Institutional stakeholder participation in urban redevelopment in Tehran: An evaluation of decisions and actions

Experimentation with citizen participation in urban redevelopments is increasing worldwide. This paper aims to scrutinise this trend through an in-depth case study of the decisions and actions taken by the institutional stakeholders involved in participatory urban redevelopment in Tehran, Iran. The discussion is based around two contrasting urban redevelopment areas which set out to adopt a participatory approach involving various stakeholders including institutions (the Municipality of Tehran and the Heritage Organisation) and local owner-occupiers, developing new knowledge, understanding, and clarity about the concept and application of participation in urban redevelopments in developing countries. In both areas, the institutions invited owners to participate in the physical and economic improvements of their places through land assemblage or sharing redevelopment costs. In this study a range of qualitative methods are used including photo-elicitation techniques (PEI) and semi-structured interviews with locals, officials and professionals. The results show the vulnerability of the process. This was revealed when one institution did not maintain their role and when some owner-occupiers acted as free-riders. This highlights the challenge of building an enduring collaboration between institutional stakeholders from the planning to in-use stages, in particular the difficulties that arise as different institutions become involved in the process. This issue is more problematic when resources are limited and/or intermittent. As the results show, the institutional collaboration was smoother when fewer stakeholders were involved in decision making. In the commercial case, there were more complaints about overdue completion in the projects due to poor institutional collaboration. We recommend the need for an agreed mechanism prior to such initiatives where the role of the various stakeholders and their responsibilities are clearly cited, and where all different impact scenarios from the planning to in-use stage are set out

A strategy to assess short and frequent skin contacts with nickel

Background. In order to protect the public health, the EU nickel regulation sets a limit for certain consumer products not to release more nickel than 0.5 μg/cm2/week. However, nickel remains the most frequent cause of skin allergy. Objectives. To design and develop an experimental strategy for assessment of short and frequent skin exposure to nickel containing consumer products in daily life. Methods. The research strategy includes: screening for nickel exposure in daily life using the dimethylglyoxime (DMG) spot test for direct qualitative detection of nickel, and assessment of nickel skin dose from relevant nickel-containing materials in two contact test models using modified skin sampling methods. Future tests for measurement of nickel release in artificial sweat were planned for in the strategy but not performed within this master thesis project. Results. In 3 different home environments, 28% of different kinds of metallic consumer products were DMG test positive. The chemical compositions of DMG positive items were mostly detected as combinations of Ni/Cu/Zn, Ni/Fe/Cu or Ni/Fe. The lowest nickel skin dose detected as DMG test positive was 0.05 μg/cm2. The presence of nickel on the skin was identified qualitatively after single contact with all the selected nickel-containing materials except for stainless steel. Conclusion. The presented strategy will provide new and important knowledge for better understanding the allergy risk from short and repetitive skin contacts with nickel-releasing materials. Such data can be used for safety assessment and more protective restriction of nickel release from items intended also for short and frequent contact with the skin.Sammanfattning Bakgrund Befolkningen i EU skyddas delvis mot problematisk hudexponering för nickel genom begränsningen av nickel i REACH (EUs kemikalielagstiftning; Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals). Föremål som avses komma i långvarig kontakt med huden får inte frisätta mer än 0.5 µg/cm2/vecka. Trots detta är nickel fortfarande den vanligaste orsaken till hudallergi (kontaktallergi). Mål Att utveckla en experimentell strategi för bedömning av betydelsen av kortvarig, upprepad hudexponering för nickel i konsumentprodukter som används dagligen. Metoder Det experimentella tillvägagångssättet innefattar dels en undersökning av vardaglig nickelexponering med hjälp av DMG-test (dimetylglyoxim-test) för en direkt, kvalitativ detektion av nickel, dels mätningar av nickel på huden från korta kontakter med relevanta nickelinnehållande material. Olika typer av kontaktmönster studeras och huddoserna fås med en modifierad hudprovtagningsmetod. Strategin innefattar även mätningar av nickelfrisättning i artificiells vett, men dessa utfördes inte inom ramen för examensarbetet. Resultat I tre olika hem var 28 % av de föremål som DMG-testats, positiva för nickel. Den kemiska sammansättningen hos dessa var mestadels kombinationer av Ni/Cu/Zn, Ni/Fe/Cu eller Ni/Fe. DMG-testet användes direkt på exponerad hud och den lägsta huddos av nickel som detekterades var 0.05 µg/cm2. Förekomsten av nickel på huden kunde påvisas kvalitativt med DMG-test efter enstaka kontakter med alla de testade nickel-innehållande materialen med undantag av rostfritt stål. Slutsats Det föreslagna experimentella tillvägagångssättet kan bidra med ny och viktig kunskap om betydelsen av många kortvariga, upprepade kontakttillfällen med nickel. Denna kunskap kan användas för riskbedömning och för en mer skyddande begränsning av nickel som får avges från konsumentprodukter och varor i kortvarig kontakt med huden

Shifts in Social Development and Fertility Decline in Iran: A Cluster Analysis of Provinces, 1986-1996

Iran is experiencing the third phase of demographic transition (low levels of birth and death), following a sharp fertility decline experienced during 1986-1996 period and is still underway. Using the analytic framework of Davis and Black, we examined the impact of social development and contraceptive prevalence, respectively as the structural and proximate determinants, on rapid fertility decline in Iran. We found that the social development level of provinces had a great impact on fertility decline through contraceptive prevalence indirectly. The cluster analysis of social development indices in 1986 and 1996 revealed that 15 out of 24 provinces of Iran moved from a lower developed status in 1986 to a moderate or a higher developed status in 1996 (twelve provinces moved from a “less developed” state in 1986 to a “moderate developed” state in 1996, and three provinces moved from a “moderate developed” state in 1986 to a “developed” state in 1996). In addition, regarding to the social development levels and fertility rates, the gap between provinces decreased during 1986-1996. That is, a shift from heterogeneous to more homogeneous patterns of social development and fertility occurred across Iran’s provinces during 1986-1996

Abortion in Iran: What Do We Know?

Abstract not availabl