Amid evictions, raids, killings, the drug trade, and fire, inner-city Johannesburg residents seek safety and a home. A grandmother struggles to keep her granddaughter as she is torn away from her. A mother seeks healing in the wake of her son’s murder. And displaced by a city’s drive for urban regeneration, a group of blind migrants try to carve out an existence.

The Blinded City recounts the history of inner-city Johannesburg from 2010 to 2019, primarily from the perspectives of the unlawful occupiers of spaces known as hijacked buildings, bad buildings or dark buildings. Tens of thousands of residents, both South African and foreign national, live in these buildings in dire conditions. This book tells the story of these sites, and the court cases around them, ones that strike at the centre of who has the right to occupy the city.

In February 2010, while Johannesburg prepared for the FIFA World Cup, the South Gauteng High Court ordered the eviction of the unlawful occupiers of an abandoned carpet factory on Saratoga Avenue and that the city’s Metropolitan Municipality provide temporary emergency accommodation for the evicted. The case, which became known as Blue Moonlight and went to the Constitutional Court, catalysed a decade of struggles over housing and eviction in Johannesburg.

The Blinded City chronicles this case, among others, and the aftermath – a tumultuous period in the city characterised by recurrent dispossessions, police and immigration operations, outbursts of xenophobic violence, and political and legal change. All through the decade, there is the backdrop of successive mayors and their attempts to ‘clean up’ the city, and the struggles of residents and urban housing activists for homes and a better life.

The interwoven narratives present a compelling mosaic of life in post-apartheid Johannesburg, one of the globe’s most infamous and vital cities.

The world's population is expected to increase to over 8 billion by 2020. About 60% of the total population of the world lives in coastal areas and 65% of the cities with a population of over 2.5 million are located in coastal areas. Written by an international panel of experts in the fields of engineering and risk management, The Handbook of Coastal Disasters Mitigation presents a coherent overview of 10 years of coastal disaster risk management and engineering, during which some of the most relevant events of recent time have taken place, including the Indian Ocean tsunami, hurricanes Katrina and Sandy in the United States or the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

For much of its history, human population growth increased at a glacial pace. The demographic rate only soared about 200 years ago, climaxing in the period 1950-2000. In that 50-year span, the population grew more than it had in the previous 5000 years. Though these raw numbers are impressive, they conceal the fact that the growth rate of population topped out in the 1960s. The apparent population boom may be approaching a population bust, despite our coexistence with more than seven billion people. In On the Cusp, economist Charles Pearson explores the meaning of this population trend from the arc of demographic growth to decline. He reviews Thomas Malthus's famous 1798 argument that human population would exceed the earth's carrying capacity, and explains why this surfaces periodically when birth rates strongly exceed 2.1 children per household. Analyzing population trends through dual lenses - demography and economics - Pearson examines the potential opportunities and challenges of population decline and aging. In many industrialized countries, the combination of an aging population and considerable food security may call for policies that boost fertility, immigration, and worker participation, reform pension schemes, and ease concern over moderating rates of population and economic growth. Sharp and occasionally funny, Pearson's research has thought-provoking implications for future public policies. Pearson ends his analysis with a mildly hopeful conclusion, noting that both the rich and the poor face a new demographic order. Bold and comprehensive, general readers and students alike will find On the Cusp an informative and engaging read.

The Cost of the Car is a dispassionate but engaging account of the consequences of predicating our habitat on the automobile, largely from a technical point of view. (The author is a former physicist and aerospace engineer.)

Treating transport as an engineering problem, the car is first assessed, in comparison with other options, with regard to efficacy, safety, price, and performance. The cost to the wider economy, community, health, and the environment is then also considered. While the extent of its deficiencies become clear, so does the value we place on privacy and control.

Three short stories attempt to relate the true nature of road accidents, obscure in dry statistics. Each is an account of real events but substitutes fictional characters to protect the individuals concerned. Only in this way can the aftermath be understood, and the full human cost counted.

An introduction to the greenhouse effect and global warming is included, along with a discussion of alternative sources of energy. The root cause of congestion is also explained, along with the nature of the 'modal inversion' that occurred between road and rail in the 1950s. The Cost of the Car represents the first widely accessible collected account of these issues.

Lastly, the author considers alternatives to sprawl which, while preserving the freedom to drive a private car, introduce the liberty not to.

