tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/san-francisco-13365/articlesSan Francisco – The Conversation2024-03-05T16:34:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2245632024-03-05T16:34:19Z2024-03-05T16:34:19ZEarly Hollywood was financed by Italian immigrants – as our new documentary shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578288/original/file-20240227-16-oa1sag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C4%2C2862%2C1612&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A. P. Giannini photographed in March 1927, and the Hollywood sign.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M._A._P._Giannini,_président_de_la_Banque_d%27Italie.jpg">Agence Rol. Agence photographique/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What do Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney and Frank Capra have in common? The same Italian banker.</p>
<p>Early Hollywood movies have been widely studied and investigated. But surprisingly little is known about their financing, and how the contributions of low-income immigrants helped shape the Hollywood film industry – especially Italians.</p>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/df00972512508ffd6e0cd72cb6826337/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1819447">4 million people</a> from disadvantaged backgrounds had arrived in the US via Ellis Island by 1920. They have <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/urban-history/article/abs/black-hands-and-white-hearts-italian-immigrants-as-urban-racial-types-in-early-american-film-culture/895A19920CDD8E55120426314ACFC5C9">often been portrayed</a> in film as delinquents of New York’s Lower East Side. This stereotypical character assigned to Italians persisted for decades, and was revived by the popularity of <a href="https://books.google.it/books?hl=it&lr=&id=2482tWkpfpQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA19&dq=mafia+movies+italians+in+america&ots=QgNWfZMFT1&sig=zA9LZ9WOs8DMg3KG-p6TWuhlwSM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mafia%20movies%20italians%20in%20america&f=false">mafia movies</a> and TV shows such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JPFT.32.2.49-73?casa_token=xkSBo6cXC4sAAAAA:vt_Va3IVhP9pvawmG8e08i3yRlQtleZzSf7ARzYoY3y9wu_9ma1BIk4XKjMDM0mxpO8uq4BmpNc">The Sopranos</a>.</p>
<p>These portrayals have progressively influenced <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/467405?saml_data=eyJzYW1sVG9rZW4iOiJmNTc4OWJiMi1kMGEzLTQ0ZjQtODAzNy02ZmZkMWY5NGMyZjYiLCJlbWFpbCI6InpvcHBlbGNAd21pbi5hYy51ayIsImluc3RpdHV0aW9uSWRzIjpbIjhhYzIyMzA2LTAzMjMtNGE0OS1hZTFlLTUwNzE1YjVmMjY4YSJdfQ">public perceptions and attitudes</a> toward Italian immigrants and their descendants. But in reality, early Italian immigrants were central to the establishment and growth of the American economy. One visionary financier, whose name is not (yet) as well known as it should be (and that our <a href="https://www.daitona.it/projects/feature/a-p-giannini-bank-to-the-future/">upcoming documentary research</a> aims to spotlight) saw an opportunity to change the narrative.</p>
<h2>AP Giannini</h2>
<p>Amadeo Peter Giannini (1870-1949), commonly known as AP, was a popular figure in San Francisco. He was the son of Italian immigrants and the founder of the Bank of Italy, which he progressively grew into the Bank of America. Through this institution, Giannini contributed to the birth of projects such as the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldengate-gianini/">Golden Gate Bridge</a> (1937), the 1948 <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/center/mm/eng/mm_dr_03.htm#:%7E:text=In%20the%20end%2C%20a%20total,exceeded%2C%20their%20prewar%20production%20levels/">Marshall Plan</a> (in which the US provided western European countries with economic aid following the second world war). He was also an important player in the birth of Hollywood.</p>
<p>Sometimes known as the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_P_Giannini.html?id=agBGtAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">“people’s banker”</a> or the <a href="https://www.newacademia.com/books/the-gentleman-banker-amadeo-peter-giannini-a-biographical-novel/">“gentleman banker”</a>, Giannini started out working in agriculture through his small family business. Having inherited some shares from his father-in-law in a small bank he was able to see that the system was constructed by and for the wealthy. </p>
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<img alt="A US national bank note issued by the Bank of Italy in 1927." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578300/original/file-20240227-20-bw4usc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">US national bank note issued by the Bank of Italy in 1927.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_$5_National_Bank_Note_from_Bank_of_Italy_NT%26SA,_San_Francisco.jpg">The Bureau of Engraving and Printing</a></span>
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<p>Giannini believed that immigrants chasing the American dream, like his own father and mother from Liguria, could be an important resource for the US. He believed that ethical banking would allow general social mobility, and with it the opportunity to finance young industries – such as cinema.</p>
<p>Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in 1904 as a small bank in San Francisco. There, minorities who were traditionally excluded from any form of financing, such as Italian, Chinese, Irish, Mexican and Portuguese people, could deposit their savings – no matter how modest. The bank was more than a place where to put your salary. It was an entry way into American institutions enabling such migrants to borrow money ethically, often on a handshake, and grow. </p>
<p>Not only did these deposits allow the migrant community to settle and flourish, but it meant that employment could be created by investing in immigrant businesses.</p>
<h2>Changing the game</h2>
<p>The most promising of these businesses was the movie studio system. The Bank of Italy began to lend money to young filmmakers and producers in Hollywood. Many of these filmmakers didn’t qualify for business loans, but as Giannini believed in building not only an industry, but a community, the bank would extend personal loans. </p>
<p>Producer Sol Lesser, best known for his Tarzan movies, is a case in point. While still a minor, he received a private loan undersigned by Giannini himself to buy seats for his first Nickelodeon movie theatre. This was the beginning of his path towards becoming an influential producer.</p>
<p>Giannini’s little bank figured out the lending system that has since become the industry standard. As Warren Sherk of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences explains in our upcoming documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd-2KOQ6Mqg">AP Giannini: Bank to the future</a>, banks initially used film negatives as collateral, believing they held value since they could be used to make sellable prints and therefore allow them to recover their investment were the producers unable to fulfil the loan payments. But this approach prevented filmmakers from accessing, printing and distributing their own films. </p>
<p>As a solution, Giannini instead came up with a new protocol for film loans where the bank would secure the rights and distribution income of two films that had already been produced as security for the loan of the film financed by the bank. He also began what is now known as “attachment” – the practice of having a star attached to a film in order to secure ticket sales</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vd-2KOQ6Mqg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for our documentary, AP Giannini - Bank To The Future.</span></figcaption>
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<p>With this new financing model, the bank’s risk was minimised, the filmmakers were able to meet the conditions and the Hollywood industry thrived. Classics such as The Tramp (1915), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Gone With the Wind (1939) were financed through Giannini. Filmmakers including Charlie Chaplin, Frank Capra, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock, and organisations such as United Artists and even the Academy itself were backed by Giannini’s revolutionary vision.</p>
<p>The transparency of Giannini’s bank was central to his success and saved it during some of the most challenging financial times of the 20th century. Its stability was nourished by the constant influx of immigrant money, deposited by those yearning to become respected American citizens with a bank account, a privilege that was extended to women in 1920 when Bank of Italy opened the first women’s department in the country. </p>
<p>So much so that, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd-2KOQ6Mqg">as Sherk explains</a>, it was immigrants’ nickels and dimes, deposited in Bank of Italy and Bank of America, that funded the early Hollywood film industry. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How the son of Italian immigrants created the Bank of America, and funded early Hollywood in the process.Valentina Signorelli, Associate Professor in Film and TV, University of GreenwichCecilia Zoppelletto, Visiting lecturer in film studies, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201782024-01-03T17:41:19Z2024-01-03T17:41:19ZDriverless cars: stopping dead seems to be a default setting when they encounter a problem — it can cause chaos on roads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567263/original/file-20231222-23-ff5xnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3822%2C2155&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/selfdriving-3d-car-concept-person-steps-2198425187">Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While self-driving vehicles are being deployed in numerous cities globally, persistent controversies continue to challenge their deployment. </p>
<p>Recently, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-67693935">Tesla recalled more than two million cars</a> after the US regulator found problems with its driver assistance system. Tesla did not agree with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) analysis, but agreed to add new features.</p>
<p>Tesla’s autopilot system is not fully autonomous, since a human driver has to be present at all times. But autonomous, self-driving cars have already been deployed as driverless taxis, or “robotaxis”, in several US cities, including San Francisco and Phoenix.</p>
<p>Cruise, the robotaxi company owned by General Motors, recently had its <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/cruise-robotaxi-self-driving-permit-revoked-california/">operational license in California suspended</a> after just two months of fare-charging operations. The company <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/gms-cruise-halts-self-driving-operations-regulator-safety-fears/">subsequently halted operations</a> across the US and their CEO soon departed. </p>
<p>This followed several high-profile incidents. In October, a Cruise vehicle <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gm-recall-cruise-driverless-vehicles-one-dragged-pedestrian/">dragged a pedestrian</a> to the side of the street after they were hit by another car. As the company’s website explained: “The AV detected a collision, bringing the vehicle to a stop; then attempted to pull over to avoid causing further road safety issues, pulling the individual forward approximately 20 feet.” </p>
<p>But there have also been <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-06-22/san-francisco-robotaxis-interfere-with-firetrucks-los-angeles-is-next">several reported cases</a> of self-driving cars halting in the road, including in cases where emergency vehicles were nearby.</p>
<h2>The halting problem</h2>
<p>These incidents highlight a tendency by self-driving cars to stop in the middle of the road as soon as they encounter perceived problems. As human motorists will know, is not always safe to do so and can cause even bigger problems on the road. </p>
<p>This behaviour by the car’s software goes to the heart of a deeper challenge: how can self-driving cars be designed so that their understanding of driving and behaviour on the road is as good as a humans?</p>
<p>In <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3544548.3581045">our</a> <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3567555">research</a> we brought together our experiences designing self-driving cars at Nissan, with a new approach that uses video to understand driving behaviour. We used video recordings of self-driving cars to understand the mistakes these vehicles make on the road. </p>
<p>As the incidents mentioned previously show, the perception that a self-driving vehicle has of the road is not necessarily the same as a human’s. A self-driving car constructs a simplified picture of the world from sensor data that ignores an enormous amount of detail from the real – social – world. Autonomous driving systems identify the world <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.02711.pdf">through abstract categories</a>, such as cars, bicyclists, pedestrians, trucks and so on. </p>
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<img alt="Cruise driverless car in San Francisco." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567262/original/file-20231222-21-fb8byu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Cruise has been operating a self-driving taxi service in San Francisco.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/san-francisco-ca-usa-october-20-2380046893">Iv-olga / Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Every human-shaped blob on the video stream is considered a pedestrian, lacking the differences that human drivers may rely on, such as whether a person is marching in a demonstration, or running after a bus. Our human sight is trained from childhood on and we count on others to see things the same way as we perceive them.</p>
<p>Consider the case of the pedestrian that was dragged along by the robotaxi. In the event that you may hit someone, you may not be able to directly see the person who your car has just hit, but you know that they have not just disappeared. Our sense of object persistence would lead us to stop and check if that person needs medical attention. </p>
