On the utopian city notion (UCN) for city image analysis (CIA): a briefing

On the utopian city notion (UCN) for city image analysis (CIA): a briefing

Written by Joseph, K.K. Ho   dated: May 21, 2022

 

Abstract: The academic literature on the utopian city notion (UTN) and city image analysis (CIA) is substantial and widely scattered in different academic journals in social sciences. The writer utilizes his own teaching materials for Housing Studies students to come up with a more focused and organized briefing on the UTN and CIA. Concept explanation (UTN and CIA) and concept association, notably between the UTN and CIA, are examined with academic references. Specifically, this briefing note sheds some light on how the UCN can be employed for CIA. Lastly, Housing Studies students are encouraged to study not only this briefing note but also the pertinent academic literature on the UCN and CIA for their long-term intellectual learning journey.

Key words: cities, city image, city image analysis (CIA), the utopian city notion (UCN).

 (direct publication link: https://aibe-edu.org/wp-content/uploads/On_utopian_city_for_city_image_analysis_final_2022_version_3.pdf)

 

Introduction

This brief article makes use of this writer’s teaching materials on Geographical Imagination for his Housing Studies students. It offers a concise introduction to the utopian city notion (UCN), the city image analysis (CIA), and the value of the UCN for CIA.

On city image analysis (CIA)

The theory of city image was postulated by Kevin Lynch in his 1960 milestone book of “The Image of the City”. Lunch, as cited in Huang et al. (2021), made three imperative claims, namely, “cities have a series of public image held consistently by citizens; 2) city images can be conveniently classified into five elements: “path”, “node”, “edge”, “district” and “landmark”; 3) the ability of the physical urban form to evoke mental images…. offers a sense of emotional security and the intensity of human experience” (Huang et al., 2021). These claims imply that (i) shared city images do exist; (ii) city image elements can be studied with rigor and (iii) city image can be experienced intensely, notably with regard to emotional security. The city image notion has subsequently been further elaborated on by other writers:

A.    Priporas et al. (2020), point out that (i) city image is “a multi-dimensional construct…. which can offer people a better perception of cities” (citing Cassia, et al, 2018) and (ii) city image can be portrayed as “the set of beliefs, idea and impressions people hold regarding any city” (citing Kotler, 1997: 607);

B.    Broadway and Broadway (2018), drawing on Relph (1976) and Avraham (2004), point out that “images of places” [including cities] are conveyed by opinion leaders and distributed by journalists using stereotypes”;

C.    Sainz (2012), citing Avraham (2004), reminds us that negative city image is “an obstacle that prevents it from becoming more attractive and in fact forestalls a brighter future”.

In view of the accumulated literature on city image and how it can be analysed, as the examples of ideas above exemplify, city image analysis (CIA) is a conceptually sophisticated way to study the subject of city. Particularly, to this writer, it is clearly a useful topic for his Housing Studies students to learn, since the Housing Studies subject very often is examined in the context of cities. To further illuminate the city image analysis (CIA), this writer next considers what the utopian city notion (UCN) is and its value for city image analysis (CIA).

What is the utopian city notion (UCN) for city image analysis (CIA)?

Cities, according to Sandercock (2002), are “built thought” and “the containers of dreams and desires, hopes and fears”. As such, utopian thinking on city, crystallizing in a particular utopian city image in a certain period of time and place by a certain utopian thinker, is an important topic of study in Geographical Imagination in general and Housing Studies in particular. For this discussion, the ideas of utopian thinking on city [the thinking] and the utopian city image [the crystallized image from the utopian thinking] together constitute the utopian city notion (UCN) for city image analysis (CIA). A brief elucidation on the UCN is now presented to gain additional understanding of it. This is done by referring to a few selected points from the relevant UCN academic literature as follows:

A.    To “envision possibilities for more equitable, just and ecologically sustainable urban future…. most of what passes for city planning has been inspired by utopian modes of thought” (Macleod and Ward, 2002, citing Harvey 2000);

B.    Ganjavie (2015), citing Baeten (2002) and Pinder (2002), points out that “utopian planners used provocative and subversive urban designs which mostly took on dystopian forms in order to educate citizens;

C.    For Friedmann (2000), principles of the good city “must be drawn from somewhere”; they “must be logically connected to some foundational value”. Such value, as formulated by Friedmann (2000) as “the right to human flourishing”, is: “Every human being has the right, by nature, to the full development of their innate intellectual, physical and spiritual potentials in the context of wider communities”.

