Coronavirus questions that will not go away : interrogating urban and socio-spatial implications of COVID-19 measures

The highly contagious coronavirus and the rapid spread of COVID-19 disease have generated a global public health crisis, which is being addressed at various local and global scales through social distancing measures and guidelines. This is coupled with debates about the nature of living and working patterns through intensive utilisation of information and telecommunication technologies, leading to the social and institutional acceptability of these patterns as the ‘new normal.’ The primary objective of this article is to instigate a discourse about the potential contribution of architecture and urban design and planning in generating knowledge that responds to pressing questions about future considerations of post pandemic architecture and urbanism. Methodologically, the discussion is based on a trans-disciplinary framework, which is utilised for conceptual analysis and is operationalized by identifying and discoursing design and planning implications. The article underscores relevant factors; originates insights for areas where future research will be critically needed, through key areas: a) Issues related to urban dynamics are delineated from the perspective of urban and human geography, urban design and planning, and transportation engineering; b) Questions that pertain to socio-spatial implications and urban space/ urban life dialectics stem from the field of environmental psychology; and c) Deliberations about new environments that accommodate new living/working styles supervene from ethnographical and anthropological perspectives. The article concludes with an outlook that captures key aspects of the needed synergy between architectural and urban education, research, and practice and public health in a post pandemic virtual and global world

Service Delivery Utilizing Wireless Technology Within The Air Traffic Control Communication And Navigation Domain To Improve Positioning Awareness

Current air traffic levels around the world have pushed the enterprise architecture deployed to support air traffic management to the breaking point. Technology limitations prevent expansion of the current solutions to handle rising utilization levels without adopting radically different information delivery approaches. Meanwhile, an architectural transition would present the opportunity to support business and safety requirements that are not currently addressable. The purpose of this research paper is to create a framework for more effectively sharing positioning information utilizing improved air traffic control navigation and communication systems

Culture and disaster risk management - stakeholder attitudes during Stakeholder Assembly in Rome, Italy

This report provides a summary of the topics discussed and the results of the CARISMAND Second Stakeholder Assembly conducted in Rome, Italy on 27-28 February 2017. In order to promote cross-sectional knowledge transfer, as in the CARISMAND First Stakeholder Assembly held in Romania in the previous year, the audience consisted of a wide range of practitioners that are typically involved in disaster management, e.g., civil protection, the emergency services, paramedics, nurses, environmental protection, Red Cross, fire-fighters, military, the police, and other non-governmental organisations. Further, these practitioners were from several regions in Italy, e.g., Rome and Lazio, Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, and Valle D’Aosta. The participants, who varied between 40 and 60, were recruited via invitations sent to various Italian organisations and institutions (at the national, regional and local levels), and via direct contacts of the Protezione Civile Comune di Firenze who are one of the Italian partners in the CARISMAND Consortium. The event consisted of a mix of presentations, working groups, and panel discussions for these participating practitioners, in order to combine dissemination with information gathering (for the detailed schedule/programme please see Appendix 1). After an initial general assembly where the CARISMAND project and its main goals were presented, the participants of the Stakeholder Assembly were split into small groups in separate breakout rooms, where over the course of the two days they discussed the following topics: 1) Working Group 1. “Culture & Risk”: Practical Experience of Cultural Aspects Disaster Communication between Practitioners and Citizens; 2) Working Group 2. “Media Culture & Disasters”: The Use of Social Media and Mobile Phone Applications in Disasters; 3) Working Groups 3. “Social Cohesion & Social Corrosion”: Cultures, Communities, and Trust. After each working group session, panel discussions allowed the participants to present the results of their working group to the rest of the audience. After each panel discussion, keynote speakers gave presentations related to the respective working group’s topic. This time schedule was designed to ensure that participants are provided with detailed information about recent developments in disaster management, e.g. related to the use of mobile phone apps and social media, but without influencing their attitudes and perceptions expressed in the working groups. The main focus of the working groups was the relationships between culture and risk/disaster communication, the role of social media and smartphone apps, and trust between citizens and disaster managers and/or authorities. These topics, and the questions discussed within each working group, were chosen: following the findings of the CARISMAND First Stakeholder Assembly held in Bucharest, in particular regarding the disconnection between citizens’ risk perception and cultural factors in disasters; 1) the results of the CARISMAND First and Second Citizen Summits held in Bucharest and Malta respectively, specifically taking up the participants’ suggestions regarding vulnerable groups and groups that are seen to be potentially helpful in disaster situations; 2) the results of Work Package 3 ‘Cultural Factors and Technologies’, in particular regarding the increasing interest in mobile phone apps compared to social media usage; 3) the literature review provided in Work Package 4 ‘Risk Perception and Risk Cultures’, particularly regarding the ambivalent of role of trust in disaster preparedness, response and recovery; 4) the preliminary findings of Work Package 7 ‘Citizens Empowerment’, in respect to community cohesion and specific opportunities for citizen empowerment; and 5) topics highlighted in Work Package 8 ‘Risk Communication and the Role of the Media in Risk Communication’ regarding disaster communication practices (particularly in connection with social media/apps usage as identified in Work Package 3 ‘Cultural Factors and Technologies’). These topics were also chosen in order to provide a sound basis for the next round of CARISMAND events (Third and Fourth CARISMAND Citizen Summits held, later, in Rome and Frankfurt in June 2017), i.e. exploring issues of risk perception and culture in the context of disasters at the very point, where practitioners and citizens interact. The location of the Second Stakeholder Assembly was selected to make use of the extensive local professional network of the Protezione Civile, but also due to Italy being a location where various “types” of hazards are prevalent, and disasters were occurred in the very recent past. All documents related to the Working Groups, i.e. discussion guidelines and consent forms, were translated into Italian. Accordingly, all presentations as well as the group discussions were held in Italian, aiming to avoid any language/education-related access restrictions, and allowing participating practitioners to respond intuitively and discuss freely in their native language. For this purpose, researchers from the Laboratory of Sciences Citizenship in Rome, one of the CARISMAND Consortium members, were used as Working Group moderators, alongside simultaneous interpreters and professional local moderators contracted via a local market research agency (RFR International), who also provided the transcripts and translations into English for all Working Group discussions. It is important to note that the discussions within these working groups reflect the participants’ perceptions and may or may not reflect the realities of how communication actually occurs in disaster situations.The project was co-funded by the European Commission within the Horizon2020 Programme (2014-2020).peer-reviewe

