Do municipal unions improve cost efficiency for the social function? A quasi-experimental endogenous stochastic frontier approach

Homogeneous national policies can generate heterogeneous effects on the territory. This paper aims to verify the impact of the entry of single Italian municipalities into an inter-municipal association on the unitary costs of the social services supplied to the local communities. Panel cost stochastic frontier model in the presence of endogeneity has been introduced based on two pillars: a counterfactual setting to verify the aggregation effects concerning a set of similar municipalities and the use of a cost efficiency estimation methodology which considers the endogeneity of output with respect to cost. The results of our analysis show that the effects of adopting associated forms of service delivery can be very multifaceted and diversified according to the typology and the degree of implementation of the Municipal Union itself. The analysis sheds light on the effects of municipalities' organisational choices, addressing the consolidation of small municipalities not in binary terms but also—and above all—suggesting that it is the type of union that impacts the possibility of convergence towards greater cost efficiency.     

博物馆古建筑保护与功能提升——以南京博物院老大殿改造为例

南京博物院主体建筑老大殿,是中国近代建筑中唯一采用现代结构形式的仿辽代建筑。近年,南京博物院采用整体顶升、隔震加固等先进技术对其进行修缮保护,不仅有效增强了其抗震水平,还扩大了建筑的空间面积、提升了空间使用功能、丰富了展示内容和方式,为优秀古建筑的保护利用提供了新的技术思路,也为优秀古建筑的保护利用与博物馆馆舍建设及博物馆各项事业发展的相互促进积累了成功经验。     

Revisiting the South Korean developmental state after the 1997 financial crisis

This study reassesses the conventional wisdom surrounding the developmental state of South Korea (hereafter Korea) since the 1997 Korean financial crisis. The conventional wisdom is that, as a result of the continued structural reforms prompted by the crisis, the Korean developmental state, inherently characterised by active or direct state intervention, strong economic and industrial policies, the chaebol-oriented economic policy, and labour exclusion, has finally begun to dissolve in earnest. In this study, we have considered whether that is really the case and also which theoretical implications can be drawn from this consideration. Analysis of the Korean developmental state following the 1997 crisis has indicated that, quite contrary to conventional wisdom, the developmental state has continued to prevail as a core policy framework of the Korean administrations even after the crisis. There is no doubt that the continued structural and market reform after the crisis certainly undermined the Korean developmental state to a certain degree, but that does not mean the beginning of the end of the Korean developmental state at all. For much evidence strongly indicates that the Korean developmental state still remains intact and strong despite the structural reforms, on account of the successive Korean governments’ assiduous and deliberate efforts to maintain and reinforce it. Even after the crisis, the Kim Dae-Jung and post-Kim regimes have hardly abandoned many of their market interventionist policies. Such market interventionist policies, which were routinely practised under the military regime in the 1960s and 1970s, diametrically contravene the argument that the Korean developmental state has begun to dissolve as a result of structural reform after the 1997 crisis. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Korean developmental state persists as usual. All this information, then, suggests that path dependence is in action in the case of the Korean developmental state, and this suggests a further hypothesis that the Korean developmental state is very likely to persist in the future as well, despite increasing globalisation pressure, given the strong path dependence.     

‘Chilling’ and ‘hopping’ in the ‘teenage space network’: explorations in teenagers’ geographies in the city of Mechelen

Within the field of children's geographies several calls have been made to develop ‘teenagers’ geographies’ as a complementary field of research and practice. It has been stated that teenagers remain ‘invisible’ or ‘marginalised’ in public debates as well as in research and practice, even within childhood studies and children's geographies. Further explorations in teenagers’ geographies could contribute to the research on ‘diverse childhoods’. This article explores the spatial worlds of teenagers (approximately 12–16 years) in Flanders (Belgium), a region characterised by a dense network of smaller cities and ‘urban sprawl’. Based on street interviews and observations in a small city several mental maps and patterns of teenagers’ use of public space were identified. Starting from a case study in the city of Mechelen, this article suggests how these perspectives can be integrated into urban planning by identifying and tying together relevant planning layers, thus creating a more closely knit ‘teenage space network’. Wouter Vanderstede is an urban planner, anthropologist and historian. He is a researcher and staff member at Childhood & Society Research Centre–Onderzoekscentrum Kind & Samenleving vzw. Child friendly and teenager friendly planning and design of public space is one of the main research themes of the institute. View all notes     

Vulnerability to Bushfire Risk at Melbourne's Urban Fringe: The Failure of Regulatory Land Use Planning

