Housing represents a critical sector globally in the drive to reduce carbon emissions with many countries adopting building energy standards to lower the carbon emissions of new build housing. ...However, ambition is often inadequate when considering the long-life time of homes built today. Globally, many regional or local authorities are taking action to improve the performance standards of new build housing beyond national requirements, though application within nations is heterogeneous. Understanding of why adoption of performance standards displays this diversity represents a research gap. The present work sets out to determine why the application of local planning powers relating to lowering emissions in new-build housing have been inconsistently implemented within local level planning policy. This is achieved through an explanatory sequential mixed method design targeted towards all local authorities within the case study nation of England. It is found that uncertainty following the withdrawal of national level agendas has led to a policy void for many local authorities, with many now suffering from a lack of policy power to enforce lower carbon standards. Drivers of heterogeneous uptake of standards at a local level have international relevance and indicate the need for clear central governance to facilitate local level ambition.
•Mixed-methods examination of local carbon reduction policy in new build housing.•Study seeks to understand the heterogeneous adoption of measures within England.•Regional differences exist for barriers to adoption of local level policy.•Uncertainty from Government policy changes may have led to heterogeneous adoption.•Local policy makers generally feel under capacity to deliver change in this area.
This paper sets out original findings from analyses of the English National Pupil Database of Key Stage 1 (KS1) attainment, to examine educational outcomes of children with Special Educational Needs ...and Disabilities (SEND). The schooling of these children has been entirely within the context of the current SEND system, defined by the 2014–2015 policy of the Children and Families Act and Code of Practice. With a strong focus on children's needs and outcomes, the policy intends to achieve high educational outcomes for children with SEND. Our new results show, however, that children with SEND are one of the most disadvantaged groups in education, and they are far less likely to meet expected learning standards than their peers at KS1. For instance, about 44%, 31% and 23% of children with SEND met the standards in phonics, reading and writing, respectively, compared to 88%, 83% and 78% of children with no SEND. Further, our spatial analysis shows for the first time that this disadvantage displays large spatial variability across Local Authorities: there is a postcode lottery in the education of children with SEND. The new findings provide strong evidence that the new SEND policy is failing many children with SEND, and that this performance varies markedly across space. This adds further weight and evidence to a growing recognition, even from government, that the SEND system needs to change, and that the ambitious aims of the transformation of education and care for children with SEND in 2014 and 2015 are not being realised.
•Household waste production is characterised by externalities and market failure.•This article tests the effect of landfill taxes on waste collection and disposal.•We use a panel of English local ...authorities over 9 years.•We estimate the landfill tax elasticity of waste for a range of waste streams.•The landfill tax is effective in shifting waste from landfill its alternatives.
The production of household waste is characterised by externalities and market failure, where the decision to consume does not consider the environmental impact of consequent waste generated. Policy interventions in the UK have focused primarily on pricing the disposal of waste through a landfill tax. This article tests the effectiveness of landfill taxation on household waste collection and disposal. Using a ridge regression with correction for fixed effects on a panel dataset of English local authorities, we estimate the landfill tax elasticity of waste for a range of waste disposal and collection streams. Results indicate that the landfill tax is elastic at disposal and effective in shifting waste from landfills to incineration. The tax is inelastic at collection, and encourages recycling. Our results indicate that landfill taxation is an important tool to change how waste is disposed by households and local authorities.
