Understanding children’s neighbourhood destinations: presenting the Kids-PoND framework

ABSTRACT

Children interact with and are greatly affected by their neighbourhoods. This research aims to understand the places children go in their neighbourhood and their perceptions of them. A child-centred approach was used to map destinations and ask open-ended survey questions, using Maptionnaire (a public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) mapping software). Overall, 1102 children aged 7–13 years, from 19 schools in Auckland, New Zealand participated. PPGIS destinations were mapped with parks, unhealthy food outlets and advertising to contextualise children’s neighbourhood destinations. We developed and present here the Kids-PoND (Kids- Perceptions of Neighbourhood Destinations) framework for understanding children’s perceptions and use of neighbourhood destinations. We found parks with a variety of options for active play and socialisation are important to children as are shops where children consumed unhealthy food and drink. Our findings have implications for public health, town planning, children and their parents and schools.     

State building and European integration in Ukraine

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes the impact on statebuilding as an aspect of Ukraine’s integration with the EU. The Euromaidan had a profound, yet hardly recognized, effect on EU-Ukraine relations, particularly in terms of the EU’s subsequent support of domestic reforms in Ukraine. Following the Euromaidan, the EU supported Ukraine’s aspirations to enter “economic integration and political association” by concluding an Association Agreement – an agreement which exceeded the capacity of the Ukrainian state to implement it. To increase this capacity, the EU has supported reform of public administration and has provided far-reaching assistance on capacity building in the government. This article posits that since 2014 European integration has become tantamount with (re)building the state structures in Ukraine. Therefore, the significance of European integration for Ukraine goes beyond the implementation of the Association Agreement and extends to root-and-branch reform of Ukrainian state structures.     

中国传统村落文化景观研究进展与展望

传统村落文化景观作为特定地域范围内具有乡土文化气息的自然与人文因素综合体，承载着中华农耕文明的精髓，具有“传统村落”和“文化景观”研究的双重价值，是中国乡村地理学探究的热点领域。通过定量与定性相结合的研究方法，以中国知网为基础数据库，深入剖析1990—2020年中国传统村落文化景观的研究内容及进展，评述前人研究成果并展望未来研究方向，以期为拓展传统村落文化景观研究维度提供重要参考。研究发现，近30年传统村落文化景观研究随时代的发展愈发细化，研究内容主要集中于传统村落文化景观特征与价值、形成与演化、保护与发展等3方面。但现有研究深度和广度还有待加强，传统村落文化景观多尺度研究还需深化、研究议题有待丰富、学科融合与方法集成仍需强化。今后应注重系统化的理论分析，拓宽传统村落文化景观的研究尺度；深化与拓展研究内容，挖掘传统村落文化景观的研究议题；强化学科融合与方法集成，完善传统村落文化景观的研究框架。     

Urban experimentation and institutional arrangements

ABSTRACT

Currently little is known about how institutional arrangements co-evolve with urban experimentation. This paper mobilizes neo-institutional literature and recent urban experimentation literature as a framework to explore how and why institutional arrangements differ across urban contexts. Empirically the paper focusses on smart city initiatives in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Ningbo. These three cities are frontrunners in adopting a comprehensive smart city agenda, but they do so in different ways. The paper examines regulative, normative and cognitive elements of institutional arrangements, explores how they shape experimentation, and reflects on their place-based specificities. The comparative analysis suggests that the focus of, and approach to, experimentation can be understood as resting in a (possibly unique) combination of strategic agency and dynamics at multiple spatial scales.