Global warming: Greek students’ belief in the usefulness of pro-environmental actions and their intention to take action

The aim of this study was to construct novel indices to indicate, in a quantitative manner, the relationship between students’ willingness to undertake specific pro-environmental actions and their belief in the usefulness of those particular actions in the context of global warming. A questionnaire was used to determine the views of 1444 Greek secondary school students. For some actions (for example, recycling and switching off un-used electrical items) the extent to which students professed a willingness to act was greater than might be expected from the degree to which they believed the action would be useful. For other actions (for example, using public rather than private transport or buying smaller cars) the degree to which students were willing to act seemed less than might be expected, given their belief in the usefulness of the action. The data also provided an indication of the potential effectiveness of education about different actions. For some actions, such as issues about consumerism, this relationship was weak; here, even if people could be persuaded of the usefulness of the action, they might not make changes in their behaviour. For issues such as these, other inducements may be needed to persuade people to adopt pro-environmental behaviours. For other actions, such as economising on the use of electricity in the home, the relationship was stronger; in these areas environmental education could well be effective.     

“Building hope: from a shack to 3E house”—Innovative housing approach in the provision of affordable housing for Roma in Slovakia

The post-1989 objectives of the Slovak housing policy have resulted in the large-scale privatisation of state rental flats and the reduction in new rental housing. State-subsidised social rental housing programmes have been unable to meet the social demand for affordable rental dwellings. Socially marginalised groups, in particular Roma people, have been hit the most by the post-1989 changes and the lack of official social housing construction. Project Building Hope is an alternative integrated housing approach, offering Roma people better life conditions by integrating housing issues with other policies related to social empowerment. In order to implement the innovative project, a broad coalition between public and private sector actors is established, which is able to change the perception of Roma in the community and influence local policy-making processes.     

Knowledge and power in regenerating lived space in Treasure Hill,Taipei 1960s–2010: from squatter settlement to a co-living artist village

To the government, the squatter settlement on the ex-military site in Treasure Hill was an eyesore that should be removed to make way for a park. To the social activists, including academics and students, the spatial organization and the consequent social cohesion found in the settlement were valuable knowledge on use values of the evolving lived space. Mastering this knowledge and capitalizing on the wider socio-political opportunity of the new mayor's emphasis on cultural development, the social activists have succeeded in developing a co-living discourse, arguing for the merits of having artists-in-residence, welfare housing tenants and youth hostel sojourners to co-develop a sustainable, creative learning environment in the historic architecture of the squatter huts. In order to materialize this ideal, they even became the contractual party in implementing the project. The case nevertheless highlights the fragility of organic lived space. While the co-living concept allowed residents the option to stay in the area, the whole saga had led to the departure of many residents, dismantling the coherent community and ending its dynamic self-regenerating process. The experiment of mixing disadvantaged squatter residents and spontaneous artists in a fossilized physical setting has not been conducive to regenerating self-sustaining lived space.     

Property titles and the urban poor: from informality to displacement?

An extensive literature opposes the provision of property titles for the residents of informal settlements. One concern is that titling leads to commodification and the market-driven displacement of the original inhabitants. Another is that it propagates the ideology of private ownership, undermines collective solidarity and demobilises social movements. This article, based on observations from Mexico City and Guadalajara, finds little evidence of displacement but highlights the importance of location. It supports the view that formalisation undermines resistance, but argues that titling does so by meeting rather than creating the desire of the urban poor for private property and homeownership.     

Microbial polymers in the aquatic environment—III: Isolation from river,potable and underground water and analysis

Organic substances from three river waters, one tap and one underground water were concentrated by vacuum distillation and the polymers with molecular weights > 10,000 were isolated by dialysis and lyophilization. The COD of the lyophilisates amounted to 19.8, 28.9 and 23.9% of the total COD in river waters, and to 13.9 and 13.1% of the total COD in tap and underground water, respectively. All isolated polymers contained sugars, amino sugars and amino acids, which indicates their microbial origin. The sum of these compounds amounted to 5.6, 6.8, and 9.0% of all organic substances present in river waters, and to 1.9 and 0.8% of those present in tap and underground water, respectively. It is concluded that the microbial polymers are ubiquitous and form part of the organic background of the aquatic environment.     

Mass housing and urbanization: on the road to modernization in Santiago,Chile, 1930–60

The creation of the Caja de la Habitación Popular [Popular Housing Fund] in 1936 was largely a quest for the design of a model home and a modern city for Chile, a country emerging from colonialism. The Caja operated for twenty‐six years until 1952, building 43 310 houses during three different presidential administrations. It soon became the major way to reflect the country’s development, modernize society, bolster the economy, support national industry and signal what role housing programmes would play in public policy for the rest of the twentieth century. While previous administrations were motivated primarily by partisan politics, the new era of public administration was based upon an objective planning system. This paper focuses on the Caja’s affordable housing struggle and how it shaped large portions of Santiago between the 1930s and 1960s. It also explores the transformation in public housing programmes and agencies from their amateur beginnings to their later professionalized approach. It examines a number of the public and private housing schemes built during different political regimes in Santiago’s history, the planners and architects making persistent efforts to modernize and develop the city. These projects explored both the potentialities and limitations of urban design in housing and made a profound impact on housing design in Chile, as well as on the morphology of its cities.     