Conventional piped drainage systems are currently being challenged by climate change and urbanization, leading to pluvial flooding, with negative consequences for people's properties and lives. ...Sustainable stormwater management has been suggested as an alternative, but implementation of its infrastructures is often limited to demonstration zones. Governance factors are among the main reasons for the slow pace. A literature review analyzing 44 peer-reviewed papers was conducted to examine the challenges from a governance perspective. The challenges identified were summarized based on actors, resources, rules of the game, and discourses. Challenges such as unclear leadership and responsibilities, lack of funding, lack of cost data on sustainable stormwater management solutions, lack of space and knowledge, lack of uniform guidelines, and lack of stakeholder participation were found to be the most prominent reasons. Suggested solutions to overcoming these challenges include e.g., researchers acting as knowledge brokers, the involvement of social capital among local stakeholders, re-using vacant land, establishing uniform guidelines, and increasing market incentives to engage stakeholders. The governance structures of stormwater management were categorized as hierarchical, closed and open co-governance arrangements, while open co-governance arrangement was suggested as a useful governance structure. The difference is that the latter structure engages stakeholders, which is of benefits to increased sustainable stormwater management implementation. More research on social-economical aspects is suggested. These findings can improve understanding among decision makers and other relevant actors of challenges related to implementing sustainable stormwater management as a primary solution to the current climate and urbanization challenges.
•Unclear leadership and responsibilities lack of funding, cost data, space, knowledge, guidelines and stakeholder participation were identified as the main challenges towards sustainable stormwater management implementation.•An open co-governance arrangement involving stakeholders is suggested as a feasible governance structure for future sustainable stormwater management implementation.
Abstract
There has been growing interest in the Local Authority (LA) variation in rates of admission to care and provision of services but less is known about whether young people’s experience of ...care varies by LA. Using survey data from 4,994 looked after young people (aged eleven to eighteen years) from thirty-six English LAs, the analyses focused on LA variation in their subjective well-being. There was a statistically small LA variation in young people’s responses to individual survey questions except for a question that asked if young people felt they had a trusted adult in their lives. Between 66 per cent and 100 per cent of young people had a trusted adult depending on the LA caring for them. Positively associated with overall well-being were, being looked after by a non-London LA, a longer length of time in care, fewer placement moves, children’s positive perceptions of a reciprocal trusting relationship with their carer, having a good friend and being male. Counter-intuitively, LAs with an outstanding or good Ofsted social care or education judgement were associated with a higher proportion of their young people having low well-being.
In a context where anaerobic digestion is a controversial subject, it is not surprising to see that between 20% and 30% of anaerobic digestion projects are abandoned, mainly for reasons of local ...opposition, problems of coordination between stakeholders and the implementation of real territorial governance capable of facing the challenges encountered during the setting up of the project. We can consequently question the role that local territorial authorities could play to encourage the development of biogas in France. We used semi-structured interviews conducted with anaerobic digestion stakeholders to identify the main functions of territorial intermediation (and their specific elements) that local authorities could have to encourage the deployment and success of these projects. Local authorities play the role of intermediation by (i) ensuring spatial and cognitive proximities between actors, (ii) mobilizing territorial resources and favoring local anchorage (iii) installing trust among the local stakeholders and (iv) having a role of instigator by participating in the supply (inputs) of biogas plants and the purchase of the energy produced (outputs).
•We questioned the central role of local authorities in the deployment of biogas.•They play a role of intermediation by helping to mobilize territorial resources.•They create trust between stakeholders, encouraging social acceptability.•They participate in the supply (inputs) of biogas plants and the purchase of the energy produced (outputs).
The Bulkeley Market Hasdell, Peter; Chen, Olivia Shuning
Cubic Journal (Online),
12/2022, Letnik:
5, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Olivia Chen has conducted research into the transient dawn markets of Hong Kong in which hawkers secretly operate second-hand markets, forming a liminal space in which objects of inconsequential ...value are sold and exchanged. Through this Chen has built an understanding of the web of the social relations and hierarchies that underpin poorer areas in Hong Kong, exposing the socio-economic disparities in Bulkeley Street, Hung Hom and giving the lie to the prosperous facade of Hong Kong. The reality that she captures is a vanishing one, with street markets giving way to shopping malls. Through protracted observation, Chen has found that such markets contribute to the recycling and exchange mechanisms of a material economy of the city, and that such spaces of production build social cohesion through weaving webs of social connections. As a wish to manifest these social webs, Chen’s work The Bulkeley Market explores storytelling as a spatial practice in ways that highlight the importance of such issues in the production of social space.
