John Rice’s research while affiliated with University of Sharjah and other places

Purpose The New Zealand city of Christchurch provides a leading example of post-disaster rebuilding in a Central Business District (CBD) area. In its rebuilding programme, the city has given emphasis to the greening of hospitality and traditional retail space through a combination of development of shared pedestrian spaces (with traffic exclusion and calming) and the integration of greening within the streetscape design. This paper aims to assess whether the development of greened pedestrian areas leads to higher retail spending and, thus, retail rental rates. Design/methodology/approach This study uses pedestrian movement data collected from several CBD locations, as well as spending data on retail and hospitality, to assess relationships between pedestrian movements and spending. This study explores retail spending in greened pedestrian shared spaces, and explores how this differs from retail spending in traditional street areas within the Christchurch CBD. Findings Spending patterns are location-related, depending on the characteristics of pedestrian space in the selected area. Greened shared pedestrian areas have the highest spending per measured pedestrian for retail and hospitality, whereas traditional street areas have lower spending for retail and hospitality per measured pedestrian, demonstrating the benefits in redeveloped central city areas. Originality/value The scope of smart data continues to develop as a research area within urban studies to develop an open and connected city. This research demonstrates the use of innovative technologies for data collection, use and sharing. The results support commercial benefits of greening and pedestrianisation of retail and hospitality areas for CBDs and providing an example for other cities to follow.

The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, incurred significant damage due to a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city had, by the late 2010s, regained economic and social normalcy after a sustained period of rebuilding and economic recovery. Through the concerted rebuilding effort, a modern central business district (CBD) with redesigned infrastructure and amenities was developed. The Christchurch rebuild was underpinned by a commitment of urban planners to an open and connected city, including the use of innovative technologies to gather, use and share data. As was the case elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions to social and economic life in Christchurch. Border closures, lockdowns, trading limitations and other restrictions on movement led to changes in traditional consumer behaviors and affected the retail sector’s resilience. In this study, we used CBD pedestrian traffic data gathered from various locations to predict changes in retail spending and identify recovery implications through the lens of retail resilience. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns have driven a substantive change in the behavioral patterns of city users. The implications for resilient retail, sustainable policy and further research are explored.

Distributed ledger technology is highlighted as a solid tool to address social and ecological challenges. Cryptocurrency is seen as a network with a socio-technical structure since the systems are composed of technical infrastructure and the social relations between users of the crypto ecosystem. The sociopolitical ramifications of cryptocurrency are critically assessed to identify key features and conceptualize issues to unlock opportunities to guarantee a sociotechnical approach to blockchains. Despite progressive initiatives, a series of challenges, such as trust, cybersecurity, and scalability, have emerged as cryptocurrency begins to develop its full potential. With these issues, sociotechnical concerns have surfaced regarding how to respond to the possible consequences that such a policy choice would entail, how to govern the crypto economy, and how to create a sustainable crypto ecosystem. We argue that cryptocurrency is a socio-technical system that constitutes new and important objects of social inquiry that must be addressed beyond the myopic context of a financial asset.

Labour markets respond to supply and demand changes caused by external shocks, including pandemics. In 2020 and 2021, the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a sudden reduction in labour demand in certain industries globally. As economies emerge into the post COVID-19 reality, a return of patterns caused by ongoing structural pressures return. In Canterbury, a region centred on Christchurch in New Zealand, these include migration demand pressures. This paper uses data from the Canterbury region, which is no stranger to disasters, as a case study. Two models are developed to estimate the future workforce requirements during the recovery period. A population growth model is utilised to test the regional labour market's limits, while an economic model estimates the required jobs for the regional economy. The paper finds that the lower economic activity resulting from COVID-19 has reduced the near-term employment demand. At the same time, labour force transition coupled with strict border controls reveals the need for labour force participation to adjust during the extended recovery period. Although short-term demand for skilled migration remains lower, those leaving the workforce will require replacing.

The incidence of harsh climate change and weather events is having profound impacts on energy networks. In recent times, Australia has suffered several network failures and power outages that have placed human lives and community infrastructure at extreme risk. Subsequently, a diverse array of energy storage systems have been commended as a potential solution for electricity network performance and resilience issues. At this critical juncture, this review suggests that an assemblage of currently lacking targeted energy storage systems and supply development policies will be required to grow and advance future domestic energy storage assets and infrastructure; while also providing a mechanism to address changing climatic conditions, variations in electricity demand and associated demand response, and a reduced dependency on coal-fired power generation. Importantly, the recognition of energy storage systems services value across the energy supply chain will be a critical component of future systems growth. In addition, while some specific regulatory changes to create a new energy capacity market will be required, the majority of electricity market rules and procedures will need to be maintained to allow entry of energy storage systems in scheduled and semi-scheduled modes. The review also identified the requirement for strong governance that supports continued renewable energy and energy storage investment, intergovernmental cooperation, and technical network upgrades. Ideally, the implementation of these policy options and regulations should result in a robust and resilient power grid, reduced emissions and economically efficient energy storage systems rollouts.