‘Asset Price Urbanism’ and Financialization after the Crisis: Ireland's National Asset Management Agency

The impact of the global financial crisis on cities is the subject of an important body of research. One aspect which has received surprisingly little attention is the urban dimension of government interventions in the financial sector, particularly given the integration of finance and real estate is widely understood as a key driver of the crisis. This article examines one such intervention, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), a ‘bad bank' established by the Irish government to acquire and manage ‘toxic' real estate loans from the banking sector. Although envisaged as an intervention in the financial sector, the relationship between finance and real estate is such that the agency has a significant impact on urban development and, at the same time, that the management of urban space plays a key role in resolving the financial crisis and restoring the flow of credit in the economy. The article develops the concept of ‘asset price urbanism' to capture the way in which urban space and its relationship to finance is managed to bolster the relationship between real estate and credit, and theorizes this as a significant aspect of contemporary accumulation. The article thus makes an empirically grounded conceptual contribution to literature on the urban dimension of financialization.     

The Political Economy of Urban Ruins: Redeveloping Shanghai

This essay analyzes the political economy of the urban ruins captured in Greg Girard's photo album Phantom Shanghai. Rather than being marginal, irrelevant or merely objects for nostalgia, the ruins of buildings produced by real estate speculation offer crucial insights into the workings of the urban political economy and reflect wider trends of urban governance. Examining how building ruins come about in the first place and how they are represented in visual media can help us better understand the processes of urbanization and place making, and the central role of destruction in contemporary Chinese urbanism. This essay illustrates this point by analyzing the economic function, political legitimation and cultural significance of demolitions and ruins in urban China.     

Be who you are and be proud: Brittney Griner,intersectional invisibility and digital possibilities for lesbian sporting celebrity

Abstract

This article examines current professional basketball player, Brittney Griner, and the ways in which her personal and athletic lives are represented on social media. In particular, her visibility and posts on her public Instagram account allow for a consideration of the digital possibilities for social change by lesbian sporting celebrities. This analysis interrogates these possibilities through a close reading of several Instagram posts regarding Griner’s romantic relationship with fellow basketball star, Glory Johnson. This article ultimately argues that Griner’s Instagram profile helps challenge the intersectional invisibility of Black lesbian sporting celebrities and discusses the implications of this visibility for similarly positioned LGB youth.     

When Conflict Strikes: Contesting Neoliberal Urbanism outside Participatory Structures in Inner‐city Dublin

This article examines how community representatives from a disadvantaged neighbourhood engage with neoliberal urban governance structures and assess the power afforded to them. It seeks to understand how community groups manage the challenges they face in times of neoliberal urbanism. This study follows calls to pay greater attention to the existence of imaginaries other than neoliberal ones, examining community actions and discourses surrounding the Historic Area Rejuvenation Project (HARP) area in Dublin, a project aimed at stimulating private property development and investment. The case highlights tensions between the pursuit of community‐based and collaborative urban regeneration and the increased legitimacy of neoliberalism as a guiding principle of public policy. It confirms the existence of resistance movements and the importance of local and national contexts in explaining the outcomes of contestation. Despite participative structures established by the local authority, the views and interests of local community activists were ignored and excluded. Furthermore, in contrast to trends towards co‐option within participative structures, the community actively resisted the imposition of neoliberal plans. Overall, while they had little success in influencing the plans or mindsets of the local authority, they did succeed in delaying the process until the project became unviable as a result of the economic crisis.     

新城市主义与现代住区规划

我国当前城市住区规划建设中存在着一系列突出问题,这些问题违背了我国现代住区建设的目标要求.分析了国外新城市主义的规划设计思想和理念,指出其具有多方面的积极价值,可以为我国的住区规划建设提供有益启示.     

新城市主义社区规划与设计的几大法则

新城市主义是美国1990年代促进邻里和地区健康发展、提高生活质量的思潮和运动,对当今北美以及其他某些地区的城市建设产生了重大影响。文章将阐明新城市主义的主要理论框架,并探求其在社区规划与设计方面的主要法则,从中寻求对当前中国城市社区规划与设计的启示与借鉴。     

跟风还是真爱？基于锚定效应的旅游直播支付意愿影响因素研究

通过借助BDM拍卖机制,采用2×2实验法探寻影响旅游直播支付意愿的影响因素。实验表明,旅游直播的支付意愿变化存在锚定效应,会受旅游者认知的内部锚定值正向影响,而旅游直播主体、内容不同的组合,引发消费者感知差异,其中明星效应及说服效应都正向影响旅游直播的支付意愿。     

How long does celebrity meaning transfer last? Delayed effects and the moderating roles of brand experience,celebrity liking,and age

Extending previous research on celebrity endorsements, the study investigates whether the meaning of celebrities is transferred to endorsed brands and how transfer effects develop over time. Additionally, the moderating roles of brand experience, celebrity liking, and consumers’ age are investigated. The hypothesized effects are modeled using a propositional learning approach with an experimental repeated-measures design (panel data). Results confirm the assumed meaning transfer effect. In addition, the effects appear to be substantially stronger after about a week indicating some type of sleeper effect. Furthermore, the effects increase with increasing brand experience and celebrity liking. Adolescent consumers are not differently affected when compared to adults and controlled for the differing levels of brand experience. Results are discussed in light of propositional learning theory. Future areas of research are proposed.     

The effects of schema congruity on consumer response to celebrity advertising

The trend of celebrity-branded products is on the rise, creating a new domain in which to explore the match-up hypothesis. Moving beyond the celebrity as an endorser, but rather, a brand promoting a brand extension, this article examines how perceived congruence between a celebrity's image and the brand image of products they have developed is related to attitudinal and behavioral measures of advertising effectiveness. Employing a 2 × 3 full factorial design, congruence between the celebrity's image and the brand's image was varied (less vs. more congruent), along with the use of the celebrity's image (present, absent, non-celebrity models) to determine how schema congruity influences consumer's response to celebrity advertising. The results of a multivariate analysis of covariance analysis indicating lower levels of congruence between the celebrity's image and the brand's image led to greater advertising effectiveness compared to higher levels of congruence. Specifically, the means of the attitudinal dependent variables in the less congruent condition were significantly higher than the means in the more congruent condition. These effects were more pronounced when a celebrity's image was featured in the advertisement compared to when it was not featured. The implication of the findings suggests that moderate violations in the consumer's celebrity schema may improve advertising effectiveness.