<p>Such situations are <a href="https://qz.com/1027139/police-sirens-wind-patterns-and-unknown-unknowns-are-keeping-cars-from-being-fully-autonomous">known in the software industry as “edge cases”</a>: a relatively rare case that is not anticipated by developers. </p>
<p>A fundamental assumption underpinning self-driving cars is that the number of unusual situations is finite. But there are good reasons to think that the real world is not at all finite and that there will always be entirely new, never-before-seen edge cases. </p>
<h2>Nuanced behaviour</h2>
<p>When humans encounter a totally new situation, we use judgement about what to do. We do not just execute the action associated with the “most similar” situation in our memories.</p>
<p>Self-driving cars lack this judgement, and so can either make a guess, or resort to a supposedly neutral or safe solution: stopping. In our video recordings of self-driving cars, their most common behaviour in an unusual situation is to simply halt on the road.</p>
<p>However, stopping in the road might not necessarily be the safest choice, especially if it involves stopping in front of a fire truck. This not only blocks traffic, but it causes a hazard in itself. Our videos contain examples of this “halting” in the most banal of situations – such as a four way stop where a driver is slow in entering the junction, or where a traffic cone has been slightly misplaced. </p>
<p>For human drivers, we can solve such misunderstandings with gestures, the use of the horn, or perhaps even just a glance in a particular direction. Yet driverless cars can do none of these things. Indeed, their continual misunderstandings of human intent mean that basic problems actually arise much more commonly. </p>
<p>While we have serious concerns over the safety of self-driving cars, we are also concerned at how self-driving cars can block and disrupt traffic by their inability to deal with many ordinary traffic situations. </p>
<p><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3567555">In a recent paper</a> we proposed some potential solutions for designing the motion of self-driving cars so that they can be better understood by other road users. We discussed five basic movement elements: gaps, speed, position, indicating and stopping. </p>
<p>Together, these elements can be combined to make and accept offers with other road users, show urgency, make requests and display preferences.</p>
<p>Whatever the future possibilities of self-driving cars, researchers need to resolve the problems before they are deployed more widely and the same ‘halting’ issues are replicated worldwide.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barry Brown receives funding from Wallenberg Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanities and Social Science (WASP–HS). This article was co-authored with Erik Vinkhuyzen, visiting researcher at King's College London.</span></em></p>Self-driving cars still perceive what’s going on very differently to how humans do.Barry Brown, Professor of Human Computer Interaction, Stockholm UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2090202023-07-10T12:32:42Z2023-07-10T12:32:42ZHow small wealthy suburbs contribute to regional housing problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535644/original/file-20230704-21-62j51z.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=962%2C138%2C1310%2C888&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The line between Atherton, Calif., (right) and its neighbor is obvious in property sizes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earth.google.com/">Google Earth</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The odd headlines about little towns in the San Francisco Bay Area just keep coming.</p>
<p>First Woodside, a tiny suburb where several Silicon Valley CEOs have lived, tried to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/us/woodside-mountain-lion-housing.html">declare itself a mountain lion habitat</a> to evade a new California law that enabled owners of single-family homes to subdivide their lots to create additional housing.</p>
<p>Then wealthy Atherton, with a population of 7,000 and a <a href="https://therealdeal.com/sanfrancisco/2023/05/01/development-fight-heats-up-in-countrys-richest-city/">median home sale price</a> of US$7.5 million, tried to update its state-mandated housing plan. Until very recently, <a href="https://belonging.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/atherton_zoning_map_0.png">100% of Atherton’s residentially zoned land</a> allowed only single-family houses on large lots. When the City Council considered rezoning a handful of properties to allow townhouses, strenuous objections poured in from such notable local residents as basketball star <a href="https://padailypost.com/2023/02/05/atherton-rejects-plea-of-the-currys-will-keep-controversial-development-in-housing-plan/">Steph Curry</a> and billionaire venture capitalist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/technology/nimby-housing-silicon-valley-atherton.html">Marc Andreessen</a>. </p>
<p>A council member <a href="https://padailypost.com/2023/04/24/mayor-athertons-specialness-is-being-overlooked-in-quest-to-find-more-housing/">argued</a> that the town should “express and explain the specialness of Atherton … to succeed in reducing [the state’s] expectations of us.”</p>
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<img alt="A garden walk with parallel gravel pathways on either side of carefully manicured flower beds and old trees." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536376/original/file-20230707-19-711ph7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A formal garden and estate operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation reflects the aesthetic of Woodside, Calif.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/formal-garden-with-flowers-set-among-hedges-designed-to-news-photo/803294050?adppopup=true">Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>On first glance, these might seem like extreme cases of privilege, oddities from quirky California. But as <a href="https://tupress.temple.edu/books/regional-governance-and-the-politics-of-housing-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area">our new book</a> on the politics of housing shows, the ability of small suburban municipalities to limit multifamily housing is more the rule than the exception.</p>
<h2>Small governments’ big role in limiting housing</h2>
<p>Adding new housing is one of the few ways to limit the escalation of <a href="https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/housing/2022/10/07/new-york-city-housing-supply-demand">rents</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/upshot/home-prices-surging.html">home prices</a> in high-cost metros like <a href="https://www.spur.org/publications/research/2021-04-19/what-it-will-really-take-create-affordable-bay-area">San Francisco</a>, <a href="https://cbcny.org/research/strategies-boost-housing-production-new-york-city-metropolitan-area">New York</a> and <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/meeting-washington-regions-future-housing-needs">Washington</a>, D.C. Even new “luxury” apartments or condos can <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/apartment-rents-fall-as-crush-of-new-supply-hits-market-2403c6ea?page=1">reduce competition</a> for older units, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/joeg/article-abstract/22/6/1309/6362685">taking some pressure off rents</a> for <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/rest/article-abstract/105/2/359/100977/Local-Effects-of-Large-New-Apartment-Buildings-in">people with lower incomes</a>.</p>
<p>However, locating new apartments and townhomes near jobs can be difficult. It means building them in existing communities, where small local governments often constrain housing development.</p>
<p>To study the impact small governments’ opposition is having on housing, we used census tract data from California’s metro areas to examine multifamily housing development between the Census Bureau’s 2008-2012 American Community Survey and its 2014-2018 survey, a time when the housing market was rapidly recovering from the Great Recession.</p>
<p>Over that span, according to our statistical estimates, a typical neighborhood-size <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/about/glossary.html#par_textimage_13">census tract</a> located within a city of 100,000 residents saw the development of 46 more new multifamily units than an otherwise very similar census tract located within a smaller city of 30,000 residents. In other words, smaller cities, which typically are suburban in nature, added far fewer multifamily units.</p>
<p>An extra 46 new apartments might sound like a small number, but it can make a real difference at the neighborhood level. Nearly half the census tracts in our sample – each with around 1,200 to 8,000 residents – gained five or fewer multifamily units.</p>
<h2>Cities across the US face similar struggles</h2>
<p>This pattern of slower rates of multifamily housing development in smaller jurisdictions is hardly unique to the Bay Area.</p>
<p>When we examined census data from metro areas nationwide, we <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087420988598">similarly found</a> that neighborhoods in small jurisdictions gained fewer multifamily units. We took into account a lengthy list of economic, geographic and demographic factors that could influence neighborhood growth rates, as well as the size of the jurisdiction.</p>
<p>Most big American cities in high-cost regions – think Boston, Denver and Los Angeles – are surrounded by a sea of mostly small independent suburbs.</p>
<p>In many of these communities, residents actively participate in local politics to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/neighborhood-defenders/0677F4F75667B490CBC7A98396DD527A#fndtn-information">fight increases in density and multifamily housing</a>. As proposals for new housing are deflected away from these small communities, housing either doesn’t get built, thus raising rents by limiting residential supply, or it gets pushed to far-flung exurbs that are distant from most jobs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map shows little change near the city and more housing added over the mountains to the east and down a valley to the south of San Jose and San Francisco." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535405/original/file-20230703-259537-cg8fma.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows the change in housing units in the San Francisco Bay Area between the survey’s 2012 and 2018 five-year estimates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.census.gov/data/developers/data-sets/acs-5year.html">Nicholas Marantz</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the San Francisco Bay Area, the communities with relatively high increases in housing in our study tended to be at the urban fringe, while many close-in suburbs had stagnant housing development or even a decline in units.</p>
<h2>Inner suburbs could offer housing closer to jobs</h2>
<p>Just because a suburb is small in population does not mean that it is far off the beaten track or irrelevant to a region’s economy.</p>
<p>Atherton, for example, maintained its estate-style residential zoning for decades, smack-dab in the middle of a job-rich area. In fact, our data shows that among the Bay Area municipalities with the best geographic proximity to employment, about half are small suburbs of 30,000 or fewer residents.</p>
<p>Transportation is the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#transportation">largest single contributor to U.S. carbon emissions</a>, yet many people end up commuting long distances because housing is so limited and expensive in job-rich areas. However, many inner suburbs’ land-use plans were set decades ago in vastly different economic eras, and many now claim to be “built out” and done with adding housing.</p>
<h2>What’s standing in the way?</h2>
<p>Why does a municipality’s size matter so much for how many apartments and condos get built? In a word, politics.</p>
<p>Homeowners tend to be the dominant political interest in small suburbs. They may worry that larger or denser residential buildings will decrease their property values, increase traffic or strain local infrastructure. Fears about even minor projects – like the proposal for <a href="https://padailypost.com/2023/02/05/atherton-rejects-plea-of-the-currys-will-keep-controversial-development-in-housing-plan/">16 townhomes</a> near Curry’s estate in Atherton – can get magnified.</p>
<p>To be sure, many homeowners in big cities have similar worries. But in a large, diverse city, anti-growth voices often are counterbalanced by pro-housing interests active in city politics, such as large employers, developers, construction unions or affordable-housing nonprofits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man guides a sign reading " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536377/original/file-20230708-21-xumjge.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Urban redevelopment efforts can create more housing through projects such as turning warehouses into apartment buildings like this one in Washington, D.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/brian-dwyer-sign-technician-guides-an-ivy-city-sign-being-news-photo/496784922">Ricky Carioti/ The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And though a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/business/economy/housing-crisis-conor-dougherty-golden-gates.html">growing set of YIMBY activists</a> – those advocating “yes in my backyard” – agitate in favor of more housing, suburban elected officials typically feel much more political heat from longtime homeowners than from YIMBY activists.</p>
<h2>How to unlock more housing where it’s needed</h2>
<p>State legislators can unlock the potential for new housing by requiring local governments to relax single-family-only zoning and similar land-use restrictions. <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2023/03/22/colorado-local-housing-preempetion-bill/">Colorado’s governor proposed</a> doing that in 2023, and <a href="https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/research-and-policy/california-housing-laws/">California has passed similar laws</a>. However, that can be politically risky. Local control of land use is an article of faith in many states.</p>
<p>New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s effort to enact land-use reforms that would push localities to rezone for more housing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/nyregion/nyc-suburbs-affordable-housing.html">hit a dead end in that state’s Legislature</a> in 2023. In California, meanwhile, lawsuits by local governments and neighbors of proposed projects proliferate. And some cities – like Woodside, with its mountain lion sanctuary – attempt to creatively dodge state rules.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a winter jacket, ball cap and face mask walks at night by tents in San Jose used by people who have no solid housing options." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536378/original/file-20230708-25-76fnql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A survey of California’s homeless population published in June 2023 by the University of California San Francisco found the median monthly household income in the six months before a person became homeless was $960. The average one-bedroom rent in the Bay Area is more than twice that.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mayor-sam-liccardo-takes-part-in-the-2022-point-in-time-news-photo/1238901446?adppopup=true">Aric Crabb/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>States could also create incentives for local governments to approve more housing. Certain types of state-collected revenues, such as sales taxes or gasoline taxes, could be distributed to local communities based on each community’s count of bedrooms, with additional credit given for affordable units. This type of incentive might lead local officials to view new apartments as improving their community’s bottom line.</p>
<p>Another approach is for state governments to create metro-level mechanisms designed to represent the needs of housing consumers throughout the region.</p>
<p>States could set up regionwide housing appeals boards authorized to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2020.1712612">reconsider and potentially overturn anti-housing decisions</a> by cities and towns. Oregon took a more ambitious approach in its largest urban region, Portland. Voters created and then strengthened an elective <a href="https://www.oregonmetro.gov/regional-leadership/what-metro">metro government</a> to not just plan but actually carry out key regional land-use priorities. </p>
<p>With that big-picture view and authority, Portland can put more housing in locations most accessible to jobs and transit while protecting sensitive countryside in outlying areas from vehicle-dependent sprawl. In other words, it can put housing where it’s needed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul G. Lewis received funding for the research project discussed in this article from the Emmett Shear Charitable Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas J. Marantz received funding for the research project discussed in this article from the Emmett Shear Charitable Trust.</span></em></p>Small suburbs have a track record of blocking new housing. Two urban policy experts explain why that’s a problem and what metro areas could do about it.Paul G. Lewis, Associate Professor of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State UniversityNicholas J. Marantz, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2010052023-06-12T12:15:45Z2023-06-12T12:15:45ZCranogwen: statue unveiled for pioneering Welsh sailor, poet and gender equality campaigner<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513127/original/file-20230302-26-9gw4z9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1162%2C683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sarah Jane Rees was also known as Cranogwen.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Wales</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>You can read this article in <a href="https://theconversation.com/cranogwen-dadorchuddio-cerflun-ir-arloeswraig-yn-llangrannog-203682">Welsh</a>.</em></p>
<p>A statue has been unveiled in the small seaside village of Llangrannog in Ceredigion, to honour a pioneer in the development of gender equality in Wales. It pays tribute to <a href="https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/cranogwen/">Cranogwen, the bardic name of Sarah Jane Rees</a> (1839-1916). </p>
<p>Sarah was a sea-captain’s daughter, who followed various careers, as a sailor, teacher, poet, lecturer, journal editor, preacher and temperance movement leader. </p>
<p>She rose to sudden fame in September 1865, when she won a National Eisteddfod prize for which the most highly-esteemed Welsh language bards of the age, <a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-THOM-WIL-1832?&query=islwyn&lang%5B%5D=en&sort=score&order=desc&rows=12&page=1#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=10&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4832868%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=587%2C587%2C1223%2C1055">Islwyn</a> and <a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-HUGH-CEI-1832#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&manifest=https%3A%2F%2Fdamsssl.llgc.org.uk%2Fiiif%2F2.0%2F4674472%2Fmanifest.json&xywh=1075%2C1485%2C3868%2C3121">Ceiriog</a>, had also competed. The audience’s shock was immense: no one had expected a woman to emerge as winner, understandably enough as most of Ceredigion’s women were still illiterate at this time, signing their marriage certificates with a cross. </p>
<p>But well before 1865 her life had already followed different paths from those expected of women in her era. Sarah was born in Dolgoy-fach, a cottage high up on the hillside above Llangrannog’s shore. As soon as she was in her teens, she was required to start contributing to the family’s income: the choice was domestic service or needlework. She was apprenticed to a needlewoman in the nearby town of Cardigan, but returned home after a few months announcing her utter distaste for that work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lady-rhondda-the-little-known-suffragette-whose-efforts-led-to-greater-equality-for-women-200767">Lady Rhondda: the little-known suffragette whose efforts led to greater equality for women</a>
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<p>Instead she persuaded her father to take her on board his two-masted ketch, the Betsy, as a crew member. So started her three year stint as a sailor, at that time an unusual occupation for a woman. But with that experience, she was enabled in 1860, at 21 years of age, to take up the schoolteacher’s post at Llangrannog, teaching young sailors as well as the local children.</p>
<p>Her triumph on the national stage changed her prospects: it made her an instant celebrity. The whole of Wales wanted to see and hear the young woman who had beaten Islwyn and Ceiriog at their own game. </p>
<p>The mid-19th century was the age of the public lecture, particularly among the <a href="https://welshchapels.wales/nonconformity/">Welsh Nonconformists</a>. If a chapel managed to secure the services of a popular lecturer, they could make a substantial profit from the ticket price, a sum often much needed to pay off chapel building debts. Cranogwen, as she became known, was persuaded, against her initial inclination because it meant giving up her hard-won teaching post, to become a public lecturer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A statue of a woman reading a book" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/531281/original/file-20230612-91400-zhacx5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The statue of Cranogwen stands in the village of Llangrannog yn Ceredigion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Molyneux Associates</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She started on her lecture tours in the winter of 1865. In packed chapels up and down the country she addressed congregations who had never previously seen a woman in the pulpit or the deacons’ pew. Between 1869 and 1871, she visited the United States and lectured to every emigrant Welsh-speaking settlement across the continent, from New York to San Francisco. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Cranogwen never published her lectures, but according to the many descriptions of them in the contemporary press, they focused on the need for all those among her audience who aspired to live fully to recognise their own abilities, to cultivate them through acquiring education, and then to put them to work for the benefit of their communities. Only thus could they hope to find true happiness and fulfilment. And this message was for girls as much as boys, for women as well as men.</p>
<p>It was a message she went on to repeat in her new role, after her return to Wales, as the first Welsh woman to become a journal editor. In each of her careers Cranogwen challenged her era’s narrow conception of gender roles which confined women to the domestic sphere. Her primary aim was always to take other women with her, “out of their caves”, as she puts it, and into the public world as writers, speakers and leaders. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1667529363154255874"}"></div></p>
<p>She considered the patriarchal system’s refusal to allow women access to professional roles a lamentable waste of female talents and abilities. As editor of <a href="https://journals.library.wales/browse/2649281/">Y Frythones</a> journal, she disseminated these ideas widely, particularly in her responses to readers’ queries in her Questions and Answers column. </p>
<p>“Gender difference”, she says, “is nothing”. She saw the gender system of her mid-Victorian era as a man-made fabrication, which had no grounding in any real difference between the two categories male/female in terms of their intellectual, cultural and professional potential. </p>
<p>Her influence was profound. <a href="https://biography.wales/article/s-EDWA-MOR-1858">Sir O. M. Edwards</a>, a leading figure in Welsh fin-de-siècle culture, said of her in 1916: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Cranogwen had a mission and a noble aim. And she succeeded. No woman in our history to date has done as much to increase the intellectual confidence, the self-respect and the usefulness of the women of Wales as Cranogwen.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is indeed fitting that a statue be raised in her honour. It is part of a wider campaign - <a href="https://monumentalwelshwomen.com">Monumental Welsh Women</a> - dedicated to marking the contribution of women to the history of Wales. The statue, by sculptor Sebastien Boyesen, stands in the village in which Cranogwen lived throughout her life, first with her parents and subsequently, after their death, with her partner Jane Thomas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Aaron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cranogwen was a trailblazer who challenged expectations of women during the Victorian era.Jane Aaron, Emeritus professor of English, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1993192023-02-24T17:19:45Z2023-02-24T17:19:45ZDriverless cars: what we’ve learned from experiments in San Francisco and Phoenix<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511448/original/file-20230221-946-rzwh9t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=199%2C175%2C3790%2C2082&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cruise, owned by General Motors, is one of the "robotaxi" companies operating in San Francisco.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/3355-19th-ave-san-francisco-ca-1576063105">Shutterstock / paulaah293</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Residents of San Francisco and Phoenix have grown used to witnessing something that, a decade ago, would have seemed magical. In some parts of these cities, at certain times, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/03/california-driverless-taxi-cars-san-francisco">cars drive by with nobody behind the wheel</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-63077437">Driverless “robotaxi” services pick up customers</a> and ferry them to their destinations with the help of cameras, sensors and software that uses artificial intelligence. Tests of fully driverless vehicles have been under way <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/11/fully-driverless-cars-are-here/">in Phoenix</a> since 2017 <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/09/gms-cruise-begins-testing-autonomous-vehicles-without-human-drivers-in-san-francisco.html">and in San Francisco</a> since 2020.</p>
<p>Excitable videos posted online show customers embracing the novelty. But new possibilities bring new questions. While these real-world experiments are limited in scope, they could help decide the future of road transport everywhere. It’s vital that lessons are learned and the results opened to scrutiny.</p>
<p>A few years ago, when hype surrounding self-driving cars was huge, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2937316">some high-profile crashes</a> brought attention to the ethics of experimenting with new technologies in public spaces. </p>
<p>US states encouraged experimentation by dropping regulatory barriers, with cities, citizens and transport policymakers having little say. After a period of testing with safety drivers, some cars are now fully driverless. </p>
<p>While the companies learn to drive safely in complex environments, San Francisco and Phoenix are learning whether the technology is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/san-francisco-looks-hit-brakes-self-driving-cars-rcna66204">creating more problems than it promises to solve</a>.</p>
<p>Cruise (owned by General Motors) is now operating 30 driverless cars at night in all but the busiest parts of San Francisco. Just before Christmas, the company said it wanted to add more cars, operate during the day, and move into the city’s busiest downtown area. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1521554237037023232"}"></div></p>
<p>But San Francisco’s <a href="https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2023/01/2023.01.25_ccsf_23.0125_cpuc_cruise_tier_2_advice_letter_protest_002.pdf">transportation authority raised objections</a>. In the last year, Cruise cars have been involved in a number of incidents that, while not directly life-threatening, were really annoying for a city trying to go about its business. </p>
