Master plans and urban change: the case of Sheffield city centre

This paper critically examines the character, development and implementation of master plans as vehicles of urban change. The case of Sheffield’s city centre master planning is used to analyze how the city was reimagined from the early 1990s to the mid-2010s, and how the economic, cultural, social and political dimensions of urban regeneration were addressed. The paper argues that, in comparison to the post-war, welfare-state master plans, the master plans of the neoliberal period had a narrower spatial and thematic focus, linking place qualities to economic considerations, to be delivered through real estate investment. As such, social considerations were marginalized and, when a major economic crisis occurred, the new generation master plans’ lack of flexibility and vulnerability to economic fluctuations became apparent, much the same as their predecessors. This shows how master plans can be effective instruments for mobilizing investment and coordinating development around a selective spatial vision in periods of economic growth, but their utility is severely curtailed in economic downturns, when their coordinative potential is much diminished. They run the risk of becoming top-down technical devices to coordinate speculative real estate investment, without durable connections to the local economic and social capacities and needs

Spatial justice and locality: the conceptual framework and application

Place-based strategies are widely discussed as powerful instruments of economic and community development. In terms of the European debate, the local level - cities, towns and neighbourhoods - has recently come under increased scrutiny as a potentially decisive actor in Cohesion Policy. As understandings of socio-spatial and economic cohesion evolve, the idea that spatial justice requires a concerted policy response has gained currency. Given the political, social and economic salience of locale, this book explores the potential contribution of place-based initiatives to more balanced and equitable socio-economic development, as well as to growth in a more general sense. The overall architecture of the book and the individual chapters address place-based perspective from a number of vantage points, including the potential of achieving greater effectiveness in EU and national level development policies, through a greater local level and citizens\u27 role and concrete actions for achieving this, enhancing decision-making autonomy by pooling local capacities for action; linking relative development autonomy to local outcomes and viewing spatial justice as a concept and policy goal. The book highlights, through the use of case-studies, how practicable and actionable knowledge can be gained from local development experiences. This book targets researchers, practitioners and students who seek to learn more about place-based development and its potentials. Its cross-cutting focus on spatial justice and place will ensure that the book is of wider international interest

Sign Identification of Nonlinear Refractive Index of Colloidal Nanoparticles by Moiré Deflectometry Technique

In this paper, a visual rapid technique is presented for the sign identification of nonlinear refractive index of colloidal nanoparticles based on non-scanning Moiré deflectometry technique. In this method two lasers are used, one as a pump laser beam which causes thermal nonlinear effects in the sample and the second one is used as a probe beam laser which allows us to monitor these effects by Moiré deflectometry technique. The gradient of the nonlinear refractive index produced by the interaction of the pump laser, generates a cylindrical lens in the sample. The concave and convex lenses are produced as a result of negative and positive nonlinear refractive index respectively. Geometrical and experimental investigations show the Moiré fringes are deflected in two different directions by these lenses. By observing the shape of deflected moiré fringes, we can determine the sign of nonlinear refractive index and there will be no need for calibration or complicated calculations. This technique was applied for identification of nonlinear refractive index of Au and Tio_2 colloidal nanoparticles, under 47 mW second harmonic of Nd:YAG laser illumination. The sign of nonlinear refractive index of colloidal Au and Tio_2 nanoparticles were observed to be negative and positive respectively

Towards Better Territorial Governance in Europe. A guide for practitioners, policy and decision makers based on contributions from the ESPON TANGO Project

Guides help you do things. You turn to them when you need to find out how to solve a problem. They are a form of knowledge transfer, written by experts but in a way that is accessible and helpful to a wide group of users. This Guide was written by the researchers on the ESPON applied research study of Territorial Approaches to New Governance (TANGO). It aims to help those persons and institutions that are delivering territorial governance across Europ

Oh Comrade, What Times those Were! History, Capital Punishment and the Urban Square.

From the perspective of traditional Western histories of the urban realm, public squares have been seen to represent a privileged site of urban containment expressive of a community's highest values of individual freedom, social inclusion and cultural refinement. But such views can be misleading. For what is omitted from the scope of these conventional historical visions and their ideal and conforming subjects of public spatial discourse, is an entire array of other and darker narratives that equally speak of personal choice, collective participation and cultural value. Capital punishment reflects such an example, a practice that once comprised an integral part of the political, social and cultural landscape of a Western city's squares and streets. Drawing from Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish and its implications on how we might begin to re-read the history of the urban square, the following seeks to explore those practices and modes of rationality that underpinned the once public spectacle of executions and torture as a vital condition of urban life. In particular, this discussion will question the assumptions of an historical tradition that continues to reduce our understanding of the city and its open spaces of public appearance and action to an idealistic and illusory reality of the urban realm and its narrow framing of collective conduct, necessity and significance

Towards Better Territorial Governance in Europe. A guide for practitioners, policy and decision makers based on contributions from the ESPON TANGO Project

Guides help you do things. You turn to them when you need to find out how to solve a problem. They are a form of knowledge transfer, written by experts but in a way that is accessible and helpful to a wide group of users. This Guide was written by the researchers on the ESPON applied research study of Territorial Approaches to New Governance (TANGO). It aims to help those persons and institutions that are delivering territorial governance across Europe

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty