Stakeholder participation for sustainable waste management

Inadequate environmental sanitation in many cities is a major cause of diseases and is a drain on the economy by way of lost workdays, cost of treatment and cleanup activities. Municipal authorities and policymakers need to act fast to address this issue. Sustainable waste management provides a comprehensive inter-disciplinary framework for addressing the problems of managing urban solid waste, in the resource constrained developing countries where quality of such services are poor and costs are high often with no effective means of recovering them. Upgrading the coverage of waste management and services and increasing their efficiency is a precondition for improving the environmental quality of cities. This paper highlights the fact that the involvement and participation of all the stakeholders such as the waste generators, waste processors, formal and informal agencies, non-governmental organisations and financing institutions is a key factor for the sustainable waste management.     

市政债券匹配城镇化建设资金需求的理论分析

城镇基础设施和公共服务等社会公共品理应由地方政府提供,地方政府需要为此筹措长期建设资金。市政债券与城镇化建设相关投资相契合,在城镇化建设融资中具有良好的适应能力,能够在融资安排和风险防范上有所作为,在城镇化发展过程中担当融资主体。并且市政债券能很好地匹配、适应和耦合城镇基础设施建设资金需求的特点,避免其他融资方式或融资工具可能存在的期限错配。市政债券是适合城镇化建设融资、有助于建立多元化的城镇化建设融资体系与可持续的城镇化建设融资机制,从而积极稳妥地推进城镇化的有效融资工具。     

Credit at the Corner Store: An Analysis of Resource Exchange among Detroit‐Area Urban Poor

This ethnographic study examines how and why Detroit‐area credit‐constrained members of the urban poor relied on owners/employees of corner convenience stores, known as “party stores,” for accessing short‐term, interest‐free informal credit services. Findings indicate that informal credit at party stores functioned as a low‐ or no‐cost alternative to formal credit and high‐cost fringe banking services such as payday loans, both of which were inaccessible and/or cost prohibitive for informants. These data contribute empirically to a growing body of research on “credit invisibility” by exploring these populations' use of informal credit mechanisms. Findings also make a theoretical contribution by highlighting the importance of resource exchange networks through which members of the urban poor build strong yet disposable social ties in order to respond to economic shocks, combat food insufficiency, and survive economic destitution.     

Professionals without a profession? Redesigning case management in Dutch local welfare agencies

This article explores the new roles of frontline workers in Dutch local welfare agencies against the background of recent active welfare state reforms, with a specific focus on frontline workers involved in activating social assistance recipients. The results presented in the article come from case studies in four local welfare agencies. The article investigates how active welfare state reforms have influenced the room for discretion of frontline workers, how discretion is managed in local welfare agencies, and how frontline workers cope with discretion. The article argues that the discretion of activation by frontline workers has increased significantly. The research results show a clear though not unambiguous shift from a bureaucratic towards a more professional treatment of frontline workers, combined with attempts to introduce a more performance oriented style of management. However, given the low level of institutionalisation of the profession of activation work, activation frontline workers still seem to be professionals without a profession. This not only makes activation work a rather individual project, it also entails risks for clients for whom activation services may become unpredictable and lacking in transparency.     

Urban infrastructure: Trends,needs and the role of aid

The benefits of urban services have to be made accessible to increasing numbers of low income families in less developed countries. High levels of service are unlikely to be sustainable, and success depends upon addressing the key issues of Affordability and Maintenance. The complex interactions between technical, financial and social factors must be considered. The provision of high standards of service by implementing agencies is expensive and reflects neither the priorities of the beneficiaries nor their ability to pay. It is more effective to provide only the most basic level of service (primary level infrastructure) at the outset, which can subsequently be upgraded. The community should be able to take individual and collective responsibility for their priorities in improving the services based upon what they can afford. Primary level infrastructure is provided without cost recovery, with subsequent improvements being funded through loans to individuals and the community. It is easier both to recover costs from and to maintain individual plot service connections; however, the installation costs and tariffs must be affordable. Efficient operation and maintenance is essential. This is frequently the responsibility of an urban local authority who should be fully involved throughout; design and implementation should take account of their technical and financial capabilities.The factors which should be considered in the implementation of urban infrastructure can be summarised by the “Five I's”: Incremental improvement; Involving people; Individual services; Income related; Institutional.Possible implications for external aid are: (1) funding of primary level infrastructure for identifiable communities, including support for continued community development; (2) funding loans for infrastructure upgrading, with loan repayments forming a revolving fund; (3) strengthening the financial and managerial performance of urban local authorities; (4) technical training for housing authorities, urban local authorities, and public utilities.     