<p>A Cruise car with nobody inside was <a href="https://gizmodo.com/san-francisco-cruise-self-driving-car-police-1848777469">pulled over by police officers</a>, who were unsure what to do. To the amusement of people filming, the car then pulled away from the confused cops. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lnyuIHSaso8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A Cruise driverless taxi pulls away from police in San Francisco.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cruise cars have also frustrated the city’s fire department by blocking fire trucks and driving towards hoses. In one case, <a href="https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2023/01/2023.01.25_ccsf_23.0125_cpuc_cruise_tier_2_advice_letter_protest_002.pdf">firefighters were forced to smash a car’s windscreen</a> to get it to stop. The cars have impeded local buses, blocked junctions and stopped in the middle of the road, sometimes in groups. </p>
<p>Some incidents would have counted as everyday snarl-ups if a human was behind the wheel, but the absence of anyone in the car to take responsibility has made it hard for city authorities to know what to do.</p>
<h2>The streets of San Francisco</h2>
<p>In almost all cases, we only know about incidents because of online videos or reports by local people. There are few duties on the companies to report performance or admit their foibles. </p>
<p>These incidents, and the absence of accountability, are clearly trying the patience of San Francisco’s transport planners. Rather than a free-for-all, they would like to see what they call “limited deployments with incremental expansions” so that impacts can be assessed carefully. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Waymo car" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5418%2C3634&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511446/original/file-20230221-16-cpv20g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Self-driving car company Waymo is owned by Google.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/september-27-2018-sunnyvale-ca-usa-1190049946">Shutterstock / Sundry Photography</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They would also like to keep driverless cars out of the city’s busiest downtown core – and, crucially, want to see more data-sharing. This would make the self-driving experiment more democratic, but cuts against the grain of the Silicon Valley approach to <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/04/blitzscaling">“blitzscaling”</a> – growing rapidly to establish a monopoly.</p>
<p>Self-driving car companies would argue that the more cars they have and the more complex their environments, the quicker they can learn to drive. This argument is premised on the idea that robot drivers are just like human drivers, but better. In reality, self-driving cars <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/03063127211038752">are not “autonomous vehicles”</a>, as is often claimed. </p>
<p>They rely on digital and physical infrastructures that support their operation, as well as teams of humans behind the scenes doing the data-labelling, remote operation and customer support that is needed to make them appear “driverless”. These cars work best in car-friendly areas where pedestrians and other road users behave predictably. </p>
<h2>Changing the rules</h2>
<p>Even if driverless cars avoid the errors that humans make when drunk or distracted, they make different sorts of mistakes. New modes of transport do not just add another player to the game; they change the rules. When cars arrived in cities in the early 20th century, <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262516129/fighting-traffic/">pedestrians were persuaded or bullied out of the way</a> and infrastructures were remade to suit the new technology. </p>
<p>In the 21st century, many cities were spooked by the rapid disruptions wrought by ride-hail companies such as Uber and Lyft. We must avoid sleepwalking into something similar. For self-driving cars, we need a clear sense of the trade-offs. </p>
<p>There may eventually be safety benefits. But in making life easier for self-driving cars and the few people likely to benefit, we might make life harder for everyone else. </p>
<p>Competition for roadspace in dense cities is tight. As <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90846919/self-driving-cars-would-be-a-climate-disaster">transport policy expert David Zipper has argued</a>, most cities want to see fewer car trips overall, and more shared transit and physically active travel such as walking and cycling. </p>
<p>Self-driving cars could be a problem for sustainability. The more we learn from real-world uses of the technology, the greater seems the mismatch between its purported solutions and the problems facing cities.</p>
<p>The UK is less in thrall to tech companies, which provides an opportunity for a more measured discussion. In 2022, I was part of a <a href="https://driverless-futures.com/2022/08/30/cdei-report-on-responsible-innovation-in-self-driving-vehicles/">team led by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation</a> asking what a more responsible approach to self-driving vehicle innovation would be. We advised on safety, data-sharing, transparency and ensuring that the benefits are evenly spread. </p>
<p>As self-driving cars expand to more places, the social learning that happens around them will be just as important as the machine learning that drives their computers. The experiment is taking place in public, so we must ensure that its lessons are not kept private.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Stilgoe receives funding from the ESRC, the Turing Institute and the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. He is a fellow of the Turing institute and a trustee of the Royal Institution. </span></em></p>Trials in US cities of self-driving taxis could have implications for road users around the world.Jack Stilgoe, Professor of Science and Technology Policy, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1999482023-02-15T00:01:45Z2023-02-15T00:01:45ZSen. Dianne Feinstein, a trailblazer from San Francisco’s City Hall to Capitol Hill<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510198/original/file-20230214-24-amlrgm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C4970%2C3315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has died at age 90.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2024Feinstein/1a76fb8b0d4f481ab3fbf07b58e07c82/photo?Query=Feinstein&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4433&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Democrat Dianne Feinstein, the 90-year-old senior senator from California, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4229697-dianne-feinstein-dies-at-age-90/">died on Sept. 28, 2023</a>.</p>
<p>Feinstein had an extraordinary political career that began when <a href="https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/biography">she won her first election</a> only a few months after Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. </p>
<p>Then came the day that changed Dianne Feinstein and her hometown of San Francisco forever and made her a national figure.</p>
<p>On Nov. 27, 1978, Feinstein, then the 45-year-old president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and two-time failed mayoral candidate, greeted reporters at City Hall by telling them she would not seek reelection to the Board of Supervisors, San Francisco’s equivalent to the city council. </p>
<p>This was understood to mean she was leaving politics when her term expired. The resignation of one person from the 11-member board earlier that month had given Mayor George Moscone an opportunity to put a progressive on the board, tipping the balance to 6-5 against Feinstein in her bid to retain leadership. </p>
<p>Feinstein’s plan didn’t last long. By the end of the day, she was the mayor of San Francisco, and had the dreadful responsibility of telling the city that both Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/27/670657965/40-years-after-the-assassination-of-harvey-milk-lgbt-candidates-find-success">had been assassinated</a> – by a former member of the board. </p>
<p>“It is my duty to make this announcement,” she said, looking straight into the camera, amid audible gasps and screams, adding, “The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5NikqzmwbgU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein announced the shooting deaths at City Hall.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feinstein handled this <a href="https://youtu.be/5NikqzmwbgU">tragic announcement</a> with poise – a quality that would characterize the nine years she went on to spend as San Francisco’s first female mayor and, later, as California’s first woman senator.</p>
<h2>Sen. Dianne Feinstein</h2>
<p>Even though Feinstein was a fixture in Washington, D.C., for more than three decades, San Francisco was always her home. </p>
<p>“When you become mayor because of an assassination and the horrific events that catapulted Feinstein into the mayor’s office, you will be forever linked to that city,” said Corey Busch in 2022, Moscone’s press secretary and an advisor on Feinstein’s campaign when she ran for mayor in 1979. </p>
<p>Feinstein was not from the San Francisco of <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/what-was-san-franciscos-summer-of-love/">hippies</a>, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/san-francisco-tech-industry-gentrification-documentary-378628">new tech wealth</a>, <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-0555-2.html">radical politics</a> or <a href="https://sfleatherdistrict.org">LGBTQ activism</a>. She was born to an affluent Jewish family and attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, the city’s elite Catholic girls school. Feinstein’s mother was emotionally distant, <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/9780062585080/Dianne-Feinstein-Never-See-Cry-0062585088/plp">according to her biographer Jerry Roberts</a>, but she was close with her father, a prominent doctor who encouraged her ambition.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white image of a young Feinstein in a cowboy hat standing next to an older man" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein, then Dianne Goldman, with San Francisco mayor Elmer Robinson in 1950, when she was in high school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/high-school-student-dianne-goldman-wearing-a-cowboy-hat-news-photo/169071270?adppopup=true">Underwood Archives/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feinstein won her first election to the Board of Supervisors in 1969 after serving several years on the state women’s parole board. She remained on the board until that dreadful day in November 1978.</p>
<p>As mayor, living primarily in tony Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights, Feinstein led the city through a tumultuous time of change. The period between 1978 and 1987 included Mayor Moscone’s assassination, the <a href="https://www.library.ucsf.edu/archives/aids/">horrors of a mysterious plague</a> – HIV/AIDS – <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-21-mn-20251-story.html">cutbacks in state and federal funding and a panoply of urban problems like crime</a>, traffic, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/S-F-S-HOMELESS-LEGACY-Two-decades-of-failure-2590953.php">homelessness</a> and <a href="https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=1980-1991:_RENT_CONTROL_WARS">rising rents</a>. </p>
<p>During that same period, San Francisco went from being a somewhat typical American city to becoming a major politically progressive hub. That transformation left the city deeply divided. Feinstein was able to govern it by combining social liberalism with strong support for business, development and real estate. </p>
<p>This kind of urban governance – later <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/460262/better-new-york-city-6-smart-takes-michael-bloombergs-legacy">exemplified in Michael Bloomberg’s 12-year mayorship of New York City</a> – is pretty common now. But Feinstein was one of the first politicians to embrace it, and her leadership from the center frequently angered San Franciscans who believed she <a href="https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Mayor_Dianne_Feinstein">was not doing enough about AIDS, or was too close to real estate interests, or just wasn’t sufficiently progressive</a>. </p>
<p>“Feinstein was very supportive of gay people that she knew,” Art Agnos, the mayor after Feinstein, told me, “but <a href="https://napavalleyregister.com/news/feinstein-statement-on-gay-marriage-nets-her-the-pink-brick-award/article_efeb348a-2622-53ff-8e3e-9b93c8879f6b.html">struggled to relate to LGBTQ equality as an abstract civil rights issue</a>.” </p>
<p>In lefty San Francisco, “a lot of people think that Dianne is more suited as a moderate Republican than as a Democrat,” said Busch, Feinstein’s former campaign advisor.</p>
<p>For me, as Feinstein’s teenage constituent, it was her <a href="https://www.kqed.org/arts/13845645/how-san-francisco-punk-reacted-to-harvey-milk-and-george-moscones-deaths">crackdown on the punk music scene</a> – which frequently included allowing the police to harass punks attending shows at venues like the Mabuhay Gardens, which was usually called the Mab – that bothered me. When I was 16, I climbed the flagpole in front of her stately and expensive house to amuse my friends. There’s a photo of this caper in my high school yearbook.</p>
<p>Mayor Feinstein’s generally conservative demeanor was also a target of our teenage derision - and other people’s as well. The legendary San Francisco columnist Herb Caen occasionally called her “<a href="https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&t=pubname%3A142051F45F422A02%7CSFCB%21Multiple%2BPublications&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22herb%20caen%22%20%22princess%20di%22&b=pubname&fld-nav-1=YMD_date&val-nav-1=1930%20-%201989&docref=news/0EB4F146983F9EE1">Princess Di</a>,” a reference to Feinstein’s formal, even imperious style.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white image of Feinstein speaking into several microphones, seated" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein at a press conference following the City Hall shootings, which occurred steps from her office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dianne-feinstein-president-of-the-board-of-supervisors-news-photo/517443130?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Contributor via Getty</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Feinstein’s legacy</h2>
