Planning in the face of immovable subjects: a dialogue about resistance to development forces

Urban development can often seem an irresistible force. The imperatives of development are deeply inscribed in the DNA of liberal capitalist societies. As well as realising profit-making opportunities for the private sector, urban change is a mechanism for (re)generating neighbourhoods, for providing public goods such as waste management, energy generation or public housing. The state may seek to mediate, ameliorate or shape development forces, thereby alleviating tensions and inequalities between divergent publics, and establishing claims to a greater public interest in certain forms of change. As it does so, state support may make development seem even more irresistible, especially if space for political challenge closes down. Yet, the seemingly irresistible force often summons seemingly immovable subjects of resistance: namely citizens and campaign groups who stand against planned changes and declare: ‘we shall not be moved’. Sometimes resistance dissolves with meaningful public input and project improvements; sometimes it remains steadfast in its opposition. The ‘immovable subjects’ who resist are mobilised by concerns to which we may be more or less sympathetic: perceived threats to valued place attachments and identities; outrage at environmental injustices; the desire to defend private property rights; racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. Whether singly or collectively, these claims and their nuanced interpretations can motivate intractable and sometimes violent opposition. The starting point for this Interface is a view that contemporary planning theory and practice continue to struggle with the complex and ambiguous political and ethical challenges posed by the forms of opposition that coalesce around state-mediated urban development. How can, and how should, the ‘essential injustices’ (Davy, 1997) that planning and development generate be managed and distributed? Can meaningful engagement with opposition address tensions and contribute to better outcomes? The implications for representative democracy and collaborative governance are no less profound: from the local to the global, resistance and opposition are central but also often disruptive to the democratic exercise of power.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Identifying Trends in Masterplanning: A Typological Classification System

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Robert Adam, and Claire Jamieson, ‘Identifying trends in masterplanning: A typological classification system’, URBAN DESIGN International, Vol. 19 (4): 274-290, December 2014. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1057/udi.2013.24.This article reports research carried out to develop a new typological method for the analysis of masterplans. This quantitative method of analysis can be used to produce comparative data that will help in the comparison of urban design typologies and their development over time. This article sets out the research to date, describing how the initial aims have developed from simple analysis to the creation of an analytical tool with wide applications. Comprising a detailed taxonomy of urban design features gathered from a wide database of recent and emerging masterplans, the system provides opportunities for further study such as trends, qualitative comparison against quantitative measurement, and comparison of aims and outcomes. This article will describe the methodology and process of research, while elaborating on the potential of the tool.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Potential climatic transitions with profound impact on Europe

We discuss potential transitions of six climatic subsystems with large-scale impact on Europe, sometimes denoted as tipping elements. These are the ice sheets on Greenland and West Antarctica, the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, Arctic sea ice, Alpine glaciers and northern hemisphere stratospheric ozone. Each system is represented by co-authors actively publishing in the corresponding field. For each subsystem we summarize the mechanism of a potential transition in a warmer climate along with its impact on Europe and assess the likelihood for such a transition based on published scientific literature. As a summary, the ‘tipping’ potential for each system is provided as a function of global mean temperature increase which required some subjective interpretation of scientific facts by the authors and should be considered as a snapshot of our current understanding. <br/

rs1004819 Is the Main Disease-Associated IL23R Variant in German Crohn's Disease Patients: Combined Analysis of IL23R, CARD15, and OCTN1/2 Variants

The IL23R gene has been identified as a susceptibility gene for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the North American population. The aim of our study was to test this association in a large German IBD cohort and to elucidate potential interactions with other IBD genes as well as phenotypic consequences of IL23R variants. Genomic DNA from 2670 Caucasian individuals including 833 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 456 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 1381 healthy unrelated controls was analyzed for 10 IL23R SNPs. Genotyping included the NOD2 variants p.Arg702Trp, p.Gly908Arg, and p.Leu1007fsX1008 and polymorphisms in SLC22A4/OCTN1 (1672 C-->T) and SLC22A5/OCTN2 (-207 G-->C). All IL23R gene variants analyzed displayed highly significant associations with CD. The strongest association was found for the SNP rs1004819 [P = 1.92x10(-11); OR 1.56; 95 % CI (1.37-1.78)]. 93.2% of the rs1004819 TT homozygous carriers as compared to 78% of CC wildtype carriers had ileal involvement [P = 0.004; OR 4.24; CI (1.46-12.34)]. The coding SNP rs11209026 (p.Arg381Gln) was protective for CD [P = 8.04x10(-8); OR 0.43; CI (0.31-0.59)]. Similar, but weaker associations were found in UC. There was no evidence for epistasis between the IL23R gene and the CD susceptibility genes CARD15 and SLC22A4/5. IL23R is an IBD susceptibility gene, but has no epistatic interaction with CARD15 and SLC22A4/5. rs1004819 is the major IL23R variant associated with CD in the German population, while the p.Arg381Gln IL23R variant is a protective marker for CD and UC

Destabilization of glacial climate by the radiative impact of Atlantic Meridional overturning circulation disruptions

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552During each of the dramatic global warmings that ended the Pleistocene ice ages, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) was disrupted. It is not clear whether this was a contributing cause or simply an effect of deglaciation. Here we show that in an ensemble of simulations with a global climate model, AMOC disruption causes a consistent and sustained positive radiative imbalance of ~0.4Wm2. The imbalance is accommodated by heat accumulation in the ocean interior, representing an overall planetary warming, subsequently released by deep convection in the North Atlantic when the AMOC resumes. The results suggest a means by which AMOC disruptions could have helped to tip the planet out of stable glaciated states. However, the fact that AMOC disruptions occurred during prior Heinrich Stadials without causing deglaciation shows that other factors, such as ice sheet dynamics, or controls on CO2, were also key for deglaciation

THE PRODUCT CYCLE MODEL OF FOREIGN TRADE AND ASIAN DEMAND FOR POULTRY IMPORTS

The Asian poultry market and its demand for imports is examined and Vernon's product cycle model is found to be appropriate. The model implies and forecasts of future import demand suggest that US poultry exports to the region will decline unless continued innovation in the US poultry industry occurs

Food Safety and International Trade

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade,