Sujata Shetty and Andreas Luescher
Urban design has historically occupied the gap between architecture and planning. Although there have long been calls for the discipline to bridge this gap, urban design has…
Abstract
Urban design has historically occupied the gap between architecture and planning. Although there have long been calls for the discipline to bridge this gap, urban design has continued to lean more heavily on design than planning. The efforts to revitalize downtown Toledo, a mid-western U.S. town experiencing steep economic decline, present a classic example of the potentially unfortunate results of this approach. Over the past three decades, there have been many attempts to revitalize the city, especially its downtown, by constructing several large public buildings, all within a few blocks of each other, all designed with little attention to each other or to the surrounding public spaces, and with a remarkable lack of civic engagement.
Responding to calls in the literature for inter-disciplinarity in urban design, and to the city's experience with urban design, the authors created a collaborative studio for architects and planners from two neighboring universities with two purposes: first, to establish a collaborative work environment where any design interventions would be firmly rooted in the planning context (i.e., to erase boundaries between architects and planners); second, to draw lessons from this experience for the practice and teaching of urban design.
Despite the difficulties of collaborating, architects and planners benefited from exposure to each other, learning about each other's work, as well as learning to collaborate. The interdisciplinary teams developed richer proposals than the architect-only teams. Finally, critical engagement with the community is essential to shaping downtown development.
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Sujata Mukherjee and Santana Pathak
Among the various global options for self-employment, venturing into the micro-enterprise sector has been recognized as an important way for employment generation and poverty…
Abstract
Among the various global options for self-employment, venturing into the micro-enterprise sector has been recognized as an important way for employment generation and poverty alleviation in many developing/emerging economies. In this context, women-owned businesses at the grassroots play a vital role in developing countries like India far beyond contributing to job creation and economic growth. The informal sector is a sizeable and expanding feature of the contemporary global economy.
However, the informal economy operates at the cusp of the institutional framework, which makes them susceptible to many risks like lack of formal financing options, legal aid or increasing margin through access to formal markets. Non-Profit Development Agencies (NPDAs) have emerged as a viable and essential middle ground support in promoting women entrepreneurship in their capacity to contribute beyond governmental institutions.
The study adopted an inductive qualitative option through a case study design to explore the approaches adopted by NPDAs in promoting micro-entrepreneurship among women at the base of the pyramid (BoP) in the urban informal sector in India. The findings suggest that the NPDAs created an impact through the services, which translated into monetary earnings for the entrepreneurs. They could make financial contributions to their families, which boosted their self-confidence and overall personality. The findings also indicate positive changes like increased self-confidence, self-dependence, and inner strength as reported by the entrepreneurs.
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Latika Sharma, Mridul Trivedi, Himanshu Bagdi and Hemantkumar P. Bulsara
The present research investigates the role of product availability, environmental concern, and social media concerning the intention to purchase green food products by utilising…
Abstract
Purpose
The present research investigates the role of product availability, environmental concern, and social media concerning the intention to purchase green food products by utilising the extended theory of planned behaviour framework in a developing economy.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered questionnaire collected information from 412 adults and educated consumers from Vadodara city in India. The questionnaire items were used to collect data from previous studies and further validated using confirmatory factor analysis. The data were further analysed using partial least square-structural equation modelling.
Findings
The study findings indicated that attitude and perceived behavioural control impact the purchase intention regarding green food products, while subjective norms were found not supportive. At the same time, product availability influences perceived behavioural control and increases the volitional control amongst consumers. Moreover, social media positively impacts the theory of planned behaviour’s key constructs.
Research limitations/implications
The outcomes of the present study provide marketing managers with enhanced insight into the relationship between consumers' perception and green food product consumption in the context of social media influence. The findings could help green food producers evaluate the extent of consumers' intentions to buy their products in developing countries.
Originality/value
To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, the present research is amongst the pioneers in India that focuses on the variables of the theory of planned behaviour, which led to knowing the role of green food availability and social media influence in green food products. At the same time, the focus on purchase intention concerning green food products adds to the study’s uniqueness.