<p>After leaving the San Francisco mayor’s office in 1987, Feinstein ran for governor of California in 1990. She lost to Republican Pete Wilson, but in 1992 won a special election to the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>As senator, Feinstein’s moderation sometimes frustrated progressives in the Democratic Party, as it had her hometown constituents. </p>
<p>She voted for the war in Iraq in 2002 and for George W. Bush’s major tax-cutting legislation in 2001. In 2020, she literally <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article246636118.html">embraced the Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham</a> of South Carolina at the conclusion of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Feinstein's back as she hugs Graham" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein hugs Republican Senator Lindsay Graham after the Amy Coney Barrett hearings, Oct. 15, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ranking-member-diane-feinstein-and-chairman-lindsey-graham-news-photo/1229091483?adppopup=true">Samuel Corum / POOL / AFP via Getty</a></span>
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<p>But Feinstein was well liked, an electoral powerhouse and a generally reliable Democratic vote on major legislation long before California took on its current political shade of deep blue. She supported the <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00396">Affordable Care Act</a>, voted against Donald Trump’s tax bill in 2017 and opposed all three of Trump’s Supreme Court nominees. She has also been a committed fighter for California’s economic interests, from <a href="https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/business/sen-dianne-feinstein-and-rep-mike-thompson-urge-trump-to-drop-tariffs-on/">winemaking</a> to <a href="https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/2/senate-passes-feinstein-bill-completing-25-year-effort-to-protect-california-desert">desert conservation</a>.</p>
<p>In her <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/california-sen-dianne-feinstein-wins-fifth-full-term">last reelection to the Senate</a>, in 2018, the 85-year-old Feinstein brushed off the kind of progressive primary challenge that felled other moderates in her party to win her fifth full term in office.</p>
<p>She had announced her intent to retire in 2024, at the end of her current term, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstein-senate-17079487.php">in the face of growing concerns</a> about whether she still had the cognitive abilities required of a U.S. senator. </p>
<p>This issue was raised not by Republicans seeking to score political points, but also by Democratic colleagues and congressional staff. Her death requires California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who <a href="https://twitter.com/gavinnewsom/status/745611838335815680">considered Feinstein a mentor</a>, to appoint her successor. </p>
<p>Feinstein was a trailblazer and one of the most successful women in American political history, but not one of its greatest senators. Feinstein was never connected to a singular important issue, as the late <a href="https://khn.org/news/kennedy-health-care-timeline/">Ted Kennedy was with health care</a>. Nor did she author any landmark legislation, as John McCain and Russ Feingold did with their namesake <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act">2002 campaign finance reform bill</a>. Her <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/08/13/750656174/the-u-s-once-had-a-ban-on-assault-weapons-why-did-it-expire">greatest legislative accomplishment remains her work on the assault weapons ban in 1994</a>.</p>
<p>During a career that lasted almost 50 years in public office, her leadership after the City Hall killings remains Feinstein’s finest moment in politics – the one that made her long career possible. For San Franciscans of a certain age, she will forever be known as the woman who stepped in at one extraordinary and tragic moment and helped us believe our city would survive.</p>
<p><em>This story is an updated version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/senator-dianne-feinstein-will-retire-in-2024-bringing-a-groundbreaking-career-to-a-close-199948">a story published</a> on Feb. 14, 2023.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lincoln Mitchell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most Americans knew the late Dianne Feinstein as a US senator. But for San Francisco voters, she will forever be remembered as the woman who stepped in at a tragic moment to lead the city.Lincoln Mitchell, Associate Adjunct Research Scholar, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881272022-08-03T18:06:22Z2022-08-03T18:06:22ZNancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit sparked international tension, but isn’t likely to shake up her popularity with Chinese American voters at home in San Francisco<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477461/original/file-20220803-14-r0xjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation leave Taipei on August 3, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-and-her-5member-congress-delegation-depart-picture-id1242283734?s=2048x2048">Taiwanese Foreign Ministry/Handout/Andalou Agency via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nancy-pelosis-visit-to-taiwan-puts-the-white-house-in-delicate-straits-of-diplomacy-with-china-188116">visit to Taipei</a>, Taiwan, prompted warnings and threats from the Chinese government, but it is unlikely to upset her Taiwanese American and Chinese American constituents in San Francisco.</em></p>
<p><em>Pelosi left Taiwan on Aug. 3, 2022, after a whirlwind 24-hour trip, during which she <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/02/world/pelosi-taiwan#pelosi-taiwan">met with lawmakers</a> and Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan. While Pelosi defended her trip <a href="https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/8222-3">by writing that</a> it shows the United States’ “commitment to democracy,” China responded with <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/03/pelosi-departs-taiwan-as-furious-china-holds-military-drills.html">military drills</a> and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220803-how-is-china-punishing-taiwan-for-the-pelosi-visit">threats of future punishment</a> for the U.S. and Taiwan.</em></p>
<p><em>Taiwan, an island off the coast of China, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59900139">considers itself</a> an independent country – while China maintains that it is a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-is-part-china-beijing-tells-us-2022-04-20/">breakaway province</a> it wants to again officially oversee.</em></p>
<p><em>Some experts called Pelosi’s trip reckless, threatening U.S.-China relations – but she won’t necessarily need to answer to <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/elections/article/SF-neighborhoods-where-Pelosi-got-least-votes-17226501.php">her voting base</a> in San Francisco, where there are 187,000 Chinese and Taiwanese Americans. Asian American studies scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=U2OFos4AAAAJ&hl=en">Jonathan H.X. Lee</a> in San Francisco explains why many voters in this community are not intensely invested in the escalating political tensions in the South China region. Here are four key points to keep in mind.</em></p>
<h2>This is unlikely to turn voters away from Pelosi</h2>
<p>For many Chinese Americans it is just not an issue that’s really on their radar. <a href="https://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/chinese-immigration-to-the-united-states-1884-1944/timeline.html">Most are</a> second- and third-generation Chinese Americans, and maybe sometimes even fourth-generation. They don’t have a lot of deep connections or nationalist kind of connections to mainland China. </p>
<p>If you were to ask a group of Chinese American college students about Taiwan, the majority would probably reflect the general kind of understanding that the general American public would have, which is not very much. They don’t know the history of Taiwan <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/why-relations-between-china-and-taiwan-are-so-tense">breaking off from China</a> in 1949. So the reason this doesn’t register with Chinese American voters in San Francisco is that this geopolitical issue is just not on their list of major issues. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People wear masks and hats and appear to protest in the streets, holding signs that say stop Asian hate." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477463/original/file-20220803-11-gxlkvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Demonstrators listen to speakers during a march protesting Asian hate crimes and actions in San Francisco in March 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/william-guo-left-francis-kwok-henry-lei-right-all-of-alameda-and-a-picture-id1309485284?s=2048x2048">Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Other priorities for voters</h2>
<p>I know that the leadership in Taiwan and people in Taiwan <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/03/nancy-pelosi-taiwan-visit-reaction/">are loving this visit</a> by Pelosi. So in terms of her approval with Taiwanese American voters, this will do a lot, because it really reaffirms the <a href="https://www.fpri.org/article/2022/05/believe-biden-when-he-says-america-will-defend-taiwan/">United States’ commitment to Taiwan’s sovereignty</a>, which Taiwanese Americans care about.</p>
<p>But currently, the <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">major political issue</a> on many Chinese Americans’ and Taiwanese Americans’ minds would be <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-339-percent-nationwide-last-year-repo-rcna14282">anti-Chinese and anti-Asian hate</a> that has occurred since the start of this global pandemic – fanned by former president Donald Trump, who racialized the pandemic by using terms like “<a href="https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2021/03/420081/trumps-chinese-virus-tweet-linked-rise-anti-asian-hashtags-twitter">China virus</a>,” the “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-53173436">kung flu</a>” and so on. Inflation and economic issues are also a serious concern. </p>
<h2>Chinese Americans aren’t a homogeneous voting bloc</h2>
<p>Chinese American is an umbrella category that at times has its function. So in my research and in my discussions with Taiwanese foreign students, when they come to the U.S. they find themselves sometimes coming to the conclusion that it’s easier for them to just say, “I’m Chinese,” because they speak Mandarin. If they say they’re Taiwanese, they would be required to then explain. </p>
<p>Something that I hear them say quite often is, “I’m from Taiwan.” And then the person, not knowing anything about Taiwan versus China, says, “Oh, I love Thai food” – meaning food from Thailand, a totally different country. There’s that level of unawareness.</p>
<p>The Taiwanese American identity is a very unique identity within the Chinese American community. It <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/taiwanese-us-insist-identity-not-political-choice-must-census-option-rcna2225">says very clearly</a> that these people inherently support Taiwan’s geopolitical sovereignty. It is, in essence, a very nationalistic identity, not just a cultural one. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=pcLQCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=info:iKhXum4cN3IJ:scholar.google.com&ots=Y5fzZ-m7mA&sig=tU2dNgTdHNKJRPKqqr21vGsNLx0#v=onepage&q&f=false">Chinese Americans are less nationalistic</a>, because we’re not identifying with mainland China. Rather, we are identifying as members of a community that is linked to Chinese heritage, so it becomes more cultural, more linguistic.</p>
<p>Second- and third-generation Chinese Americans, especially, have lost some of the skills or don’t have some of the skills that help maintain a very strong cultural link, such as <a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2018/10/22/opinion/the-spectrum-im-still-chinese-even-if-i-cant-speak-the-language/">not speaking Mandarin or Cantonese</a>, or many of the other dialects of China. </p>
<p>And if anything, Chinese Americans are critics of China, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/china-and-tibet">in terms of</a> human rights, <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/chinas-tibet-policy-the-aftermath-last-springs-unrest">Tibet and</a> child labor issues. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white woman in a beige pantsuit and blue face mask stands next to a middle-aged Asian woman also wearing a pantsuit. Both wave their hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477498/original/file-20220803-19-jcyz9p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi poses with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on Aug. 3, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/speaker-of-the-us-house-of-representatives-nancy-pelosi-left-poses-picture-id1412590000?s=2048x2048">Handout/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>The overall political effect</h2>
<p>Taking a step back and looking at the history of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/01/nancy-pelosi-taiwan-china/">U.S. officials going</a> to Taiwan reveals that <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3584189-gingrich-china-threats-over-pelosi-taiwan-visit-a-bluff/">nothing has really</a> materialized from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rethinking-the-us-china-fight-does-china-really-threaten-american-power-abroad-148672">threats from China</a>. In terms of retaliation, there has always been very strong, public kind of speech about how they disapprove, and maybe some strong threats. But nothing came of those threats, and relations quickly normalized. And I think that’s going to be the case here, too.</p>
<p>I think the question of whether or not it will affect her <a href="https://pelosi.house.gov/about/our-district">constituents in San Francisco</a> is a very interesting question. And I think it’s exciting, because it reveals the diversity in terms of understanding Chinese Americans versus Taiwanese Americans. </p>
