671 research outputs found
Socio-spatial change in Lithuania – Depopulation and increasing spatial inequalities
Get PDFThe fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 signalled a major change for Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Despite the significant benefits gained with the ‘return to Europe’, CEE countries have also been faced with large challenges (Gentile, Tammaru, & van Kempen, 2012; Kornai, 2006; Kovács, 1999; Shleifer & Treisman, 2014). They had to transform their political and economic systems and find new ways to establish themselves in the context of increasing globalization, liberalization and technological progress. This has led to rapid and significant changes in their socio-spatial organization (Brade, Herfert, & Wiest, 2009; Gentile et al., 2012; Lang, 2011; Lang, Henn, Sgibnev, & Ehrlich, 2015; Schmidt, Fina, & Siedentop, 2015; Smith & Timár, 2010). According to Stanilov (2007), due to the very rapid pace of change, the recent socio-spatial developments in CEE countries can be seen as a perfect ‘laboratory for observation’. The most significant development trends in the post-socialist countries are population decline and increasing spatial inequalities that started soon after the reforms. Of all the post-socialist countries, it is Lithuania that stands out the most, experiencing an extreme drop in population (Eurostat, 2017; United Nations, 2015). Since the 1990s, it has lost more than 20 percent of the population, which makes it one of the world’s fastest shrinking countries. Furthermore, in Lithuania in the socialist period, planning policy focused on decentralisation and sought to limit the growth of the major cities (Enyedi, 1998; Šešelgis, 1996; Vanagas, Krišjane, Noorkoiv, & Staniūnas, 2002). Now most of the economic growth and demographic potential is concentrated in a few metropolitan regions, particularly in Vilnius (Burneika & Ubareviciene, 2015; Cirtautas, 2013; Krupickaitė, 2014; Ubarevičienė & Burneika, 2015; Ubarevičienė, Burneika, & Kriaučiūnas, 2011). Extreme population decline and uneven spatial development can be seen as a threat to the economic and social stability of Lithuania.
Despite the fact that significant socio-spatial transformations have been occurring for three decades in Lithuania, they have only recently started to attract greater attention. However, many issues related to socio-spatial development still receive little attention in the scientific and political domains. The aim of this thesis is to gain more insight into the recent socio-spatial transformation processes and their consequences in Lithuania.
This thesis investigates the main features and drivers of socio-spatial change. It shows why we should be concerned, despite the growing economy and improvements in the standard of living, as Lithuania is facing major challenges related to extreme population decline and increasing socio-spatial inequality. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the development processes and reveal how the Soviet-designed socio-spatial structures adapted to a market economy environment. This thesis contributes to the existing literature by investigating population decline, migration patterns, processes of segregation and increasing regional inequalities. While the focus is on Lithuania, the results of this study are also of value for other CEE countries, many of which have experienced similar trajectories of change during recent decades.
This thesis focuses on four areas of social-spatial change: population decline, shifting residential patterns, social segregation and increasing regional inequalities. These processes characterised Lithuania in the recent decades. Firstly, due to its exceptional geopolitical situation (the experience of a shift from the Soviet Union to the EU) and, secondly, due to the specific legacy of Soviet planning policy
City systems in the Baltic states: the Soviet legacy and current paths of change
Get PDFThis paper analyses the development of city systems in the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). These countries have experienced a shift from the relatively isolated realm of the Soviet Union to the European Union, one of the most liberal economies in the world. The aim of this paper is to analyse how the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-led economy influenced how the city systems changed. The study uses annual data on the population dynamics of the cities from 1989–2015. Zipf’s law serves as a reference point to explore and compare the city-size distribution as well as the regularity and stability of this distribution in the Baltic States. A linear regression is employed to determine the impact of relevant factors that lead to city system change under market economy conditions. The results show that although the current paths of development are different in the Baltic States, the countries illustrate similar trends towards metropolisation and spatial polarisation. The results of this research suggest that spatially uneven development will continue in the Baltic States, and regional development policies should be aligned with the ongoing trends. The findings of the research encourage the development of greater cooperation between the Baltic States in creating regional policies, in particular those related to their shrinking cities and regions.Accepted Author ManuscriptOLD Urban Renewal and Housin
Ruta Sepetys Josette Frank Award 2023 Acceptance Speech
No full textAuthor Ruta Sepetys wins the Josette Frank Award (for older readers) 2023 for I Must Betray You from Bank Street College Children\u27s Book Committee.
