Investigating presentational change in UK annual reports: a longitudinal perspective

This article examines structural and format changes in annual reports of U.K. listed companies from 1965 to 2004 with a particular focus on graph use. The article compares a new sample of 2004 annual reports with preexisting samples by Lee and by Beattie and Jones. Lee's identified trends continue. There has been a sharp increase in page length, voluntary information, and narrative information, particularly among large listed companies. A detailed analysis of voluntary disclosure indicates changes in the incidence and pattern of generic sections. Graph usage is now universal. However, key financial graph use has slightly declined, replaced by graphs depicting other operating issues. Impression management through selectivity, graphical measurement distortion, and manipulation of the length of time series graphed are common. Overall, annual reports continue to exhibit many features of public relations documents rather than financially driven, statutory documents, and the analysis of graph usage suggests a need for policy guidelines to protect users

Towards a walkability model for strategic evaluation of policy action and urban active transport interventions

This article presents a recently developed walkability modelling tool that draws on a number of UK national datasets to construct a statistical picture of the potential of streets to be used for walking. Using components common to standard North American models, but adapted for the UK context, the model is novel in its integration of space syntax analysis as a measure of network accessibility as well as in its use of large data surfaces that are not constrained by geographical administrative units. The study area of Greater London is used to validate the model against actual pedestrian activity measurements from across the city. A range of results from the analysis are presented. This approach enables the integration of the model with numerous other datasets and spatial data structures used in transport applications, expanding its capabilities from research into the realm of active travel infrastructure planning and evaluatio

Can the organisation of commercial space in cities encourage creativity and 'self-generating' economic growth? A return to Jane Jacob's ideas

This paper explores the implications of Jane Jacob’s ideas about the ‘self-generating economic culture of cities’ (Soja, 2000) for the way in which urban commercial spaces are organised and managed. Jacobs saw economic development as an emergent process, based on economic branching, and the development of ‘new work on the basis of old’. Drawing on three case studies from London (on railway arches, the Winkley Road Estate and Gillett Square in Dalston) this paper explores the key spatial factors which Jacobs identified as supporting bottom-up economic growth, such as the intermingling of old and new buildings of different types, sizes and conditions; the mixing of commercial and residential uses; and high population density. In her later works, Jacobs shifted away from her neighbourhood focus to explore how city economies work more globally, highlighting the multiple opportunities for collaboration offered through diverse city supply chains. At this point she did less to imagine how the physical structure of cities might play an enabling or constraining role. The paper concludes by suggesting that Space Syntax might have something to contribute here, through underlining the importance of local-global spatial linkages in cities

A new pedestrian demand model for Havana, Cuba

This note presents a new model to estimate the potential demand for walking trips in Havana, Cuba. The model covers the whole city, identifying the areas with higher potential demand. The model was developed using open-source geographic information on land use, location of public transport nodes, and the road/street network. The results of the model were then validated in a half-day workshop with representatives from the national and municipal planning and transport authorities in Havana, researchers, and students

Initiating dialogue between stakeholders and establishing a common language for community severance through cross disciplinary workshops

The concept of community severance has slowly been making its way into concrete transport plans and policies but it still lacks a consensual definition. This is because the issue has been approached by researchers from a range of disciplines, which have specific and diverse ways of constructing scientific knowledge. The objective of this paper, the first in a series of working papers to be generated by the Street Mobility and Network Accessibility research project is to build bridges between these different approaches and provide a base for the integration of community severance into public policy. The paper is the outcome of a series of workshops attended by a cross-disciplinary team of researchers and stakeholders, including policy-makers and local practitioners. On the basis of these discussions, a framework for cross-disciplinary research on community severance is developed, taking into consideration the chain of direct and indirect effects of transport infrastructure and motorised traffic and the range and complexity in the methodologies used for analysing and formulating solutions to the problem. In a second stage, we examine the consistency between this framework and the opinions and experiences of stakeholders

From the axial line to the walked line: Evaluating the utility of commercial and user-generated street network datasets in space syntax analysis