<p>The majority of Chinese Americans and Taiwanese Americans vote Democratic, so if Pelosi went or didn’t go, I don’t think it’s going have a huge effect. Because they’re <a href="https://theconversation.com/asian-americans-political-preferences-have-flipped-from-red-to-blue-145577">going to still vote blue</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan H. X. Lee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While Chinese American voters are not a homogeneous group, many people who have ancestral ties to the region are unlikely to question their support for Nancy Pelosi just because of her Taiwan trip.Jonathan H. X. Lee, Professor of Asian American Studies, San Francisco State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1519862022-04-14T21:17:52Z2022-04-14T21:17:52ZSenator Dianne Feinstein faces pressure to end her 30 years representing California<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376298/original/file-20201221-15-8lylmu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C4890%2C3316&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor, became the first woman to represent California in the U.S. Senate, in 1992.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-ny-7-1992-dianne-feinstein-the-mayor-of-san-news-photo/526599204?adppopup=true">Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Nov. 27, 1978, Dianne Feinstein – then the 45-year-old president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and two-time failed mayoral candidate – effectively announced her retirement from politics. </p>
<p>It was a foggy morning, and Feinstein greeted reporters at City Hall by telling them she would not seek reelection to the board of supervisors, San Francisco’s equivalent to the city council. The resignation of one person from the 11-member board earlier that month had given Mayor George Moscone an opportunity to put a progressive on the board, tipping the balance to 6-5 against Feinstein in her bid to retain leadership. </p>
<p>Feinstein’s plan didn’t last long. By the end of the day, she was the mayor of San Francisco, and had the dreadful responsibility of telling the city that both Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/27/670657965/40-years-after-the-assassination-of-harvey-milk-lgbt-candidates-find-success">had been assassinated</a> – by a former member of the board. </p>
<p>“It is my duty to make this announcement,” she said, looking straight into the camera, amid audible gasps and screams, adding, “The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5NikqzmwbgU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein announced the shooting deaths at City Hall.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Feinstein handled this <a href="https://youtu.be/5NikqzmwbgU">tragic announcement</a> with poise – a quality that would characterize the nine years she went on to spend as San Francisco’s first female mayor and, later, as California’s first woman senator.</p>
<p>Feinstein is now 88 years old and has been in the U.S. Senate for almost 30 years, but <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/dianne-feinstein-senate-17079487.php">concerns continue to be raised</a> about whether she is still mentally sharp enough to continue in her current position. </p>
<p>This issue is being raised not by Republicans seeking to score political points, but by Democratic colleagues and congressional staff. It is not clear whether Feinstein will finish her current term, which runs through 2024, because there may be increased pressure for her to resign and let California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom, who <a href="https://twitter.com/gavinnewsom/status/745611838335815680">considers Feinstein a mentor</a>, appoint her successor. </p>
<p>That pressure will likely increase over the next months, but before that happens, it is worth looking back on her extraordinary career and her place in California, and more notably, San Francisco, history.</p>
<h2>Senator from San Francisco</h2>
<p>Feinstein’s tenure in the Senate, which began in 1992, made her a national figure. But San Francisco was always her home, even after three decades in Washington. </p>
<p>“When you become mayor because of an assassination and the horrific events that catapulted Feinstein’s into the mayor’s office, you will be forever linked to that city,” says Corey Busch, Moscone’s press secretary and an advisor on Feinstein’s campaign when she ran for mayor in 1979. </p>
<p>Feinstein is not from the San Francisco of <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/what-was-san-franciscos-summer-of-love/">hippies</a>, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/san-francisco-tech-industry-gentrification-documentary-378628">new tech wealth</a>, <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-0555-2.html">radical politics</a> or <a href="https://sfleatherdistrict.org">LGBTQ activism</a>. She was born to an affluent Jewish family and attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, the city’s elite Catholic girls school. Feinstein’s mother was emotionally distant, <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/9780062585080/Dianne-Feinstein-Never-See-Cry-0062585088/plp">according to her biographer Jerry Roberts</a>, but she was close with her father, a prominent doctor who encouraged her ambition.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white image of a young Feinstein in a cowboy hat standing next to an older man" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376294/original/file-20201221-19-jlwa3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Dianne Feinstein, then Dianne Goldman, with San Francisco mayor Elmer Robinson in 1950, when she was in high school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/high-school-student-dianne-goldman-wearing-a-cowboy-hat-news-photo/169071270?adppopup=true">Underwood Archives/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Feinstein got involved with local politics soon after graduating from Stanford University in 1955. She represented my district, a prosperous area of northern San Francisco, on the Board of Supervisors. </p>
<p>As mayor, living primarily in tony Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights, she led the city through a tumultuous time of change. The period between 1978 and 1987 included Mayor Moscone’s assassination, the <a href="https://www.library.ucsf.edu/archives/aids/">horrors of a mysterious plague</a> – HIV/AIDS – <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-21-mn-20251-story.html">cutbacks in state and federal funding and a panoply of urban problems like crime</a>, traffic, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/S-F-S-HOMELESS-LEGACY-Two-decades-of-failure-2590953.php">homelessness</a> and <a href="https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=1980-1991:_RENT_CONTROL_WARS">rising rents</a>. </p>
<p>During that same period, San Francisco went from being a somewhat typical American city to becoming a major politically progressive hub. That transformation left the city deeply divided. Feinstein was able to govern it by combining social liberalism with strong support for business, development and real estate. </p>
<p>This kind of urban governance – later <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/460262/better-new-york-city-6-smart-takes-michael-bloombergs-legacy">exemplified in Michael Bloomberg’s 12-year mayorship of New York City</a> – is pretty common now. But Feinstein was one of the first politicians to embrace it, and her leadership from the center frequently angered San Franciscans who believed she <a href="https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Mayor_Dianne_Feinstein">was not doing enough about AIDS, or was too close to real estate interests, or just wasn’t sufficiently progressive</a>. </p>
<p>“Feinstein was very supportive of gay people that she knew,” Art Agnos, the mayor after Feinstein told me, “but <a href="https://napavalleyregister.com/news/feinstein-statement-on-gay-marriage-nets-her-the-pink-brick-award/article_efeb348a-2622-53ff-8e3e-9b93c8879f6b.html">struggled to relate to LGBTQ equality as an abstract civil rights issue</a>.” </p>
<p>In lefty San Francisco, “a lot of people think that Dianne is more suited as a moderate Republican than as a Democrat,” says Corey Busch, Feinstein’s former campaign advisor.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>For me, as Feinstein’s teenage constituent, it was her <a href="https://www.kqed.org/arts/13845645/how-san-francisco-punk-reacted-to-harvey-milk-and-george-moscones-deaths">crackdown on the punk music scene</a> – which frequently included allowing the police to harass punks attending shows at venues like the Mabuhay Gardens, which was usually called the Mab – that bothered me. When I was 16, I climbed the flagpole in front of her stately and expensive house to amuse my friends. There’s a photo of this caper in my high school yearbook. </p>
<p>Mayor Feinstein’s generally conservative demeanor was also a target of our teenage derision, and other people’s as well. The legendary San Francisco columnist Herb Caen occasionally called her “<a href="https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.sfpl.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&t=pubname%3A142051F45F422A02%7CSFCB%21Multiple%2BPublications&sort=YMD_date%3AD&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=20&val-base-0=%22herb%20caen%22%20%22princess%20di%22&b=pubname&fld-nav-1=YMD_date&val-nav-1=1930%20-%201989&docref=news/0EB4F146983F9EE1">Princess Di</a>,” a reference to Feinstein’s formal, even imperious style.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white image of Feinstein speaking into several microphones, seated" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376296/original/file-20201221-17-1jp61xo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feinstein at a press conference following the City Hall shootings, which occurred steps from her office.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dianne-feinstein-president-of-the-board-of-supervisors-news-photo/517443130?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Contributor via Getty</a></span>
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<h2>Feinstein’s legacy</h2>
<p>After leaving the San Francisco mayor’s office in 1987, Feinstein ran for governor of California in 1990. She lost to Republican Pete Wilson, but in 1992 won a special election to the U.S. Senate.</p>
<p>As senator, Feinstein’s moderation sometimes frustrated progressives in the Democratic Party, as it had her hometown constituents. </p>
<p>She voted for the war in Iraq in 2002 and for George W. Bush’s major tax-cutting legislation in 2001. More recently, she literally <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article246636118.html">embraced the Republican senator Lindsay Graham</a> of South Carolina at the conclusion of Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Feinstein's back as she hugs Graham" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376292/original/file-20201221-19-rgpg6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feinstein hugs Graham after the Barrett hearings, Oct. 15, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ranking-member-diane-feinstein-and-chairman-lindsey-graham-news-photo/1229091483?adppopup=true">Samuel Corum / POOL / AFP via Getty</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But Feinstein was well liked, an electoral powerhouse long before California took on its current political shade of deep blue, and a generally reliable Democratic vote on major legislation. She supported the <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00396">Affordable Care Act</a>, voted against Donald Trump’s tax bill in 2017 and opposed all three of Trump’s Supreme Court nominees. She has also been a committed fighter for California’s economic interests, from <a href="https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/business/sen-dianne-feinstein-and-rep-mike-thompson-urge-trump-to-drop-tariffs-on/">winemaking</a> to <a href="https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/2/senate-passes-feinstein-bill-completing-25-year-effort-to-protect-california-desert">desert conservation</a>.</p>
<p>In her <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/california-sen-dianne-feinstein-wins-fifth-full-term">last re-election to the Senate</a>, in 2018, the 85-year-old Feinstein brushed off the kind of progressive primary challenge that felled other moderates in her party to win her fifth full term in office. </p>
<p>Feinstein is a trailblazer and one of the most successful women in American political history, but not one of its greatest senators. Feinstein has never been connected to a singular important issue, as the late <a href="https://khn.org/news/kennedy-health-care-timeline/">Ted Kennedy was with healthcare</a>. Nor has she authored any landmark legislation, as John McCain and Russ Feingold did with their namesake <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act">2002 campaign finance reform bill</a>. Her <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/08/13/750656174/the-u-s-once-had-a-ban-on-assault-weapons-why-did-it-expire">greatest legislative accomplishment remains her work on the assault weapons ban in 1994</a>.</p>
<p>After more than 50 years in public office, her leadership after the City Hall killings remains Feinstein’s finest moment in politics – the one that made her long career possible. For San Franciscans of a certain age, she will forever be known as the woman who stepped in at one extraordinary and tragic moment and helped us believe our city would survive.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand key political developments, each week.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=politics&source=inline-politics-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lincoln Mitchell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Concerns are growing about Dianne Feinstein’s ability to finish out her Senate term. That won’t dim the accomplishments of her extraordinary career, writes a scholar of San Francisco politics.Lincoln Mitchell, Associate Adjunct Research Scholar, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1515422020-12-11T19:34:07Z2020-12-11T19:34:07ZMy university will be getting COVID-19 vaccines soon – here’s how my team will get doses into arms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374295/original/file-20201210-14-1s886kq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5109%2C3361&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">After receiving the vaccine, health systems have a complicated job ahead of them.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXChinaVaccine/464310a7f13944838c96d2a241352ac9/photo?Query=covid%20AND%20vaccine&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1272&currentItemNo=15">AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In late October, I received an email from a member of the California Department of Public Health. I called the number in the email and a bright happy voice answered and asked if the University of California, San Francisco would be interested in the early release and distribution of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Of course, I said yes.</p>