The Josette Frank Award
This award for fiction honors a book or books of outstanding literary merit in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally. The award has been given annually since 1943. Josette Frank, the editor of anthologies for children, served for many years as the Executive Director of the Child Study Association of America of which this committee was a part.https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cbc_awards/1010/thumbnail.jp
Urban Socio-Economic Segregation and Income Inequality: A Global Perspective
No full textThis open access book investigates the link between income inequality and socio-economic residential segregation in 24 large urban regions in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. It offers a unique global overview of segregation trends based on case studies by local author teams. The book shows important global trends in segregation, and proposes a Global Segregation Thesis.Rising inequalities lead to rising levels of socio-economic segregation almost everywhere in the world. Levels of inequality and segregation are higher in cities in lower income countries, but the growth in inequality and segregation is faster in cities in high-income countries. This is causing convergence of segregation trends. Professionalisation of the workforce is leading to changing residential patterns. High-income workers are moving to city centres or to attractive coastal areas and gated communities, while poverty is increasingly suburbanising. As a result, the urban geography of inequality changes faster and is more pronounced than changes in segregation levels. Rising levels of inequality and segregation pose huge challenges for the future social sustainability of cities, as cities are no longer places of opportunities for all.UrbanismUrban Studie
Fast and uncoordinated suburbanization of Vilnius in the context of depopulation in Lithuania
No full textLike many other Central and Eastern European countries Lithuania has been experiencing significant socio-spatial transformations since the 1990s. One of the most prominent of these transformations is associated with the residential suburbanization of its major cities. The suburbs are the only areas in Lithuania where the population has been growing in recent decades, while the country has lost almost one quarter of its population. Although, extensive urban growth is a common feature for all large Lithuanian cities, it is more noticeable in Vilnius. Due to its historical and geographical context, Vilnius, and the region surrounding it, is in an area where rural-urban transformation also means transformation of the social, ethnic, and political landscape. The aim of this article is to obtain more insight into the recent process of the fast, but weakly controlled, residential suburbanization of Vilnius. The focus is on understanding the scale of suburbanization and its impact on the social and physical environment. In this study, we use quantitative data on population and residential constructions as well as presenting some visual material. Our results show that the new suburban-style settlements are spatially dispersed. New residential areas have emerged within the city limits, along its administrative boundary as well as in the most peripheral parts of the Vilnius metropolitan region. In terms of the morphology and physiognomy, a great suburban diversity exists in and around Vilnius, and different building styles are mixed creating a rather chaotic landscape, with little interference from urban planners and no clear vision for the future.Urban Studie
Morphological evaluation and regeneration of informal settlements: An experience-based urban design approach
No full textInformal urbanism has been generally studied within social, econmic and political frameworks, yet little is known of how it performs in terms of urban vitality. The aim of this article is to better understand the urban vitality of informal settlements and how they can be improved by using a combined morphological approach that encompasses street-network accessibility, building density, land use diversity and transformability index. This study focuses on the city of Cairo, which has experienced rapid urban growth over the last seven decades. Much of this growth has concentrated in informal settlements on the outskirts of the metropolis. Taking Manshiet Nasser district as a case, we measured the degree of urban vitality of the area through a combination of Space Syntax, Spacematrix, and the Mixed Use Index (MXI). Informed by a transformability index (TI), the results can be used as part of the design process to (re)develop unattractive areas. The findings show that this combined approach works as a diagnostic tool for detecting development potential and, therefore, underpins the identification of cost-effective ways of intervention, for enhancing vibrant urban environments.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Urban StudiesUrbanis
Designing for Co-Existential Spaces: The Case of Afrikaanderwijk
