Les
Mayhew
Disability
– Global Trends and International Perspectives
Abstract
Disability among
populations is widespread and although many studies on disability
exist worldwide there is a lack of comparability between countries
and also between studies in the same country. Yet despite a lack
of clarity, disability is an increasingly major issue in public
policy terms from the standpoints of equal opportunities, the
increasing burden of age-related disability, work participation,
social security benefits and so forth. One of the main problems is
that disability is defined differently for different purposes so
that there is no consistent overview of disability among
populations, or the implications for disability policies. The
first part of this paper addresses these deficiencies by reviewing
and analysing global data on disability and relating it to ageing,
health status, and functional measures of disability. It finds
that a major cause of disability in future years will be ageing
but that the prevalence of disability will depend on
socio-economic factors and trends in healthy life expectancy. The
second part of the paper considers policies for tackling
disability, particularly the financial aspects and the role of the
public and private sectors, and finds a multiplicity of
institutional arrangements in place. The paper concludes by
identifying five major issues for public policy--economic
development, ageing and long-term care, the importance of
developing work potential, and the need for international
standards in the area of disability data.
Bas
van Vliet
Differentiation
and Ecological Modernization in Water and Electricity Provision
and Consumption
Abstract
This paper deals with
environmental innovation in practices of water and electricity
provision and consumption in an era of rapid change in the
regulation of water and electricity systems and patterns of
consumption. Liberalization of former utility sectors offers
windows of opportunity to differentiate former uniform water and
electricity provision in green services for consumers. The roles
of consumers towards water and electricity providers will
therefore differentiate from captive consumers towards customers,
co-providers and citizen-consumers. The argument is supported with
recent examples of (green) differentiation in water and
electricity sectors in The Netherlands.
Florentina
Astleithner and Alexander Hamedinger
Urban
Sustainability as a New Form of Governance: Obstacles and
Potentials in the Case of Vienna
Abstract
Organizational changes
within the Viennese political-administrative system in line with
the ideals of 'new urban governance' can partly be interpreted as
a result of the emergence of cross-sectional topics such as urban
sustainability and climate protection. Nevertheless, in Vienna the
'traditional' form of governance is still persistent, embedded in
a Fordist economic model, in which the state and corporatist
institutions play an important role. Starting from a theoretical
discussion of the differences between the concepts of 'government',
'governance', 'New Public Management' and 'urban sustainability',
the analysis of two case studies reveals obstacles and potentials
for the establishment of new governance structures. The case
studies concentrate on the analysis of a Local Agenda 21 (LA 21)
process and the implementation of the Vienna Climate Protection
Programme, both representing efforts to reach the goals of urban
sustainability. The description of political and administrative
features of the city of Vienna additionally sheds some light on
possible hindering and promoting aspects for the formation of new
governance structures.
