Stakeholder involvement and public participation: a critique of Water Framework Directive arrangements in the United Kingdom

Expert consensus regarding public consultation and participation on environmental matters favours a multilevel approach: the process is much more likely to succeed when those consulted can relate to the boundaries, scale and the local nature of the issues. The Water Framework Directive requires those with the responsibility for river basin management planning to engage with stakeholders and the general public when such plans are being developed. Examination of the arrangements for public participation in the regions of the United Kingdom shows a marked variation in the interpretation of the Directive that may leave the general public residing in England and Wales at a significant disadvantage. In both Scotland and Northern Ireland involvement by the general public is planned at a much more local level through groups established specifically for that purpose. Arrangements at local level in England and Wales are focused on narrower existing liaison arrangements in place before the implementation of the Directive.     

Longitudinal mixing in meandering channels: new experimental data set and verification of a predictive technique

Evaluation of longitudinal mixing processes in open channel flows is important in environmental management, requiring the quantification of mixing coefficients. Estimates of these coefficients sufficiently accurate for environmental impact assessments cannot be achieved using current theoretical or semi-empirical methods for natural channels. This inaccuracy is caused by a limited understanding and quantification of the interaction of the dominant mechanisms resulting from natural channel features, such as plan form curvature and changes in cross-sectional shape. Experimental results are presented here from studies conducted in three self-formed channels, developed by known discharges. Longitudinal mixing was investigated at various flow rates within each of the channels by monitoring the development of tracer plumes during transit through the channels. Using an optimisation procedure, coefficients required for solution of the one-dimensional advection dispersion equation (1D-ADE) were found in the range 0.02-0.2m(2)/s. The coefficients were found to vary as functions of longitudinal meander location, channel form and discharge. Predictions of these longitudinal mixing coefficients were made using a mathematical technique requiring only channel form properties and flow rate as inputs. Predicted values were typically within 20% of the measured values, although deviation of up to 50% was found for the lowest discharge in each channel. This large error is likely to have been caused by increased dead zone effects associated with channel bathymetry at low discharges that are not captured by the method. The method was shown to be capable of capturing the variation in the longitudinal mixing coefficient with longitudinal meander location, with channel form and with discharge.     

Urban history and cultural resources in urban regeneration: a case of creative waterfront renewal

In recent decades, the role of culture and history has often become a driving factor in the process of urban regeneration. The focus on culture and history as factors in regional transformation has been particularly extensive in response not only to competitiveness among cities but also to sustainability requirements in the cultural sector. In the same perspective of this approach, culture in its broadest sense assumes a decisive role in constructing a system of interventions where employment and social and sustainable development become the product of the integration of places, people, economies and traditions. Creative cities are currently working on how to improve the interaction between regeneration building, economic development and social renewal in order to achieve more comprehensive development of the city. Existing creative cities may be seen to revolve around the design, promotion and activation of urban areas established due to their particular local characteristics. Such areas become creative clusters as a result of economic and structural innovations, related to the realization of innovator projects achieved with the help of local development strategies based on the economies of excellence, culture and territorial quality. Starting from such premises, this article aims to show the main factors which condition creativity in cities – such as new policies, participation, history, place identity, cultural resources and sustainability – and an emblematic case study of creative regeneration. This concerns the HafenCity district in Hamburg, where the history has assumed an important role in re-constructing the maritime identity and for many choices of urban nature.     

The affordability of “affordable” housing in England: conditionality and exclusion in a context of welfare reform

Abstract

Contemporary debates around affordability have largely focused on homeownership and private renting. This article considers the affordable social rented sector in England, in which reforms to social welfare assistance, reduced security of tenure, and a shift towards mid-market rents, are changing access to ‘affordable’ housing for those on the lowest incomes. Drawing on in-depth interviews with housing associations and stakeholders, the article highlights the increasing use of affordability assessments for prospective tenants. These assessments interact with mid-market rental products to increase the potential for exclusion from affordable housing on the grounds of ability to pay. This conditionality is applied not only at the point of tenancy access, but also at renewal of fixed-term tenancies. The research highlights that the combination of welfare and housing policies, in the context of a financialising housing association sector, has the potential to erode access to social housing for those who are perceived as a financial risk, reshaping the focus of social housing.     

Testing for labour pooling as a source of agglomeration economies: Evidence for labour markets in England and Wales

This paper generates new evidence for England and Wales on the importance of labour pooling as a source of agglomeration economies. Estimates of worker and firm productivity are obtained from longitudinal worker and firm micro‐data and used to test the hypothesis that denser labour markets increase the quality of the matching between employees and employers across labour markets. Our findings provide evidence supportive of a positive relationship between the quality of the employee‐employer matching and the economic size of labour markets.     

Priority pollutants in surface waters and settleable particles within a densely urbanised area: Case study of Paris (France)

Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) requires Member States to expand their collective knowledge of priority pollutants (PPs) within receiving waters. To achieve this objective, information on the occurrence of PPs in surface waters and, more specifically, within densely urbanised areas needs to be collected. This study has therefore been designed to provide information on both PP occurrence and concentration build-up along a heavily urbanised transect of the Seine River in the Paris region (France). A large range of PPs were observed in settleable particles and, to a lesser extent, in the waters surveyed. In surface waters, a total of 18 PPs, including 15 priority hazardous substances?, were indeed detected, yet concentrations rarely exceeded the limit of quantification. In fact, only diuron?, DEHP?, fluoranthene and para-tert-octylphenol? are observed on a frequent basis, with concentrations ranging from < 0.01 to 1.0 µg l^− 1. As regards the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS), 10 substances or groups of substances were found in surface waters to exhibit concentrations above the annual average value, while only the benzo(a)pyrene? concentration exceed the maximum allowable level. As for the Canadian Sediment Quality Guidelines, settleable particles collected in the Seine River appear to be heavily contaminated since most samples contain PP levels above the guideline values (18 PPs) and, in many cases, above the probable effect levels (15 PPs), which underscores that the levels of metals, PAHs and PCBs in settleable particles constitute a potential risk to freshwater organisms.