METRO - The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities. Policy brief: The added value of the EU cohesion policy in the planning and implementation of metropolitan policies

This policy brief seeks to unpack the multiple added value of the European Union (EU) cohesion policy in metropolitan areas by exploring its priorities, funds and geographical distribution as well as the successful outcomes. Starting from the idea that the metropolitan scale is the most relevant to deal with those ‘functional’ issues that have a scope that exceeds the municipal boundaries (such as mobility, economic development, climate change etc.), this policy brief offers an overview of the added value of the EU cohesion policy on the planning and implementation of metropolitan policies in the 2014-20 programming period and elaborates a set of recommendations for policy and decision makers aiming at increasing this added value in the programming period 2021-27. Based on the nine case studies explored in the ESPON METRO targeted analysis, which include the metropolitan areas of Barcelona, Brno, Brussels, Florence, Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot, Lisbon, Lyon, Riga and Turin, this policy brief aims to support planners and policy officers in making well-informed decisions at EU, national and local level, when it comes to maximise the added value that the EU cohesion policy can provide to metropolitan development and policies. It does so by presenting possible ways of dealing with the complexity of the multiple impacts of cohesion policy and its metropolitan dimension

METRO - The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities. Annex I: Conceptual framework and methodology

The scope of the ESPON METRO project is rather broad, as its research positions at the intersection of a number of fields, ranging from territorial governance and spatial planning, to public administration and policy analysis and European integration studies, up to regional development studies. In order to explore the role that metropolitan areas play as catalysts and drivers of global development, as a consequence of complex processes of socioeconomic reorganisation and rescaling that have evolved through time, and with particular reference to the European Union (EU) cohesion policy, the METRO research team has framed its action and analysis within a composite and articulated conceptual and methodological framework. In particular, the latter has been shaped in order to allow the researchers engaged in the project to answer the three main policy questions animating the study: PQ1 | What role do metropolitan areas play in the development, management and implementation of the cohesion policy? PQ2 | What is the added value of the cohesion policy in the planning and implementation of metropolitan policies? PQ3 | What role does the cohesion policy play in consolidating metropolitan governance and cooperation? The conceptual and methodological framework for the project has been developed during the first months of the research, building on the materials already included in the project proposal, that were further detailed and consolidated through: A thorough consideration of previous research works on similar matters as well as of the existing scientific literature in the field of metropolitan governance and European integration and Europeanisation. The interaction with the project’s Steering Committee Members during the METRO kick-off meeting (October the 9th, 2020), the comments received in response to the Delivery n.1 and the outcomes of the Steering Committee Meeting n. 2 (November the 16th, 2020) and 3 (February the 23rd, 2021). This Annex to the Final Report presents said conceptual framework and methodology more in detail

METRO - The role and future perspectives of Cohesion Policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities. Annex II: The role of Metropolitan areas within the EU cohesion policy

This Annex to the final Report presents and discusses in a comparative manner the evidence collected in the nine case studies that have been explored in the framework of the ESPON Targeted Analysis METRO – The role and future perspectives of cohesion policy in the planning of Metropolitan Areas and Cities (Annexes III to XI). More in detail, the document synthesizes and compares the information collected by the various research teams through the application of the project’s analytical protocol and as a consequence of their continuous interaction with the respective stakeholders. The report is organised following the three main policy questions that have been driving the analysis: PQ1 | What role do metropolitan areas and cities play in the development, management and implementation of the European Union (EU) cohesion policy? PQ2 | What is the added value of the EU cohesion policy in the planning and implementation of metropolitan policies? PQ3 | What role does the EU cohesion policy play in consolidating metropolitan governance and cooperation? These questions are answered through the comparative analysis and assessment of the territorial and institutional contexts in which the nine stakeholders involved in the projects are active: Metropolitan City of Turin (CMTo), Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), Brno Metropolitan Area (BMA), Metropolitan Area of Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot (MAG), Metropolitan City of Florence (CMFi), Métropole de Lyon (MdL), Brussels-Capital Region (BCR), Riga Metropolitan Area (RMA)

