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housing and urban sustainability

Housing Market in Central European City during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Housing Market in Central European City during the  COVID-19 Pandemic

Many aspects of the global economy changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, including the real estate market. This study examines the primary residential property market in Opole during the Covid-19 pandemic. It uses property transaction data from 2018 to 2021 to conduct statistical analyses and independent group tests and also takes into account the real-estate price trend from 2014 to 2020. The study finds that both property prices and preferences relating to the structure and location of housing changed during the pandemic. In the case of Opole, the number of transactions involving residential units in the primary market increased in 2020 compared to previous years. After adjusting the unit price value of residential properties for the trend in the pre-pandemic period, the study finds that there was also an increase in property transaction prices. The study confirms three important facts relating to phenomena that are occurring globally in cities today. First, local communities are more diverse in terms of the economic heterogeneity of real estate buyers. Second, unlike big urban areas, small cities may be more resistant to the process of citizens migrating to suburban areas, thereby limiting the negative phenomenon of urban sprawl. Third, the housing real estate market in small cities is considered a reliable form of investment of assets, as real estate prices increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.

14.6.2023 | Jan K. Kazak, Natalia A. Kłysz, Joanna A. Kamińska | Volume: 10 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 27-38 | 10.13060/23362839.2023.10.1.551

Investigating Green Marketing Implementation with the Hedonic Price Model in Residential Projects: The Case of Istanbul

Investigating Green Marketing Implementation with the Hedonic Price Model in Residential Projects: The Case of Istanbul

The strategic importance of green marketing (GM) in value creation for the end customer (VCEC) and the contribution of the spatial and structural characteristics of a residential project (RP) to the final price have been acknowledged in the literature. However, GM features that can lead to price increases have not been evaluated from the VCEC perspective. This study examines the impacts of GM strategies on RPs. This study applies Hedonic Price Modelling to newly built RPs in Istanbul and evaluates the results from the perspective of the Attractive Quality Attributes Theory. The results showed that the total price of the RPs was affected more by design-related sustainable features of RPs and revealed that there is a relationship between GM and sustainable design. The study highlights the importance of GM, which companies can use to operate effectively in a competitive market and increase the satisfaction of end customers through value creation. The study’s findings can be considered useful information for policies on creating a sustainable built environment.

16.6.2021 | Ahmet Tuz, Begum Sertyesilisik | Volume: 8 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 85-100 | 10.13060/23362839.2021.8.1.525

How to Support Social Resilience in Tsunami-Devastated Communities: Iwanuma Case Study

How to Support Social Resilience in Tsunami-Devastated Communities: Iwanuma Case Study

This paper describes the post-disaster reconstruction in the Tohoku region after the 2011 earthquake. Nine years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami occurred, and many efforts have been made since to rebuild the devastated territories. Some Japanese architects and urban planners have seen the recovery as a window of opportunity to aim for more resilient cities. Nevertheless, building disaster-resilient communities remains a challenging task. This short paper presents the initiatives made to improve refugees’ social conditions in disaster-relief housing, using the case study of Iwanuma’s relocation project. Concluding remarks suggest that many efforts have been made to improve the social aspect of disaster-relief housing in Japan, for example through the development of community spaces or the pursuit of friendlier dwellings.

28.10.2020 | Camille Cosson | Volume: 7 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 11-20 | 10.13060/23362839.2020.7.2.511
Social Housing after the GFC: Further Evidence

Independent Evaluation of Social Housing Operations: Challenges and Lessons to Be Learned

Independent Evaluation of Social Housing Operations: Challenges and Lessons to Be Learned

In recent years, the Evaluation Department of the Council of Europe Development Bank has conducted a series of independent evaluations of CEB-financed operations in the social housing sector targeting special vulnerable groups. Building on evaluation evidence and experience, two strategic issues are presented: the high level of complexity of such operations and the various facets of their sustainability. This paper underlines the significant learning and accountability potential of evaluations of social housing operations. At the same time, it underscores the added value of a holistic approach to evaluation, in the face of a simplistic, but currently predominant, output-oriented focus during monitoring.

20.12.2017 | Luigi Cuna | Volume: 4 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 99-106 | 10.13060/23362839.2017.4.2.390
Social Housing after the GFC: New Trends across Europe

The Situation of Social Housing in Switzerland

The Situation of Social Housing in SwitzerlandWithout a national or cantonal policy for the provision of affordable, so-called social housing, Switzerland`s way is unique in Europe. Finding appropriate housing is left to the people themselves. The challenge of building sustainable communities in urban centres in Switzerland has to address the tight housing market due to economic growth, immigration, and the renewed attractiveness of urban living. In the absence of a national low-cost housing policy, every growing city thus has to design its own strategies and implement local policies and programmes in order to counteract such developments. The role of housing cooperatives is important now and in the future. The paper gives an overview on the Swiss situation after the GFC and discusses the successful strategies of the provision and protection of affordable housing in the major city of Zurich.
22.6.2017 | Marie Glaser | Volume: 4 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 72-80 | 10.13060/23362839.2017.4.1.326
Special issue on Nature-Home-Housing: Greening and Commoning of Urban Space

