Habitat International最新文献

{"title":"No space for culture: the juxtaposition of urban residential planning and amaXhosa cultural land use practices in Makhanda, South Africa","authors":"Sinenhlanhla Memela,&nbsp;Zandile Nombulelo Dlongolo,&nbsp;Philippa Margaret Irvine,&nbsp;Nangamso Makhiwane","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103491","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103491","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cultural practices are often inseparable from their spatial manifestations. The spatiality of culture is seen in the existence of ritual spaces, architectural forms, and the organisation of space, for example. In traditional amaXhosa culture, the role of the extended family and spaces for various ritual and cultural practices transform residential spaces. This paper explores the contrasts between the spatial needs attached to cultural practices and the urban residential planning in South African township areas. It utilises Lefebvre's Production of Space to frame these juxtapositions and understand adaptive practices in the use of space within this context. The research uses a case study of the Makanaskop township in Makhanda, South Africa. This township is typical of state-housing provision during both the apartheid and post-apartheid periods: small, single residential plots with housing suited to nuclear families. Through interviews and participatory mapping with nine households, the findings of this research suggest that the size and spatial organisation of plots do not pay cognizance to the spatial practices of amaXhosa residents. Faced with spatial constraints, residents have had to adapt their cultural practices, and sometimes contravene planning systems and bylaws through insurgent planning and quiet encroachment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103491"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144469982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urban metabolism and emergy of China's cities","authors":"Miaohan Tang ,&nbsp;Jingke Hong ,&nbsp;Yuli Shan ,&nbsp;Weier Liu ,&nbsp;Gengyuan Liu ,&nbsp;Rui Xue ,&nbsp;Franco Ruzzenenti ,&nbsp;Klaus Hubacek","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103494","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103494","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The unprecedented pace of urbanization and industrialization caused a massive increase in China's urban metabolic pressure. The trend presents an urgent need for detailing the long-term changes and disparities in urban metabolic performances in a wide range of cities. However, existing studies rarely evaluate cities of large spatial ranges for long time periods. Here, we present empirical evidence of 281 China's cities from 2000 to 2020 based on emergy analysis. We categorized the 281 cities in six types, namely agricultural cities, light manufacturing cities, energy production cities, heavy manufacturing cities, service-based cities, and high-tech cities. We found that China's urban metabolic performance gradually became worse. At national level, total emergy use increased more than six times, but the annual growth rate slowed down between 2000 and 2020. The environmental sustainability index of China's cities in total decreased by 83.61 %. At city level, emergy-based performances among the six types of cities showed considerable differences. Agricultural cities and light manufacturing cities had better sustainability; service-based cities faced high environmental pressure. In addition, we investigated future urban metabolic performance and potential improvements based on the five-year development policy. Scenarios based on existing policies showed that total emergy use would experience slower growth, and most cities continue their decline in emergy metabolism performances in 2025. We provided city-specific policy recommendations to typical cities in six city types. Our data and results gave a holistic view of China's city-level metabolic performances at national scale with a broad spatial coverage and for a long period of time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103494"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144469983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Network infrastructure construction and inter-counties collaborative innovation in China with center-periphery effect","authors":"Yang Yang ,&nbsp;Fangfang Su ,&nbsp;Xueliang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103483","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103483","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The advancement of social productivity is closely linked to infrastructure development. In the digital age, it is essential for network infrastructure to penetrate into micro-level areas. Existing studies have shown that network infrastructure construction promotes regional innovation, but there is limited research on collaborative innovation at the micro-regional level. Using county panel data from 2012 to 2020, this study examines the impact of the Broadband China pilot on inter-counties collaborative innovation and analyzes the performance of knowledge spillovers between counties in China. The findings reveal that the Broadband China pilot has a significant positive effect on inter-counties collaborative innovation, as confirmed through robustness tests. The pilot is more effective in promoting connections within central regions compared to peripheral areas, particularly in terms of economic development, population size, administrative divisions, and policy preferences. Further analysis identifies three key mechanisms through which network infrastructure enhances inter-counties collaborative innovation: human capital agglomeration, increased communication, and market integration. This research not only offers a new micro-spatial perspective on collaborative innovation but also provides a deeper understanding of the relationship between network infrastructure and inter-counties collaborative innovation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103483"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144366279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the reliable trend of global urban land use efficiency from 1985 to 2020 using robust indicators and analysis tools","authors":"Cheng Zhong ,&nbsp;Jiaoqi Chen ,&nbsp;Bangjin Yi ,&nbsp;Hui Li","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103477","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103477","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban land use efficiency (LUE) has garnered global attention due to concerns that urban sprawl could result in significant habitat and biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, etc. Understanding the trends and characteristics of LUE is vital for attaining the United Nation's sustainable development goals (SDGs). This poses a problem, as the suggested LUE indicator not only fail to alleviate but actually amplify the impacts of errors stemming from global data sources. In this study, we conducted an examination of LUE change in over 3200 large cities worldwide from 1985 to 2020, using modified LUE indictors and robust analysis tools. Our findings indicate that the majority (81.2 %) of those cities experienced a significant increase in built-up per capita, posing a great challenge in enhancing land use efficiency. We have observed that disparities among regions are significant and tend to widen from 1985 to 2020. In 2020, North America boast the highest levels of BpC (exceeding 300 m²), while some low-income countries, such as Bangladesh, Somalia, and Yemen, only have a BpC about 20 m². We subsequently propose diverse solutions to replace current uniform requirement, with a specific focus on migrating the deteriorating trend of BpC in low-income region. The study emphasizes the demand for increased efforts and more flexible strategies to enhance global urban LUE by unveiling the challenges and diversity associated with it.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103477"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144366278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Remaking urban periphery through developing long-term rental community: marketisation of collective land under state-led financialisation","authors":"Chenxi Li ,&nbsp;Shenjing He","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103482","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103482","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China has experienced a significant influx of institutional investors in the rental housing sector, facilitated by state-led financialisation and institutional innovation in land and housing markets - particularly through the development of long-term rental community (LRC). Yet scholarly attention has largely overlooked the ongoing rural collective land reform and the financialisation of rental housing through the LRC development in megacities. Drawing on policy analysis and an in-depth case study of a representative LRC in Beijing, this study yields three principal findings: First, the recent proliferation of LRCs on collective land stems from adaptive institutional innovations that combine land market reforms with rental housing initiatives to mitigate affordability crises. Second, state-led financialisation channels - enabled by deliberate state policies - serve as practical political-economic instruments for broader urban crisis management. Third, LRCs are transforming urban peripheries by regenerating derelict landscapes while simultaneously creating socially isolated enclaves for young people. The present study offers insights into the mechanisms and outcomes of LRC development on collective land and informs policy adjustments to youth housing insecurity. Theoretically, it advances our understanding of the multifaceted nature of state-led financialisation by establishing a link between the marketisation of rural collective land and the financialisation of rental housing, highlighting how state-led financialisation channels play a crucial role in managing crises emerging from the land and housing market.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103482"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144366277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How urbanization shapes rural ageing in China? Evidence from spatial Durbin and threshold regression models","authors":"Yuanzhi Guo ,&nbsp;Wenyue Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103487","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103487","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Population migration from rural to urban areas is a key component of urbanization and a major driver of rural ageing. However, the specific impact of urbanization on rural ageing remains insufficiently understood. This study utilizes prefecture-level panel data from China spanning 2000 to 2020 to examine this relationship through spatial Durbin and threshold regression models. The results reveal that both urbanization rate and rural ageing level in China increased significantly during the study period, with notable spatial heterogeneity, characterized by high-high and low-low clustering patterns across the prefecture-level divisions. Urbanization significantly exacerbates rural ageing by accelerating the out-migration of working-age population, reducing fertility rates and extending life expectancy, with evident spatial spillover effects. The urbanization of neighboring areas further contributes to local rural ageing through mechanisms such as resource siphoning and institutional transmission. Threshold regression results indicate a nonlinear relationship, with the marginal impact of urbanization on rural ageing increasing significantly once the urbanization rate surpasses the two critical thresholds of 26.39% and 66.02%. Based on these findings, this study suggests that mitigating the rural ageing trap and promoting urban-rural integrated development will require measures such as optimizing urbanization strategies, enhancing regional coordination, and adopting phased and differentiated policy interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103487"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144330093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Polycentric governance for rural production-living-ecological space: Lessons from an ethnic mountain village in China and implications for global sustainable development","authors":"Hui Wang,&nbsp;Changfu Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103489","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103489","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Within the framework of the global sustainable development goals, rural spatial governance has become a core issue for the international community to harmonize human-land relations and respond to the ecological crisis. This paper develops an analytical framework for the polycentric governance of rural “production-living-ecological” space (PLES) from the perspective of commons governance. Taking Songdong Village, located in the mountainous region of Yunnan Province, China, as a case study, we empirically analyze the external environment, governance actions, and outcomes of its PLES governance. The findings indicate that: (1) The complex challenges posed by biophysical conditions, community attributes, and rules-in-use necessitate collaborative efforts by multiple stakeholders in governing the PLES. (2) The driving mechanism behind the spatial optimization of production-living-ecology in this case is the integration of diverse actors into a flat governance network, which fosters stable inter-subjective cooperation through a benefit linkage mechanism, and enhances the flexibility and adaptability of the polycentric governance system via a feedback mechanism. (3) Under polycentric governance, the local production space has become more intensive and efficient, the living space more comfortable and livable, and the ecological space more vibrant, with restored landscapes and healthier ecosystems. The insights from this study not only address a significant gap in the literature on polycentric governance but also offer Chinese wisdom and solutions for rural revitalization and sustainable development in mountainous, border, and ethnic regions globally.