Effects of Non-Spatial EU Policies on Spatial Developments - the Case of the Netherlands

Although the European Union has had no formal power to conduct spatial planning as such, many of its policies have had a clear impact on urban and regional development in the member states. Examples include the encouragement of certain kinds of development in particular regions via the structural funds or the designation of Trans- European Networks and the discouragement of development as a result of Natura2000 zones, air and water quality standards. At the same time, EU agricultural policy has left a clear mark on European rural areas. In addition, competition policy (particularly state aid caps and rules on public procurement) can have an impact on planning processes, while the enlargement of the common market will affect regional economic development. This paper will draw on experiences in the Netherlands regarding the cumulative effects of EU sectoral policies and make some suggestions on how the concept of territorial cohesion, included in the Constitution, may provide a vehicle for reconciling potential policy conflicts.

Coherent versus incoherent excitation dynamics in dissipative many-body Rydberg systems

We study the impact of dephasing on the excitation dynamics of a cloud of ultracold two-level Rydberg atoms for both resonant and off-resonant laser excitation, using the wave function Monte Carlo (MCWF) technique. We find that while for resonant laser driving, dephasing mainly leads to an increase of the Rydberg population and a decrease of the Mandel Q parameter, at off-resonant driving strong dephasing toggles between direct excitation of pairs of atoms and subsequent excitation of single atoms, respectively. These two excitation mechanisms can be directly quantified via the pair correlation function, which shows strong suppression of the two-photon resonance peak for strong dephasing. Consequently, qualitatively different dynamics arise in the excitation statistics for weak and strong dephasing in off-resonant excitation. Our findings show that time-resolved excitation number measurements can serve as a powerful tool to identify the dominating process in the system's excitation dynamics.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

Spatial Scenarios and the Lisbon Strategy

The European Union is changing significantly. It has recently been enlarged by 10 new Member States, decision-making about the European Constitution is going on, and it has set itself the target of becoming the most competitive economy in the world (Lisbon Strategy). The scenarios explore in an integrated way the territorial impacts of future changes in the economy, transport, rural development, environment, and other policy fields. They do not only concentrate on the territorial impacts of the trends and driving forces but also of the relevant EU Policies. The scenarios throw a light on the effectiveness of EU Policies and the synergies as well as conflicts they generate. By doing this they provide important insights in the conditions under which these trends, driving forces and policies will favour a balanced and polycentric territory and territorial cohesion within the enlarging European Union. These insights are relevant for recommendations on possible adjustments and/or changes of EU Policies.

Smart, Green and Inclusive Urban Growth: Visualising Recent Developments in European Cities

Cities are expected to play a key role in delivering the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, green and inclusive growth. Concerning smart growth, cities are at the forefront of innovation. Moreover, the physical concentration of people, capital and business opportunities means that cities are more productive than other places. In relation to green growth, healthy, compact and energy-efficient cities are key to achieving sustainability in Europe. Many European cities are currently developing or expanding their networks for walking, cycling, public transport, waste management, district heating and green infrastructures. Finally, cities can contribute to inclusive growth. For example, by combating social polarisation and poverty, by providing affordable housing and by integrating refugees and migrants. In the context of the Urban Agenda for the EU and the Dutch EU presidency in the first half of 2016, the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has recently published ‘Cities in Europe’ (PBL, 2016), a publication that visualises facts and figures concerning recent urban developments in relationship to smart, green and inclusive growth in the European Union. Based on the harmonised definition of urban areas by Eurostat and the OECD (OECD, 2012), European cities are compared with each other and recent trends are described, such as those in migration, risk of urban poverty and urban-rural divergence in employment growth. Furthermore, the following questions are being explored: which cities have shown strong growth in population, GDP and employment? Are the growth rates related to the size of the agglomerations? In which cities is the population showing high levels of satisfaction about quality of life? And which cities are falling behind? What types of territorial patterns can be distinguished? This paper summarises the main findings of the publication and presents a number of infographics that give insight into the scale, dimension and relationships of urban developments in Europe

Chilly Night? Warm Up with a Hot Toddy

No, we don’t mean you should listen to Usher’s latest album (though we won’t argue if you do). A real hot toddy is a hard cider beverage often suggested as a remedy for those with a classic cold—or those who just want to have a fun night. Try one next time you get a case of the winter blues

Biodiversity Research Institute

Population declines of migratory songbird species throughout their range are well documented and have been associated with a complex variety of stressors, including, but not limited to: environmental pollution; habitat loss, conversion, and fragmentation; energy development and generation; and climate change. To better understand these and other potential impacts on songbird populations, biologists from Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) collect scientific data to address these stressors through studies that target mercury exposure and effects assessments, determine movement and distribution patterns, and integrate findings with conservation and management strategies. Through an emphasis on neotropical migrant species, BRI has conducted research at various locations within the United States, particularly the northeastern U.S., as well as study sites in Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands, and China. With an overarching approach centered on the assessment of environmental stressors on wildlife health, BRI songbird studies are designed to advance scientific knowledge and to contribute valuable data to inform policy, assist in management decisions, and establish conservation initiatives for local, regional, and global songbird populations

Common Loon, Gavia immer, Nest Attendance Patterns Recorded by Remote Video Camera

We recorded the complete day/night nesting attendance of a Common Loon (Gavia immer) pair using a remote video camera. We found that the male and female share incubation duty equally, but that the female incubates primarily at night (95.8%) when the male defends the territory

Solution in Search of a Problem: A 'Garbage Can' Approach to the Politics of Territorial Cohesion

Those who promote spatial planning or spatial policy at the European level have increasingly done so under the banner of ‘territorial cohesion’. Since the inclusion of this term in the draft Constitution as an objective of the European Union, territorial cohesion has drawn the attention of an increasing number of actors and interests. By virtue of its vague but undeniably positive connotation, it is emerging as a successful metaphor in European policy discourse. In this paper it is argued that the territorial cohesion policy process should be understood in terms of the opportunities the concept presents to individual actors to solve contingent problems. Linking the ‘solution’ of territorial cohesion to different problems (garbage can model) has resulted in the production of a plurality of oftentimes mutually exclusive interpretations. Nevertheless, in the discursive struggle for hegemony between these interpretations, some progress is being made towards a common understanding

Dark state suppression and narrow fluorescent feature in a laser-driven lambda atom

We discuss quantum interference effects in a three-level atom in lambda-configuration, where both transitions from the upper state to the lower states are driven by a single monochromatic laser field. Although the system has two lower states, quantum interference is possible because there are interfering pathways to each of the two lower states. The additional interference terms allow for interesting effects such as the suppression of a dark state which is present without the interference. Finally we examine a narrow spectral feature in the resonance fluorescence of the atom with quantum interference.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure