How do we govern metropolitan areas in the Age of Emergencies?

As cities grow, their formal boundaries often no longer reflect their true size and influence. Nuno F. da Cruz (LSE) argues that in an age of uncertainty and emergencies, we should pay serious attention to how we re-scale urban governance, and how to do it in a democratic way

A symmetric quantum calculus

We introduce the $\alpha,\beta$-symmetric difference derivative and the $\alpha,\beta$-symmetric N\"orlund sum. The associated symmetric quantum calculus is developed, which can be seen as a generalization of the forward and backward $h$-calculus.Comment: Submitted 26/Sept/2011; accepted in revised form 28/Dec/2011; to Proceedings of International Conference on Differential & Difference Equations and Applications, in honour of Professor Ravi P. Agarwal, to be published by Springer in the series Proceedings in Mathematics (PROM

Doenças da Capivara.

O objetivo principal desta obra foi o de relacionar a maior quantidade possível de informações sobre as enfermidades da capivara de modo a torná-las mais acessíveis a todos aqueles que possam interessar-se pelo assunto, sejam profissionais, estudantes, criadores ou curiosos. Sobre muitas doenças, a literatura existente resume-se a um ou dois trabalhos, ou a publicações não indexadas e de difícil obtenção, o que felizmente vem deixando de ocorrer com os estudos mais recentes. Outro aspecto importante a ser explicitado é que, como conseqüência da apresentação desta extensa revisão, tornaram-se claras as lacunas no conhecimento sobre o tema e a necessidade de mais pesquisas que venham a preenchê-las. Neste particular, essa oportuna abordagem merece ser destacada como ferramenta para auxiliar os trabalhos que levam ao conhecimento das principais doenças que acometem os indivíduos dessa espécie, prejudicando o seu desempenho, principalmente, em criações intensivas, traduzindo-se num importante passo para a sua criação em cativeiro

Pairs of matrices that preserve the value of a generalized matrix function on the set of the upper triangular matrices

AbstractLet H be a subgroup of the symmetric group of degree m and let χ be an irreducible character of H. In this paper we give conditions that characterize the pairs of matrices that leave invariant the value of a generalized matrix function associated with H and χ, on the set of the upper triangular matrices

Social structures of urban governance: strategic spatial planning in Addis Ababa

Focusing on strategic planning for spatial development, this paper explores the social structures that underpin urban governance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To bridge the divide in the literature between studies that are narrowly focused on public service networks (typically more quantitative) and broader studies of urban governance (typically more qualitative), we use a social network analysis approach based on structured interviews to chart the actors and connections that influence the strategic planning process. Our results show that the governance network in this city is very homogeneous and centralised. The majority of actors at the core of strategic decision-making are city government entities, where most ties are structured around the Addis Ababa City Plan Commission and the mayor. With few exceptions (notably, the prime minister), other tiers of government, civil society organisations, the private sector and international donors are mostly peripheral. The fact that some powerful actors – such as international investors and the ruling coalition parties – are also playing a marginal role in the network may threaten governance stability and coherence. Although the mayor is a very powerful actor at the city level, the structural features of the governance network and the institutional power of the prime minister allow them to streamline their influence over the city’s future. The current governance regime for strategic spatial planning in Addis Ababa seems to privilege the effectiveness of the developmental agenda over the inclusiveness of the governing process. This has troubling implications for participatory development and the emergence of a more democratic society