| 1. |
- Gutberlet, Jutta, et al.
(author)
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Socio-environmental entrepreneurship and the provision of critical services in informal settlements
- 2016
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In: Environment & Urbanization. - : SAGE Publications. - 0956-2478 .- 1746-0301. ; 28:1, s. 205-222
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper contributes to the understanding of processes by which small-scale entrepreneurs who provide household waste collection in informal settlements succeed in formalized co-production of such services. The paper draws on the social and solidarity economy and social and environmental entrepreneurship theoretical frameworks, which offer complementary understandings of diverse strategies to tackle everyday challenges. Two questions are addressed: How do informal waste collection initiatives get established, succeed and grow? What are the implications of this transition for the entrepreneurs themselves, the communities, the environmental governance system and the scholarship? A case study is presented, based on three waste picker entrepreneurs in Kisumu, Kenya, who have consolidated and expanded their operations in informal settlements but also extended social and environmental activities into formal settlements. The paper demonstrates how initiatives, born as community-based organizations, become successful social micro-enterprises, driven by a desire to address socioenvironmental challenges in their neighbourhoods.
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| 2. |
- Hansson, Stina, 1974, et al.
(author)
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Developing and testing the urban sustainable development goal’s targets and indicators - a five city study
- 2016
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In: Environment & Urbanization. - : SAGE Publications. - 0956-2478 .- 1746-0301. ; 28:1, s. 49-63
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The campaign for the inclusion of a specifically urban goal within the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was challenging. Numerous divergent interests were involved, while urban areas worldwide are also extremely heterogeneous. It was essential to minimize the number of targets and indicators while still capturing critical urban dimensions relevant to human development. It was also essential to test the targets and indicators. This paper reports the findings of a unique comparative pilot project involving co-production between researchers and local authority officials in five diverse secondary and intermediate cities: Bangalore (Bengaluru), India; Cape Town, South Africa; Gothenburg, Sweden; Greater Manchester, United Kingdom; and Kisumu, Kenya. Each city faced problems in providing all the data required, and each also proposed various changes to maximize the local relevance of particular targets and indicators. This reality check provided invaluable inputs to the process of finalizing the urban SDG prior to the formal announcement of the entire SDG set by the UN Secretary-General in late September 2015.
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| 3. |
- Kain, Jaan-Henrik, 1960, et al.
(author)
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Assumed Qualities of Compact Cities: Divergences Between the Global North and the Global South in the Research Discourse
- 2016
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In: 17th N-AERUS Conference: 2016 Gothenburg (Sweden). Gothenburg, 16-19 November, 2016..
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Compact cities are promoted widely in policy as a response to current societal challenges, but it is unclear or ambiguous what qualities or benefits a compact city is supposed to deliver. In research, the compact city concept is widely debated in the literature, and there are many arguments both for and against compact cities. However, many studies or reviews tend to apply a delimited approach, discussing a confined number of qualities or base the assessment on quite narrow empirical material. Research is also carried out from within a number of separate disciplines or “discourses”. An improved understanding of the wide spectrum of compact city qualities would support better planning, governance and management of cities. This paper therefore aims to provide an improved understanding of the wide spectrum of compact city qualities in support of better planning, governance and management of cities in the Global South. The objective is to present a review of current articles discussing the compact city to capture similarities and differences in the academic discourse between Global North and Global South contexts, and to outline a comprehensive compact city taxonomy. The analysis is based on literature searches in the Scopus database for 2012-2015, using the search term “compact city”. A quantitative assessment was carried out, sifting out what terms are used to label purported (or debated) qualities of compact cities. Papers are sorted into different categories according to geoeconomic context (i.e., Global North, BRICS, Global South). The outcome is an extended taxonomy of compact city qualities, including twelve categories. Weaknesses in compact city research aimed at cities in the Global South were identified, especially linked to nature, health, environment issues, quality of life, sociocultural aspects, justice and economy, as well as a significant lack of compact city research linked to urban adaptability and resilience.
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| 4. |
- Kain, Jaan-Henrik, 1960, et al.
(author)
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Translating Policies into Informal Settlements' Critical Services: Reframing, Anchoring and Muddling Through
- 2016
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In: Public Administration and Development. - : Wiley. - 0271-2075 .- 1099-162X. ; 36:5, s. 330-346
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper examines how policies and plans are translated into informal settlements' practice. It builds on literature on policy implementation practice and organization studies, and more particularly, it applies the concepts of reframing, anchoring and muddling through. The paper is informed by the case of Kisumu City in Kenya and its Kisumu Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan and its implementation on Kisumu's informal settlements. The plan was funded by the Swedish International Development Agency through the United Nations Human Settlement Programme and implemented from 2007 to 2009. The study is based on action research carried out by a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary group of researchers, through focus groups, participatory workshops, collaborative action, in-depth interviews, document analysis and observations. The paper examines what original aspects of Kisumu Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan were translated, that is, which ones faded out and which ones became stabilized into and travel as ‘best practices’ to other locations. The paper shows how the generation of ‘best practices’ can be loosely coupled with the practices that policy seeks to change. It concludes, in line with previous research in the field, how successful policy implementation is based on cultural and political interpretations rather on evidence of improved practices.
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