<p>I am the <a href="https://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/desi-kotis">chief pharmacy executive at UCSF Health</a> and associate dean and clinical professor at the School of Pharmacy. My team and I are responsible for the distribution of all medications and vaccines throughout the health system, and I am also the person running much of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution for UCSF.</p>
<p>UCSF will be receiving our first allocation of the Pfizer vaccine around Dec. 15 and the Moderna vaccine sometime soon after that. We project that by the end of 2020, we will receive enough vaccine for all our staff, students, faculty and most of our high-risk patient populations. This news is incredibly exciting, but will take a lot of work to pull off smoothly. My colleagues and I are working to make sure that critical data tracking, complicated storage and the intricacies of actually administering doses all run smoothly so that these vaccines are distributed as equitably and efficiently as possible. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Workers handling a shipment of vaccines in a large cold storage container." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374297/original/file-20201210-14-1iparuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Once a health system receives the vaccine, every dose is tracked closely.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakEuropeVaccinesLogistics/36d7cd9eec274b4b9810227e598e7a2a/photo?Query=covid%20vaccine%20shipment&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=27&currentItemNo=14">AP Photo/Virginia Mayo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tracking, storage and preparation</h2>
<p>Before the CDC would give us any vaccine, the first thing I needed to do was register the UCSF health system with the California Department of Public Health. I give them information on everything from the number of our medical workers who are qualified to administer the vaccine to the serial numbers of our freezers.</p>
<p>As a precaution, since many are considering this vaccine “liquid gold,” our team needs to account for every dose at every step of the process due to the potential of diversion. We also aren’t yet sure how much vaccine UCSF will be allocated in these first rounds, so we need to be prepared to store either a small or large supply. </p>
<p>The pharmacies storing the vaccine are highly regulated, monitored and secured spaces. The vaccines will not only be on a secure and backup power supply in case of electrical power outage but also electronically monitored for temperature.</p>
<p>Unlike the flu vaccine, both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines have <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/storage-handling-toolkit.pdf">unique storage requirements</a>, last at room temperature for only a <a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/hot-topics/covid_19_vaccine_u_s_distribution_fact_sheet">short amount of time</a> and require a lot of preparation.</p>
<p>First, you can’t store either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine on a refrigerator shelf. The Pfizer vaccine comes in a frozen liquid form that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/storage-handling-toolkit.pdf">needs ultra-cold storage</a> at minus 70 C. In this deep freeze, it is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/storage-handling-toolkit.pdf">stable for six months</a>, but it takes specific preparation before it is ready to give to people.</p>
<p>Pharmacists and technicians have to thaw the frozen liquid and then mix it into a solution of sterile, preservative-free saline. Each Pfizer vaccine vial contains <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/storage-handling-toolkit.pdf">five doses and is stable for only six hours at room temperature</a>. The Moderna vaccine is supplied in liquid form with 10 doses per vial.</p>
<p>When it is time to give people the vaccine, each dose has to be prepared and labeled in a ready-to-use syringe. At each step of this process, our staff will document and track every dose. Once we begin vaccinating people, we will send the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an accountability log of how many doses we administer each day.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A healthcare worker receiving a COVID-19 vaccine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374298/original/file-20201210-24-mqqpa4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The CDC has given some guidance on who should get vaccinated first, but the specifics are left up to individual health systems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXVirusOutbreakVaccineRace/d06c92f7015c4ce591617e45f495666f/photo?Query=covid%20AND%20vaccine&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1272&currentItemNo=23">AP Photo/Hans Pennink</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who gets vaccinated first?</h2>
<p>Once UCSF receives our first vaccine shipment, we face the task of deciding who gets these precious vaccines first. Our team has utilized national guidelines from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations-process.html">the CDC</a> and the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/vacc-specific/covid-19.html">Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices</a> as well as state guidance from the <a href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR20-281.aspx">California Department of Public Health</a> to follow the phased prioritization roll out. Right now, we are focusing on <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2020-12/COVID-02-Dooling.pdf">phase 1a</a>, which broadly includes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/health/covid-vaccine-distribution-first.html">health care workers</a> and first responders as well as high-risk patients and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/slides-2020-12/COVID-02-Dooling.pdf">long-term care facility residents</a>.</p>
<p>While the guidance says which groups should be prioritized, there is no way it could cover every decision. Our team has been working with doctors, ethicists and experts in health equity to further prioritize the most vulnerable first responders, high-risk staff and high-risk patients within the University of California system. We are looking at not only clinical health care workers, clinical students and patients, but anyone who could have prolonged, repeated potential exposure to body fluids and aerosols. That includes critical staff like medical transporters who get patients where they need to be, food service workers, police officers and environmental services workers in our hospitals and clinics.</p>
<p>[<em>Research into coronavirus and other news from science</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-corona-research">Subscribe to The Conversation’s new science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>On Dec. 3, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state will receive 327,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the middle of December and <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/race-for-a-vaccine/californias-first-wave-of-coronavirus-vaccine-will-include-2-million-doses/2417075/">2.2 million doses by the New Year</a>. </p>
<p>Giving this vaccine to millions of Californians is going to be a massive undertaking. But our team and health systems throughout the country have been preparing so that this roll out is as effective, efficient and fair as possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Desi Kotis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Health systems around the US are on the cusp of receiving COVID-19 vaccines. At the end of this months-long effort are the nitty-gritty details of how health care providers are giving people the vaccine.Desi Kotis, Associate Dean and Professor of Pharmacy, University of California, San FranciscoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1501712020-11-17T18:50:47Z2020-11-17T18:50:47ZSan Francisco just banned gas in all new buildings. Could it ever happen in Australia?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369732/original/file-20201117-21-15p8ztd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=495%2C77%2C6853%2C2754&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week <a href="https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4584221&GUID=1DA24E52-38A0-4249-9396-270D0E9353BB">San Francisco</a> became the latest city to ban natural gas in new buildings. The legislation will see all new construction, other than restaurants, use electric power only from June 2021, to cut greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>San Francisco has now <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2020/11/californias-cities-lead-way-gas-free-future">joined</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cities-are-banning-natural-gas-in-new-homes-because-of-climate-change/">other US cities</a> in banning natural gas in new homes. The move is in stark contrast to the direction of energy policy in Australia, where the Morrison government seems stuck in reverse: spruiking a <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/national-energy-address-tomago-nsw">gas-led economic recovery</a> from the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Natural gas provides <a href="https://www.energy.gov.au/data/energy-consumption">about 26%</a> of energy consumed in Australia — but it’s clearly on the way out. It’s time for a serious rethink on the way many of us cook and heat our homes.</p>
<h2>Cutting out gas</h2>
<p>San Francisco is rapidly increasing renewable-powered electricity to meet its target of 100% clean energy by 2030. Currently, renewables power <a href="https://sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=70">70% </a> of the city’s electricity. </p>
<p>The ban on gas came shortly after San Francisco’s mayor London Breed <a href="https://sfmayor.org/article/mayor-london-breed-announces-plan-power-san-franciscos-downtown-100-percent-renewable">announced</a> all commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet must run on 100% renewable electricity by 2022. </p>
<p>Buildings are particularly in focus because 44% of San Franciscos’ citywide emissions come from the building sector alone. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/4-reasons-why-a-gas-led-economic-recovery-is-a-terrible-na-ve-idea-145009">4 reasons why a gas-led economic recovery is a terrible, naïve idea</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Following this, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors <a href="https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8647063&GUID=7A4313EB-C25E-4AFC-94D9-4EC1926FFB7E">unanimously</a> passed the ban on gas in buildings. They cited the potency of methane as a greenhouse gas, and recognised that natural gas is a major source of indoor air pollution, leading to improved public health outcomes.</p>
<p>From January 1, 2021, no new building permits will be issued unless constructing an “<a href="https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8647063&GUID=7A4313EB-C25E-4AFC-94D9-4EC1926FFB7E">All-Electric Building</a>”. This means installation of natural gas piping systems, fixtures and/or infrastructure will be banned, unless it is a commercial food service establishment.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1326351376910184448"}"></div></p>
<h2>Switching to all-electric homes</h2>
<p>In the shift to zero-emissions economies, transitioning our power grids to <a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2019/Sep/Transforming-the-energy-system">renewable energy</a> has been the subject of much focus. But buildings <a href="https://theconversation.com/buildings-produce-25-of-australias-emissions-what-will-it-take-to-make-them-green-and-wholl-pay-105652">produce 25%</a> of Australia’s emissions, and the sector must also do some heavy lifting.</p>
<p>A report by the Grattan Institute this week recommended a moratorium on new household gas connections, similar to what’s been imposed in San Francisco.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Flame-out-Grattan-report.pdf">report</a> said natural gas will inevitably decline as an energy source for industry and homes in Australia. This is partly due to economics — as most low-cost gas on Australia’s east coast has been burnt. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-third-of-our-waste-comes-from-buildings-this-ones-designed-for-reuse-and-cuts-emissions-by-88-147455">A third of our waste comes from buildings. This one's designed for reuse and cuts emissions by 88%</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There’s also an environmental imperative, because Australia must slash its fossil fuel emissions to address climate change.</p>
<p>While acknowledging natural gas is widely used in Australian homes, the report said “this must change in coming years”. It went on:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This will be confronting for many people, because changing the cooktops on which many of us make dinner is more personal than switching from fossil fuel to renewable electricity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The report said space heating is by far the largest use of gas by Australian households, at about 60%. In the cold climates of Victoria and the ACT, many homes have central gas heaters. Homes in these jurisdictions use much more gas than other states.</p>
