.
Publication
Schumacher, M., Guizar Villalvazo, M., Kurjenoja, A. K. & Durán-Díaz, P. (2023). The writ of amparo and indigenous consultation as instruments to enforce inclusive land management in San Andrés Cholula, Mexico. Land