Contestability and social justice: The limits of competitive tendering of welfare services

Abstract

This paper critically analyses competitive tendering as a model for the provision of welfare services. Competitive tendering, driven by National Competition Policy and other imperatives for greater efficiency and a smaller public sector, is now used extensively by governments to fund welfare services. However, the suitability of this funding model to welfare services generally, and specifically welfare services in non-metropolitan areas, can be criticised on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Competitive tendering is grounded in economic rationalist, urbo-centric assumptions that are largely inappropriate for welfare provision, and have limited validity in rural areas. There is little rigorous empirical evidence of improved efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery under this model. Conversely, there is mounting evidence about the negative impacts. In rural areas this includes the erosion of community service obligations, less collaboration and greater secrecy between agencies, the reduction of choice, limited opportunities for local planning, cost shifting, and threats to continuity of care. This paper concludes with a call for greater application of the ‘public benefit’ test under the provisions of the National Competition Policy, and the development of more sophisticated frameworks for assessing the contestability of welfare services. Social workers have a leading role to play in challenging the dominant ideology of competition-orientated welfare reforms.     

Urban ecosystem management: bringing science and policy together

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has many programs that directly affect urban ecosystems, and many more, such as the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of natural resource data, that affect rural and urban areas alike. The policy challenge is to bring the vast scientific resources of the Department to the urban decision maker in an effective manner. This requires teamwork on the part of federal agencies, which can be greatly improved by innovative programs such as the Urban Resources Partnership. In spite of the progress being made, there are many challenges and opportunities ahead as national policymakers seek to bring science and policy together in ways that assist local leaders and citizens in improving environmental quality and the quality of life in urban and suburban areas.     

上海城乡统筹发展的路径和突破口研究

上海城乡二元结构的深层次问题突出表现为:城乡居民收入差距仍然明显,促进农民增收的难度加大;郊区人口持续导入,对公共服务和社会管理的要求提高;农村土地和产权制度改革滞后,深化改革的条件尚不成熟;郊区城市化进程加速,管理体制和管理模式亟待转变;新城和小城镇等城乡统筹载体建设有待加强。上海城乡统筹发展要牢牢把握公共服务均等化、发展成果共享化、发展权利平等化内涵,坚持以城带乡、城乡一体、互动发展,以推进新型城市化战略为主攻方向,以加强城乡规划一体化为前提,以加快新城开发建设为突破口,以土地管理、集体产权、社会管理制度改革为支撑,以基本公共服务均等化为着力点,大力推进工业向园区集中、居住向社区集中、农业向规模经营集中,努力实现优化农村土地资源配置方式、优化城乡资源要素流动方式、优化城乡统筹发展方式,推进城乡一体化发展。     

The Area and Community Components of Children's Well‐being

Until recently, mainstream services for children in the UK have largely relied upon individual and reactive approaches to safeguarding children's welfare. However, recent legislative and policy reforms require the development of a more preventive orientation, capable of promoting the well‐being of all children. This will require that agencies responsible for the integrated delivery of children's services develop strategies that, for the first time, take full account of the area and community components of children's well‐being. The challenges presented by these reforms, to existing organisational and professional cultures and ways of working, are examined in the light of recent research evidence. Copyright © 2006 The Author(s).     