Recent Developments in the Law of the Sea: A Synopsis

Each year, as an integral part of its symposium on the law of the sea, the San Diego Law Review presents a synopsis of the major events in the field. This year\u27s precis covers the period from January 1, 1974 to December 31, 1974. The scope of the article prohibits extended scrutiny of the subject matter. However, the manner in which it is presented exposes the reader to a broad spectrum of recent events and allows familiarization with increasingly important facets of a rapidly expanding area. As an added ingredient, this year\u27s synopsis contains coverage of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

After Thirty Years: The Falklands War of 1982

By law, the British government seals all cabinet and other important government documents until after thirty years passes. In 2012, the \u27thirty-year rule\u27 expired for all documents pertaining to the Falklands War of 1982. There is already an enormous amount of material written about the war but these released documents provide new insight. Lasting only one hundred days, the war was kicked off when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, or known in Argentina as las Malvinas, on 2 April 1982. Located in the very South Atlantic and four hundred miles east of Argentina, the British launched their largest naval task force since World War II to recover their colony. By 14 June 1982, the islands were back in British possession. Relying heavily on these new documents, this thesis analyzes the controversial sinking of the ARA General Belgrano. This examination demonstrates the British fear of the Argentine navy and the potentially catastrophic damage it could have inflicted on not only the two British carriers, the HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, but also on the overall British campaign. The documents also highlight the British government\u27s efforts to control the media, albeit not all efforts were successful. This section relies heavily on the government documents but also journalistic accounts, British commander biographies and newspapers written during the war and years later. Allowing the government documents to speak for themselves, this thesis will expand the historiography of the Falklands War of 1982

From Green to Gold: Community along lines of trade between Dolpo and Mustang

Mustang and Dolpo are at a tipping point of connectivity and community change as road development brings the districts closer to Nepal’s economic centers. In this independent study, I document contemporary trade relationships between Mustang’s Sangda and Dolpo’s Chharka, currently separated by three days of unmotorable trail. Through in person interview, archival research, and photography, I document methods of economy and community in three villages- Mustang’s Phelag and Sangda, and Dolpo’s Chharka. I focus upon future community prospects of Sangda and Chharka as road development between the two progresses. As the two villages exchange goods, develop familiarity, and host traders from one another, forms of community and trust develop demonstrated through trust, systems of credit, unspoken rules of reciprocity, and seller loyalty. However, as road development progresses, residents of both villages opt for cheaper purchases and more lucrative trades in Nepal’s middle hill and Terai marketplaces made accessible by road, diverting a longstanding trade relationship south of the Himalayas. This paper explores changes brought about by road development, forms of economic community, and hopes for the future, namely improvements in education and medical care. I begin by grounding this project in my account of the mountainous journey between Sangda and Chharka. I then move to defining my approach, a combination of written ethnography with historical analysis, coupled with photographic narrative. I then ground my account of the Mustang-Dolpo trade route by providing detailed account of political and economic change in each district, namely the closure of the once fluid Tibetan border, the decline of the salt trade, and the construction of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road along the Kaliganaki corridor. I then provide account of methods of economy for three villages, Phelag, Sangda, and Chharka along the studied route. I conduct analysis of the trade community shared between Sangda and Chharka, document current and future prosepcts for Chharka’s healthcare system amidst the promise of road development. I conclude with photography documenting road driven change in Phelag, and a group of traders traveling from Chharka to Sangda

Given Enough Eyeballs, All Crimes are Shallow – The Organizing of Citizen Collaboration to Solve an Online Detective Story

This paper theorizes about the organizing of online citizen collaboration. The setting is an Internet forum where people started their own investigations about a crime of animal cruelty. The concepts of commons-based peer production and generativity are utilized to analyse the complex organizing mechanisms of voluntaristic online collaboration in practice. Three general functions are introduced – operational, managerial, and noise – which are intertwined and together make up important basis for organizing generativity