Uwe Neumann (p)

Simone Salotti

Urban regeneration initiatives in many countries have been inspired by the expectation that residential segregation may increase in line with rising inequality on job markets. One example of a comprehensive policy approach is represented by the German ”Social City” programme, which was introduced in 1999. While urban regeneration had focussed on the renewal and reconstruction of city centres and inner city neighbourhoods in the previous decades, the “Social City” combined urban regeneration with the support of local communities in deprived neighbourhoods. The study explores to what extent this policy has affected household income and housing markets in programme areas. It uses microdata on house-holds characteristics from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and microdata on housing prices to examine the effects on local housing markets in the designated areas. Using propensity score matching and difference in differences methods the study demonstrates that neighbourhood-oriented policy has found it difficult so far to improve income opportu-nities among the inhabitants of deprived neighbourhoods. At the same time it needs to be pointed out that an increase in segregation may have made it even more difficult for urban policy to improve living conditions in programme areas. Hedonic pricing models for North Rhine-Westphalia find significant effects attributable to policy in programme areas particularly for rents. Given a persistent overall desire to reside close to urban centres, an upgrading of urban housing environments thus carries the danger of gentrification and displacement of poor households.

Pedro Herrera-Catalán (p), Coro Chasco

Uwe Neumann

The paper constructs a typology of industries to prioritise infrastructure investments in high-return areas of developing countries, presenting the case of Peru. Based on Marshall’s discussion of the economic benefits to production for firms that spatially concentrate, we use nonparametric distance-based tests of industry localisation to identify the geographic concentration of industries. We find that one-third of manufacturing industries exhibit a relatively high degree of industrial agglomeration. Then using spatial logit models, we explore spatial and non-spatial factors that firms value when deciding where to locate. We find that spatial autocorrelation effects are a key factor of a firm’s location, but their importance varies significantly across concentration quartiles. Finally, we use the model estimations to construct a typology of industries that differs according to their clustering degree, accessibility to markets, access to inputs, basic infrastructure levels and neighbouring effects. This setup is proposed to help policymakers to prioritise industrial policies in Peru.

Ebru Ala, Neşe Aydın (p), Duygu Köse, Oğuzhan Kürşat Uçar

Pedro Herrera-Catalán

The 21st century is a period marked by land degradation, resource scarcity, wars, crises, earthquakes, migrations, social and spatial segregations. These negative external factors jeopardize the role/place of disadvantaged groups, including women, in the city. In this context, the importance of urban policy decisions developed and implemented by local governments are significant.

The aim of this study is to elucidate the position of women in the dimensions of urban sustainability within the context of Sustainable Development Goal 5, which addresses gender equality, based on the approaches and actions of local governments. This study utilizes systematic review and comparative analysis methods conducted with the MAXQDA, with Antalya selected as the sample area, being the 5th metropolitan city in Türkiye. In line with the purpose and methodology, the 10-year (2012-2022) activity reports and practices of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality were examined to identify how women were addressed by local governments in the dimensions of urban sustainability, namely social, physical, and environmental contexts, over the 10-year period. This systematic review and comparative analysis are crucial in identifying policy gaps/shortcomings created by local governments and determining the consistency of women's involvement in urban sustainability dimensions.

The research indicates that there are various dimensions of urban sustainability, and within the context of gender equality, women are involved in various aspects of the city, undergoing various changes over time. The findings of the study question whether there is a comprehensive approach specific to women in the various-scale practices implemented by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality to achieve sustainability goals. Therefore, the study's results are expected to emphasize the necessity for local governments to adopt an inclusive approach towards women's role in the social, physical, and environmental processes of urban sustainability dimensions in the city.



Keywords: Sustainability, Woman in City, Local Governments, Urban Policy, Türkiye

Simone Salotti (p), Tryfonas Christou, Abián García Rodríguez, Nicholas Joseph Lazarou

Neşe Aydın

The European cohesion policy is redistributive through both its expenditure and its financing, as the majority of investments are made in the less developed regions and the financing of the policy is financed by Member States through contributions proportional to their GDP weight within the Union. The policy is an expression of the EU solidarity, with the objective of enhancing economic, social and territorial cohesion and solidarity among EU countries. Yet, some argue that the EU value added is only limited and that such policy should better be implemented by the Member States rather than been planned through negotiations between the EU authorities and the national and regional ones. We investigate the economic and welfare implications of different ways of financing the policy using a spatial dynamic general equilibrium model. The results show that the impact on GDP is similar whether the policy is financed by the European Union budget or if the regions have to levy taxes to finance the interventions that take place there. This is due to the demand and supply side effects of investment, which are independent of the source of financing. However, the composition of the GDP response to the policy shock changes significantly across the scenarios. If the policy is financed by the European Union budget, there is a deterioration in the trade balance in the less developed regions, which does not occur if the regions finance the interventions themselves at the cost of lower household consumption and welfare. The opposite happens in the more developed regions, where welfare is lower in the first scenario due to the large contributions needed to finance the policy investments, which are mostly made elsewhere.