News

Welcome to the first SHLC Bulletin of 2021 and a very Happy New Year to you all. Especially our Chinese colleagues who recently welcomed 2021 as the year of the Ox, which symbolizes strength and determination. Let's carry that strength and determination as we progress into what we hope will be a fruitful year of data collection!

Firstly, I would like to extend a warm welcome from the SHLC family to Karen Main who has joined the team as our new Project Administrator.

We started the year off with a very positive Centre Advisory Committee meeting with valuable discussion and encouraging feedback. They were very impressed with our publication progress despite a challenging year. With support from the Advisory Committee, we will be submitting an extension request very soon and, as always, will keep you informed of any updates. We are planning to submit a 12-month extension request as soon as we have had sign-off from University of Glasgow's internal finance team. Thank you to those who have been working with Gail to re-profile the proposed budget.

As you will be aware, we have started to amend the survey to incorporate questions relating to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on neighbourhoods. I am currently revising the questionnaire based on your feedback and input and will circulate shorty. We are also revisiting research instruments for the interviews and focus group discussions. Look out for an email from Keith who will be moving these discussions forward.

As always, if you have any news or have read a research article you would like to share with the rest of the team, remember to send updates to our project team to be included in the next SHLC Bulletin: [email protected].

SHLC Bulletin

Your update of SHLC publications and events as well as news from the sustainable communities sector

Urban October 2020: a round-up

Welcome to the October edition of the SHLC Bulletin!

Thank you to all SHLC teams for completing the RTP2 summary papers, and for your hard work and effort to get them published during Urban October. We encourage all SHLC teams to read each other’s work and share with your own network and colleagues.

Some research teams are ready to pilot their questionnaire for the household survey by the end of 2020. As a reminder, if you want to pilot, remember to fill out additional COVID-19 research ethics requirements. If you have any questions, please contact Keith Kintrea. The safety and security of fieldworkers and participants should always be our first priority. Please do not feel pressured to start fieldwork if it is not safe to do so.

Thank you to Josephine Malonza from the Rwanda team for speaking at our Virtual Panel Event exploring housing and sustainable urban development. If you missed the event, you can catch up on the recording via the SHLC website.

It has been a challenging and long year, and we appreciate everyone's energy and commitment to SHLC's research. We are currently starting to do scenario planning to help support a project extension request. We will be in touch with Co-Investigators to discuss further.

As always, if you have any news or have read a research article you would like to share with the rest of the team, remember to send updates to our project team to be included in the next SHLC Bulletin: [email protected].

Take care and, as always, stay safe!

Neighbourhood inequality undermining drive for sustainable cities

Trends in urban development are leading to cities that are socially and spatially fractured and provide a shaky basis on which any turn towards communities can be built. Read more in new blog by Ya Ping Wang and Keith Kintrea.

Where you live matters for what, and how, you learn

Access to better educational opportunities is one of the top reasons people migrate to urban areas, but not all people who live in cities benefit from quality education, says Yulia Nesterova. Read more in new blog.

Neighbourhood governance during COVID-19

The Centre for Neighbourhood Studies (CeNS) held two neighbourhood governance forums in Batangas and Manila to explore how neighbourhoods can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Catch up: virtual panel event on housing during COVID-19

This virtual panel event, chaired by UN-Habitat, with a presentation from Josephine Malonza, explored how housing policy can support sustainable urban development post-pandemic. If you missed it, you can catch up here.

Register now: 'Neighbourhood Matters' - a virtual exhibition

This virtual exhibition, hosted as part of the ESRC’s 2020 Festival of Social Sciences, will showcase photographs and maps produced by urban residents to give a glimpse into how urbanisation is shaping everyday life.

Counter-mapping for urban social justice

This blog, by our old colleague Andre Ortega features a counter-mapping in the Philippines that foregrounds the voices of marginalised farming and indigenous communities facing eviction.

Picture of the Month

"Walk safely" or "safe walking"? Azizur Rahman Road, Khulna," Bangladesh.
Credit: Nafisa Anjum, Khulna University, SHLC Bangladesh

"A safe walkable environment is pivotal to uphold the sustainability of any neighbourhood. It opens multiple windows of sustainability including better social cohesion, better environment, less pollution, mental satisfaction, community pride and so on. My photograph is a demonstration of safe walking environment that contribute to the neighbourhood sustainability."

