What impact do mayors have on the cities that elect them?

Greater Manchester will become the next urban area in the UK to directly elect a mayor, following Bristol who first elected a mayor in 2012. One of the frustrations in the debate around directly elected mayors, however, is the lack of empirical evidence around which to evaluate their impact. Here, David Sweeting presents some early analysis of data from both before and after the introduction of the mayoral system in Bristol

The impacts of mayoral governance in Bristol

In 2012 the citizens of Bristol voted in favour of the introduction of a mayoral form of governance. This report, which stems from the Bristol Civic Leadership Project, provides a 'before' and 'after' evaluation of this change, and it identifies strategic areas for the future development of the system of governance in Bristol

Developing a leadership advantage? An assessment of the impact of mayoral governance in Bristol

This article provides a summary of the main findings emerging from a 'before' and 'after' action-research study of the impact on a city of introducing a directly elected mayor form of governance. The discussion shows how the introduction of mayoral governance into the City of Bristol in 2012 has had a significant impact on the governance of the city and suggests that, having a directly elected mayor has, so far, delivered a leadership advantage to the city

Mayoral governance in Bristol: Has it made a difference?

This research report on the impact of mayoral governance in Bristol analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the mayoral model. Researchers at the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, Bristol have gathered data over an eight-year period. This latest report from the Bristol Civic Leadership Project compares people’s views about the quality of city governance in Bristol in 2012, before Bristol had a directly elected mayor, with current views about the strengths and weaknesses of the mayoral governance. The research shows that the mayoral model has increased the visibility of city leadership and led to the creation of a more broadly recognised vision for the city. It also suggests that first two mayors of Bristol have been successful in raising the international and national profile of Bristol. However, the research also shows that the mayoral model has unnecessarily restricted the role of councillors in decision-making. In the light of the analysis the report outlines steps that should be taken by central and local government to improve the performance of mayoral governance

Local councillors in comparative perspective: drawing conclusions

The chapters of this book contain the first results of our common research project. They show a rich picture of many aspects of local councillors in 16 countries. It is not the intention of the group that this is the final output from the project. On the contrary: these analyses should be only a first step in the use of this valuable dataset. Further analysis and publications are under way and are foreseen in the future

Hydrothermal activity lowers trophic diversity in Antarctic sedimented hydrothermal vents

Sedimented hydrothermal vents are those in which hydrothermal fluid vents through sediment and are among the least studied deep-sea ecosystems. We present a combination of microbial and biochemical data to assess trophodynamics between and within hydrothermally active and off-vent areas of the Bransfield Strait (1050–1647 m depth). Microbial composition, biomass and fatty acid signatures varied widely between and within vent and non-vent sites and provided evidence of diverse metabolic activity. Several species showed diverse feeding strategies and occupied different trophic positions in vent and non-vent areas and stable isotope values of consumers were generally not consistent with feeding structure morphology. Niche area and the diversity of microbial fatty acids reflected trends in species diversity and was lowest at the most hydrothermally active site. Faunal utilisation of chemosynthetic activity was relatively limited but was detected at both vent and non-vent sites as evidenced by carbon and sulphur isotopic signatures, suggesting that the hydrothermal activity can affect trophodynamics over a much wider area than previously thought

Right-sizing Small Satellites

Spacecraft standardization has been a topic of great debate within the space community. This paper intends to be a provocative thought piece asking one fundamental question: “is there a ‘right size’ for small satellites?” In order to answer this question, we propose three top-down design factors for the space systems engineering process: spacecraft utility, mission utility, and optimum cost. Spacecraft utility quantitatively measures the capability of a spacecraft, derived from its volume and power properties. Mission utility then measures the aggregate value of a constellation. Optimum cost, which is a function of spacecraft mass and quantity, can be determined by assessing the break-even point. Data from the small satellite community, including USAF Academy FalconSAT and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) missions, is presented in support of this discussion, constrained to systems with a mass less than 200 kg. These design factors inform the mission developer in determining the appropriate system architecture. Using these design factors, a notional standardized spacecraft configuration is presented, with a mass of 30 kg and 50 cm cubed volume that optimizes spacecraft utility, mission utility, and cost

Easier said than done? Involving citizens in the smart city

Much of the smart cities literature urges greater citizen participation in smart city innovation. However, there is often little consideration given to how citizens might be more meaningfully involved in the processes of governance around smart cities, what enables their involvement, or what might need to change in order to facilitate their participation. Taking an institutional perspective, this paper seeks to move this aspect of the smart city debate forward. Using Mexico City as an exemplar, it examines the broader institutions of urban governance within which citizen-oriented smart city activities operate, identifying those which help and hinder citizen participation. It then considers the extent to which unhelpful institutions are embedded, and to what extent they are amenable to change to allow successful smart city participation initiatives to flourish. Our argument is that when considering citizen participation in smart city activities we need to attend more closely to the institutions which represent their context and the extent to which those institutions can be changed, where necessary, to create a more conducive environment. Many institutions will be beyond the reach of local actors to change or to deinstitutionalise; thus involving citizens in the smart city is ‘easier said than done’.Economic and Social Research Council | Ref. ES/S006710/1Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologí

Evidence base for health and planning – lessons from an ESRC seminar series

The article looks at the lessons on the health and planning evidence base, evidence-sharing and integration that have been emerging from an ESRC seminar series on reuniting health and planning bringing together academics and planning and public health professionals

La elección directa de alcaldes. Características, experiencias comparadas y el singular caso de los alcaldes quasi-directamente elegidos españoles

Esta contribución se interroga sobre el sistema de elección directa del alcalde, interesándose tanto por las razones que han llevado a un importante número de países europeos a adoptarlo, como por sus características institucionales y de funcionamiento. Para ello, en primer lugar se repasan los elementos esenciales del modelo, como el liderazgo, la rendición de cuentas, la eficacia en la toma de decisiones o la posición en que quedan los partidos políticos cuando se implanta el sistema. A continuación se mira brevemente a las experiencias de Italia, Alemania e Inglaterra, como casos que permiten observar algunas de las causas que están detrás de su introducción e ilustran el funcionamiento del modelo y su rendimiento tras años de rodaje. Finalmente se aborda el sistema español en contraste con el de elección directa, tratando de identificar en qué medida se acerca o se separa de él. Una de las conclusiones de este estudio es que el liderazgo político local en España, aun no rigiéndose formalmente por el sistema de elección directa, incorpora de facto casi todas sus característica