Cities have been sites of some of the most visible manifestations of the evolution of processes of globalization and population expansion, and global cities are at the cutting edge of such changes. ...Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism examines changes in governance, property development, urban politics and community activism, in two key global cities: London and Toronto. The analysis is inherently comparative, but not in the traditional sense – the volume does not seek to deliver a like-for-like comparison. Instead, taking these two cities as empirical cases, the chapters engage in constructive dialogues about the contested and variegated built forms, formal and informal governmental mechanisms and practices, and policy and community-based responses to contemporary urban concerns. The authors position a critical dialogue on three central issues in contemporary urban studies: governance, real estate and housing, and community activism and engagement. Their less traditional approach to comparative framing seeks to understand London and Toronto from a nuanced perspective, promoting critical reflection on the experiences and evaluative critiques of each urban context, providing insight into each city’s urban trajectory and engaging critically with wider phenomena and influences on the urban governance challenges beyond these two cities.
This mini review explores perspectives on density and discretionary planning policy in relation to the emergent landscapes of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) across selected English ...university cities. It examines the nexus between density in planning policies and transformations in student accommodation, presenting a research gap requiring further investigation. Our research builds upon limited literature on UK PBSA within which there has been inadequate interrogation of policy impacts on the substantial growth of this now mature market sector. By better understanding the relations between national planning policies and their local interpretations regarding PBSA, we can move toward improving understandings for urban futures. The intersectionality between the evolution of the PBSA sector and the planning system are currently underexplored. The paper highlights the proliferation, densification, and concentration patterns of PBSAs and their connections to the surrounding planning system. The emergence of privately developed PBSA in the UK is typically characterized by medium to high rise, and medium to high density development. Higher density PBSA has created a dynamic spectrum of impacts reflecting subjective perceptions of their emergence in university cities. Our mini review illustrates the growth trajectory and direction of the PBSA sector. We conclude with a reflection on the discretionary nature of planning policies for density that often create regulatory loopholes allowing PBSA to thrive as a niche real estate asset class but not necessarily as a local and social collective asset.
This paper considers the agency and influence of planning processes and densification policies on urban landscapes in London. Urban transformation through residential densification can bring ...opportunities for real estate development, combined with longer term investment and financial gains for local authorities through planning gain. However, the measurements and indicators used to define density and its impacts could be better understood both objectively and subjectively through the lens of an extended notion of ‘value’. Such experiences of density can be viewed bluntly as positive or negative. This research investigates nuanced dimensions of density and adopts a primarily qualitative approach, reflecting on relevant literature and wider policy context through a discourse analysis relating to densification in London. The idea of elements of ‘value’ is explored and evaluated in ongoing developments through a detailed case study of Nine Elms, London. Quantitative data on the residential real estate market is used to illustrate investment flows. Conclusions consider best practice policy recommendations in relation to understandings of ‘value’. 'Policy relevance' Lessons from London indicate how densification can be a viable option for both urban policy makers and practitioners when approaches adopt a flexible governance and planning approach, embedded in local context. Densification processes in planning and governance should be regularly reviewed and reconsidered in line with broader national and city-wide policies, optimising rather than maximising density. Both subjective and objective measurements should be accounted for, by reflecting on broad and informed indicators. The value created by densification processes should be the result of a weighted and broader assessment of variables: economic, social, and place-specific considerations. However, the often antagonistic, ambiguous nature of density and its application needs to be recognised by policy makers, regulators and actively involved parties (planners, developers, investors) to contribute to the creation of successful places.
Purpose>In recent decades, institutional investment has become increasingly focussed on residential property in the United Kingdom, reflecting interest in what was previously considered an ...“alternative” asset class, but is now an evolving and ever more complex sector. This short thought piece considers how such processes may be understood through investment-related research.Design/methodology/approach>The UK residential market has experienced substantial capital inflows in the wake of the global financial crisis. This reflective piece suggests there is a need for more research into residential real estate as an institutional asset class to further unpack and understand shifting market dynamics within the United Kingdom. It offers insight into evolving market trends across a diverse range of investors and market sub-sectors.Findings>This paper considers the diverse research opportunities within the residential investment markets, including, but not limited to, the private rented sector, build-to-rent and purpose-built student accommodation, presenting opportunities for burgeoning research.Practical implications>The viewpoint suggests how this research lacuna may be bridged through additional research in not just the UK residential market, but also how investors may further integrate and operationalise UK residential assets in diversified or specialised investments, from domestic to international propositions. The suggested research agenda promotes enhanced understandings of residential markets and processes driving investment decision-making.Originality/value>As the integration of residential property into vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trusts, private equity funds and managed multi-asset portfolios continues to increase, there is an amplified need to understand the market context in which such investment flows occur, including the potential impact of COVID-19, Brexit and the cyclical evolution of real estate markets more broadly.
Global land ownership patterns have been shifting in recent decades, as institutional and non-traditional investors redirect capital into rural areas. Such investment is a stimulating alternative for ...innovative profit-driven land uses that move beyond agriculture. This paper explores how ‘new money’ economies have created place effects in three rural case studies across the United Kingdom, through concepts of built, natural, social, and economic capital. The case studies are informed by secondary research, site visits, and interviews, providing snapshots of investment impact. They represent diverse transformations in rural land use via new forms of direct investment, active investment, and processes of financing rather than financialisation, with distinct spatial and temporal characteristics. The case studies include new wine production in Kent, England; transforming the Menie Estate into Trump International Golf Links Scotland (TIGLS); and farm diversification in Northern Ireland. The conclusions tell three investment stories, where place effects reflect the dichotomies, contestation, and symbiosis between investors and local contexts. New land uses create place effects where economic potential often conflicts with natural capital impacts, although they foster knowledge creation and exchange. The underlying values of the investors and their navigation of local politics also have key roles to play in shaping the built, natural, social, and economic place effects.
