Modern welfare policies are increasingly based on notions of reciprocity. Citizens on welfare benefits have to do something in return, e.g. volunteer work. Notwithstanding general public support, social philosophers have been critical on 'mandatory' activities in community programmes. So far,...

Energy poverty, long considered a problem limited to developing countries only, is now widely acknowledged as a challenge for advanced OECD countries as well. How energy poverty is perceived depends on the conceptualization and assessment of the underlying phenomena: inappropriately high costs...

We use the adaptive cycle theory to improve our understanding of cycles of urban change in the city of Barcelona from 1953 to present. Most specifically, we explore the vulnerabilities and windows of opportunity these cycles for change introduced in the release (Ω) and reorganization (α)...

Many place based accessibility studies ignore the time component. Relying on theoretical frameworks that treat distance between two fixed points as constant, these methods ignore the diurnal and seasonal changes in accessibility. Network distances between two nodes are dependent on the network...

Planning is a crucial element for any development initiative. Planning entails choice making in pursuit of stated goals e.g. improving living conditions for individuals and societies. Planning initiatives are employed within social systems that are governed by institution, and planning...

The present study compares the perceptions of fairness of national earned incomes between the populations of Germany and the rest of Europe based on recent data from the European Social Survey (ESS). The vast majority of European respondents consider very low gross earned incomes to be unjustly...

Anhand aktueller Daten des European Social Survey (ESS) wird die Wahrnehmung der nationalen Erwerbseinkommensgerechtigkeit in Deutschland und mit derjenigen im Rest Europas verglichen. Die große Mehrzahl der europäischen Befragten schätzt niedrige Bruttoerwerbseinkommen als ungerechterweise...

Notions such as wellbeing, freedom, and social justice are integral to evaluating social progress and developing policies. One increasingly influential way to think about these concepts is the capability approach, a theoretical framework which was pioneered by the philosopher and economist...

Research about the circular economy is dominated by engineers, architects, and social scientists in fields other than economics. The concepts they study can be useful in economic models of policies – to reduce virgin materials extraction, to encourage green design, and to make better use of...

Eighty percent of the Latin American population is now urban, but the urbanization process has been accompanied by greater inequality and social segregation. To address urban exclusion, the idea of 'the right to the city' is increasingly being endorsed by international organizations and national...