No full textIn the last decades, due to a number of reasons, cities have become more diverse than ever. This diversity, although an “inherent characteristic” is not always perceived as positive, especially in the so-called deprived areas, which mainly consist of multicultural, low-income social groups, having serious implications not only on how people live together in space, but also on the actions taken to “minimize” the differences. Research increasingly shows that low neighbourhood status, poverty, stigmatization of lower income areas with high concentration of ethnic minority households, and racial discrimination have a great impact on how inhabitants of an area perceive and interact with one another.And Rotterdam South is a prominent example of this situation. Afrikaanderwijk is one of those hyper-diverse and socio-spatially segregated neighbourhoods, where spatial interventions in the public space are necessary, in order for co-existence to be ensured. Investigating the city from the perspective of hyper-diversity and acknowledging it as a given, the current project aimed at contributing to redefining the public space, in Afrikaanderwijk, where conflicting interests between local authorities, people of power and local inhabitants regularly occur, in order to ensure social cohesion and create a common identity for all. In this process, a number of methods were used to conclude to the spatial interventions in the public space, with the use of design principles proving to be one of the most important in bridging research and design and creating the basis for the design interventions that focus on local-based alternatives to the demolition and renovation plans of the municipality.Thus, this thesis, through spatial interventions, and taking into account the needs and identities of different social groups, aimed at enabling the participation of people from different socio-economic statuses, lifestyles, attitudes and activities to interact and communicate, consequently steering the city towards fairer opportunity distribution and a more harmonious and co- existential urban environment.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Urbanis
Teacher and tutor Professor Zygmunt Ruta (1932–2021) – his life and science
Get PDFWprowadzenie. W opracowaniu odniesiono się do młodości, wykształcenia i życia rodzinnego Zygmunta Ruty, jednego z najwybitniejszych profesorów krakowskiego środowiska naukowego. W części zasadniczej przedstawiono dorobek naukowy prof. Z. Ruty oraz starano się pokazać jego wpływ na losy współczesnej pedagogiki. Nie zapomniano też o jego związkach z dzisiejszym Uniwersytetem Pedagogicznym w Krakowie, które wyrażały się w licznych prac naukowych oraz sumienności w wykonywaniu zadań nauczyciela akademickiego.
Cele. Celem niniejszego opracowania było zaprezentowanie postaci jednego z bardziej znanych pedagogów i historyków wychowania. Osoby wybitnej i szlachetnej, zajmującej się dziejami edukacji w różnych jej aspektach, nie tylko historycznym. Materiały i metody. W opracowaniu wykorzystano metody: porównawczą i retrospektywną, pozwalające zweryfikować dostępność źródeł i istniejące opracowania, w których
zaprezentowano dorobek naukowy prof. Z. Ruty, jako znanego pedagoga i historyka wychowania.
Wyniki. W artykule ukazano jednego z najbardziej cenionych profesorów, nauczycieli i wychowawców związanych z Uniwersytetem Pedagogicznym w Krakowie.Introduction. T he text refers to the youth, education, and family life of Zygmunt Ruta, one of the most outstanding professors of Krakow academia. The main part presents his scientific achievements and his influence on the modern pedagogy. The author also explores Professor Ruta’s connections with today’s Pedagogical University of Krakow, which resulted in numerous scientific works and years of thorough academic teaching.
Aim. T he goal of the text is to present one of the most renown pedagogues and historians of education. Professor Ruta was a remarkable and noble person, expert in education and its various aspects, not only historical.
Materials and methods. In order to prepare the text, the comparative and retrospective methods were used. They facilitated the verification of the available sources and existing publications in which the scientific achievements and the person of Professor Zygmunt Ruta – a renown pedagogue and historian of education – are presented.
Results. T he paper presents one of the most acknowledged professors, teachers and educators connected with the Pedagogical University of Krakow
Increasing Inequality and the Changing Spatial Distribution of Income in Tel-Aviv
No full textDespite its egalitarian past, in recent decades Israel followed the footsteps of the United States in terms of growing inequality levels and reduced welfare arrangements. It is assumed, therefore, to have followed similar trends of increasing residential segregation between income groups. This study focuses on the metropolitan area of Tel-Aviv, Israel’s financial and cultural centre and examines the change in the spatial distribution of income groups between the years 1995–2008. It identifies trends in segregation between top and bottom income earners, as well as those between other income groups, given corresponding trends in income inequality. In addition, it examines spatial patterns of affluence and poverty concentration and assesses the influence of concentrated disadvantage among specific income and religious groups on overall segregation trends.Urban Studie
Cerruti’s treatment of linear elastic trusses
No full textThis paper presents the analysis of linear elastic trusses proposed by Valentino Cerruti in his graduation thesis. While Cerruti is famous among rational mechanicians, very little is known on this work of his. We will consider the work in some detail, putting into evidence the main subjects dealt with by the author: redundant trusses and uniform resistance. We will also provide a comparison with his contemporaries and some critical comments
- …