The making and remaking of Hackney Wick, 1870–2014: from urban edgeland to Olympic fringe†

This paper is concerned with issues of urban change in areas of London that have become the focus of regeneration strategies predicated on accommodating growth and development within existing city boundaries. Its focus is in the Lower Lea Valley in East London, which developed in the nineteenth century in the context of its peripheral location with respect to central London and which continues to lie at the seam between urban authorities. Today, this whole area is subject to regeneration plans based on addressing the physical and social manifestations of this transforming peripherality – including environmental impacts of industrialization, post-industrial piecemeal development, spatial disconnection, and long-standing patterns of social deprivation – by creating a framework geared towards attracting new investment, population and employment and, in the process, addressing the impediments to change that are seen to have been posed by fractured local policy. Taking one small part of this larger area, Hackney Wick, which is beside the 2012 London Olympic site in the London Borough of Hackney, the paper turns to planning history to explore its development from the nineteenth century in relation to urban boundaries. It uses this exploration as the basis for reflecting on the significance of contemporary boundary adjustments and plans predicated on facilitating the creation of local centrality for the remaking of an urban ‘edgeland’.     

Spatial Assimilation in Denmark? Why do Immigrants Move to and from Multi-ethnic Neighbourhoods?

In most European countries ethnic minorities have had a tendency to settle in certain parts of cities—and often in social housing—together with other immigrants in so-called multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. An explanation for this could be low income combined with lack of knowledge of the housing market and discrimination, which limits the housing possibilities for ethnic minorities. Another explanation could be that for different reasons immigrants choose to settle in so-called ethnic enclaves where they can find an ethnic social network, which can support them in their new country. In traditional research literature about immigration it has been shown that for many immigrants living in enclaves has been a temporary situation. The ‘spatial assimilation theory’ says that this situation ends when the family has become more integrated in the new society and then moves to another part of the city. This paper provides evidence to support both explanations of why ethnic minorities move to and from multi-ethnic neighbourhoods.     

Environmental and individual exposure to secondhand aerosol of electronic cigarettes in confined spaces: Results from the TackSHS Project†

Secondhand electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) aerosol (SHA) might impair indoor air quality and expose bystanders. This study aims to investigate exposure to SHA in controlled conditions of enclosed settings simulating real-world scenario. An experiment was performed in a car and in a room, in which SHA was generated during a 30-minute ad libitum use of an e-cigarette. The experiment was replicated on five consecutive days in each setting. We measured PM_2.5, airborne nicotine concentrations, and biomarkers of exposure to SHA, such as nicotine metabolites, tobacco-specific nitrosamines, propylene glycol, and glycerol in bystanders’ saliva samples before, during, and after the exposure period. Self-reported health symptoms related to exposure to SHA were also recorded. The results showed that the highest median PM_2.5 concentration was recorded during the exposure period, being 21 µg/m³ in the room setting and 16 µg/m³ in the car setting—about twofold increase compared to the baseline. Most concentrations of the airborne nicotine and all biomarkers were below the limit of quantification in both settings. Bystanders in both settings experienced some short-term irritation symptoms, expressed as dry throat, nose, eyes, and phlegm. In conclusion, short-term use of an e-cigarette in confined spaces increased indoor PM_2.5 level and caused some irritation symptoms in bystanders.     

Housing Affordability in Singapore: Can We Move from Public to Private Housing?

With 84 per cent of the Singapore resident population housed in public housing, the ultimate dream for many is to move into private housing, which is generally considered to offer better quality and more exclusive living. This article is concerned with the enabling factors of affordability in housing mobility. It examines the Singapore public housing homeowners' affordability of private housing, suggesting a measure of that affordability. The survey findings indicate that only a small percentage of public homeowners can afford to move to median-priced private apartments. The number is even smaller for the relatively more expensive landed housing with own garden. On a theoretical level, the study demonstrates that the use of multiple methods to measure housing affordability is beneficial as more affordability determinants are included in the measurement.     

Developing creative quarters in cities: policy lessons from ‘Art and Design City’ Arabianranta,Helsinki

Many cities invest in creative quarters, cultural clusters or design cities to support their creative industries. The development of such areas is far from easy, and success stories coexist with failures. This article reviews the case of Arabianranta in Helsinki, in order to gain insight into its critical success factors that, when properly contextualised, may help other cities to develop such locations. Although an important part of its growth and development, as such, has to do with well-established art and design dynamics in Helsinki, deliberate policies attuned to keep a thematic focus and functional mix in the district have been pivotal.     

Tissue, age, and sex distribution of thallium in shrews from Doñana, a protected area in SW Spain

In 1998, the protected area of Do?ana, an important natural region in SW Europe, was affected with great amount of acidic waters and sludge from a pyrite mine loaded with toxic metals such as thallium (Tl). Since this ecological catastrophe, several studies have addressed the effects of this pollution on the flora and fauna in this protected area. However, in contrast to other non-essential metals, scarce information on Tl was available after this disaster, especially in terrestrial environments. This study reported a 3- and 10-fold increase in Tl in liver and kidneys, respectively, of the greater white-toothed shrew, Crocidura russula, in the polluted site in comparison with reference animals. Kidneys showed the highest concentrations of this metal in the polluted site, whereas both organs analysed have similar concentrations in the reference site. Although no significant age-dependent variation was found, adults had higher concentrations than juveniles. Moreover, females showed higher concentrations than males. These results demonstrate the high entrance and transfer of Tl in terrestrial food-chains. To the best of my knowledge, these data constitute the first measurements of Tl in mammals from the protected area of Do?ana and are among the few available for insectivorous mammals.     

The Mega-Cities in China: Development, Problems and Prospect

The existence of large and very large cities is a worldwide phenomenon. and has beena subject of much research and concern, The potentiai difficulty in tackling the issue isnow well understood. The number of large and very large cities is the greatest in China: there aretwenty-eight cities of 50,000 to one million population, and thirty of over one million, thelatter being regarded as meg-citics. There are nine of over two million population,amongst which Beijing has 10.4 million(1990)and Shanghai has 12.8 million(1990).Planning and research of the mega-cities tend to be locally specific and what is lackingseems to be an overview of the common and general issues in their development.     

Digging in the megaproject's graveyard: Why do megaprojects die,and how to check their health?

The pressure to complete Infrastructure Megaprojects (IMs) is enormous; once started, IMs are commonly considered too costly to be stopped. Still, despite this widespread belief, several IMs are terminated during delivery/construction. Notwithstanding its empirical and theoretical relevance, few studies investigate IMs termination during delivery/construction. This paper aims to develop further the “reverse escalation of commitment” theory which sense-makes the termination of IMs. We take a critical confrontation of the existing literature addressing two questions: (1) Why are IMs terminated during delivery/construction? and (2) How does the project termination process occur in IMs? By analysing 30 unfinished IMs, we identified the six determinants for IMs termination, contributing to the development of reverse-escalation of commitment theory by providing a processual perspective of the four most common patterns leading to IMs termination. Finally, we provide a checklist for identifying key elements leading to IMs termination.     

Evolution model of δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O in dissolved sulfate in volcanic fan aquifers from recharge to coastal zone and through the Jakarta urban area, Indonesia

The sources of sulfate in an aquifer system, and its formation/degradation via biogeochemical reactions, were investigated by determining sulfate isotope ratios (δ³⁴S_SO4 and δ¹⁸O_SO4) in dissolved sulfate in groundwater from the Jakarta Basin. The groundwater flow paths, water ages, and geochemical features are well known from previous studies, providing a framework for the groundwater chemical and isotopic data, which is supplemented with data for spring water, river water, hot spring water, seawater, detergents, and fertilizers within the basin. The sulfate isotope composition of groundwater samples varied widely from − 2.9‰ to + 33.4‰ for δ³⁴S_SO4 and + 4.9‰ to + 17.8‰ for δ¹⁸O_SO4 and changed systematically along its flow direction from the mountains north to the coastal area. The groundwater samples were classified into three groups showing (1) relatively low and narrow δ³⁴S_SO4 (+ 2.3‰ to + 7.6‰) with low and varied δ¹⁸O_SO4 (+ 4.9‰ to + 12.9‰) compositions, (2) high and varied δ³⁴S_SO4 (+ 10.2‰ to + 33.4‰) with high δ¹⁸O_SO4 (+ 12.4‰ to + 17.3‰) compositions, and (3) low δ³⁴S_SO4 (<+6.1‰) with high δ¹⁸O_SO4 (up to + 17.8‰) compositions. These three types of groundwater were observed in the terrestrial unconfined aquifer, the coastal unconfined and confined aquifers, and the terrestrial confined aquifer, respectively. A combination of field measurements, concentrations, and previously determined δ¹⁵N_NO3 data, showed that the observed isotopic heterogeneity was mainly the result of contributions of pollutants from domestic sewage in the rural area, mixing of seawater sulfate that had experienced previous bacterial sulfate reduction in the coastal area, and isotopic fractionation during the formation of sulfate through bacterial disproportionation of elemental sulfur. Our results clearly support the hypothesis that human impacts are important factors in understanding the sulfur cycle in present-day subsurface environments. A general model of sulfate isotopic evolution along with groundwater flow has rarely been proposed, due to the complicated hydrogeological research setting that causes varied isotope ratios, although its understanding has recently received great attention. This pioneer study on a simple volcanic fan aquifer system with a well-understood groundwater flow mechanism provides a useful model for future studies.