 

These three points of illustration from the literature on the UCN underline its analysis value for city planning purpose, which needs to be adequately informed by the CIA. Besides, examples of utopian (including dystopian) images abound in science fictions and movies. They are useful urban scenarios for the CIA. Using the UCN for CIA, informed by their rich academic literature, can be a highly stimulating analysis exercise; it encourages a critically-aware and idealized form of urban analysis and design thinking.

 

Concluding remarks

A short review of the academic literature on the UCN and CIA shows the analytical value of them for Geographical Imagination and Housing Studies. The utopian city notion offers an intellectually fruitful set of ideas for a critical, idealized and creative way to carry out the CIA exercise.

This brief note should be a useful reading for Housing Students, especially those who study Geographical Imagination. The academic literature of these two topics takes much more engaging and long-term learning effort to grasp; nevertheless, doing so in a leisurely pace should be a quite enjoyable and rewarding intellectual learning experience.

 

References

Avraham, E. 2004. “Media strategies for improving an unfavorable city image” Cities 21 (6): 471–479.

Baeten, G. 2002. “Western utopianism/dystopianism and the political mediocrity of critical urban research” Geografiska Annaler Series B: Human Geography 84 (3–4): 143–152.

Friedmann, J. 2000. “The Good City: In Defense of Utopian Thinking” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 24(2) June: 460-472.

Ganjavie, A. 2015. “On the future of urban design: Fabricating the future through Bloch’s utopians” Planning Theory 14(1): 90–108.

Harvey,  D.  2000. Spaces of Hope.  Edinburgh  University  ,Press, Edinburgh.

Huang, J.X., Obracht-Prondzynska, H., Kamrowska-Zalyska, D, Sun, Y.M. and Li, L.S. 2021. “The image of the City on social media: A comparative study using “Big Data” and “Small Data” method in the Tri-City Region in Poland” Landscape and Urban Planning 206, Elsevier: 103977.

Kotler, P. 1997. Marketing Management 9^th edition, Prentice-Hall.

Lynch, K. 1960. The Image of the city, Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press.

Macleod, G. and Ward, K. 2002. “Spaces of utopia and dystopia: landscaping the contemporary city” Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 84(3-4): 153-170, DOI: 10.1111/j.0435-3684.2002.00121.x

Pinder, D. 2002. “In defense of utopian urbanism” Geografiska Annaler Series B: Human Geography 84(3–4): 229–241.

Priporas, C.V., Stylos, N. and Kamenidou, I. 2020. “City image, city brand personality and generation Z residents’ life satisfaction under economic crisis: Predictors of city-related social media engagement” Journal of Business Research 119, October, Elsevier: 453-463.

Relph, E. 1976. Place and placelessness. London: Pion.

Sainz, M.A. 2012. “(Re)Building an Image for a City: Is A Landmark Enough? Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum, 10 Years Together” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 42(1): 100–132.

Sandercock, L. 2002. “Practicing Utopia: Sustaining Cities” disP–The Planning Review 38(148): 4-9, DOI: 10.1080/02513625.2002.10556791.

Notice: about Facebook ac: Joseph KK Ho

The cloud of "chain of evidence" underlying chapters 4 & 5 of dissertation projects (mba)

The cloud of "chain of evidence" underlying chapters 4 & 5 of dissertation projects (mba).

The main structures of chapter 4 and 5 are depicted in the blog note (March 6, 2022). Together, they present a cloud of "chain of evidence" of the dissertation project, as follows:

In a nutshell, Chapter 4 is responsible for presenting mainly the "objective" and "empirical"  data captured from the data-gathering efforts of research methods. These highlighted data (note: additional data gathered, not so important, could be located in the appendix of the dissertation report). form the major input in the "cloud of chain of evidence" to be further processed in Chapter 5 "presentation of research findings". Specifically, the captured data [Chapter 4 findings] are interpreted and analyzed with academic ideas (re: the theoretical framework level 1a and level 1c), resulting in analysis findings (e.g., AF1, AF2....). These analysis findings are then discussed in terms of their knowledge value (including actionable value) to meet specific research objectives (ROs..) of the dissertation project. The analysis done in Chapter 5 could be quantitative or qualitative. 

The underlying path of the "cloud of chain of evidence" is thus as follows:

Chapter 4: findings --> Chapter 5: processed with academic ideas and data analysis methods (quantitative & qualitative)--> analysis findings (embodying knowledge) --> extent of achieving specific research objectives.

Note: 

1. The research objectives of the dissertation report are first presented in theoretical framework level 0; and the the theoretical framework level 0 is derived from the management-concerns diagram (re: the agile literature review approach).

2.the academic ideas of theoretical framework level 1a are examined in Chapter 2: Literature Review of the dissertation report.

Additional study materials (video): about chapters 4 and 5.

e-learning materials on the "results" and "discussion" chapters of dissertation report

e-learning materials on the "results" and "discussion" chapters of dissertation report:

On the "results" chapter:

1. As related to qualitative methodology studies.

2. How to write the "results" section.

On the "discussion" chapter:

1. Steps to write up the discussion chapter.

2. How to write the "discussion" section.

3. Understanding thematic analysis.

Quantitative targets on literature review - MBA dissertation reports

 Quantitative targets on literature review - MBA dissertation reports

I, At the synopsis form stage:

References to use: 5-6 references.

II. At the proposal stage:

References to use: 15-20 references.

III. At the final report stage:

References to use: 50 references (up to 100 references is not a problem).

A conservative quantitative estimate breakdown of references used

Topics for further discussion

1. Discuss how to achieve these quantitative targets with tight time constraint.

2. What is the difference between references and bibliography?

Study notes on hypothesis testing (videos)

 Study notes on hypothesis testing (videos):

1. Video 1: the basics - 1.

2. Video 2: the basics - 2.

3. Video 3: the basics - 3.

4. On null and alternative hypotheses.

5. Hypothesis Testing: Critical Value Approach versus P-Value Approach

6a. Understanding p-value.

6b. P-value, z-score and critical value.

7a. The Truth About Falsification

7b. On disconfirmation.

8. Hypothesis testing: problems and examples.

9. Research Questions Hypothesis and Variables

10. Correlation hypothesis testing.

** note that in Excel regression report, the p-value is a measure on 1 corner of the p-value distribution curve; for a two-tailed test, the alpha value is (5%/2 = 2.5%). In this case the p-value is to be compared with 2.5% (for a two-tailed test).

Notice: about Facebook ac: Joseph KK Ho

A closer look at a Zone 2 item research task in the agile literature review approach with an example

A closer look at a Zone 2 item research task in the agile literature review approach (ALRA) with an example.

Zone 2 is about organizational capabilities, which indicates the overall concern on the core competence of an organization. An example of a theoretical framework level-0 with special regard to zone 2 is provided as follows:

The theoretical framework level-0, with prime attention on Zone 2, of ABC Ltd.

Let us now examine the Zone 2 item research task 4 of "to evaluate human resource management (HRM) competence of ABC Ltd". In this case, the basic elements of HRM competence to be evaluated includes: 

(i) the human resources, 

(ii) the non-human resources, and 

(iii) the managerial competence to  manage manage those resources [i.e. (i) and (ii)] in the human resource management domain, 

They, together, constitute the HRM competence of ABC Ltd. 

You will then ask, HRM competence for what? On this "for what" topic, I list the following purposes [i.e., the competence evaluation criteria] specific to item research task 4:

1. for "achieving HRM function performance" [this is the linkage research task topic between the item research task 4 and the item research task 7].  {evaluation effort: 75%}

[the item research task of "to evaluate the HRM function performance may not be explicitly identified in the theoretical framework level 0]

2. for "influencing the IT management competence of ABC Ltd" [this is the linkage research task topic between the item research task 4 and the item research task 5] {evaluation effort: 15%}

3. for "contributing to the core competence of ABC Ltd" to achieve superior competitive advantage [this is the main concern of all the Zone 2 items] {evaluation effort: 10%}

Note: (i) I suggest % of evaluation effort related to the three evaluation criteria above. (ii) When studying the item research task 4, the researcher should be aware of the relevant findings on Zone 1, notably how the HRM competence is affected by particular influencing factors studied in Zone 1 (i.e. the incoming arrows to item research task 4).

Specifically, we need to deal with the extended research task 4 by paying attention to its associated linkage research tasks and its duty as a zone 2 item (core competence oriented); as such, there are three research sub-tasks for the Zone 2 extended research task 4:

1. to evaluate the HRM competence of ABC Ltd, with regard to its contribution to the HRM function performance of ABC Ltd.

2. to evaluate the HRM competence of ABC Ltd with regard to its influence on the IT management competence of ABC Ltd.

3. to evaluate the HRM competence of ABC Ltd with regard to its contribution to the core competence of ABC Ltd.

Note: the concepts of item research task, linkage research task and extended research task are explained in another blog article (click embedded link).

