Suchergebnisse

The government has embarked on a radical policy of decentralisation in England, which has been termed 'localism'. Decentralisation from superior to lower tiers of government is a global trend. The government's approach has a particular character in this context in seeking decentralisation both to the lowest tiers of government and away from government to the individual. The localism agenda is also linked to proposals aiming to increase the rate of local economic growth, rebalancing the economy in sectoral and spatial terms and promoting wellbeing in England. This rapidly evolving policy agenda is based upon principles that are challenging to test rigorously and examine empirically. In principle, the government's approach is a particular form of decentralisation that has radical and experimental characteristics and is distinct from the kinds of decentralisation that have been tried and tested elsewhere internationally. The current study aims to consider the international evidence about the impacts of decentralisation. It seeks to identify systematically the arguments concerning the social and economic impacts of decentralisation and articulate key issues relevant to the policy debate.

This study provides an empirical assessment of the socioeconomic factors that determine household exclusion from consumer financial services. A unique microeconomic data set, of interview data, collected from a representative cross-sectional sample of 1,005 households is analysed using logistic regression techniques. In investigating exclusion from consumer financial services, both financial self-exclusion and institutional led financial exclusion are examined. Indicators of financial self-exclusion include the absence of a savings account or home contents insurance, while indicators of institutional led financial exclusion include the use of 'doorstep lenders'. Findings show that both measures of financial self-exclusion are determined by income, education, age, housing tenure and social participation while financial exclusion is generally associated with socioeconomic characteristics such as age, gender, housing tenure, working status, income, disability and the presence of young people in household but not with respondents' residential area, education level, internet use and social participation. These results are useful to both policy makers and financial services providers. They provide useful insights to policy makers and could have an important bearing on the range and mix of policies, and policy instruments, that local and central Government could use to mitigate their extent.

This report will analyse the interaction between regional Cohesion Policy (CP) and rural, development and agricultural policies (RP) of the EU. The analysis will explore if and eventually to what extent (i) a synergy arises between the two different (set of) policies in terms of both (ii) the effects and (iii) the determinants of the allocation of funds and subsequent actual expenditure in the 2007-2013 programming period.

A reasonably well-rounded and comprehensive definition of a smart city may be found in Caraglui et al (2011) who assert that a city is smart when "….investments in human and societal capital and traditional (transport) and modern (ICT) communication infrastructure fuel sustainable economic growth and a high quality of life, with a wise management of natural resources, through participatory governance." There are many other definitions on offer in the publicly available literature. However, this definition, though complex is arguably necessarily nuanced. It embraces all the various dimensions (social, institutional, economic, communication technology, infrastructure and environmental management) impinging on practical 'smart city' thinking. This complexity contributes to the phenomenon whereby most people may not fully understand what is actually meant by the 'smart city 'concept (Lima 2016). Perusal of popular media and much 'grey' literature also suggests that many cities seem to claim to be 'smarter' even though the evidence suggests that strictly speaking (particularly in the light of our preferred definition) they are not. In some of these cases, simply the status of being 'wired' is deemed to indicate smartness. Yet being wired with high availability and quality of ICT infrastructure is not a sufficient or adequate definition of a smart or intelligent city. This report begins by introducing the term 'smart city' buttressed by some critical consideration of the several definitions that are proffered in the extant literature. Then, the conceptual evolution of the 'smart city' construct is set out with reference to smart (city) policies implemented in the EU, mapped with reference to the results of a Boolean web search exercise. This analysis helps to systematically unveil the narrative used by practitioners and policy makers in shaping the perception of smart city policies and projects. Finally, a new index of smartness is implemented based on Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA). The new ...

This report begins by introducing the term 'smart city' buttressed by some critical consideration of the several definitions that are proffered in the extant literature. Then, the conceptual evolution of the 'smart city' construct is set out with reference to smart (city) policies implemented in the EU, mapped with reference to the results of a Boolean web search exercise. This analysis helps to systematically unveil the narrative used by practitioners and policy makers in shaping the perception of smart city policies and projects. Finally, a new index of smartness is implemented based on Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA). The new index will consider both objective measures and citizens' perceptions of key dimensions offering value in assessing 'smartness' in city projects and policies.

This report will analyse the interaction between regional Cohesion Policy (CP) and rural, development and agricultural policies (RP) of the EU. The analysis will explore if and eventually to what extent (i) a synergy arises between the two different (set of) policies in terms of both (ii) the effects and (iii) the determinants of the allocation of funds and subsequent actual expenditure in the 2007-2013 programming period.

This report will analyse the relationship between smart cities and economic resilience at city level. The conceptual evolution of the 'smart city' is discussed in detail in Work Package 4.1. Furthermore, a new index of 'smartness', which provided a measure of the extent to which a city is smart, was constructed in Work Package 4.1 using Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (SMAA) at city level. The index considered both objective measures and citizens' perceptions of key dimensions offering value in assessing 'smartness' in city projects and policies. Building on the work conducted in Work Package 4.1, this report focuses on smartness (the creation and use of knowledge) and the potential link with the resilience at city level.

After a decade of devolution and amid uncertainties about its effects, it is timely to assess and reflect upon the evidence and enduring meaning of any 'economic dividend' of devolution in the UK. Taking an institutionalist and quantitative approach, we seek to discern the nature and extent of any economic dividend through a conceptual and empirical analysis of the relationships between spatial disparities, spatial economic policy, and decentralisation. Situating the UK experience within its evolving historical context, we find: (i) a varied and uneven nature of the relationships between regional disparities, spatial economic policy, and decentralisation that change direction during specific time periods; (ii) the role of national economic growth is pivotal in explaining spatial disparities and the nature and extent of their relationship with the particular forms of spatial economic policy and decentralisation deployed; and, (iii) there is limited evidence that any economic dividend of devolution has emerged, but this remains difficult to discern because its likely effects are overridden by the role of national economic growth in decisively shaping the pattern of spatial disparities and in determining the scope and effects of spatial economic policy and decentralisation.