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103489"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144322655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unveiling the core-periphery dynamics and driving factors of intercity scientific mobility in China","authors":"Ying Na,&nbsp;Xintao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103481","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103481","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In China's uneven innovation landscape, intercity researcher mobility shapes urban knowledge hierarchies. Using ORCID data, this study reconstructs a national mobility network and applies the Weighted Degree-Corrected Stochastic Block Model (WDSBM) to reveal a hierarchical core–periphery structure. A small number of high-flow corridors dominate national exchanges, reinforcing spatial polarization. Combining XGBoost with SHAP interpretation, nonlinear drivers—including academic prestige, economic scale, housing costs, and geographic distance—are identified, and key interaction effects are revealed. Notably, elite universities exert stronger attraction when paired with high GDP, while high housing costs deter mobility even in high-income cities unless offset by institutional strength. Distance remains a constraint, but its effect is mitigated in cities with strong academic or economic capacity. These findings highlight that mobility is shaped not by single factors but by their structural alignment. The study offers a hybrid analytical framework linking network position with behavioral drivers, providing actionable insights for place-sensitive, tiered talent policies aimed at promoting inclusive and efficient innovation systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103481"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144313859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“Abura-politics”: The everyday politics and negotiations of households' self-supplied water infrastructure in urban Ghana","authors":"Godfred Amankwaa ,&nbsp;Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng ,&nbsp;Edward Ampratwum","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103480","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103480","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In most Global South cities, off-grid water infrastructures such as self-supplied household dug wells and private boreholes – as alternatives or responses to limited centralised ones – have become important water sources, particularly sustaining underserved urban settlements. However, given their construction within privately held plots, reliance on these water infrastructures reveals complex <em>politics</em> and access arrangements. Drawing on the theoretical lens of everyday and infrastructural politics and through qualitative case studies in Ghana, this paper investigates how self-supplied water infrastructure shapes socio-material politics within households and how everyday struggles surrounding these “<em>abura</em>”/wells reduce or contribute to maintaining inequalities. Our analysis highlights that while self-supplied water infrastructure is critical for addressing water access gaps, it also acts as a socio-political conduit and site of socio-commodified practices that (re)produce forms of multidimensional inequalities. We demonstrate how everyday struggles around these infrastructures reveal hidden practices and socio-cultural dynamics that create distinct moral economies of resource sharing, where access is governed through cultural performances, negotiated privileges and socio-commodified exchanges rather than market mechanisms. These arrangements create complex systems of water governance that reflect broader African philosophical principles of resource distribution and social bonds, yet paradoxically (re)produce a sense of marginalisation and exploitative relations through systems of social hierarchy and negotiated access. We conclude by raising critical questions about the place-based agenda for Modular, Adaptive and Decentralised infrastructure governance, particularly self-supplied water, highlighting the need to recognise socially embedded institutions while addressing how everyday practices reproduce marginality across Global South cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103480"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144313860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Promoting urban agriculture towards SDGs: An approach of combined assemblage and social-ecological system theories","authors":"Zhenshan Yang ,&nbsp;Douglas Sono","doi":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103479","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103479","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drawing on Assemblage Theory (AT) and Social-Ecological Systems (SES), we present a multi-phase framework for Urban Agriculture (UA) that incorporates heterogeneity, adaptation, resilience, and fluidity to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This pathway evolves through phases of relational development, system productivity, stabilization, and adaptability, providing a systematic yet flexible approach to enhancing urban-rural connections. We also examine essential research considerations, encompassing relational adaptive governance, stabilization and resilience, holism, and systems thinking. Our framework offers an interdisciplinary guide for policy and planning to facilitate transformative change, advancing sustainable development in urban and rural systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48376,"journal":{"name":"Habitat International","volume":"163 ","pages":"Article 103479"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144291495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}