‘Territorialising’ the primary school playground: deconstructing the geography of playtime

UK primary school playgrounds differ in architecture, size and presentation. Some are bleak and empty; others are crammed full of colour and exciting play equipment. Overall, however, the assumption is that it is a dedicated play space that promotes children's social and physical freedom. This paper, using Sack's (1986) notion of ‘territorialisation’, deconstructs the contemporary playground space and examines the spatial strategies invoked by those in charge of playground supervision and management. It also presents the children's territorialisation of the playground and their reactions to, and transgressions of, the adults' spatial control.     

健康公平理念下社区养老设施的空间分布研究——以上海市中心城区为例

提要:健康公平是当前联合国倡导的可持续发展重要目标,也是"健康中国"国策的重要战略目标.本文聚焦社区养老设施这一重要健康资源,采用基尼系数和洛伦兹曲线,比较分析上海市中心城区多种类型社区养老设施的空间分布公平性,并运用LISA方法辨析社区养老设施与老年人口的空间分布关联格局,识别存在高需求但低配置问题的供需显著失衡区域...     

POPULATION GROWTH IN HIGH‐AMENITY NONMETROPOLITAN AREAS: WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?*

ABSTRACT This paper examines the continued strong population growth in U.S. nonmetropolitan areas possessing high levels of natural amenities during the 1990s and the reasons for near convergence of growth across the top tiers of the amenity hierarchy. Based on estimated parsimonious spatial hedonic growth regressions, strong demand for high‐amenity areas continued in the 1990s, but the converging of population growth across the top tiers appeared related to capitalization of amenity differences among the tiers into factor prices. Yet, evidence obtained from controlling for spatial effects suggests that the relative quality of life in the top two tiers had deteriorated.     

Girls’ perspectives on the ideal school playground experience: an exploratory study of four Australian primary schools

ABSTRACT

Based on research conducted as part of the Sydney Playground Project, this paper provides an exploratory investigation of the perspectives of girls relating to the ideal school playground experience, and whether their perspectives are influenced by a loose-parts playground intervention. The focus is on the play behaviours of 22 girls aged 8–10 years, from the perspective that school playgrounds are generally designed in ways that are more suited to the play behaviours of boys. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of children’s drawings, interviews and focus groups, exploring meanings associated with desired play experiences. Findings indicate that girls’ views of the ideal school playground are influenced by the geographies of the spaces they play in, and that girls highly valued changes provided by a loose-parts intervention.     

基于网络大数据的城市内部便利性供需空间特征研究——以南京市中心城区为例

基于便利性的城镇发展战略对于新型城镇化转型具有重要意义。着眼于城镇居民生活质量的提升,围绕供需维度构建便利性测度体系,以多源网络大数据为支撑,分析南京市中心城区便利性的供需空间特征。结果表明,中心城区便利性供需关系多样,空间分布大体类似,倾向于多类聚合分布,并呈现较为明显的圈层集聚特征;主城便利性多供小于求,副城则以低供需平衡及供小于求为主,各公共活动中心便利性发育水平不一;中心城区整体便利性供需水平不高,其空间分布在数量及连续性方面均呈现低供需平衡、低供-中需以及中供-低需依次降低的模式。     

Operationalizing social equity in public policy design: A comparative analysis of solar equity policies in the United States

While it is widely recognized that energy injustices are prevalent in the clean energy transition process, there has been limited research attention on policy efforts aiming to mitigate these inequities. In this paper, we use solar equity policies as an empirical case study to understand how social equity considerations are conceptualized and operationalized in energy policy content. We build upon the policy design literature and code institutional statements of 54 solar equity policies adopted between 2001 and 2021 in the United States. In our comparative analysis, we focus on three levels of policy design elements that can be directly observed in written policy language: macro-policy goal construction, meso-policy instrument choices, and micro-level policy settings and calibrations. We find that the policy goal of energy justice is multifaceted, with a great emphasis on solar energy accessibility and provision of economic benefits and security for disadvantaged communities. There is a dominant preference by policymakers to use redistributive policies and community solar programs to advance energy justice-related goals. Solar equity policy instruments on-the-ground measures have also been calibrated to target specific disadvantaged populations in the energy system, which focus mostly on income-based vulnerability.     

SPATIAL HEDONICS AND THE WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR RESIDENTIAL AMENITIES*

ABSTRACT We investigate the role of spatial multipliers when using spatial‐lag hedonic models to measure the benefits of residential amenity improvements. Such benefits are commonly measured using the product of the coefficient of the amenity in question and a spatial multiplier. We show this is correct only when the spatial spillovers transmitted through the multiplier are strictly technological. If they are instead strictly pecuniary, then benefits are fully measured using the coefficient with no spatial multiplier. In either case, or in intermediate cases where both types of spillovers exist, a spatial‐lag specification is required to obtain valid benefits measures.     

Going Outside Together: Good Practice with Respect to the Inclusion of Disabled Children in Primary School Playgrounds

This paper reports some of the findings of research which has investigated the inclusion of disabled children in six primary school playgrounds in Yorkshire, in England. Initially the paper sets the policy context before moving on to discuss the importance of play for children, especially in a primary school setting and particularly for disabled children in such a setting. The inclusion of disabled children is discussed with respect to a series of social and organisational issues and the good practice identified relating to these issues. The social issues include the relationships the disabled children have with their peers and with the staff. The organisational issues relate to the individual routines, moving to a new school, the benefit of staff experience and training, encouraging activity in physical education lessons which can be translated in to the playground and the benefits of extra time outside for some disabled children. All these aspects can influence whether all the children can go outside together—an important underlying factor for the inclusion of disabled children in primary school playgrounds.     

DRS. MUTH AND MILLS MEET DR. TIEBOUT: INTEGRATING LOCATION‐SPECIFIC AMENITIES INTO MULTI‐COMMUNITY EQUILIBRIUM MODELS*

ABSTRACT We consider the problem of integrating spatial amenities into locational equilibrium models with multiple jurisdictions. We provide sufficient conditions under which models that assume a single housing price in each community continue to apply in the presence of location‐specific amenities that vary both within and across communities. If these conditions are satisfied, the models, estimation methods, and results in Epple and Sieg (1999) are valid in the presence of (potentially unobserved) location‐specific amenities. We also show how to construct sufficient statistics that capture location specific spatial heterogeneity. We apply these techniques using data from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. We find that these amenity measures capture proximity to important local employment centers as well as heterogeneity in school quality within a given school district.     

A Measure of Competitive Access to Destinations for Comparing Across Multiple Study Regions

Accessibility is now a common way to measure the benefits provided by transportation–land use systems. Despite its widespread use, few measurement options allow for the comparison of accessibility across multiple urban systems, and most do not adequately control for market competition between demand-side actors and supply-side facilities in localized markets. In this article, we develop a measure of competitive access to destinations that can be used to accurately compare accessibility between regions. This measure stems from spatial interaction modeling and accounts for competition at both the supply and demand sides of analysis, regional differences in transportation networks and travel behavior, and any imbalance between the size of the population and the number of opportunities. We use this method to compute access to employment for Canada's eight largest cities to comparatively examine inequalities in accessibility, both within and between cities, and by travel mode.     

SENIOR MIGRATION: SPATIAL CONSIDERATIONS OF AMENITY AND HEALTH ACCESS DRIVERS*

This paper extends the literature on amenity migration by focusing on healthcare access for later‐life migrants. Previous studies have strongly suggested that natural amenities are strong pull factors for later‐life migrants, but high natural amenity counties rarely possess the quality healthcare access optimal for elderly migrants. Utilizing a spatial Bayesian estimation strategy, we explicitly consider numerous drivers of later‐life migration to examine the extent to which health access is a driver in location decisions. We find healthcare access measures, including hospital expenditures, hospital beds, and number of doctors, are positively associated with later‐life migration decisions.     

‘Together apart’ or ‘apart together’? – middle-class parents’ choice of playgrounds and playground interactions in socially diverse neighbourhoods

Taking an everyday life setting, namely playgrounds, as a starting point, the paper foregrounds a nuanced analysis of the internal differentiations of the middle class’s positioning in regard to social diversity. In so doing, the paper contributes to debates on contemporary segregation research, (dis-)affiliation of the middle classes in inner-city diverse neighbourhoods and geographies of encounter. Empirical findings are based on an analysis of the narratives and daily spatial routines of middle-class parents in three inner-city neighbourhoods in a major German town. The findings contradict the conventional wisdom that middle-class parents would always seek a socially homogeneous environment in which to raise their children and show the presence of a middle-class fraction with a collective orientation. The analysis highlights the need for a closer look at playgrounds as a setting for cross-social interaction and, in terms of micro-level politics, a setting to promote diverse and inclusive neighbourhoods.     

The Spatial Dispersion of Informal Investment at a Regional Level: Evidence from the UK

Although there have been various studies on the geographical specialization of venture capital in the UK, there remains a gap in the research on regional differences in the behaviour of those informal investors who make a significant contribution to the funding of entrepreneurial ventures. Utilizing a unique data set from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project, this study will estimate the level of informal investment activity across the different regions of the UK. The relationship between informal investment and early stage formal venture capital availability is also examined to determine which areas display the greatest funding gaps in the provision of equity finance. It shows that while formal and informal investments are heavily concentrated in highly prosperous areas such as London and the South East of England, informal investments make a larger relative contribution to early stage and expansion equity capital within poorer regions.     

基于可达性的县域医疗服务均等化分析——以湖北省松滋市为例

中国县域城乡和不同乡镇之间的发展存在较大差异,在卫生领域表现尤为突出。在偏远农区,医疗资源短缺、卫生服务落后和健康保障缺位现象普遍存在。本文以湖北省松滋市为研究区域,以包括行政村和居委会的聚落点为基本研究单元,将可达性分析与聚类分析相结合,评估并表达不同区域医疗服务均等化水平并探讨相关公共政策。结果表明:(1)在县域尺度,医疗服务均等化水平空间差异明显,呈现出中心城区向周边递减的情况;(2)医疗服务均等化水平与经济发展水平分布格局上存在空间同型特征;(3)聚落中心、交通沿线可达性较高,而交通的改善会显著降低空间阻抗系数,促进均等化进程。     

公共服务设施可达性、个人社会资本与居民心理健康——基于北京的实证研究

利用2018年来自北京的问卷调查数据,本文探讨了公共服务设施可达性、个人社会资本及其交互作用对居民心理健康的影响。研究发现：公共服务设施可达性对心理健康具有显著的正向影响,且对新市民的影响更突出。个人社会资本中密切交往的网络规模、从社会网络中获取经济支持两个维度对其心理健康有显著正向作用,但在新市民和本地市民群体间不存在显著差异。个人社会资本能够强化公共服务设施可达性对心理健康的正向影响。本文验证了社会生态学的健康促进模型的相关假设,即外部环境特征和个人社会资本相互嵌套共同影响个人健康水平。鉴于此,健康城市规划需兼顾“硬件”与“软件”层面,既要构建公平正义的空间环境,还需加强社会资本和社会组织培育。     

WAGES,RENTS, UNEMPLOYMENT,AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE: A CONSISTENT THEORY‐BASED MEASURE

Combining a spatial equilibrium model with a search‐matching unemployment model, this paper analyzes the willingness to pay for regional amenities and the regional quality of life when wages, rents, and unemployment risk compensate for local amenities and disamenities. The results are compared with those obtained from the Rosen‐Roback approach. We demonstrate that the traditional approach gives too much weight to the wage differential if search frictions are significant. Furthermore, the paper confirms that the wage curve is negatively sloped for quasi‐linear utility. Specifically, the wage rate increases and the unemployment rate decreases in response to an increase in the amenity level if the amenity is marginally more beneficial to producers than to consumers.     

Space-Time and Integral Measures of Individual Accessibility: A Comparative Analysis Using a Point-based Framework

Conventional integral measures of accessibility, although valuable as indicators of place accessibility, have several limitations when used to evaluate individual accessibility. Two alternatives for overcoming some of the difficulties involved are explored in this study. One is to adapt these measures for evaluating individual accessibility using a disaggregate, nonzonal approach. The other is to develop different types of measures based on an alternative conceptual framework. To pursue the former alternative, this study specifies and examines eighteen gravity-type and cumulative-opportunity accessibility measures using a point-based spatial framework. For the latter option, twelve space-time accessibility measures are developed based on the construct of a prism-constrained feasible opportunity set. This paper compares the relationships and spatial patterns of these thirty measures using network-based GIS procedures. Travel diary data collected in Columbus, Ohio, and a digital data set of 10,727 selected land parcels are used for all computation. Results of this study indicate that space-time and integral indices are distinctive types of accessibility measures which reflect different dimensions of the accessibility experience of individuals. Since space-time measures are more capable of capturing interpersonal differences, especially the effect of space-time constraints, they are more “gender sensitive” and helpful for unraveling gender/ethnic differences in accessibility. An important methodological implication is that whether accessibility is observed to be important or different between individuals depends heavily on whether the measure used is capable of revealing the kind of differences the analyst intends to observe.     

COPING WITH MEGA-MALL DEVELOPMENT: AN URBAN PLANNING PERSPECTIVE ON WEST EDMONTON MALL

The development of West Edmonton Mall is presented as a case study in the problem of coping with unexpected, large-scale departures from authorized plans - in this instance, the plan for the new suburban community of West Jasper Place. The main features of the plan are described and the practical consequences of permitting the mall to be built are assessed. It is concluded that Edmonton's conventional planning instruments were unable to respond effectively to the challenge posed by West Edmonton Mall, because the local planning system did not make adequate provision for the politics of plan implementation.     

EQUALITY OF SPATIAL ACCESS TO PRIMARY HEALTH SERVICES FOR SINGAPORE'S BABY BOOMERS

The ageing baby boomers in Singapore, which account for one-third of the total population in 2006, will have a profound impact on the economy, society and environment. The greatest demand is for health care services. Even though Singapore has generally been regarded as a country where primary health services are easily available to all residents, this paper identifies significant spatial variations across the island-state. In particular, accessibility in some areas with high concentration of boomers is relatively lower compared to other residential areas. This paper concludes that understanding the spatial variation in primary health service accessibility is critical to the success of future policies, which may lead to a review of the provision of such services across the island. The methodology developed in this paper is also applicable to the study of service inequalities in other Asian countries with large rural settings.