Publications
Young Women in Cities: Urbanization and Gender-biased Migration
Yumi KOH, Li JING, Yifan WU, Junjian YI, and Hanzhe ZHANG
Koh, Yumi and Li, Jing and Wu, Yifan and Yi, Junjian and Zhang, Hanzhe, Young Women in Cities: Urbanization and Gender-biased Migration (January 4, 2024).
View PaperInsourcing the Smart City: Assembling an Ideo-technical Ecosystem of Skills, Talent, and Civic-mindedness in Singapore
Orlando WOODS, Tim BUNNELL, and Lily KONG
This article examines an alternative model of smart city formation, one based on the principle of insourcing technical competencies and capabilities to those responsible for city governance. This model counters the logic of technological outsourcing upon which many assumptions and critiques of the smart city rest, and thus reveals ways in which a more generative discourse can be forged. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with senior stakeholders from public and private sector organizations, we develop a case study of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. Through coordinated efforts to reorganize the public sector’s technological functions, develop nation-wide skills upgrading programs, and repatriate overseas tech talent, the government strives to assemble an ideo-technical ecosystem of talent, skills, and civic-mindedness in Singapore. This is an ecosystem designed to establish the public sector as the driver of urban innovation, and thus maximize the benefits of “civic tech”.
Cities, settlements and key infrastructure
David DODMAN, Bronwyn HAYWARD, Mark PELLING, Vanesa CASTAN BROTO, Winston T. L. CHOW, et al.
In all cities and urban areas, the risk faced by people and assets from hazards associated with climate change has increased (high confidence1 ). Urban areas are now home to 4.2 billion people, the majority of the world’s population. Urbanisation processes generate vulnerability and exposure which combine with climate change hazards to drive urban risk and impacts (high confidence). Globally, the most rapid growth in urban vulnerability and exposure has been in cities and settlements where adaptive capacity is limited, especially in unplanned and informal settlements in low- and middle-income nations and in smaller and medium-sized urban centres (high confidence). Between 2015 and 2020, urban populations globally grew by more than 397 million people, with more than 90% of this growth taking place in less developed regions.
DODMAN, David; HAYWARD, Bronwyn; PELLING, Mark; CASTAN BROTO, Vanesa; CHOW, Winston T. L.; and et al.. Cities, settlements and key infrastructure. (2022). Climate Change 2022: Impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. 1, 907-1040.
View PaperInsourcing the smart city: Assembling an ideo-technical ecosystem of talent, skills, and civic-mindedness in Singapore
Orlando WOODS, Tim BUNNELL, and Lily KONG
This article examines an alternative model of smart city formation, one based on the principle of insourcing technical competencies and capabilities to those responsible for city governance. This model counters the logic of technological outsourcing upon which many assumptions and critiques of the smart city rest, and thus reveals ways in which a more generative discourse can be forged. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with senior stakeholders from public and private sector organizations, we develop a case study of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative. Through coordinated efforts to reorganize the public sector’s technological functions, develop nation-wide skills upgrading programs, and repatriate overseas tech talent, the government strives to assemble an ideo-technical ecosystem of talent, skills, and civic-mindedness in Singapore. This is an ecosystem designed to establish the public sector as the driver of urban innovation, and thus maximize the benefits of “civic tech”.
WOODS, Orlando; BUNNELL, Tim; and Kong, Lily. Insourcing the smart city: Assembling an ideo-technical ecosystem of talent, skills, and civic-mindedness in Singapore. (2023). Urban Geography. 1-20.
View PaperCities in a pandemic: Evidence from China
Badi H. BALTAGI, Ying DENG, Li JING, and Zhenlin YANG
Baltagi, B. H., Deng, Y., Li, J., & Yang, Z. (2023). Cities in a pandemic: Evidence from China. Journal of Regional Science, 63, 379–408. https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12626
View PaperCompensating and taxing land regulations
Edward TI
TI, Seng Wei, Edward. Compensating and taxing land regulations. (2023). Adelaide Law Review. 44, (1), 135-162.
View PaperStrata plan cancellations in Australasia: A comparative analysis of nine jurisdictions
Edward TI
TI, Seng Wei, Edward. Strata plan cancellations in Australasia: A comparative analysis of nine jurisdictions. (2022). Monash University Law Review. 48, (1), 1-35.
View PaperBig houses on a small island: legislating Singapore’s ‘good class’ bungalows
Edward TI
Land reform in post-independent Singapore was led by compulsory purchase predominantly in the 1960s–70s and resulted in numerous kampungs or villages being demolished. With efficient assembly of land, high-rise public flats were built to accommodate the country’s burgeoning population. Today, 95 per cent of residents reside in high-rise dwellings and Singapore is the 3rd most densely populated country globally. Remarkably, planning regulations protect a housing typology known as ‘good class bungalows’ (GCBs). Though housing less than 0.2 per cent of Singapore households, GCBs collectively take up 7 per cent of the available land for housing. Numbering less than three thousand, GCBs have statutorily required large minimum lot sizes and are situated in Singapore’s choiciest residential enclaves. Development of GCB land to more intensive use is strictly prohibited. In this article, I examine the legal policies and socioeconomic rationale for maintaining this uniquely Singaporean institution, concluding that there are indeed cogent justifications for its existence.
TI, Seng Wei, Edward. Big houses on a small island: legislating Singapore’s ‘good class’ bungalows. (2022). International Journal of Housing Policy. 1-17.
View PaperAttenuation of agglomeration economies: Evidence from the universe of Chinese manufacturing firms
Li JING, Liyao LI, and Shimeng LIU
JING, Li; LI, Liyao; and LIU, Shimeng. Attenuation of agglomeration economies: Evidence from the universe of Chinese manufacturing firms. (2022). Journal of Urban Economics. 130, 1-18.
View PaperComparative Lessons in Sectional Title Laws: Mitigating Urban Inequality in South Africa
Edward TI
Urban inequality in South Africa is a formidable problem that is linked to the injustices of its historical apartheid past. This paper identifies sectional titles, a form of property ownership where proprietors wholly own their apartment unit while co-owning the land and common property, as critical to providing more affordable housing. Sectional title schemes mitigate urban inequality by giving a greater proportion of the country the opportunity to own legally secure, well-located dwellings while serving as a platform where communal living could take place. Two suggestions how sectional title legislation can further alleviate aspects of urban inequality are made (1) Permitting a supermajority of sectional owners to terminate a sectional scheme prevents holdout and allows urban land to be redeveloped, providing an increase in housing. (2) Municipalities could consider mandating ethnic integration in sectional schemes to counter the organic formation of mono-racial residential enclaves which remain in present-day South Africa.
TI, Edward S. W.. Comparative lessons in sectional title laws: Mitigating urban inequality in South Africa. (2022). Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. 42, (4), 1012-1039.
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