Society seen through the prism of space: outline of a theory of society and space

Two questions challenge the student of space and society above all others: will new technologies change the spatial basis of society ? And if so, will this have an impact on society itself ? For the urbanist, these two questions crystallise into one: what will the future of cities have to do with their past ? Too often these questions are dealt with as though they were only matters of technology. But they are much more than that. They are deep and difficult questions about the interdependence of technology, space and society that we do not yet have the theoretical apparatus to answer. We know that previous �revolutions� in technology such as agriculture, urbanism and industrialisation associated radical changes in space with no less radical changes in social institutions. But we do not know how far these linkages were contingent or necessary. We do not, in short, have a theory of society and space adequate to account for where we are now, and therefore we have no reasonable theoretical base for speculating about the future. In this paper, I suggest that a major reason for this theoretical deficit is that most previous attempts to build a theory of society and space have looked at society and tried to find space in its output. The result has been that the constructive role of space in creating and and sustaining society has not been brought to the fore, or if it has, only in a way which is too general to permit the detailed specification of mechanisms. In this paper I try to reverse the normal order of things this by looking first at space and trying the discern society through space: by looking at society through the prism of space. Through this I try to define key mechanisms linking space to society and then use these to suggest how the questions about the future of cities and societies might be better defined

The Anatomy of Knowledge: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Evolution of Ideas in Space Syntax Conference Articles (1997-2017)

Since its inception in the 1970s, space syntax has matured into a theory and a method comprising a set of recurring theoretical and analytical concepts, as well as new ones emerging through the years. How can we trace the evolution of the field through language? How can we analyse the development of ideas in space syntax research? What can we learn from this evolution about knowledge creation in this area? Recognising that language is central to the development of ideas in any field, this paper uses automated text-analyses, focusing more specifically on all papers published in the space syntax symposia proceedings from 1997 to 2017. The purpose is to trace the trajectory of ideas as they were elaborated, used and perhaps changed in the collective work of authors researching within this field in different parts of the world. Firstly, we identify concepts and technical terminology in the field through a combined quantitative and qualitative text analysis. Secondly, we statistically assess the use of these terms, revealing patterns and trends in the evolution of knowledge in space syntax. Thirdly, we compare patterns between established concepts and categories that stabilise over time with concepts emerging more recently. The results from our analysis of networks of concept relationships suggest that: (i) concepts and terms evolve in dependent trajectories; (ii) ideas have evolutionary developments, with some emerging and gaining growing attention, while others showing clear signs of stability, and others losing centrality over time, including networks of what can be termed as ‘canonical’ concepts. We have also identified (iii) an overall decline in the use of early space syntax concepts rooted in social theory and anthropology; (iv) a trend of decreasing conceptual novelty over time; (v) traces of increasing influence by other fields; and finally (vi) signs of a clear ‘technological turn’ in the field

On the relation between Transversal and Longitudinal Scaling in Cities

Given that a group of cities follows a scaling law connecting urban population with socio-economic or infrastructural metrics (transversal scaling), should we expect that each city would follow the same behavior over time (longitudinal scaling)? This assumption has important policy implications, although rigorous empirical tests have been so far hindered by the lack of suitable data. Here, we advance the debate by looking into the temporal evolution of the scaling laws for 5507 municipalities in Brazil. We focus on the relationship between population size and two urban variables, GDP and water network length, analyzing the time evolution of the system of cities as well as their individual trajectory. We find that longitudinal (individual) scaling exponents are city-specific, but they are distributed around an average value that approaches to the transversal scaling exponent when the data are decomposed to eliminate external factors, and when we only consider cities with a sufficiently large growth rate. Such results give support to the idea that the longitudinal dynamics is a micro-scaling version of the transversal dynamics of the entire urban system. Finally, we propose a mathematical framework that connects the microscopic level to global behavior, and, in all analyzed cases, we find good agreement between theoretical prediction and empirical evidence

Structural Evidence for a Copper-Bound Carbonate Intermediate in the Peroxidase and Dismutase Activities of Superoxide Dismutase

Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD) is of fundamental importance to our understanding of oxidative damage. Its primary function is catalysing the dismutation of superoxide to O2 and H2O2. SOD also reacts with H2O2, leading to the formation of a strong copper-bound oxidant species that can either inactivate the enzyme or oxidise other substrates. In the presence of bicarbonate (or CO2) and H2O2, this peroxidase activity is enhanced and produces the carbonate radical. This freely diffusible reactive oxygen species is proposed as the agent for oxidation of large substrates that are too bulky to enter the active site. Here, we provide direct structural evidence, from a 2.15 Å resolution crystal structure, of (bi)carbonate captured at the active site of reduced SOD, consistent with the view that a bound carbonate intermediate could be formed, producing a diffusible carbonate radical upon reoxidation of copper. The bound carbonate blocks direct access of substrates to Cu(I), suggesting that an adjunct to the accepted mechanism of SOD catalysed dismutation of superoxide operates, with Cu(I) oxidation by superoxide being driven via a proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism involving the bound carbonate rather than the solvent. Carbonate is captured in a different site when SOD is oxidised, being located in the active site channel adjacent to the catalytically important Arg143. This is the probable route of diffusion from the active site following reoxidation of the copper. In this position, the carbonate is poised for re-entry into the active site and binding to the reduced copper. © 2012 Strange et al