Do you have a photo from your research you'd like to share? Email your photo and description to [email protected] to be featured in the next bulletin.

SHLC RESEARCH, EVENTS, NEWS AND BLOGS

Research

Cape Town: a city still divided by race and class. Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. SHLC Research Summary 01
Delhi: a city of diversity and disparity. National Institute of Urban Affairs, India. SHLC Research Summary 02
Madurai: a shrinking and segregated city. National Institute of Urban Affairs, India. SHLC Research Summary 03
Batangas: neighbourhood patterns. University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning, and Centre for Neighbourhood Studies (CeNS). SHLC Research Summary 04
Manila: understanding neighbourhoods for a more sustainable city. University of the Philippines School of Urban and Regional Planning, and Centre for Neighbourhood Studies (CeNS). SHLC Research Summary 05
Kigali: the rapid urban growth and neighbourhood dynamics of a prosperous city. University of Rwanda. SHLC Research Summary 06
Huye: socio-spatial dynamics and neighbourhood patterns in a small city. University of Rwanda. SHLC Research Summary 07
Dhaka: diverse, dense, and damaged neighbourhoods and the impacts of unplanned urbanisation.
Khulna University. SHLC Resarch Summary 08
Khulna: the diversity and disparity of neighbourhoods from organic growth. Khulna University. SHLC Research Summary 09
Johannesburg: the growing importance of class in shaping neighbourhoods. Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. SHLC Research Summary 10
Dodoma: building a sustainable city to meet neighbourhood needs. Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania. SHLC Research Summary 11
Dar es Salaam: the unplanned urban sprawl threatening neighbourhood sustainability Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania. SHLC Research Summary 12
Urban Policy in South Africa. By David Everatt & Zayd Ebrahim (2020) in Developing National Urban Policies. Springer.
Overview of Urban Policies in China. Debolina Kundu, Tania Debnath & Baishali Lahiri (2020) in Developing National Urban Policies. Springer.
Urbanisation in India: Towards a National Urban Policy Framework and Smart Cities. Debolina Kundu (2020) in Developing National Urban Policies. Springer.
The Philippines’ National Urban Policy for Achieving Sustainable, Resilient, Greener and Smarter Cities. Mario R. Delos Reyes, Mark Anthony M. Gamboa & Ryan Randle B. Rivera (2020) in Developing National Urban Policies. Springer.
The Uneven Geography of the COVID-19 Crisis: South Africa. Ivan Turok & Justin Visage (2020) in National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAM).

Events

News and Blogs

Neighbourhood Inequality and Division Undermining Drive for Sustainable Cities. By Ya Ping Wang and Keith Kintrea.
Is your neighbourhood your destiny? How the neighbourhood you live in determines your educational opportunities. By Yulia Nesterova.
Counter-mapping for urban social justice: notes from the urban periphery in the Philippines. By Andre Ortega.
New Book: Developing National Urban Policies - Ways Forward to Green and Smart Cities. By SHLC.
I (Don’t) Want to Live Here! Exploring Perceptions of Liveability in Bangladesh. By Istiakh Ahmed, International Centre for Climate Change and Development.
Filipino Neighbourhoods in Quarantine: A Forum on Neighborhood Governance during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Centre for Neighbourhood Studies (CeNS).
A Forum on Neighbourhood Governance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Batangas City The Centre for Neighbourhood Studies (CeNS).

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Image credit:

- Informal housing and urban expansion in Kigali. Credit: Ya Ping Wang, University of Glasgow

- Colorful hillside homes in Kigali, Rwanda. Credit: Shutterstock, Black Sheep Media

- Water shortages, Madurai, India. Credit: Arvind Pandey
- Mattlucht, Flickr

- Implementing a Rapid Emergency Supplies Provision for COVID-19, Manila, the Philippines. Credit: Asian Development Bank

- Community mapping with residents. Credit: Andre Ortega

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Centre for Research & Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning (CR&DALL)

SHLC Bulletin - February 2021 | Happy 2021! Looking forward to a brighter year

SHLC Bulletin

Neighbourhood inequality undermining drive for sustainable cities