The Africa Problem of Global Urban Theory: Re-conceptualising Planetary Urbanisation

This paper works to address what I consider the enduring ‘Africa problem’ in global urban theory. I engage and critique selected relevant urban thought from the Globalization and World Cities research group, from Henri Lefebvre and from the new wave of urban theorisation inspired by Lefebvre’s (1970) idea of ‘complete, planetary urbanisation.’ I argue that urbanisation in Africa, largely absent from Lefebvre’s works, presents new twists that are better understood from outside a Eurocentric framework. I propose the possibilities of urban comparativism built from theories and conceptualisations that emerge from the global South and that can be utilised to compare non-Western cities’ urbanisation processes. I use case studies from Dakar and Zanzibar to examine the production of what Chinese urbanists detail as a ‘village’ in the city, on the edge of the city, and in the suburbs over the last half-century and the complexities and comparability of urbanisation processes in these settings. I end with reflections on the implications of these cases for any claims for universalising the twenty-first century’s processes of urbanisation and urbanism across the planet. My main finding for urban policy and planning practice is the documentation of the relevance and value of South–South comparisons of urbanisation processes for development

China and Africa: The Crucial Urban Connection

The relations between China and Africa have become increasingly complex over the last four decades. As China’s economic ties with Africa go beyond commodity-dominant trade, Xiangming Chen & Garth Myers consider China’s activities in Africa’s broader economy with a focus on urban infrastructure

Trends in urban planning, climate adaptation and resilience in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Over recent decades, there has been substantial change in Zanzibar, due to, among others, global climate change impacts. The semi-autonomous polity faces challenges to foster resilient urban communities and planning for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, not least because of its island nature and rapid urbanization. This article addresses urban and environmental planning measures from 2010 to 2020 aimed at confronting the impacts of climate change and working toward resilience and adaptation in urban Zanzibar. The study was conducted between June and August 2020, and primarily involved a combination of desktop studies, online discussions, and virtual meetings with key actors in the land, climate, and disaster risk policy and governance aspects in Zanzibar. The review provides information on the current responses to policy, legal and institutional setup in terms of the key issues related to land use, climate and disaster risk reduction in Zanzibar. Thematic analysis was used to connect land-use planning, climate adaptation, and disaster risk reduction documentation of the situational assessment, determination and respective recommendations concerning land use and climate adaptation. It is argued that planning for climate change requires greater social will, financial investment, and the conversion of science to policy than currently exists in Zanzibar. Dynamic individual and governmental efforts and select community engagement are likely insufficient to produce resilience, as large-scale donor-funded climate adaptation interventions are largely top-down in orientation and often miss out on local community-oriented climate solutions. Smaller NGOs are more practical for understanding and addressing community-oriented priorities to support climate-resilient initiatives and enhance local livelihood priorities and participation against climate impacts, including natural disasters and everyday degradation. The article concludes with policy recommendations both specific to Zanzibar and relevant across the region

Cities of Sub-Saharan Africa

SSA\u27s interlocking urban environmental problems are magnified by shortcomings in management and oversight by both governments and the private sector. Patrick lives in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he works as a chef at a Chinese restaurant. Patrick is a mixed-race South African, born in Cape Town. He worked for many years as a cook on oil tankers, where many of the crew members were Bangladeshi, Filipino, or Tanzanian, the latter often from the Zanzibar islands or from Dar es Salaam

Hemispherectomy and diaschisis: Rapid improvement in cerebral functions after right hemispherectomy in a six year old child

Neuroradiological, neurological, and neuropsychological studies before and after hemispherectomy for seizures of a six year old boy with left hemiplegia at birth revealed striking postoperative improvement. Seizures ceased and have not recurred. Preoperative EEC studies from seven months of age revealed increasing pathological involvement of the left as well as right hemisphere. Postoperatively, normal tracings over the left hemisphere documented marked and continuing improvement. In contrast to markedly subnormal preoperative WISC-R IQs, retest at 19 months postoperatively showed WISC-R IQs within the normal range, with similar improvement in other tests of cognitive, motor and sensory functions. The arrest and reversal of the preoperative pattern of increasing deterioration and disappearance of pathological involvement of left as well as right hemisphere functions following surgery is consistent with the disappearance of diaschisis as described by von Monakow in 1914, and has conceivably significant clinical as well as theoretical implications.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27432/1/0000470.pd

What works with men? A systematic review of health promoting interventions targeting men

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Gly2019Ser mutation in LRRK2 is not fully penetrant in familial Parkinson's disease: the GenePD study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We report age-dependent penetrance estimates for leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (<it>LRRK2</it>)-related Parkinson's disease (PD) in a large sample of familial PD. The most frequently seen <it>LRRK2 </it>mutation, Gly2019Ser (G2019S), is associated with approximately 5 to 6% of familial PD cases and 1 to 2% of idiopathic cases, making it the most common known genetic cause of PD. Studies of the penetrance of <it>LRRK2 </it>mutations have produced a wide range of estimates, possibly due to differences in study design and recruitment, including in particular differences between samples of familial PD versus sporadic PD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample, including 903 affected and 58 unaffected members from 509 families ascertained for having two or more PD-affected members, 126 randomly ascertained PD patients and 197 controls, was screened for five different <it>LRRK2 </it>mutations. Penetrance was estimated in families of <it>LRRK2 </it>carriers with consideration of the inherent bias towards increased penetrance in a familial sample.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-one out of 509 families with multiple cases of PD (6.1%) were found to have 58 <it>LRRK2 </it>mutation carriers (6.4%). Twenty-nine of the 31 families had G2019S mutations while two had R1441C mutations. No mutations were identified among controls or unaffected relatives of PD cases. Nine PD-affected relatives of G2019S carriers did not carry the <it>LRRK2 </it>mutation themselves. At the maximum observed age range of 90 to 94 years, the unbiased estimated penetrance was 67% for G2019S families, compared with a baseline PD risk of 17% seen in the non-<it>LRRK2</it>-related PD families.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Lifetime penetrance of <it>LRRK2 </it>estimated in the unascertained relatives of multiplex PD families is greater than that reported in studies of sporadically ascertained <it>LRRK2 </it>cases, suggesting that inherited susceptibility factors may modify the penetrance of <it>LRRK2 </it>mutations. In addition, the presence of nine PD phenocopies in the <it>LRRK2 </it>families suggests that these susceptibility factors may also increase the risk of non-<it>LRRK2</it>-related PD. No differences in penetrance were found between men and women, suggesting that the factors that influence penetrance for <it>LRRK2 </it>carriers are independent of the factors which increase PD prevalence in men.</p