Data availability, reliability and cost are some of the most constraining factors in space syntax analysis and wider commercial acceptance. In recent years user-created Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) that is free to all via the Internet has gained wider acceptance and proven reliability (Haklay, 2010). Furthermore it has the property of being created by the people who inhabit the spaces being mapped; therefore it captures local knowledge and detail to a far greater degree than commercial mapping agencies. From a space syntax perspective it also relates more closely to the pedestrian network as it is used on foot and captures details of pedestrian routes through the urban fabric that other road-centric data sources ignore. This paper demonstrates the methodological approaches and analytic outcomes of a space syntax sensitivity analysis of Open Street Map (OSM) VGI road network data, the UK national mapping agency Ordnance Survey Integrated Transport Network (ITN) road data and a hand-drawn Axial map for four areas within the Greater London Region. The space syntax segment analysis was completed within the Depthmap application. The segment analysis was completed on the ITN model, OSM model and hand-drawn model separately and then it was carried out on a combined model of the ITN and OSM that integrated all the network elements from both. The integration and comparison of the network models was carried out through the usage of a new algorithm currently under development at University College London that identifies and extracts the differences between two line network datasets (Koukoletsos, forthcoming) and standard GIS processing techniques. The space syntax measures were evaluated on four areas in outer London that are the focus of the Adaptable Suburbs project at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. The analysis was carried out using length-weighted angular segment and choice analysis at radii 800m, 2000m and n (Turner, 2007). Comparative statistics were then generated for the areas to evaluate the analysis outcomes of the different network models. The London-wide network that was created through the combination of the OSM and ITN networks had a total length of 32,000km representing an increase of approximately 20% over the Ordnance Survey ITN network. The dramatic increase in network length alone demonstrates the divergent realities of the two mapping techniques and the representation of the world that they capture. It is anticipated that the sensitivity analysis will find that there was no significant difference in the global syntax values between the ITN and OSM and Axial models but at the local level the additional network segments for pedestrian routes within the OSM data will provide greater network accuracy and syntax values that model the reality on the ground better than the Ordnance Survey ITN model. Furthermore it captures potential pedestrian routes that are not present in the other data sets. The work carried out seeks to understand whether Volunteered Geographic Information is a viable alternative to official mapping sources when creating models for analysis of small urban areas. If this proves to be the case such data would provide not only a cost effective alternative to commercially produced data but indeed a more reliable network model for the analysis to be carried out. Open source geographic data have the capability to improve and enrich space syntax analysis whilst removing high price barriers that commercial data sources impose

Urban transport and community severance: linking research and policy to link people and places

Urban transport infrastructure and motorised road traffic contribute to the physical or psychological separation of neighbourhoods, with possible effects on the health and wellbeing of local residents. This issue, known as "community severance", has been approached by researchers from a range of disciplines, which have different ways of constructing scientific knowledge. The objective of this paper is to build bridges between these different approaches and provide a basis for the integration of the issue into public policy. A framework for cross-disciplinary research on community severance is developed, built on the results of two workshops attended by researchers from different disciplines. This framework takes into consideration the chain of direct and indirect effects of transport infrastructure and motorised traffic on local communities and the complexity in the methods used for analysing and formulating solutions to the problem. The framework is then compared with the views of practitioners, based on discussions held in a third and final workshop. It was concluded that to better understand community severance, researchers should frame their work in relation to that of other disciplines and develop tools that reflect the diversity of local contexts and stakeholders, balancing complexity with applicability

Use of folk remedies among patients in Karachi, Pakistan

BACKGROUND: The concept that food is medicine is being practiced in certain parts of the world, with positive outcomes on health of the population. We have such practice in Pakistan but it needs to be brought in line with the available scientific evidence. METHODS: The study was conducted on 270 patients, visiting the Family Practice Center, the Aga Khan University, Karachi. A questionnaire was used to collect information on the demographic profile, and the use of folk remedies for medicinal uses. RESULTS: Substantial use of folk remedies for different medical conditions has been documented. The remedies included cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cordimon, sesame oil, poppy seeds, honey, lemon, table salt, eggs and curd. The medical conditions in which folk remedies are used in respondents\u27 view, include conditions such as common cold, cough and flu to more serious conditions such as asthma, jaundice and heat stroke.CONCLUSIONS: We have found a substantial use of folk remedies for treatment of medical conditions. There is a need to organize their use on scientific lines