Nature-Home-Housing: Greening and Commoning of Urban Space

Nature-Home-Housing: Greening and Commoning of Urban Space

Editorial

30.12.2016 | Petr Gibas | Volume: 3 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 13-16 | 10.13060/23362839.2016.3.2.293
Special issue on Nature-Home-Housing: Greening and Commoning of Urban Space

Community Gardening As a Means to Changing Urban Inhabitants and Their Space

Community Gardening As a Means to Changing Urban Inhabitants and Their Space

Community gardening has become a new phenomenon in Slovakia. The evolution of community gardens has been enhanced thanks to the various motivations of the people involved: to grow and share fresh and healthy vegetables in unused urban spaces adjacent to their homes, to build a sense of community and strengthen social relations, to use and cultivate vacant urban space and to contribute to a more sustainable urban environment. This paper discusses the case of community gardening in the medium-sized city of Banská Bystrica in Slovakia. It analyses the growing popularity of community gardening as a result of the emergence of grassroots activism, a sign indicating the development of civil society. Using an ethnographic approach of participant observation and interviews, this paper also looks at community gardening as a non-political collective action addressing broader global issues.

27.12.2016 | Alexandra Bitusikova | Volume: 3 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 33-42 | 10.13060/23362839.2016.3.2.296
Special issue on Nature-Home-Housing: Greening and Commoning of Urban Space

“Green” Utopia of the Uralmash: Institutional Effects and Symbolic Meaning

“Green” Utopia of the Uralmash: Institutional Effects and Symbolic Meaning

The article examines ideological and institutional role of the “greening” policy in the Soviet urban planning practice of 1920-1930s. Relying on the example of the socialist city of Uralmash in Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) the author traces how the idea of the “green city” affected the development of the urban settlement in terms of its functional mechanism and symbolic transformation. By analyzing the logic of the Uralmash “green” policy and its main narratives he argues that successful improvement of the post-Soviet green zones depends not so much on the new urban city-planning initiatives as on the new symbols and meanings that could give a clear vision of these spaces in the current social and cultural context.

25.12.2016 | Mikhail Ilchenko | Volume: 3 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 52-60 | 10.13060/23362839.2016.3.2.298
Special issue on Nature-Home-Housing: Greening and Commoning of Urban Space

Urban Green Space in Transition: Historical parks and Soviet heritage in Arkhangelsk, Russia

Urban Green Space in Transition: Historical parks and Soviet heritage in Arkhangelsk, Russia

Urban green space was largely underestimated as a potential for healthy and liveable environments in the state socialist countries. In Soviet Russia, green in the city was part of urban planning but more as a proclamation and mostly implemented in a top-down-manner. During postsocialist transformation, economic restructuring dwarfed the debate on urban nature and greening. Within last years, we see a change here: Urban nature for residential quality and well-being has become more relevant for people, their perceptions and daily practices. The paper analyses the development and main characteristics of urban green spaces in Arkhangelsk, Russia. It discusses the importance of urban nature for human well-being, housing and its contribution to social cohesion and local identity. The paper argues that urban greening is not only a planning tool to create liveable and healthy urban environments but also an important strategy in awareness raising and public involvement activities.

24.12.2016 | Diana Dushkova, Dagmar Haase, Annegret Haase | Volume: 3 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 61-70 | 10.13060/23362839.2016.3.2.300

Single Access Neighbourhoods and Neighbourhood Cohesion

Single access neighbourhoods and neighbourhood cohesion

This paper compares the level of neighbourhood cohesion of two single access neighbourhoods in Calgary, Alberta. The two neighbourhoods had a high sense of neighbourhood cohesion. It is argued that the single access to the neighbourhood has contributed to a high sense of neighbourhood cohesion. One neighbourhood outperformed the other on all three subscales of cohesion due to a stronger sense of seclusion for the neighbourhood. Establishing a sense of identity, a focus, and a clear boundary for a neighbourhood is paramount. Meanwhile, visionary planning for the future of neighbourhood design in terms of ease and flexibility of redevelopment for the open grid model seems to dominate the mindset of municipal planners raising the banner of sustainability.

29.12.2015 | Karim Youssef | Volume: 2 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 1-10 | 10.13060/23362839.2015.3.2.236

Positive (?) Social Consequences of Gating

Positive (?) Social Consequences of Gating

The social consequence of gating have been generally characterized as negative, particularly in regards to raising issues of social injustice such as the privatization of space, estrangement, and segregation. Some authors have found positive social consequences of gating particularly in regard to reducing the scale of segregation and promoting social interdependency as a form of social integration as well as encouraging neighbourhood cohesion and maintaining social capital. The following is a critical review of the positive consequences of gating within the overall trend of commodification of community in new residential developments.

30.6.2015 | Karim Youssef | Volume: 2 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 1-10 | 10.13060/23362839.2014.2.3.151

How to Understand Residential Value and Valuation

How to Understand Residential Value and Valuation

Sustainable urban development requires education of professionals dealing with the built environment. Property valuers constitute one such important albeit neglected actor group. When the aim is to comprehend value and valuation, the questions to ask include the following argumentation: What is the ideal definition of sustainable development in a valuation context? Is it about the diversity of value systems? Or about long-term thinking in terms of reinvesting the profits harvested? And what is the role of generating data on these factors? The paper reports some suggestions for answering these questions in a residential context.

30.1.2014 | Tom Johannes Kauko | Volume: 1 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 1-8 | 10.13060/23362839.2014.1.1.29