A public meeting with angry residents and eager reporters is a common feature on the local news. Whether addressing environmental, or other issues, the experience for the board members, consultants, and specialists at these meetings ranges from uncomfortable to nightmarish. The issues discussed in these meetings usually stem from years of community disappointment, mistrust, fears, factions, political or social positioning, or all of the above. Industry faces a labyrinth of environmental and business regulations, and unique challenges in dealing with the public and the media. Environmental Risk Communication serves as a guide to understanding and complying with the Federal Risk Management Program and applying risk management and communication principles to daily plant operations. This book also helps Risk Management Plan (RMP) facilities successfully meet the new Federal requirements for public disclosure of RMP offsite consequence analysis results and provides techniques for communicating effectively during environmental emergencies. Written in a straight-forward, no-nonsense style the book presents concise informative chapters, flow diagrams, checklists, and a thorough index. The authors present step-by-step instruction on developing a principled plan of action that generates open communications. CEOs, Corporate Communications Specialists, Plant Managers, Environmental Compliance Supervisors, Health and Safety Officers, Environmental Scientists and Engineers, and Consultants will benefit from Environmental Risk Communication. Features

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Taking an innovative look at how megaprojects are managed, including the important Why, What, Who and How elements, this insightful Advanced Introduction is enhanced with case studies of megaprojects from across the globe. Throughout, the authors highlight the fundamental issues in an accessible format, such as why megaprojects are undertaken, what their challenges are, how to market projects and who deals with stakeholder engagement. It also investigates key areas such as governance, social value creation, management, contractual and decision-making issues. Key features: Discusses how the creation of narratives can address uncertainty in projects Illustrates the pros and cons of a conventional approach to decision-making versus a naturalistic approach Provides a post-modernist approach to the management of megaprojects based on flexibility, versatility and ambidexterity Highlights the importance of megaproject leadership engaging with stakeholders to align interests and create value effectively This Advanced Introduction will provide essential reading for practitioners, specifically megaproject leaders, as well as academics of megaproject studies and management studies and projects. Students engaging in project and management studies will also find this enlightening and informative.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This timely Advanced Introduction explores the links between housing and households, including the complex process of how people sort themselves into houses and neighborhoods. It covers the choices that households make, why these choices are made, and the constraints faced in achieving housing aspirations, with a particular focus on the contemporary difficulties facing young adults and those unable to buy a house despite a reasonable income. Key features include: using the concept of the life course to analyse residential decisions and choices discussing tenure choice, affordability and social housing, as well as how neighborhoods matter in urban studies reviewing what is known about how the housing market operates, and how families and individuals engage with the process of becoming homeowners providing new information on the urban housing environment in a time of rising inequality, low income growth and extensive regulation in the housing market. Advanced students and professionals of geography, planning, demography and economics will find this an invigorating read on how housing markets operate and the role of individual decisions about homeownership and residential space.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This cutting-edge Research Agenda for Place Branding explores ideas and debates that inform a refreshing take on the future of place branding and marketing. It argues that we are at a juncture where the logical and sensible step is to push the 'reset button' on such activity and fully reconsider its purpose and goals. Chapters span a range of important themes in contemporary place branding and are organised into sections covering place branding governance, contexts, experience and creativity. Drawing on contributions from key international scholars across a variety of academic disciplines, the book showcases an interplay of oppositional perspectives - ranging from those who see place branding as a potential means of improving the economic vitality of places, to others who consider much existing place branding activity exclusionary to certain sectors of society. Providing a wealth of creative and innovative suggestions on how place branding can be done, thought about and researched differently in the future, this Research Agenda will be a key resource for research-oriented academics and students in marketing, geography, planning and tourism.

