Climate Urgency and Cities: Action and Reaction, Evidence and Reluctance

The first section of the paper gives a brief critical overview of the situation of climate change strategies at the global level, from Kyoto to Paris, Madrid and Glasgow. It also discusses the measures taken by the European Union, and their level of implementation at selected member state and city levels. The impact of pressures groups such as extinction rebellion and the green movement are also examined, together with awareness raising actions such as films and documentaries demonstrating the tangible effects of man-made climatechange. The second section focuses on activists and environmentalists, their proposed solutions and selected proposed interventions in places which have been adversely affected by man-made climate change impacts, such as flooding or drought. It also briefly discusses the state of scientific knowledge and how it is dealt with by politicians, activists and climate change deniers. The third section looks at the political evolution of climate change intervention at city level. It focuses on Madrid and London in the context of EU actions and respective national targets and examines the direction of travel of the two cities. It briefly synthesises the policies of lowering carbon emissions and proposed actions taken in 2008 in Madrid and London what actions have been taken between these dates and now and what effects they had on reducing carbon emissions, fuel consumption and air pollution. The paper finally compares these approaches with the current strategies for mitigating and adjusting to climate change in the latest city plans and offers critical comments

Nature Based Solutions: More than Just Greening the City?

Today’s relation between humans and nature is arguably still rooted in the enlightenment philosophy, or the “age of reason”, asserting that nature exists to be tamed and submitted to the needs and wants of humans(Wallace et. al. 1996). This premise shows scant concern for social, cultural or economic consequences, let alone care for the survival of the planet. Accelerating adverse effects of climate change and rapid decline of biodiversity demonstrate that this exploitation principle of nature by humans has severe limitations (Folkard-Tapp H et.al. 2021). Facing this undeniable evidence, science and technology are envisaging alternative approaches, such as applying Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to benefit people and nature conjointly(British Ecological Society 2021). This raises the issue whether NBS would be capable of moving away from the antagonism between nature - narrowly understood as the physical world of plants, animals and inorganic matter- and the human-made environment and its uses, and instead to conceive humans and their actions as an integral part of nature. The paper attempts to explore this question from the perspective of physical planning of cities and territories by identifying the various and possibly contradictory characteristics of NBS and their interventions(Sowinska-Swierkosk et.al. 2022) and to discuss whether and how NBS may differ from previous measures to protect the environment and to combat adverse effects of climate change (StavroulaMelanidiset.al. 2022).To this end, the paperreflects on academic deliberations on the meaning (Osaka et.al. 2015) and purpose (Kiss et.al. 2019) of NBS and their site-specific, comprehensive, integrated and preferably co-beneficial effects at multiple spatial scales(Johnson et.al. 2022).It aims is to review how NBScurrently contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity by reversing ecosystem degradation, and how they are applied to achieve a more sustainable and liveable built environment.Finally it identifies changes needed for the current fragmented planning system to become more NBS-friendly, and to prevent further inequalities (Herrmann-Pillath C 2022). The evidence-base of the paper relies on freely available references on the internet in solidarity with academics and professionals who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences widely

Designing Inclusive Cities from the Elderly Perspective

Societies are aging rapidly worldwide which affects global, national and local economic structures. Such demographic change is attributed to increasing longevity and decreasing fertility, arguably due to higher living standards. International migration has also contributed to changing population age structures. According to the World Health Organisation the percentage of the population over the age of 60 will increase by 34% between 2020 and 2030, already exceeds that of children under five and will surpass young people between 15-24 by 2050. These trends led the UN and other international organisations to seek answers. UN World Assemblies on Ageing produced Plans of Action and principles for older persons, recognising their specific needs, most specifically exclusion, but also isolation, paternalism and neglect. Among others, WSIS focused on ICTs and older persons, DESA addressed elder abuse and UNIDOP adopted an age-inclusive agenda. UNDP stated that the UN Sustainable Development Gaols have to recognise older persons as active agents of societal development, not just vulnerable people, to achieve truly transformative, inclusive and sustainable development outcomes. WHO produced an international perspective of age-friendly cities and communities, set up an environment-friendly environments mentoring programme and a global database of age friendly practices. Many other international and intergovernmental organisations undertook initiatives for ageing societies with remarkable cooperation between them across their specialised fields. This paper focuses on digitalisation, intergenerational relations, and of course planning and design solutions for age-friendly cities, considering them of particular interest to professionals of the built environment. When examining scope for action it relates these issues to the four aspects related to the Leipzig Charter (discussed by the authors in their CORP 2021 contributions) – social: unwanted loneliness and technological neglect; economic: minimum pensions to cover the cost of living and in particular of ICT access; environmental: inadequacy of urban spaces and mobility provision; political: neglect of priorities for elder persons as opposed to ‘urgent’ ones; and enactment of labour legislation which tends to exacerbate age discrimination. A key issue emerging from this situation are the intergenerational effects of the treatment of old age. The paper explores what measures could be adopted in an ageing society to achieve a more equitable balance between the generations. This includes the response of young people to the comparative disadvantage of maintaining the current state of affairs for the elderly and whether they would support redress which may affect their relative advantages. The second part of the paper will explore how the decade of action in which international policies have focused on the elderly has translated into their everyday life and critically comment on selected results. it will attempt to identify how these actions distinguish themselves from other initiatives to provide for special needs, in response to research on ageing, such as that undertaken by ARUP, and whether the recommended interventions have managed to improve specifically the quality of life of the elderly. It will also refer to undertakings both in Spain and the UK. The paper will conclude by identifying more age-friendly urban developments and how planning and urban design practices could facilitate them

Sustainable, Smart and Humane Cities: From Utopia to Reality

This paper gathers the results of the research undertaken by the authors on the phenomenon of “New Cities” (NCs) conceived during the last thirty years, when urbanism began to be ruled by two basic principles: sustainability and smartness. Eighty case studies were selected from 38 countries on five continents in order to explore this dynamic and to answer the questions that triggered this research. What motivated NCs? What specific response did they adopt? What motivated their implementation or abandonment? Were they able to fulfil their own expectations

Educating planners in Europe: A review of 21st century study programmes

A  Education for urban, regional and spatial planning has become a regular subject throughout most European nations; this can be attributed in part to European policies promoting planning and spatially balanced development, but also to the recognition that planning can support sustainability. Nevertheless, there is lingering and justifiable concern about the status, profile and recognition of planning as a profession in its own right with the result that planning and planning education remain contested territories in academia. Conceptions of planning differ between countries and over time. The array of different planning cultures and associated educational models and pedagogies that traditionally have coexisted in Europe mean that education for planning can be either very visible or leading a shadow existence being embedded in programmes of other disciplines. While planning education provision customarily has been shaped by changes in planning practice paradigms and the profession, in 21st century Europe the provision is also influenced by European integration policies, the Bologna process and powerful transformations affecting the higher education sector writ large. This review seeks to advance our understanding of the complex dynamics at work, which to date have been only partially explored in the literature, by taking stock of the current state-of-play of planning education provision in Europe. Aside from examining the factors influencing planning education in Europe, an inventory of planning education programmes available throughout the member states of the Council of Europe was developed to quantify the provision as a critical first step. Figures indicate a substantial increase in the number of programmes when compared to limited historical data. Data also suggest an underdeveloped provision for education in planning in about ten per cent of European countries. Country case studies with historically differing planning cultures and education provision, i.e., Spain, Portugal, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are used to compare and explore trends and developments (e.g., in respect to programme structure, curriculum content and focus, professional conceptions, specialisms) in detail. Findings demonstrate, both, an enduring power of national preferences and traditions but also some emerging commonalities. Overall a picture of increasing pluralism and diversity of education models transpires in the aftermath of Bologna which may contravene efforts to establish cross-national professional recognition and standards. Education for planning seems to embrace trends to provide increasingly international learning experiences and degrees while the provision of flexible recognised (online) degree programmes remains sparse. Recommendations for future actions and strategies to further develop and strengthen the field which is at present complex and little coordinated conclude the contribution

Inmigrantes marroquíes en la C.A.M.

Sin resume

Molecular Insights into the Local Anesthetic Receptor within Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels Using Hydroxylated Analogs of Mexiletine

We previously showed that the β-adrenoceptor modulators, clenbuterol and propranolol, directly blocked voltage-gated sodium channels, whereas salbutamol and nadolol did not (Desaphy et al., 2003), suggesting the presence of two hydroxyl groups on the aromatic moiety of the drugs as a molecular requisite for impeding sodium channel block. To verify such an hypothesis, we synthesized five new mexiletine analogs by adding one or two hydroxyl groups to the aryloxy moiety of the sodium channel blocker and tested these compounds on hNav1.4 channels expressed in HEK293 cells. Concentration–response relationships were constructed using 25-ms-long depolarizing pulses at −30 mV applied from an holding potential of −120 mV at 0.1 Hz (tonic block) and 10 Hz (use-dependent block) stimulation frequencies. The half-maximum inhibitory concentrations (IC50) were linearly correlated to drug lipophilicity: the less lipophilic the drug, minor was the block. The same compounds were also tested on F1586C and Y1593C hNav1.4 channel mutants, to gain further information on the molecular interactions of mexiletine with its receptor within the sodium channel pore. In particular, replacement of Phe1586 and Tyr1593 by non-aromatic cysteine residues may help in the understanding of the role of π–π or π–cation interactions in mexiletine binding. Alteration of tonic block suggests that the aryloxy moiety of mexiletine may interact either directly or indirectly with Phe1586 in the closed sodium channel to produce low-affinity binding block, and that this interaction depends on the electrostatic potential of the drug aromatic tail. Alteration of use-dependent block suggests that addition of hydroxyl groups to the aryloxy moiety may modify high-affinity binding of the drug amine terminal to Phe1586 through cooperativity between the two pharmacophores, this effect being mainly related to drug lipophilicity. Mutation of Tyr1593 further impaired such cooperativity. In conclusion, these results confirm our former hypothesis by showing that the presence of hydroxyl groups to the aryloxy moiety of mexiletine greatly reduced sodium channel block, and provide molecular insights into the intimate interaction of local anesthetics with their receptor