The 7 February 2009 bushfires in the peri‐urban region to the north of metropolitan Melbourne heralded what many have called an entirely new epoch in terms of weather‐related disasters in Australia. A total of 173 people and 2000 properties were destroyed and, as with the 1939 fires in Victoria, a Royal Commission was subsequently instituted to inquire into the causes and responses to the fire. The Royal Commission has heard much evidence about alleged failings of fire response, communication and administration. It also considered land use planning issues and the associated regulatory framework. Using the Shire of Murrindindi as a case study, this paper argues that the location of population growth, and associated regulatory failure, are contributory, yet under‐researched, factors associated with life and property losses. The adoption of more robust planning tools which incorporate climate change considerations, we argue, is essential to anticipate and minimise the impacts of disastrous natural events such as bushfires. In the latter part of the paper, attention is drawn to a recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision which is groundbreaking in its use of the precautionary principle to prevent dwelling construction in an ‘inappropriate’ location as well as to some major inconsistencies between planning for flood and bushfire threats.     

Climbing the Ladder? High-Technology Export Performance in Emerging Europe

A British economist examines the development of high-technology industrial exports across the emerging Europe region over the past two decades. After arguing that the development of high-technology capabilities is a key component of economic development, he presents an original index of high-technology industrial export performance that is used to describe patterns of high-technology exports across emerging Europe. When these developments are placed in comparative perspective, it becomes evident that although the countries of emerging Europe have made considerable progress in increasing across-product sophistication of exports and in increasing across-product diversification, most have been less successful in improving levels of within-product sophistication. For emerging Europe and other low- to middle-income countries elsewhere, this will remain a key challenge for the future.     

Ultramodern contraception

The measured success of family planning policy in the developing world rests on increases in the ‘modern’ methods of contraception. By extension, ‘traditional’ methods of contraception are equated with traditional mentalities and insufficient motivation to control fertility. But contraceptive use differentials in India suggest that in fact it is the most ‘modern’ women (those with a college education and living in urban areas) who are the most likely to use these traditional methods of birth control and to use them very efficiently as well. The paper locates this counter-intuitive preference among urban, educated women in what may be called ‘ultramodern’ attitudes to the body and to modern medicine and tries to situate such modernization in the contemporary developmental paradigm. Finally, the paper implies that population policy and contraceptive research may be unduly attributing contraceptive ineffectiveness to the users of traditional birth control today.     

武当山五龙宫遗址保护规划设想

五龙宫遗址是"武当山古建筑群"的重要组成部分,提出该遗址保护规划设想,期望更为深入地探讨该遗址保护规划问题。论文分析了该遗址现状特征:主殿已修复,废墟规模较大,历史沧桑感深厚,且拥有世外桃源般的环境,具有独特的历史与景观价值;提出了保持基本现状不变、局部修复九曲墙与北道院、停车场设置在较远处等保护规划设想,以期保护该遗址独特的历史与景观价值不受损害。     

Expatriate everyday life in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania: colonial origins and contemporary legacies

Under German colonial rule and the British mandate, Dar es Salaam was a racially segregated city. The means of segregation were a series of building ordinances that established varying standards of construction in the city's neighborhoods. A result of these ordinances was the concentration of expatriates—those people living outside their home country—in two areas of the city: the City Center and the Msasani Peninsula. Using qualitative survey and interview data with fifty expatriates in contemporary Dar es Salaam, this paper demonstrates that segregation persists in spite of postcolonial efforts to desegregate the city. In fact, segregation in contemporary Dar es Salaam affects more than just residential patterns; all aspects of expatriate everyday life are overwhelmingly concentrated in these two urban areas. This paper engages with colonial city and expatriate literatures to identify the lingering effects of colonialism and the various ways that residents perceive and transform urban space. Several explanations exist for the persistence of this segregation. These two areas historically housed expatriates and thus contain desirable urban amenities such as supermarkets and shopping malls. These areas also offer expatriates the comfort of living among other expatriates in a perceived safe environment.     

Development and the environment: Perception and opinion in St Andrews,Scotland

In 2003, three proposals were being mediated through the planning system in the peri‐urban environment of St Andrews, Fife: a large housing development, a rail link, and a Green Belt. Using questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews with key stakeholders, we investigate the ways in which diverse conceptions of ‘the environment’ shaped public reactions to these proposals, and evaluate the fit between these and the respondents’ stated environmental perceptions. 98% of local residents surveyed describe themselves as ‘concerned about the environment’. However, large majorities conceive of the environment as a local rather than a global phenomenon, and regard it primarily in terms of personal benefits (such as landscape aesthetics or traffic considerations). By exploring the environmental perceptions in the light of the planning proposals, the study supports the contention that the ‘local environment’ is a socially constructed phenomenon which can be fashioned and re‐fashioned according to local perceptions of threats and opportunities.