Healing the economic and social wounds inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic will take time, but the long road to recovery presents a unique opportunity to build back better. To catalyze change and succeed in the post-pandemic era, economic development policy and practice must see the crisis as an opportunity to rethink and redesign regional economic systems. This will involve creating a shared understanding of – and policies to address – the differential impacts of the pandemic across occupations, industries, and socioeconomic groups. Rethinking how existing economic development tools, frameworks, and practices can be optimized has never been more compelling. Special attention must be given to interventions capable of accelerating desirable trends that will shape the next normal in our contemporary discussions on the COVID-19 pandemic. This book explores the challenges and opportunities heralded by the virus in the broadest sense and presents case studies on equitable and inclusive economic recoveries. Regional Economic Systems after COVID-19 offers actionable insights for regional policymakers, business leaders, investment and trade promotion agencies, site selectors, students, scholars, researchers, and organizations involved in tourism, foreign direct investment, and economic development.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Taking an innovative look at how megaprojects are managed, including the important Why, What, Who and How elements, this insightful Advanced Introduction is enhanced with case studies of megaprojects from across the globe. Throughout, the authors highlight the fundamental issues in an accessible format, such as why megaprojects are undertaken, what their challenges are, how to market projects and who deals with stakeholder engagement. It also investigates key areas such as governance, social value creation, management, contractual and decision-making issues. Key features: Discusses how the creation of narratives can address uncertainty in projects Illustrates the pros and cons of a conventional approach to decision-making versus a naturalistic approach Provides a post-modernist approach to the management of megaprojects based on flexibility, versatility and ambidexterity Highlights the importance of megaproject leadership engaging with stakeholders to align interests and create value effectively This Advanced Introduction will provide essential reading for practitioners, specifically megaproject leaders, as well as academics of megaproject studies and management studies and projects. Students engaging in project and management studies will also find this enlightening and informative.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This timely Advanced Introduction explores the links between housing and households, including the complex process of how people sort themselves into houses and neighborhoods. It covers the choices that households make, why these choices are made, and the constraints faced in achieving housing aspirations, with a particular focus on the contemporary difficulties facing young adults and those unable to buy a house despite a reasonable income. Key features include: using the concept of the life course to analyse residential decisions and choices discussing tenure choice, affordability and social housing, as well as how neighborhoods matter in urban studies reviewing what is known about how the housing market operates, and how families and individuals engage with the process of becoming homeowners providing new information on the urban housing environment in a time of rising inequality, low income growth and extensive regulation in the housing market. Advanced students and professionals of geography, planning, demography and economics will find this an invigorating read on how housing markets operate and the role of individual decisions about homeownership and residential space.

This Handbook is a state-of-the-art analysis of proximity relations, offering insights into its history alongside up-to-date scientific advances and emerging questions. Its broad scope - from industrial and innovation approaches through to society issues of living and working at a distance, territorial development and environmental topics - will ensure an in-depth focus point for researchers in economics as well as geography, organizational studies, planning and sociology. Split into four distinctly thematic parts, the Handbook explores the precise definition of proximity relationships and their diversity, including the role they play in social and economic interactions as well as examining the origins and evolution of such relationships. It further presents a detailed overview of the main methods of analysis, highlighting the link between proximity relationships and exchange of information while explaining how exchanges at a distance rely on links of organized proximity, something that plays an increasing role in our societies. This engaging Handbook will provide an excellent update for scientists and researchers on the recent developments in the analysis of proximity relations as well as students looking for precise and detailed information on the main characteristics of proximity relations, regional and spatial analysis, and the major analytical tools.

This stimulating book proposes the concept of staging as a tool for planning and facilitating design and innovation activities. Drawing on a predominantly Scandinavian tradition of participatory design research and sociotechnical perspectives from actor-network theory, it discusses how staging can enable co-design, sustainable transitions and social and radical innovation.   Expert researchers and practitioners present in-depth case studies on how staging can be used in practice, including co-design within the health sector, product development in industry, energy practices and urban development. Chapters also explore theoretical and conceptual developments, such as the possible spaces for staging, the role of material objects, travel and circulation of knowledge and the use of spatial and theatrical metaphors. Reflecting on how staging is practiced in a variety of settings, the book illustrates collaborative strategies that shape design and innovation processes.   This book is critical reading for academics and students with an interest in public policy, knowledge management and organizational innovation. Providing actionable strategies based on participatory design, shaping technology and organizational theory, it will also be beneficial for design engineers, city planners and technology managers.

Addressing the role of regional clusters in the context of ongoing globalization, this timely book investigates the two seemingly competing trends of globalization and localization from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. International case studies offer pioneering insights into the internationalization process of regional clusters and the effect of this on regional as well as firm performance. Chapters discuss the link between localization in a regional cluster in a transition economy and firms' internationalization, the internal/external relationships of clusters and radical innovations, and internationally organized resilience capacities of industries and regional clusters. The book highlights the role of clusters in wider networks including global value chains and the specific role of migrants in the internationalization patterns of regional clusters. Innovative and forward-looking, this book will be a helpful read for scholars and students of economic geography and innovation. The critical case studies examined will also help public policy and regional policy-makers.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This cutting-edge Research Agenda for Place Branding explores ideas and debates that inform a refreshing take on the future of place branding and marketing. It argues that we are at a juncture where the logical and sensible step is to push the 'reset button' on such activity and fully reconsider its purpose and goals. Chapters span a range of important themes in contemporary place branding and are organised into sections covering place branding governance, contexts, experience and creativity. Drawing on contributions from key international scholars across a variety of academic disciplines, the book showcases an interplay of oppositional perspectives - ranging from those who see place branding as a potential means of improving the economic vitality of places, to others who consider much existing place branding activity exclusionary to certain sectors of society. Providing a wealth of creative and innovative suggestions on how place branding can be done, thought about and researched differently in the future, this Research Agenda will be a key resource for research-oriented academics and students in marketing, geography, planning and tourism.

Community Asset Transfer in England  evaluates whether Community Asset Transfer (CAT), a mechanism for disposing of public property assets by selling, leasing or giving them to community organisations at less than market value, has any effect in reducing place-based inequalities. CATs are set into the context of both theory and policy. Theoretical frameworks used to analyse the transfers include capability approaches and notions of social capital and social innovation. CATs are also considered in relation to other forms of community-led and asset-based development, as they can be seen as part of a historical continuum of social programmes and initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and regenerating deprived neighbourhoods.

This volume contains research from the 10th International Conference on Sustainable Development and Planning. The papers included in this volume form a collection of research from academics, policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders from across the globe who discuss the latest advances in the field. Problems related to development and planning, which affect rural and urban areas, are present in all regions of the world. Accelerated urbanisation has resulted in deterioration of the environment and loss of quality of life. Urban development can also aggravate problems faced by rural areas such as forests, mountain regions and coastal areas, amongst many others. Taking into consideration the interaction between different regions and developing new methodologies for monitoring, planning and implementation of novel strategies can offer solutions for mitigating environmental pollution and non-sustainable use of available resources. Energy saving and eco-friendly building approaches have become an important part of modern development, which places special emphasis on resource optimisation. Planning has a key role to play in ensuring that these solutions as well as new materials and processes are incorporated in the most efficient manner. The application of new academic findings to planning and development strategies, assessment tools and decision-making processes are all covered in this book.

Coastal Hazards in Bangladesh: Non-Structural and Structural Solutions provides a review of the study of Bangladesh's coastal region, an area whose location and physical geography present the prefect microcosm for the study of coastal hazards and for the development of tactics that are applicable to regions around the world. The book presents engineers, scientists, and planners with the necessary tools and planning solutions used to combat coastal vulnerabilities in Bangladesh. Divided into seven chapters, it begins with a critical overview of cyclone and storm surge disasters, focusing on both engineering responses and public preparedness programs to such events. In addition, engineering recommendations are provided for further reduction of their impacts, such as erosion, accretion, and land subsidence, and numerical models are introduced to assess flood induced hazard and risk, flood-induced design loads, and how to intervene in protecting key installations, infrastructures, and communities.

Smart Cities and Homes: Key Enabling Technologies explores the fundamental principles and concepts of the key enabling technologies for smart cities and homes, disseminating the latest research and development efforts in the field through the use of numerous case studies and examples. Smart cities use digital technologies embedded across all their functions to enhance the wellbeing of citizens. Cities that utilize these technologies report enhancements in power efficiency, water use, traffic congestion, environmental protection, pollution reduction, senior citizens care, public safety and security, literacy rates, and more. This book brings together the most important breakthroughs and advances in a coherent fashion, highlighting the interconnections between the works in different areas of computing, exploring both new and emerging computer networking systems and other computing technologies, such as wireless sensor networks, vehicle ad hoc networks, smart girds, cloud computing, and data analytics and their roles in creating environmentally friendly, secure, and prosperous cities and homes. Intended for researchers and practitioners, the book discusses the pervasive and cooperative computing technologies that will perform a central role for handling the challenges of urbanization and demographic change.

This book represents a major innovation in the institutional analysis of cities and their planning, management and governance. Using concepts of transaction costs and property rights, the work shows systematically how urban order evolves as individuals co-operate in cities for mutual gain. Five kinds of urban order are examined, arising as co-operating individuals seek to reduce the costs of transacting with each other. These are organisational order (combinations of property rights), institutional order (rules and sanctions), proprietary order (fragmentation of property rights), spatial order and public domain order. Property Rights, Planning and Markets also offers an institutional interpretation of urban planning and management that challenges both the view that planning inevitably conflicts with freedom of contract and the view that its function is a means of correcting market failures. Real life examples from countries and regions around the world are used to illustrate the universal relevance of theoretical generalisations, which will be welcomed by a new generation of policymakers and students who take on a world view that goes beyond national boundaries.

E-Government Implementation and Practice in Developing Countries provides research on the current actions being taken by developing countries towards the design, development, and implementation of e-government policies. This book will discuss current frameworks and strategies that are useful for project managers, government officials, researchers, and students interested or involved in the development and implementation of e-government planning. This book is part of the Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development series collection.

This is an invaluable volume for all those engaged in megaproject work. It is presented by two leading academics in the field of transport infrastructure who have managed to pull together a very interesting set of contributions prepared by numerous highly qualified academics from across the globe specializing in the planning, appraisal and evaluation of megaprojects. The art and science of decision-making and assessing the impacts of such projects are thoroughly discussed with a view to offering future decision-makers a better steer on the development of such projects. Likely to be of immense importance to practicing professionals, bureaucrats and academics alike concerned with megaproject development, this book examines with great skill and clarity key issues associated with strategic decision-making, public-private partnership arrangements and the application of cost benefit analysis to megaprojects. Spurred-on by globalization and increasing in their number, size and complexity, the challenges that megaprojects pose are likely to grow paradoxically both in times of economic growth and austerity. Given these circumstances, the publication of this book is very timely, much needed and highly recommended.' - Harry T. Dimitriou, University College London, UKThis comprehensive and accessible Handbook presents state-of-the-art research on the decision-making processes in the deliverance of mega-projects - large infrastructure projects for the transportation of people and/or goods. The expert contributors explore how decisions are made at different stages in mega-projects and the multi-actor relationships between public and private partners. They evaluate the perspectives and pitfalls in determining the costs and benefits of a mega-project ex ante, and examine the wider impacts of mega-projects, including issues such as regional growth, energy transition and climate change. Although the focus is on the advanced economies of North America, Europe, and Australia, much of the material is useful for other parts of the world where large transport infrastructure projects are currently underway or will be developed in the coming years. Providing crucial background information for those who want to understand decision-making processes on large transport infrastructure projects, this fascinating Handbook will prove an important source of information for academics, researchers and students in the fields of transport, infrastructure, project management, management science, economic analysis (cost benefit analysis), public policy, environmental policy and ethics. Practitioners, politicians and policymakers involved in large transport infrastructure projects will also find this book to be an invaluable reference tool. Contributors: J.A. Annema, M. Bosch-Rekveldt, C.C. Cantarelli, K. Dwarka, E. Feitelson, B. Flyvbjerg, M. Giezen, R. Gilbert, C. Greve, G. Hodge, R. Konings, C. Koopmans, M. Leijten, D.R. Lessard, C. Macharis, R. Miller, P. Nijkamp, H. Priemus, P. Rietveld, K. Samset, M. Siemiatycki, L. Tavasszy, E. ten Heuvelhof, A. van Binsbergen, R. van Duin, B. van Wee, R. Vickerman

Analytical Strategic Environmental Assessment (ANSEA) is an insightful new approach to environmental evaluation, based on decision theory, policy analysis and environmental considerations. These concepts, though not new in their own fields of application, are combined and integrated in an innovative fashion. This book presents recent research on the implementation of the ANSEA approach which aims to ensure environmental values are properly integrated into the decision-making process. ANSEA was developed to contribute to the systematic integration of environmental protection objectives in strategic decision-making which, in turn, will contribute to the promotion of sustainable development. The method can be applied to analyse how environmental and sustainability issues are addressed in decision-making processes at both the national and local level for a variety of different policies. Importantly, the focus is on evaluating the decision-making process itself, rather than the quantitative output of an assessment. With explicatory examples and practical case studies, the distinguished, interdisciplinary authors clearly illustrate how a decision-centred approach to environmental assessment can be successfully achieved. At a time when a new European directive requires the implementation of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) into all relevant decision-making processes, this timely book will be required reading for environmental policymakers in all EU member states. It will also be a valuable source of information and reference for researchers, academics and consultants in the fields of planning, environmental evaluation and environmental management.