Urban Competitiveness and US Metropolitan Centres

This is the third paper Kresl and Singh have published on this subject. The first was for an OECD conference that was published in 1995. The second was published in Urban Studies in 1999. Hence in this most recent study they can examine urban competitiveness in the US over a period of three decades. Their methodology is distinctive in that it is statistical rather than subjective, as is the case with studies that use a benchmarking or a structural methodology. Their results can be used by city planners in design of a strategic-economic plan. They also capture the major changes in broad regional competitiveness.

Use of a State-Level Pharmaceutical Assistance Program Among Urban and Rural Elders

A number of state-level pharmaceutical assistance programs have been established as a result of the growing recognition of the role of pharmaceuticals in the long-term care of the elderly. However, existing research does not provide a coherent expectation for patterns of use by rural and urban elderly. The data for this analysis are drawn from a larger study of the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly (PACE). PACE provides prescription medicines for elderly who meet income requirements. The research project was designed to assess the characteristics of PACE program participants and non-participants on a wide range of issues. Chi-square analysis and regression models were used to assess the association between rural and urban residence and access to the PACE Program. The results indicate that rural/urban status of the elderly is not a significant predictor of the use of PACE. Other traditional variables (e.g., health self-rating and physician visits) did predict difference in the pattern of use.

The Alliance for Progress and Housing Policy in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires in the 1960s

This article explores the construction of publicly financed low-income housing complexes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1960s. These housing developments were possible thanks to the arrival of foreign economic and technical assistance from the Alliance for Progress. Urban scholars, politicians, diplomats and urbanists of the Americas sought to promote middle-class habits, mass consumption and moderate political behaviour, especially among the poor, by expanding access to homeownership and ‘decent’ living conditions for a burgeoning urban population. As a result, the history of low-income housing should be understood within broader transnational discourses and practices about the ‘modernization’ and ‘development’ of the urban poor.

The Centrality of Urban Economies to the Study of Competitiveness

In recent decades the role of cities and of urban areas in the enhancement of competitiveness has become steadily more important and central to policy formation. The study of urban competitiveness is of interest, first, because it allows us to more fully understand to bases for policy and, second, because it allows us to evaluate the performance of a number of cities so as to determine what policies lead to success and what factors lead to failure or to steady decline. This research should be of interest to scholars as well as to urban practitioners.

Studying the Roles of Nonprofits, Government, and Business in Providing Activities and Services to Youth in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area

The article addresses the questions, What do children in urban areas do on Saturdays? What types of organizational resources do they have access to? Does this vary by social class? Using diary data on children's activities on Saturdays in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area, the authors describe the different types of venues (households, businesses, public space, associations, charities, congregations, and government/tribal agencies) that served different types of children. They find that the likelihood of using a charity or business rather than a government or tribal provider increased with family income. Also, the likelihood of using a congregation or a government facility rather than a business, charity, or household increased with being Hispanic. The authors discuss the implications for the urban division of labor on Saturdays and offer research questions that need further investigation.

China Urban Competitiveness in Industrialization: Based on the Panel Data of 25 Cities in China from 1990 to 2009

There is a consensus in China that industrialization, urbanization, globalization and information technology will enhance China's urban competitiveness. We have developed a methodology for the analysis of urban competitiveness that we have applied to China's 25 principal cities during three periods from 1990 through 2009. Our model uses data for 12 variables, to which we apply appropriate statistical techniques. We are able to examine the competitiveness of inland cities and those on the coast, how this has changed during the two decades of the study, the competitiveness of Mega Cities and of administrative centres, and the importance of each variable in explaining urban competitiveness and its development over time. This analysis will be of benefit to Chinese planners as they seek to enhance the competitiveness of China and its major cities in the future.