中国城布水务未来融资模式探析

基于对现有融资模式与可供选择的融资新模式的分析,认为应在现有融资模式的基础上,积极探索市政债券和资产证券化等融资新模式,实现我国城市水务融资模式多元化的格局。     

Integrating Services for Older People in Aging Communities in The Netherlands: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Approaches

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to discuss approaches to services integration for older people in urban and rural aging environments in The Netherlands, and the preliminary effects of these approaches on local aging conditions. In urban areas, services integration revolves around the creation of functional spatial hierarchy. In rural areas, the emphasis is on forging links between service providers. Outcomes for health and use of professional care services are similar. Out-comes for housing, informal care, and accessibility of services differ between urban and rural areas in ways that can be traced back to local aging conditions and elements of the specific approach to services integration used. In both urban and rural areas, much more could be done to connect formal programs to the lifeworlds of older dwellers.     

Cairo's Zabaleen garbage recyclers: Multi-nationals’ takeover and state relocation plans

The paper investigates recently launched plans to privatize solid-waste management in Cairo, focusing on its adverse effects on the sustainability of the associated recycling economy and urban settlement system of the garbage collectors communities (Zabaleen) located within the Muqattam mountain area which is adjacent to Cairo's old historical quarters. According to official development strategy, the privatization of solid-waste services is regarded as fundamental to overall government plans for Old Cairo's rehabilitation. The objectives of the rehabilitation programme tend to favour tourist-orientated projects, whilst ignoring the local population's interests through the removal of informal Zabaleen settlements in Muqattam mountain, and through the clearing of the Eastern Cemetery of its tomb dwellers and shanty town buildings.The study examines the consequences of recent official intervention in the sustainability of the Muqattam Zabaleen settlement in terms of physical and demographic growth, infrastructural development, and changes in land tenure system. The paper takes into consideration early 1980s programmes funded by the World Bank to improve the Zabaleens’ environment and to upgrade their settlement. These aimed to maintain the existing informal settlement pattern and to develop urban service delivery systems.The empirical study adopts a qualitative analysis employing ethnographic techniques of informal discussions with secondary stakeholder agencies (local municipality, planners, NGOs activists). A field survey of the primary stakeholder group (garbage collectors) involved in-depth interviews with householders and with community leaders in the Zabaleen settlement. The analysis explores narratives expressed by members of the Zabaleen community in response to the threat of enforced eviction resulting from potential state-controlled gentrification programmes for urban development and land speculation in the area.The findings emphasize the significance of local participatory mechanisms in restructuring solid-waste collection and in developing the recycling industry whilst putting vacant and under-used areas into productive use. These mechanisms would support the management of built environment and local resources and would build local capacity through developing new channels for co-operation and partnership between the garbage collectors’ association (Gamm’yya) and grass roots organizations together with the local authorities and multi-national companies. In order to promote sustainable livelihoods and better opportunities for the urban poor the study concludes that there is a need to draw on the sustainable flow of local resources within low-income garbage collectors groups, whilst seeking new means of supporting land acquisition and its development for improved housing standards, basic services and environmental quality.     

Urban poverty,economic restructuring and poverty reduction policy in urban China: Evidence from Shanghai, 1978–2008

This article uses the city of Shanghai as a case study to analyze the changing institutional mechanisms for the new urban poverty stratum in China. Specifically, the article examines urban poverty in relation to economic restructuring and the transformation of the welfare provision system in three stages of market reforms. The article first examines the overall economic growth strategies at the national level, and then examines local government policy outcomes at the city level. The impacts of institutional changes on urban poverty and social inequality are subsequently. Finally, the article assesses the current poverty reduction policies and proposes a “social inclusion” framework to alleviate urban poverty in China.     

Independence pays: a cost and resource analysis of direct payments in two local authorities

Although there is an increasing amount of literature on direct payments (DP), to date there have been few studies which have examined in any detail the costs and resources associated with them. This paper presents findings from a two year study conducted in two Welsh local authorities that jointly fund an Independent Living Support (ILS) scheme. The main study was not designed to provide definitive cost comparisons with conventional services, however, cost and resource implications of DP were considered and an analysis to determine comparative costs between DP and traditional services was undertaken. The study notes the difficulty in identifying the true cost of DP and reasonable comparators with traditional services. A set of four case studies are presented comparing actual costs of DP and in‐house and independent sector services in the two local authorities studied. The comparison of costs and resources, which did not include significant costs for traditional local authority services but included the cost of the DP support scheme, found that DP was cheaper than traditional in‐house service provision and relatively cost neutral when compared with independent sector provision. User satisfaction, however, was significantly greater with DP than traditional service delivery methods. The paper also examines factors which can potentially influence the cost of DP. The study suggests that DP represent a substantial improvement over traditional arrangements from a cost–benefit perspective. There is strong evidence to suggest that greater ‘opportunity cost’ savings can be anticipated when DP schemes become more fully integrated into policy, practice and procedures.     

The conditions for state action in Florida's health-care market.

Despite the lack of confidence in government agencies to operate a nationalized health-care system in the United States, government agencies have significantly influenced the distribution and financing of health-care services in the market. Using the State of Florida as a case study, we examine the conditions under which a state health-care agency can consistently influence health-care market arrangements. We examined records from Florida's legislative sessions between 1965 and 1993 focusing on 27 legislative initiatives to involve the state's health-care agencies in the health-care services market. Using Boolean qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), we examined the conditions that facilitated or inhibited legislative policy initiatives for state action in Florida's health-care services market. The cohesiveness of state administrative agency and legislative leadership is of primary importance. Fragmented interests among health-care providers and fiscally legitimate policy positions, whether those of state agencies or health-care providers, are important enabling factors for state action.     

Reproducing authoritarian neoliberalism in Turkey: urban governance and state restructuring in the shadow of executive centralization

ABSTRACT

The implosion of popular struggles against the erosion of economic and democratic rights in the Middle East has thrown into sharp relief the co-constitutive character of neoliberal reforms and authoritarian state practices. This article zooms in on this relationship, and traces the consolidation of a core component of authoritarian statisms by examining how the ruling AKP government in Turkey has facilitated executive centralization. This process refers to a form of state restructuring whereby key decision-making powers are increasingly concentrated in the hands of the central government while democratic avenues to contest government policies are curtailed through legal and administrative reforms, and the marginalization of dissident social forces. I unpack the mechanisms of executive centralization in Turkey by exploring the transformation of urban governance under AKP rule, which has promoted a spectacular degree of state-led commodification of land and housing while simultaneously recentralizing key decision-making powers. The investigation demonstrates that executive centralization in urban governance has paved the way for the swift implementation of contested urban transformation projects marked by a non-participatory approach to urban ‘renewal’, the reconfiguration of the state’s redistributive function vis-à-vis low-income households, and a tendency to exacerbate existing patterns of inequalities in the housing market.     

政府向社会组织购买公共服务的问题与对策分析

政府向社会组织购买公共服务是我国公共服务制度的重要创新,对节约政府开支,提高公共服务效果有着重要意义。这种做法正在探索之中,购买程序、购买内容、定价、资金来源、评估机制等都存在着问题,需从两大方面探求解决途径,即政府应加大培养社会组织的力度,从法律法规层面上健全制度设计。     

e-Tools and Organization Transformation Techniques for Collaborative Case Management

SUMMARY

Welfare and workforce development reforms propel individual agencies into formal partnerships with one another. Collaborative Case Management is the cooperative delivery of social services to common clients. This paper describes technological tools and organization transformation issues for collaborative case management. A road map for a successful transition includes a shared vision, business/technology requirements, an information management strategy, redesigned jobs and processes, and a change management strategy.     

The health of the homeless

Studies of homelessness and health date back to at least the 1970s. The current paper presents a summary on the state of the literature on homelessness and health since the onset of Housing First initiatives. Housing First initiatives represent a change in the previously used model used by social services providers and government agencies from recovery first to housing first, a recognition that homeless people should be housed before contending with other issues such as mental health treatment. Since this time, researchers have pushed research inquiry into areas that were only touched on lightly before. These new areas of research fall generally into that categories of access and utilization, newer demographics, and emerging health concerns. Each of these areas is thoroughly reviewed in the paper. Despite Housing First legislation, homelessness continues to threaten the health of the urban population and will continue to do so as long as it is allowed to persist.