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Sustainability
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Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods
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Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 18276

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Charles C. Fonchingong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Social Work and Social Policy, Canterbury Christchurch University, North Holmes Campus, Canterbury CT1 1QU, UK
Interests: social work for marginal groups; community development; social justice and inequality; sociology of development; elderly welfare and livelihoods; spatial analysis and solidarity networks; sustainable development and co-production strategies; indigenous approaches and resilience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will explore contextual factors in lessening inequalities, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In formulating the 17 SDG goals, the key motivation focused on ‘putting people at the centre of sustainable development’. Curating indigenous approaches for community development are often missed in calibrating a sustainable livelihoods policy. New theorising and contextual grounding around ameliorative strategies to address social injustice and structural inequalities, particularly in emerging economies, warrant further interrogation.

  • Very little is known of what works best, and what needs revamping.
  • An important question is how an interplay of social perspectives and contextual factors inform spatial inequality with complications on sustainable livelihoods?

Engaging communities living on the margins requires a complete rethinking of policies to enhance sustainable livelihoods. Effective community organising, relational networking, and grassroots empowerment are options for rebooting community layers of agency. There is a need for a wider consideration of a re-packaged, participatory, and inclusive model of sustainable livelihoods, enabling conversations with marginalised groups, persons with disability, frail older people, disenfranchised women, migrant groups, and refugees often trapped in extreme poverty and experiencing high levels of deprivation.

Guaranteeing sustainable livelihoods is influenced by an array of factors: levels of poverty and vulnerability, gender hierarchies, understanding of development context, issues of autonomy, community agency, indigenous approaches, resource constraints, and local mobilisation strategies. Layers of institutional power interplay in different ways, which exacerbates spatial inequality, thereby, jeopardising social justice.

Essentially, papers will address the nuanced understanding of social perspectives linked to spatial inequality, enablers and barriers of sustainable livelihoods. It is unclear how utilising a social justice model and critical community development approaches can empower communities to better deliver vital services from the ground-up. There is a need to consider inequality from a contextual, relational, and inclusive development lens outside ‘the mould’ of public institutions.

Dr. Charles C. Fonchingong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Contextual factors
  • Sustainable livelihoods
  • Spatial inequality
  • Poverty
  • Social justice
  • Relational networking
  • Inclusive development

