Space and exclusion: does urban morphology play a part in social deprivation?

There is currently a growing interest in the spatial causes of poverty, particularly its persistence. This paper presents methodological innovations that have been developed for investigating the relationship between physical segregation and economic marginalization in the urban environment. Using GIS to layer historical poverty data, contemporary deprivation indexes and space syntax measures of spatial segregation, a multivariate system has been created to enable the understanding of the spatial process involved in the creation and stagnation of poverty areas as well as to analyse the street segment scale of configuration

Space and Exclusion: The relationship between physical segregation, economic marginalisation and poverty in the city

There has recently been a growing interest in the spatial causes of poverty, particularly in the processes involved in the formation of poverty areas within cities. Most research has concentrated on the social causes of poverty, crime and social malaise and there is a lack of fundamental research into the relationship between urban morphology and the spatialisation of poverty. This paper aims to address this deficiency. This paper describes research conducted for an EPSRC project called “Space and Exclusion”, which aims to investigate the relationship between physical segregation and economic marginalisation in the city, focusing on 19th century and contemporary London. By using a GIS system to layer historical spatial and poverty data along with contemporary deprivation indexes and space syntax measures of segregation, this paper presents findings on underlying spatial effects which influence the spatial distribution of poverty, investigates these effects on immigrants in particular, and maps the development of “poverty areas” over time. The paper also describes the methods used to model the range of data sources, which included the data derived from the Charles Booth maps of London Poverty 1889 and 1899; using a variety of the latest advances in space syntax methods, such as segment analysis, which is a finer form analysis than the traditional axial map that analyses the line segment between junctions. This means that the axial analysis measures of Radius 3 integration, Radius n integration and so on can be supplemented with measures relating to the spatial integration of the street segment. Moreover, metric distance, least angle distance can be analysed, as well as – what was vital for the project discussed here – analysing the relationship between these spatial measures and social data that varies along a single axial line. The authors’ findings relate to the socio-spatial structure of historical London, and pave the way for a comparative spatial model for examining the distribution of poverty in contemporary urban situations. The paper demonstrates that individuals marginalized socially or economically follow distinctive patterns of settlement and that underlying these patterns were spatial conditions that may have influenced this distribution. For example, space syntax analysis suggests that Booth’s London was not well integrated on a North-South axis, resulting in a split between East-West encounters, which was reflected in an East-West prosperity/poverty divide. It examines some of the more localised poverty areas and the effects that slum clearance had on the surrounding neighbourhoods of the London cityscape. Often, interruptions to the grid structure significantly influenced the spatial configuration of a poverty area, giving rise to conditions of spatial and social segregation. This paper concludes that the urban structure itself can influence the economic conditions for segregation. Poorer classes are often disadvantaged by being marginalized spatially, and the formation of poor areas is the outcome of a complex socio-spatial process, which can be further influenced by the impact of immigrants to an area

Diagnosis and management of Cornelia de Lange syndrome:first international consensus statement

Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is an archetypical genetic syndrome that is characterized by intellectual disability, well-defined facial features, upper limb anomalies and atypical growth, among numerous other signs and symptoms. It is caused by variants in any one of seven genes, all of which have a structural or regulatory function in the cohesin complex. Although recent advances in next-generation sequencing have improved molecular diagnostics, marked heterogeneity exists in clinical and molecular diagnostic approaches and care practices worldwide. Here, we outline a series of recommendations that document the consensus of a group of international experts on clinical diagnostic criteria, both for classic CdLS and non-classic CdLS phenotypes, molecular investigations, long-term management and care planning

Mental Health Status of Double Minority Adolescents: Findings from National Cross-Sectional Health Surveys

Little population-based work has been published about the mental health of adolescents with both sexual/gender (SG) and ethnic minority (i.e. double minority) status. This study aimed to provide an overview on their mental health. Analysis of data from a total of 17,607 high school students from New Zealand’s 2007 and 2012 cross-sectional nationally representative Adolescent Health Surveys, including a total of 1306 (7.4%) SG minority participants, of whom 581 (3.3%) were also an ethnic minority. SG minority status, minority ethnicity, and female sex were associated with higher mental distress and poorer well-being. Generally speaking, double minority students reported poorer mental health than SG majority students of the same ethnicity, but reported better mental health than SG minority New Zealand European students. Explanations and future directions for research were suggested to further explore how double minority students negotiate mental health in the context of their communities/cultures in New Zealand

The uses of space syntax historical research for policy development in heritage urbanism

The application of space syntax methods to heritage related questions has a long track record both in the field of space syntax research and beyond, for example in archaeology. These studies deploy the theories and methods of space syntax to explore the socio-cultural dimension embedded in spatial systems of historic and archaeological significance. Space syntax analysis provides a link between the material and immaterial aspects of ‘spatial’ culture. It offers a critique of built environment typologies defined in terms of stylistic periodisation by advancing an understanding of the role of spatial configuration in the production and reproduction of space-time events. In the context of urban heritage studies, this means looking beyond the value of buildings as individual objects to buildings as elements in emergent arrangements of social space. Building on the comprehensive review of the disciplinary interface between urban history and space syntax historical studies provided by Griffiths (2012), this chapter advances ‘heritage urbanism syntax’ with the aim of orientating this body of historical research towards contemporary issues of urban heritage. It identifies three kinds of heritage urbanism syntax: (1) conservation areas; (2) street scales, and (3) spatial cultures in order to assist critical reflection on the application of this perspective to urban heritage contexts. The chapter highlights how a diachronic understanding of spatial cultures enables an integrative approach to heritage urbanism that situates heritage within both historical and contemporary urban landscapes. It describes the potential contribution of space syntax to inclusive bottom-up definitions of heritage and resilient heritage futures