PurposeIn recent decades, institutional investment has become increasingly focussed on residential property in the United Kingdom, reflecting interest in what was previously considered an ...“alternative” asset class, but is now an evolving and ever more complex sector. This short thought piece considers how such processes may be understood through investment-related research.Design/methodology/approachThe UK residential market has experienced substantial capital inflows in the wake of the global financial crisis. This reflective piece suggests there is a need for more research into residential real estate as an institutional asset class to further unpack and understand shifting market dynamics within the United Kingdom. It offers insight into evolving market trends across a diverse range of investors and market sub-sectors.FindingsThis paper considers the diverse research opportunities within the residential investment markets, including, but not limited to, the private rented sector, build-to-rent and purpose-built student accommodation, presenting opportunities for burgeoning research.Practical implicationsThe viewpoint suggests how this research lacuna may be bridged through additional research in not just the UK residential market, but also how investors may further integrate and operationalise UK residential assets in diversified or specialised investments, from domestic to international propositions. The suggested research agenda promotes enhanced understandings of residential markets and processes driving investment decision-making.Originality/valueAs the integration of residential property into vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trusts, private equity funds and managed multi-asset portfolios continues to increase, there is an amplified need to understand the market context in which such investment flows occur, including the potential impact of COVID-19, Brexit and the cyclical evolution of real estate markets more broadly.
Given that signage, messaging, and advertisements (ads) are the gateway to many interventions in suicide prevention, it is important that we understand what type of messaging works best for whom.
We ...investigated whether explicitly mentioning suicide increases engagement using internet ads by investigating engagement with campaigns with different categories of keywords searched, which may reflect different cognitive states.
We ran a 2-arm study Australia-wide, with or without ads featuring explicit suicide wording. We analyzed whether there were differences in engagement for campaigns with explicit and nonexplicit ads for low-risk (distressed but not explicitly suicidal), high-risk (explicitly suicidal), and help-seeking for suicide keywords.
Our analyses revealed that having explicit wording has opposite effects, depending on the search terms used: explicit wording reduced the engagement rate for individuals searching for low-risk keywords but increased engagement for those using high-risk keywords.
The findings suggest that individuals who are aware of their suicidality respond better to campaigns that explicitly use the word "suicide." We found that individuals who search for low-risk keywords also respond to explicit ads, suggesting that some individuals who are experiencing suicidality search for low-risk keywords.
Studies have shown that individuals may search for suicide-related terms on the internet prior to an attempt.
Thus, across 2 studies, we investigated engagement with an advertisement campaign ...designed to reach individuals contemplating suicide.
First, we designed the campaign to focus on crisis, running a campaign for 16 days in which crisis-related keywords would trigger an ad and landing page to help individuals find the national suicide hotline number. Second, we expanded the campaign to also help individuals contemplating suicide, running the campaign for 19 days with a wider range of keywords through a co-designed website with a wider range of offerings (eg, lived experience stories).
In the first study, the ad was shown 16,505 times and was clicked 664 times (4.02% click rate). There were 101 calls to the hotline. In the second study, the ad was shown 120,881 times and clicked 6227 times (5.15% click rate); of these 6227 clicks, there were 1419 (22.79%) engagements with the site, a substantially higher rate than the industry average of 3%. The number of clicks on the ad was high despite a suicide hotline banner likely being present.
Search advertisements are a quick, far-reaching, and cost-efficient way of reaching those contemplating suicide and are needed despite suicide hotline banners being present.
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN12623000084684; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=385209.
PurposeThe UK's purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector has seen significant institutional investment in recent decades. This paper unpacks contemporary trends and perspectives on the ...sector. It questions whether PBSA has moved from being an “alternative” to “mainstream” residential asset class, framing the analysis through the lens of market maturity.Design/methodology/approachThe methods triangulate perspectives drawn from literature on the evolution of PBSA as an asset class with illustrations of investment trends across the UK between 2005 and 2020 using data from Real Capital Analytics (RCA), combined with findings from 40 semi-structured interviews with investors and stakeholders in PBSA in the UK London is the focus of the work, whilst other regional cities are integrated for comparison.FindingsThe results demonstrate that London's PBSA market is ahead of trends currently being replicated in regional cities. However, the regions currently offer greater return potential and opportunities for risk taking compared to London, where yields are compressed, and the market is considered lower risk. The concept of maturity remains useful as a framework for evaluating markets, however a more granular analysis of sectors is necessary to further understand asset classes within sectors. PBSA continues to trade at a premium across the UK; it is considered the most mature residential asset class.Practical implicationsThe emergence of PBSA as an asset class continues to play a developing role within the residential sector and UK investment market. Risk, value and local context remain key when integrating PBSA into institutional portfolios, and as the first to consider the UK market from a qualitative research approach, this research provides a snapshot of these influences in 2021.Originality/valueOur approach offers original insight into investment trends across the UK and is the first to focus reflections on the London market specifically. The research highlights the role of PBSA as a vanguard asset class for investors into residential, situating its growth within the framework of market maturity and drawing out market nuances from interviews.
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