An example of item research task and extended item research task in Zone 1 (re: the agile literature review approach)

An example of item research task and extended item research task in Zone 1 (re: the agile literature review approach): 

key words: item research task, linkage research task, zone 1 associated linkage research task, extended research task, non-core-focused domain, theoretical framework zone 1 and 2.

Let us consider the following example of an item research task in Zone 1 (environmental drivers):

Zone 1 item research task:

To evaluate the labour market on admin. staff facing Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong).

This item research task is linked to the following item research task in Zone 2 (organizational capabilities): 

To evaluate the administration management competence of Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong).

As such the linkage between the zone 1 item research task and the zone 2 item research task is a linkage research task, which is formulated as follows:

To evaluate how the labour market on admin staff affects the administration management competence of Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong).

In the theoretical framework Level-0, the three items are depicted as follows:

1. To evaluate the labour market on admin staff... --->2. To evaluate the admin mgt competence...

Our main discussion here is on the zone 1 item research task: 

To evaluate the labour market on admin. staff facing Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong).

A number of sub-tasks can be associated with this item research task:

1. What is: the stock level of admin candidates in the larbour market, by age, experience, and district location, etc. over the last 2 years.

2. What are: the supply and demand of admin candidates in the labour market, by age, experience and district location, etc, over the last 2 years.

3. What are: the foreseeable supply and demand of admin candidates in the labour market by age, experience and district location, etc, over coming 2 years.

4. What are: the existing and evolving (i) life and career orientation and (ii) job expectation of the admin. candidates in the labour market by age, experience, and district location, etc.

The preliminary understanding by the researcher is that some of the research subtasks can be answer via Internet search (notably on the Government websites with regard to labour supply and demand statistics) while others can be answered via some brief interviews with the researcher's friends who possess the relevant admin candidates' profiles.

As this research task [To evaluate the labour market on admin. staff facing Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong): zone 1] is not in the core-focus domain, the corresponding literature review and research method usage are to be quite light-weight. 

Next, to find out how the research finding of this item research task (zone 1) will help the researcher on the work of the research task in zone 2 [To evaluate the administration management competence of Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong)], the researcher needs to carry out some research efforts to investigate the linkage research task of "To evaluate how the labour market on admin staff affects the administration management competence of Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong)". For this, the researcher plans to carry out a few brief corridor interviews with 2 Summer Friends office staff with job responsibility on administration management competence in the Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong). The main question to ask, in this case, is the following:

Does the university school admin management has difficulties to recruit, retain and motivate new and existing admin staff to work in the Hong Kong campus and maintain effective admin operation, in view of the present admin staff labour market situation in Hong Kong?

The findings from the item research task (zone 1) informs the researcher to examine this main research question of the linkage research task. And, the researching finding on the linkage research task provides useful knowledge for the researcher to study the next item research task of "To evaluate the administration management competence of Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong)." in Zone 2.

This practice note provides an example of how the research finding of an item research task in Zone 1 is useful to inform the "dependent" item research task in Zone 2. The role of the linkage research task is quite vital in this regard. As such, when a researcher conduct an item research task in Zone 1, the researcher, by default, should also carry out the associated linkage research task. It can then be said that the Zone 1 item research task, plus the associated linkage research task constitutes an extended zone 1 item research task. In our example, the extended zone 1 item research task is:

To evaluate the labour market on admin. staff facing Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong). [zone 1 item research task]

plus

To evaluate how the labour market on admin staff affects the administration management competence of Summer Friends University campus (Hong Kong). [zone 1 associated linkage research task]

A diagram on item research task and extended item research task:

Exploratory interview exercise in the dissertation project orientation phase

Exploratory interview exercise in the Exploratory interview exercise in the dissertation project orientation phase [of the agile literature review approach]

This example illustrates how to conduct an exploratory interview exercise in the Exploratory interview exercise in the dissertation project orientation phase on a case study about a private bank investment service for individuals. The interview is between the researcher and the manager in charge of the investment service unit of the private bank. The interview makes use of the cognitive mapping technique from the soft operational research field:

[It would be useful to make explicit the organizational unit of analysis under investigation at this initial stage].

Researcher A: could you give me one major management concern your investment service unit has right now?

Manager in charge B: concerned about ability to maintain good service operation, with special regard to customer service quality..

Researcher A: What can be the consequences of weak service operation in this case? [so-what questioning]

Manager in charge B: I can think of a few consequences, which are: (i) loss of the private bank's reputation, (ii) loss of customers of the investment service unit, (iii) lower staff morale, and (iii) poorer sales performance.

Researcher A: Could you tell me what factors can affect the investment service unit's competence on its service operation management? [why questioning]

Manager in charge B: One factor is that the compliance regulations relating to wealth management and investment service are getting more complicated and cumbersome. Another factor is the wide swings of the market demand by customers facing the investment service unit leads to highly unstable internal manpower demand.

Out of this brief interview, Researcher A sketches the following cognitive map:

Note: 

1. In this interview session, the researcher can also ask (i) what improvement and policy solutions are being introduced or are planning to be introduced (zone 3b related) and (ii) what management concerns, if any, are associated with these solutions (i), in the form such as "concerned about how to formulate an effective XXX solution for ABC Ltd".

2. The next step for the interview is to ask the interviewee to suggest another main management concern and go through the exercise with "so-what" and "why" questioning. Doing so will further enrich the cognitive map from this research interview exercise.

3. A third step is to encourage the interviewee to suggest 1-2 management-concern items as related to zone 2 (organizational capabilities)

It is useful to classify the items in the cognitive map in terms of zone 1, zone 2 and 3a and 3b of the diagramming method in the agile literature review approach, as the following diagram illustrates:

Note:

1. It is relatively straightforward to convert the management concerns items into high-level research tasks to produce a theoretical framework level-0. For examples:

a. "concerned about the cumbersome compliance regulations" is converted into "to evaluate the impacts of the cumbersome compliance regulations on ABC private bank's investment service unit".

b. 'concerned about the the bank reputation damage" is converted into "to evaluate the the present status of ABC private bank's investment service unit's reputation.

2. With the derived theoretical framework level-0, the researcher can think about (i) which item(s) to pick up from the framework to make up the core-focus-domain for theoretical framework level-0 and (ii) formulating the dissertation project title based on the core-focus-domain of theoretical framework level-0.

Overall, by using specific interviewing tactics, the researcher aims at constructing a management-concerns diagram with 2-3 items in zone 1, 2-3 items in zone 2, 2-3 items in zone 3a and 1-3 items in zone 3b.

References

1. an article on cognitive mapping (pdf).

2. The inconspicuous nature of zone 2 items in management-concerns diagram construction.

Video study materials on evaluation research

 Video study materials on evaluation research:

1. Evaluation as a research method.

2. Evaluation research.

3. Evaluation research [focus on programme].

4. Types of evaluation research.

5. The difference between evaluation and research.

Note: the agile literature review approach makes much use of evaluation research as its high-level research tasks very often take the form of "to evaluate....".

The research significance of linkages in theoretical framework level-0 in the agile literature review approach

The research significance of linkages in theoretical framework level-0 in the agile literature review approach:

A theoretical framework level-0 is made up of a set of high-level research tasks with linkages among them. What exactly does a linkage in theoretical framework level-O indicates? Take an example with two item research tasks:

[to evaluate the managerial competence of ABC Ltd] ---> [to evaluate the staff morale of ABC Ltd]

[item research task 1]  ---->                   [item research task 2]

In this example, the linkage expresses the high-level research task of [to evaluate how ABC Ltd's managerial competence influences its staff morale]. 

This is then a linkage research task (item research task 1 to item research task 2).

With this clarification, one can estimate roughly the proportion of research efforts on all the research tasks [i.e., item research tasks and linkage research tasks] as follows:

Research tasks (both item research tasks and linkage research tasks)	Dissertation research efforts (primarily research methods + literature review + finding analysis coverage)
I. All of the core-focus-domain research tasks	40%
II. All of the research tasks outside the core-focus-domain	60%

Note: there are normally 2 research tasks in the core-focus-domain (I), with each task taking up (40%/2 = 20%) of the dissertation research efforts; as to the non-core-focus-domain (II), the number of item research tasks can easily reach 6 items; when linkage research tasks are included (e.g., 9 linkage research tasks), the total research tasks here will add up to 15 [6 + 9] items. In this case, the research effort on each item would be about 60%/15 = 4%.

 

Holistic thinking on management-concerns diagrams and theoretical frameworks naturally leads to the recognition of (i) linkages in these diagrams and frameworks and (ii) the systemic nature of these diagrams and frameworks. In this regard, the linkages in theoretical framework research significance for the agile literature review approach (ALRA) practice. This blog note provides some clarification on the implications of these linkages on ALRA practice.

Note: also study a related article on extended item research task.