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 95508 KiB  
Article
Faces of Marginal Housing in Romania
by Gheorghe-Gavrilă Hognogi, Ana-Maria Pop and Alexandra-Camelia Marian-Potra
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3983; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073983 - 2 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2483
Abstract
Marginal settlements may be defined as inhabited areas characterized by a series of negative features, typicallyethnic segregation, social discrimination, poor living conditions and conflicts, with impact on their dwellers and neighboring communities. In Romania, informal settlements were legislated in 2019; it subsequently became [...] Read more.
Marginal settlements may be defined as inhabited areas characterized by a series of negative features, typicallyethnic segregation, social discrimination, poor living conditions and conflicts, with impact on their dwellers and neighboring communities. In Romania, informal settlements were legislated in 2019; it subsequently became mandatory for the local authorities to spatially delimit them and formulate measures to improve living conditions. However, there are still numerous issues to be solved, from the lack of basic services (health, education) to the persistent poor living conditions or serious environmental problems. The Roma communities selected for our study are no exception. They are located on the outskirts of some cities or in their historical centers (Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu, Timișoara, Baia Mare). Through content analysis, based on print and electronic media from the last 10 years (n = 150 news items), different aspects of marginal housing were illustrated. The results of the study revealed some particular aspects, namely: some of the Roma communities are relocated whilst some others are subject to environmental conflicts; funding addressing the quality of life of Roma ethnics seems to deepen the phenomenon of segregation among communities, most of the measures being limited to the creation of housing facilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods)
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25 pages, 16551 KiB  
Article
A New Approach for Assessing Secure and Vulnerable Areas in Central Urban Neighborhoods Based on Social-Groups’ Analysis
by Dalit Shach-Pinsly and Tamar Ganor
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1174; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031174 - 22 Jan 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2440
Abstract
Current urban planning of central neighborhoods is focused on mobility transformation towards more sustainable methods of public transportation and walkability that increase social interactions. Central urban neighborhoods in many cities may suffer from deterioration due to lack of personal security that result in [...] Read more.
Current urban planning of central neighborhoods is focused on mobility transformation towards more sustainable methods of public transportation and walkability that increase social interactions. Central urban neighborhoods in many cities may suffer from deterioration due to lack of personal security that result in diminished walkability. The lack of personal security might exclude residents from those areas and create a troublesome circle of deterioration, and may emphasize spatial inequality. It may also establish different patterns of the neighborhood infrastructure usage for different social groups, such as using specifically more secure streets and public spaces. The main goal of this paper is to define the routes and spaces where people walk and use in their neighborhoods in which they feel safe, and to understand how different social groups walk-through and use the same urban environment. This is analyzed by the security rating index (SRI) model, a GIS-based mapping model, which is used to identify and rate secure urban areas for better walkability. The SRI results are compared to an interview, which was given to different social-group representatives, urban data that was collected using a mobile application, and to vandalism data analysis from the municipality. The security and walkability analysis assessment took place in the Hadar neighborhood in Haifa, Israel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods)
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19 pages, 3638 KiB  
Article
Localizing Sustainable Development Goal 6: An Assessment of Equitable Access to Sanitation in a Brazilian Metropolitan Region
by Rodrigo Coelho de Carvalho, Maria Inês Pedrosa Nahas and Léo Heller
Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 6776; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176776 - 21 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2118
Abstract
In order for the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda to be achieved, it is essential to “localize” the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), since it is only at the local level that it is possible to move towards their effective implementation. This [...] Read more.
In order for the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda to be achieved, it is essential to “localize” the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), since it is only at the local level that it is possible to move towards their effective implementation. This article seeks to contribute to the development of evaluation and monitoring strategies for target 6.2 at the local level, adapting the official SDG indicator 6.2.1a and the international criteria established by the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)) at the municipal scale. Using the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region (RMBH) as a case study, a series of methodological procedures is proposed to assess and monitor equitable access to sanitation services. Inequalities in access to services between different population subgroups and between the municipalities that make up the RMBH are explored in different ways, including the evaluation of intersecting forms of inequality, the mapping of a synthetic index of inequality based on multiple criteria and the projection of the time needed to achieve universal access to services according to international criteria. The procedures applied demonstrated the existence of significant inequalities among the municipalities and population subgroups of the RMBH, which are not evident in the analysis of the aggregated data by municipality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods)
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19 pages, 1154 KiB  
Article
Spatial Analyses of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Its Responsiveness to Labor Market Performance and Policies during the 2008 Recession
by Vicky Albert and Jaewon Lim
Sustainability 2020, 12(9), 3881; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093881 - 9 May 2020
Viewed by 2717
Abstract
The major economic downturn of the Great Recession led many families with children to depend on cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In order to capture TANF caseload growth rates relative to their labor market performance, we developed [...] Read more.
The major economic downturn of the Great Recession led many families with children to depend on cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In order to capture TANF caseload growth rates relative to their labor market performance, we developed a responsiveness index which revealed that many of the western and midwestern states were quite responsive to the recession. Using Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) tools, we found the presence of strong spatial clusters in unemployment rate and in TANF maximum aid. Several states in the western region were surrounded by neighboring states with higher growth in unemployment rate changes than the national average based on ‘Rook Contiguity’ weight matrix. The presence of High-High clusters of the level of TANF benefits was found in Northeastern states whereas the presence of Low-Low spatial clusters was found primarily in Southern states. The present study’s findings have confirmed the idea that spatial analyses can be useful for policy research. In the era of evidence-based policy making, the role of spatial analyses is bound to expand. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods)
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25 pages, 1477 KiB  
Article
Measuring Disability Inclusion Performance in Cities Using Disability Inclusion Evaluation Tool (DIETool)
by Nataša Rebernik, Marek Szajczyk, Alfonso Bahillo and Barbara Goličnik Marušić
Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1378; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041378 - 13 Feb 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 7653
Abstract
Cities are exposed to a growing complexity, diversity and rapid socio-technical developments. One of the greatest challenges is as of how to become fully inclusive to fit the needs of all their citizens, including those with disabilities. Inclusive city, both in theory and [...] Read more.
Cities are exposed to a growing complexity, diversity and rapid socio-technical developments. One of the greatest challenges is as of how to become fully inclusive to fit the needs of all their citizens, including those with disabilities. Inclusive city, both in theory and practice, still lacks attention. Even in the context of ambitious contemporary concepts, such as smart and sustainable city, the question remains: Do smart and sustainable cities consider inclusiveness of all their inhabitants? Among numerous evaluation systems that measure city’s smartness, sustainability or quality of life, those tackling inclusion are very rare. Specifically, disability inclusion is hardly covered. This may be one of the reasons why cities struggle with applying disability inclusion to practice in a holistic and integrative way. This paper proposes a Disability Inclusion Evaluation Tool (DIETool) and Disability Inclusion Performance Index (DIPI), designed to guide cities through a maze of accessibility and disability inclusion related requirements set within the political, legislative and standardization frameworks. The testing in two European cities shows that the tool is beneficial for providing diagnosis as to how disability friendly a city is, and as such offers an opportunity for designing informed corrective measures towards disability inclusive city design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Perspectives of Spatial Inequality and Sustainable Livelihoods)
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