Solid waste management (SWM) has become a heavy burden in developing countries. In Africa, most urban centres consist of a large part of the waste produced by the inhabitants. This often becomes ...problematic and leads to poor SWM. South Africa faces the challenges of SWM that are mainly due to population growth and the lack of integrated programmes between local authorities and community members. It is in this context that this study focuses on the roles of local authorities and communities in SWM in Alexandra, Johannesburg, South Africa. Using a qualitative research methodology inspired by the traditional participatory research approach, it finds that a large proportion of urban areas face SWM problems, due to many factors. These factors include poor communication between community members and local authorities, lack of community participation, lack of local government strategies to involve the community, which complicates the situation. This study indicates that both stakeholders (the community and local authorities) do not play their roles sufficiently in the management of solid waste in Alexandra. As a result, the problem is too widespread and difficult to control, often being too costly for the community. The study highlights the importance of community participation in SWM to ease the burden on local authorities.
Ongoing urban exploitation is increasing pressure to transform urban green spaces, while there is increasing awareness that greenery provides a range of important benefits to city residents. In ...efforts to help resolve associated problems we have developed a framework for integrated assessments of ecosystem service (ES) benefits and values provided by urban greenery, based on the ecosystem service cascade model. The aim is to provide a method for assessing the contribution to, and valuing, multiple ES provided by urban greenery that can be readily applied in routine planning processes. The framework is unique as it recognizes that an urban greenery comprises several components and functions that can contribute to multiple ecosystem services in one or more ways via different functional traits (e.g. foliage characteristics) for which readily measured indicators have been identified. The framework consists of five steps including compilation of an inventory of indicator; application of effectivity factors to rate indicators' effectiveness; estimation of effects; estimation of benefits for each ES; estimation of the total ES value of the ecosystem. The framework was applied to assess ecosystem services provided by trees, shrubs, herbs, birds, and bees, in green areas spanning an urban gradient in Gothenburg, Sweden. Estimates of perceived values of ecosystem services were obtained from interviews with the public and workshop activities with civil servants. The framework is systematic and transparent at all stages and appears to have potential utility in the existing spatial planning processes.
•Framework to assess effect, benefit and perceived value of urban ecosystem services.•It includes various regulating and cultural services.•It uses a limited number of indicators of functional traits providing the services.•It applicable environmental impact assessment (EIA) and municipal planning.•Ecosystem services are highly valued relative to other important services in a city.
•The capacity of local authority and community on epidemics in Vietnam was moderate.•It is necessary to develop the action plan and response scenario for each setting.•Training for the core workforce ...in combating disease is extremely important.•The household surveys should be conducted to fulfill the knowledge gap.
Local authority’s response and community adaptive capacity are critically important for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, especially for the disease with an astonishing speed of spreading like COVID-19. This study aims to examine the perception on the capability of local authority’s response and community adaptation among core workforces in responding to acute events in Vietnam. Health professionals, medical students, and community workers in all regions of Vietnam were invited to participate in a web-based survey from December 2019 to February 2020. The snowball sampling technique was utilized to recruit respondents. The Tobit multivariable regression model was used to identify associated factors. The results showed that based on a 0–10 numeric rating scale, the mean scores of the capacity of local agencies and community adaptation were 6.2 ± 2 and 6.0 ± 1.8, respectively. Regarding local authority competencies, the lowest score went to “Adequate equipment, infrastructures and funding for disease prevention”. For community adaptation, the respondents evaluated the capacity on “Periodic training, equipment and drills to prepare for epidemic and disaster response” competency” with the lowest mark (5.2 ± 2.5). Overall, there were significant differences in the assessment of community adaptive capacity between urban and rural areas (p < 0.01). This study indicated the moderate capacity of the local authority and community adaptation on epidemics and disasters in Vietnam. It is critically necessary to develop the action plan, response scenario and strategies to optimize the utilization of equipment and human resources in combating epidemics for each setting.
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