Spurious Eccentricities of Distorted Binary Components

I discuss the effect of physical distortion on the velocities of close binary components and how we may use the resulting distortion of velocity curves to constrain some properties of binary systems, such as inclination and mass ratio. Precise new velocities for 5 Cet convincingly detect these distortions with their theoretically predicted phase dependence. We can even use such distortions of velocity curves to test Lucy's theory of convective gravity darkening. The observed distortions for TT Hya and 5 Cet require the contact components of those systems to be gravity darkened, probably somewhat more than predicted by Lucy's theory but clearly not as much as expected for a radiative star. These results imply there is no credible evidence for eccentric orbits in binaries with contact components. I also present some speculative analyses of the observed properties of a binary encased in a non-rotating common envelope, if such an object could actually exist, and discuss how the limb darkening of some recently calculated model atmospheres for giant stars may bias my resuts for velocity-curve distortions, as well as other results from a wide range of analyses of binary stars.Comment: 14 pp, 2 tables, 12 fig; under review by Ap

High-precision photometry of WASP-12 b transits

The transiting extrasolar planet WASP-12 b was found to be one of the most intensely irradiated exoplanets. It is unexpectedly bloated and is losing mass that may accrete into the host star. Our aim was to refine the parameters of this intriguing system and search for signs of transit timing variations. We gathered high-precision light curves for two transits of WASP-12 b. Assuming various limb-darkening laws, we generated best-fitting models and redetermined parameters of the system. Error estimates were derived by the prayer bead method and Monte Carlo simulations. System parameters obtained by us are found to agree with previous studies within one sigma. Use of the non-linear limb-darkening laws results in the best-fitting models. With two new mid-transit times, the ephemeris was refined to BJD(TDB)=(2454508.97682 +/- 0.00020) + (1.09142245 +/- 0.00000033) E. Interestingly, indications of transit timing variation are detected at the level of 3.4 sigma. This signal can be induced by an additional planet in the system. Simplified numerical simulations shows that a perturber could be a terrestrial-type planet if both planets are in a low-order orbital resonance. However, we emphasise that further observations are needed to confirm variation and to constrain properties of the perturber.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&

TYC 2675-663-1: A newly discovered W UMa system in an active state

The recently discovered eclipsing binary system TYC 2675-663-1 is a X-ray source, and shows properties in the optical that are similar to the W UMa systems, but are somewhat unusual compared to what is seen in other contact binary systems. The goal of this work is to characterize its properties and investigate its nature by means of detailed photometric and spectroscopic observations. We have performed extensive V-band photometric measurements with the INTEGRAL satellite along with ground-based multi-band photometric observations, as well as high-resolution spectroscopic monitoring from which we have measured the radial velocities of the components. These data have been analysed to determine the stellar properties, including the absolute masses and radii. Additional low-resolution spectroscopy was obtained to investigate spectral features. From the measured eclipse timings we determine an orbital period for the binary of P=0.4223576+-0.0000009 days. The light-curve and spectroscopic analyses reveal the observations to be well represented by a model of an overcontact system composed of main-sequence F5 and G7 stars (temperature difference of nearly 1000 K), with the possible presence of a third star. Low-resolution optical spectroscopy reveals a complex H alpha emission, and other features that are not yet understood. The unusually large mass ratio of q=0.81+-0.05 places it in the rare "H" (high mass ratio) subclass of the W UMa systems, which are presumably on their way to coalescence.Comment: 12 pages in double column format. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Detection of gravity modes in the massive binary V380 Cyg from Kepler spacebased photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy

We report the discovery of low-amplitude gravity-mode oscillations in the massive binary star V380 Cyg, from 180 d of Kepler custom-aperture space photometry and 5 months of high-resolution high signal-to-noise spectroscopy. The new data are of unprecedented quality and allowed to improve the orbital and fundamental parameters for this binary. The orbital solution was subtracted from the photometric data and led to the detection of periodic intrinsic variability with frequencies of which some are multiples of the orbital frequency and others are not. Spectral disentangling allowed the detection of line-profile variability in the primary. With our discovery of intrinsic variability interpreted as gravity mode oscillations, V380 Cyg becomes an important laboratory for future seismic tuning of the near-core physics in massive B-type stars.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Detached binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A selection of binaries suitable for distance determination

As a result of a careful selection of eclipsing binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud using the OGLE-II photometric database, we present a list of 98 systems that are suitable targets for spectroscopic observations that would lead to the accurate determination of the distance to the LMC. For these systems we derive preliminary parameters combining the OGLE-II data with the photometry of MACHO and EROS surveys. In the selected sample, 58 stars have eccentric orbits. Among these stars we found fourteen systems showing apsidal motion. The data do not cover the whole apsidal motion cycle, but follow-up observations will allow detailed studies of these interesting objects.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&