What “Is” Territorial Cohesion? What Does It “Do”?: Essentialist Versus Pragmatic Approaches to Using Concepts

The question, “what is territorial cohesion” has reverberated through European spatial policy since the publication of the European Spatial Development Perspective in 1999. Over the last 10 years, the European Spatial Policy Observation Network (ESPON) has made many efforts to define and measure the concept of “territorial cohesion”. Many such attempts assume that a policy concept must be defined in order to be “operationalized”. Or, in other words, that we must determine what the concept is before we can determine what it can or should do. This paper challenges this assumption in two parts. In the first, I review a number of ESPON projects to show how complex and uncertain these essentialist definitions have become. In the second, I analyse a number of national, regional and local government responses to the 2008 Green paper. I show that, whilst a clear and coherent definition has not been established, this concept is already operationalized in different policy frameworks. Bringing this together, I argue that users of such concepts ought to approach the issue differently, through a pragmatic line of enquiry: one that asks what territorial cohesion does, what it might do and how it might affect what other concepts, practices and materials do

The Strata/Machinic Assemblage and Architecture

Much of the literature exploring the intersection between Deleuzo-Guattarian philosophy and architecture have focused on abstract theory, experimental projects and practices at the margins of the profession. But, one may ask, what of the mainstream, commercial practices that produce the offices, housing, shops, schools and community buildings that we see and engage with in our day-to-day lives? What of the everyday design decisions made by professional architects and technicians sitting at their desks and drawing boards? Are these to be excluded from architecture's engagement with Deleuzo-Guattarian philosophy? As I will show in this paper, Deleuze and Guattari's proposals for the strata and the machinic assemblage are drawn from their underlying attempt to expand Hjelmslev's planar composition from a tool used to analyse language to a conceptual framework used to analyse the formation and evolution of all things. There is nothing within the conceptual framework of the strata/machinic assemblage to suggest, therefore, that they should not be used to analyse such practices. With this in mind, this article considers how these concepts can be translated through and help provide new insight into a real-world design sequence taken from mainstream, commercial architectural practice. In doing so it will show how such practices can offer Deleuzo-Guattarian scholars a more nuanced insight into this conceptual framework and the concepts that form it. </jats:p

Deleuze's philosophy and its usefulness to planning: a case study of BRE assessments

A number of established planning theorists have sought a connection between Deleuzian philosophy and planning to create new practices and tools to increase the effectiveness of [the discipline]’ (de Roo et al, 2012: 20; Hillier, 2007, 2011; Van Wezemael , 2010; Mark Purcell, 2013). This Deleuze-planning link introduces a number of unique considerations, not least because it must account for theoretical as well as practical concerns, and explore processes of analysis as well as processes of engagement. To date these efforts remain tentative, exposing such studies to Forester’s critique that most planning theorists use philosophical concepts to ‘deconstruct’ rather than ‘reconstruct’ methods of engagement (Forester, 2007). This study responds to this gap by showing how some of Deleuze’s most abstract philosophical concepts can be translated into a new, practicable assessment tool useful to actors working in development and regulatory processes. It shows what is needed to make this transition, and when such tools might usefully contribute to ‘real’ situations. This thesis explores this experimental line of enquiry through two research stages. The first stage focuses on developing a Deleuze-inspired alternative to the Building Research Establishment’s ‘universal method’ for assessing the sustainability of a given building or urban design. This proposal is constructed on the basis that all assessments should be undertaken within the design process; by those responsible for making these design decisions; and based on their speculations about what might become of the scheme. The study goes on to test the practicable viability of this proposed method, termed the ‘Speculative and Immanent Assessment Method’ (SIAM), through a series of interviews with professional actors working in design, development, assessment and regulatory roles. The results of these two research stages suggest that Deleuze’s concepts can be made useful to practice, but doing so demands that the researcher adapts, re-creates and expands Deleuze’s concepts to meet the specific, practical demands of the field

Biomarkers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in mice lacking 11β-HSD1 and H6PDH

Glucocorticoid concentrations are a balance between production under the negative feedback control and diurnal rhythm of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and peripheral metabolism, for example by the enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1), which catalyses the reduction of inactive cortisone (11-dehydrocorticosterone (11-DHC) in mice) to cortisol (corticosterone in mice). Reductase activity is conferred upon 11β-HSD1 by hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PDH). 11β-HSD1 is implicated in the development of obesity, and selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitors are currently under development. We sought to address the concern regarding potential up-regulation of the HPA axis associated with inhibition of 11β-HSD1. We assessed biomarkers for allele combinations of 11β-HSD1 and H6PD Hderived fromdouble heterozygous mouse crosses. H6PDH knock out (KO) adrenals were 69% larger than WT while 11β-HSD1 KO and double KO (DKO) adrenals were ~30% larger than WT - indicative of increased HPA axis drive in KO animals. ACTH-stimulated circulating corticosterone concentrations were 2.2-fold higher in H6PDH KO animals and ~1.5-fold higher in 11β-HSD1 KO and DKO animals compared with WT, proportional to the observed adrenal hypertrophy. KOof H6PDH resulted in a substantial increase in urinary DHC metabolites in males (65%) and females (61%). KO of 11β-HSD1 alone or in combination with H6PDH led to significant increases (36 and 42% respectively) in urinary DHC metabolites in females only. Intermediate 11β-HSD1/H6PDH heterozygotes maintained a normal HPA axis. Urinary steroid metabolite profile by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry as a biomarker assay may be beneficial in assaying HPA axis status clinically in cases of congenital and acquired 11β-HSD1/H6PDH deficiency

Re-conceptualising Territorial Cohesion Through the Prism of Spatial Justice : Critical Perspectives on Academic and Policy Discourses

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