Internal Migration and Urban Change in Poland

The paper investigates population change and migration over the period 1984–1994 for communes. There are important conclusions emerging from this study. The first is that we are watching now a profound change of population redistribution patterns in Poland. We observed that direct upwards hierarchical mobility has been markedly modified. The first modification is the substantial reduction of migration from rural to urban locations. There were important changes in the role of cities and towns. Largest cities, massive gainers of the seventies and eighties, have tended to lose population in the mid-nineties. It is likely that they lose population mainly to the neighbouring communes. We believe that a suburbanization process has been put into motion. Medium to large sized towns and cities, in the range between 50,000 and 500,000 as well as small, but not the smallest, towns attract substantial parts of the migration pool.     

The Quality of Life in Some Local Metropolitan Labour Markets in Italy

This study forms part of a general programme of territorial research in Italy developed by the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). In particular we have studied the metropolitan communes, both with regard to movements within the city and to the attraction cities exert over the communes in the surrounding areas. Based on the daily work-related flows, we have identified the Local Labour Systems (LLSs). The LLSs having as their hub the twelve metropolitan communes constitute the Local Metropolitan Systems (LMSs). Among these we have chosen to analyse in detail the quality of life in the Systems of Milan, Genoa and Palermo, which have been singled out as exemplary cases of current socio-economic differentiations.     

Privilege and precarity: public scripts and self-censorship in shaping South African social science

South African social science’s close relationship with politics and policy have long provided a source of vitality and intellectual direction. Although one of the field’s greatest strengths, intimacy with socio-political and economic transformations engenders solipsism and stagnation. Ironically, it also compromises scholars’ political autonomy and intellectual ethics by blinding analysts to the emerging socio-political formations which will shape the country’s future. As demands for decolonisation and academic transformation continue, the pressures for political alignment will only grow. Drawing on over a decade of inquiry into the formal and informal governance of human mobility into and within South Africa, this article reveals the contours of such isolation and conceptual complacency. From this we can find direction for satisfying the “dual imperative:” contributing to progressive policy while maintaining scholarly autonomy. While not disengaging from politics, we must work to destabilise the language of it even where it means potential isolation from officials, peers, and personal profits. Doing so can protect social science’s autonomy while opening new opportunities for understanding the world in which we live and new tools for challenging those who seek to describe, theorise and change it. Doing otherwise risks converting the South African academic project into a policy think tank or self-referential echo chamber.     

Commemorating or celebrating? Reflections on the centenary of the Natives Land Act of 1913

While no policymaker would claim to be celebrating the centenary of the Natives Land Act, the form and content of the commemoration of this significant event on the website of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has some unsettling parallels with the celebratory countdown to the Soccer World Cup of 2010. Rather than using the centenary to acknowledge the significant changes in relations to land of the past century, the state is treating it as an opportunity for political theatre that deflects attention from serious weaknesses in its land reform programme. If the centenary of the 1913 Land Act is to be an opportunity for meaningful reflection, then a more thoughtful engagement is required with major processes of social change and regional differentiation over the past 100 years.     

Developing an effective tsunami warning system: Lessons from the 1960 Chile earthquake tsunami for New Zealand coastal communities

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, property values have escalated in many coastal areas in New Zealand. While the mainstream media see the increasing property values as a positive economic development, Australian research suggests that migration to coastal settlements and increasing property values in those settlements is a more complex phenomenon and warrants close attention. The Australian research reveals significant social and cultural shifts occurring as well as the more widely discussed ecological impacts. In order to find out more about the social impacts of recent rapid property price increases on previously slow growing and comparatively inexpensive settlements, exploratory research involving interviews with key informants in six small coastal settlements was carried out in 2004. The study demonstrates the importance of micro‐level research to complement macro‐level analysis of development patterns and contributes to the emergent international literature on nonmetropolitan development trends since the 1990s. It highlights the need for more co‐ordinated and integrated development of the small settlements based on a comprehensive assessment of current and future social, economic, and environmental impacts of development.     

When farmers are planting houses …

This paper examines the reasons behind the continual growth of the phenomenon of famers ‘planting’ cheap and substandard houses on farmland in rural China repeatedly and without government permission. The practice has been commonly interpreted by local governments as schemes instigated by greedy farmers to maximise compensation payments from the government when their properties are requisitioned for public infrastructural or private development projects. Researchers however have found that such practices are measures farmers learnt from others to insure themselves against land grabs as well as inadequate compensation offered by local governments and developers. Their vulnerability however also spanned a growing illegal industry where farmers short of cash were lured into participating in organised ‘house planting’ projects although they could be caught and put in jail by local authorities. Other researchers are equally concerned by the threat of food security should these incidences continue to escalate. However, these problems would not be easily addressed because the survival of local governments has grown to be heavily dependent on both the huge revenues generated by and winning political mileage from urbanising the rural, or converting agricultural to non-agricultural lands.     

The immense and continuing challenge of urban governance: Developments in Australia and across Greater China

The article describes the long history of urbanisation, including developments in four jurisdictions – three in Greater China (the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) and Australia. While each has its own history, all now face challenges associated with continuing urbanisation and the growth of very large cities. There are broadly similar economic forces at work, but differences in scale and differences in the “growth machines” involved and the institutional arrangements within which urban governance operates. The article explains the growing importance internationally of urban governance and the growing interest in the “performance” of cities. The authors then set out two case studies describing developments in urban governance around Shanghai and around Sydney. In both cases, the scale of big city growth is demanding both horizontal and vertical coordination, and processes that facilitate citizens and civil society participation. While the very different institutional arrangements in these jurisdictions have led to different urban governance arrangements, there are common challenges that have led to some common governance developments such as having a lead government with citywide and comprehensive public service responsibilities, and also having the national government play an increasingly active role in support.     

Africa's Rising Demand for Wheat: Trends,Drivers, and Policy Implications

This article analyses trends in wheat consumption and imports in sub‐Saharan Africa since 1980, and estimates the economic and demographic determinants of this rising demand for wheat. Results point to rising incomes, growing populations, and increasing women's labour‐force participation as key drivers. Urban wheat‐expenditure shares generally exceed rural ones and SSA's demand is met largely by imports and partly through domestic production on large‐scale farms. Rising demand may therefore entail few farm–non‐farm synergies and minimal prospects to spur broad‐based economic development. The article concludes by discussing policy options for African countries to meet their staple food needs while also promoting pro‐poor agricultural growth.     

Safe Cities programming and campaigning in the ActionAid Federation

In 2011, ActionAid International embarked on an ambitious new programme to prevent violence against women in urban public spaces. By the end of 2014, 13 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America were operating dedicated Safe Cities for Women programming. This article discusses the development of the Safe Cities Programme approach, highlighting how ActionAid has situated its work within – and in response to – the historic feminist global Safe Cities movement. It uses case studies from Nepal and Cambodia to illustrate the importance of coalition and movement building to secure policy change. We reflect on the sensitivities of an international NGO inhabiting space historically occupied by social movements.