<p>By contrast, all-electric homes with efficient appliances produce fewer emissions than homes with gas, the report said.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A yellow triangle sign that says 'no coal or coal seam gas' on a wooden fence." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369736/original/file-20201117-23-1o4wynz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Natural gas produces methane, a greenhouse gas that’s far more potent than carbon dioxide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Zero-carbon buildings</h2>
<p>Australia’s states and territories have much work to do if they hope to decarbonise our building sector, including reducing the use of gas in homes.</p>
<p>In 2019, Australia’s federal and state energy ministers <a href="http://coagenergycouncil.gov.au/publications/trajectory-low-energy-buildings">committed</a> to a national plan towards zero-carbon buildings for Australia. The measures included “energy smart” buildings with on-site renewable energy generation and storage and, eventually, green hydrogen to replace gas.</p>
<p>The plan also involved better disclosure of a building’s energy performance. To date, Australia’s states and territories have largely focused on voluntary green energy rating tools, such as the <a href="https://www.nabers.gov.au/">National Australian Built Environment Rating System</a>. This measures factors such as energy efficiency, water usage and waste management in existing buildings.</p>
<p>But in 2020, just <a href="https://nabers.info/annual-report/2019-2020/?utm_source=Banner&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=AnnualReport">2%</a> of buildings in Australia achieved the highest six-star rating. Clearly, the voluntary system has <a href="https://theconversation.com/greenwashing-the-property-market-why-green-star-ratings-dont-guarantee-more-sustainable-buildings-91655">done little</a> to encourage the switch to clean energy. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-new-national-construction-code-but-its-still-not-good-enough-113729">National Construction Code</a> requires mandatory compliance with energy efficiency standards for new buildings. However, the code takes a <a href="https://consultation.abcb.gov.au/engagement/energy-efficiency-scoping-study-2019/user_uploads/scoping-study-energy-efficiency-ncc-2022-and-beyond.pdf">technology neutral approach</a> and does not require buildings to install zero-carbon energy “in the absence of an explicit energy policy commitment by governments regarding the future use of gas”.</p>
<h2>An economically sensible move</h2>
<p>An estimated 200,000 new homes are built in Australia <a href="http://coagenergycouncil.gov.au/sites/prod.energycouncil/files/publications/documents/Report%20for%20Achieving%20Low%20Energy%20Homes.pdf">each year</a>. This represents an opportunity for states and territories to create mandatory clean energy requirements while reaching their respective net-zero emissions climate targets. </p>
<p>Under a gas ban, the use of zero-carbon energy sources in buildings would increase, similar to San Francisco. This has been recognised by <a href="https://environmentvictoria.org.au/2020/06/03/a-gas-free-recovery-new-report-shows-how-phasing-out-gas-will-benefit-all-victorians/">Environment Victoria</a>, which notes </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A simple first step […] to start reducing Victoria’s dependence on gas is banning gas connections for new homes. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Creating incentives for alternatives to gas may be another approach, such as offering rebates for homes that switch to electrical appliances. The <a href="https://www.environment.act.gov.au/cc/be-part-of-the-solution/transitioning-from-gas-to-electric">ACT</a> is actively encouraging consumers to transition from gas.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-plenty-of-gas-but-the-price-is-extreme-the-market-is-broken-125130">Australia has plenty of gas, but the price is extreme. The market is broken</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Banning gas in buildings could be an economically sensible move. As the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/flame-out-the-future-of-natural-gas/">Grattan Report</a> found, “households that move into a new all-electric house with efficient appliances will save money compared to an equivalent dual-fuel house”. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://arena.gov.au/blog/aemo-and-csiro-report-finds-renewables-cheapest/">ARENA</a> confirmed electricity from solar and wind provide the lowest levelised cost of electricity, due to the increasing cost of east coast gas in Australia.</p>
<p>Future-proofing new buildings will require extensive work, let alone replacing exiting gas inputs and fixtures in existing buildings. Yet efficient electric appliances can save the average NSW homeowner around <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/expense-and-emissions-may-see-household-use-of-gas-flame-out-20201111-p56dqp.html">A$400</a> a year. </p>
<p>Learning to live sustainability, and becoming resilient in the face of climate change, is well worth the cost and effort.</p>
<h2>Should we be cooking with gas?</h2>
<p>Recently, a suite of our major gas importers — China, South Korea and Japan — all pledged to reach net-zero emissions by either 2050 or 2060. This will leave our export-focused gas industry possibly turning to the domestic market for new gas hookups. </p>
<p>But continuing Australia’s gas production will increase greenhouse gas <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-reasons-why-a-gas-led-economic-recovery-is-a-terrible-na-ve-idea-145009">emissions</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-polling-shows-79-of-aussies-care-about-climate-change-so-why-doesnt-the-government-listen-148726">few Australians</a> support an economic recovery pinned on gas. </p>
<p>The window to address dangerous climate change is fast closing. We must urgently seek alternatives to burning fossil fuels, and there’s no better place to start that change than in our own homes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-prime-minister-gas-doesnt-work-for-all-australians-and-your-scare-tactics-ignore-modern-energy-problems-146196">No, Prime Minister, gas doesn't 'work for all Australians' and your scare tactics ignore modern energy problems</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Taylor has previously received funding from AgriFutures Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan M Park does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite the government spruiking a ‘gas-led economic recovery’, natural gas is clearly on the way out. It’s time for a serious rethink on the way many Australians cook and heat our homes.Madeline Taylor, Lecturer, University of SydneySusan M Park, Professor of Global Governance, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1460602020-09-16T11:20:45Z2020-09-16T11:20:45ZWhy San Francisco felt like the set of a sci-fi flick<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358184/original/file-20200915-20-19fcg73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=642%2C0%2C2353%2C1419&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On the morning of Sept. 9, San Franciscans woke up to a transformed cityscape.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Wildfires-Smoky-Skies/37b2b6fb5f384f4e8c1f48ac09f05171/36/0">AP Photo/Eric Risberg</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sept. 9, many West Coast residents looked out their windows and witnessed a post-apocalyptic landscape: silhouetted cars, buildings and people bathed in an overpowering orange light that looked like a jacked-up sunset.</p>
<p>The scientific explanation for what people were seeing was pretty straightforward. On a clear day, the sky owes its blue color to smaller atmospheric particles scattering the relatively short wavelengths of blue light waves from the sun. An atmosphere filled with larger particles, like woodsmoke, scatters even more of the color spectrum, but not as uniformly, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2020/09/10/the-science-behind-mysterious-orange-skies-in-california/#52bc361f6cab">leaving orangish-red colors for the eye to see</a>.</p>
<p>But most city dwellers weren’t seeing the science. Instead, the burnt orange world they were witnessing was eerily reminiscent of scenes from sci-fi films like “<a href="https://twitter.com/Klee_FilmReview/status/1303748616507531264">Blade Runner: 2049</a>” and “<a href="https://twitter.com/Prince_Kropotkn/status/1303761059887550464">Dune</a>.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1303748616507531264"}"></div></p>
<p>The uncanny images evoked sci-fi movies for a reason. Over the past decade, filmmakers have increasingly adopting a palette rich with hues of two colors, orange and teal, which complement one another in ways that can have a powerful effect on viewers.</p>
<h2>Writing color into the script</h2>
<p>When we dissect movies in my design classes, I remind my students that everything on the screen is there for a reason. Sound, light, wardrobe, people – and, yes, the colors.</p>
<p>Actor, writer and director Jon Fusco <a href="https://nofilmschool.com/2016/06/watch-psychology-color-film">has suggested</a> “writing color as an entire character in your script,” since colors can subtly change the way a scene can “resonate emotionally.”</p>
<p>Set and costume designers can influence color palettes by sticking to certain palettes. But art directors can also imbue scenes with certain hues via “color grading,” in which they use software to shift colors around in the frame.</p>
<p>In her short film “Color Psychology,” video editor Lilly Mtz-Seara <a href="https://vimeo.com/169046276">assembles a montage</a> from more than 50 films to show the emotional impact intentional color grading can lend to movies. She explains how different palettes are used to emphasize different sentiments, whether it’s pale pink to reflect innocence, red to capture passion or a sickly yellow to denote madness.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Frames from Lilly Mtz-Sear's 'Color Psychology' that highlight emotional effects of different palettes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=256&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357774/original/file-20200913-16-yc0lvy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Different color palettes are used to evoke different emotional responses in viewers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://vimeo.com/169046276">LidiaSeara/Vimeo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The most powerful complement of them all</h2>
<p>So why orange and teal? </p>
<p>In the 17th century, Isaac Newton created his “<a href="http://web.mit.edu/22.51/www/Extras/color_theory/color.html">color wheel</a>.” The circle of colors represents the full visible light spectrum, and people who work in color will use it to assemble palettes, or color schemes.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.canva.com/learn/monochromatic-colors/">A monochromatic palette</a> involves tints from a single hue – <a href="https://www.schemecolor.com/monochromatic-blues-color-scheme.php">lighter and darker shades of blue</a>, for example. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_color">A tertiary palette</a> divides the wheel with three evenly spaced spokes: bright reds, greens and blues. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The color wheel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358219/original/file-20200915-14-46b5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A version of the color wheel created by Isaac Newton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-color-circle-to-symbolize-the-human-mind-and-soul-life-news-photo/917742598?adppopup=true">Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among the most striking combinations are two hues 180 degrees apart on the color wheel. Due to a phenomenon called “<a href="https://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2006/bridges2006-517.pdf">simultaneous contrast</a>,” the presence of a single color is intensified when paired with its complement. Green and purple complement one another, as do yellow and blue. But, according to German scientist, poet and philosopher <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2013/09/goethes-theory-of-colors-and-kandinsky.html">Johann Wolfgang von Goethe</a>, the strongest of the complementary pairings exist in the ranges of – you guessed it – orange and teal.</p>
<p>For movie makers, this color palette can be a powerful tool. Human skin matches a relatively narrow swath of the orange section of the color wheel, <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/3b/2f/7e3b2fbcfa0baae19047f54d8f97dd40.jpg">from very light to very dark</a>. A filmmaker who wants to make a human within a scene “<a href="https://cdn.onebauer.media/one/empire-tmdb/films/76341/images/tbhdm8UJAb4ViCTsulYFL3lxMCd.jpg?quality=50&width=1800&ratio=16-9&resizeStyle=aspectfill&format=jpg">pop</a>” can easily do so by setting the “orange-ish” human against a teal background.</p>
<p>Filmmakers can also switch between the two depending on the emotional needs of the scene, with the oscillation adding drama. Orange evokes heat and creates tension while teal connotes its opposite, coolness and languid moodiness. For example, the orange and pink people in many of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGTkgB62754">the chase scenes</a> in “Mad Max: Fury Road” stand out against the complementary sky-blue background. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358257/original/file-20200915-16-102qfex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The chase scene from ‘Mad Max: Fury Road.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Warner Bros. Pictures</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Oranges and teals are not the sole province of sci-fi movies. David Fincher’s thriller “Zodiac” <a href="https://youtu.be/tnFSymJ3Qgg">is tinged with blues</a>, while <a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTlhNmVkZGUtNjdjOC00YWY3LTljZWQtMTY1YWFhNGYwNDQwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc1NTYyMjg@._V1_UY1200_CR85,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg">countless</a> <a href="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/horrormovies/images/c/cf/1002004000000704.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190314174712">horror</a> <a href="https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B6%2F7%2F2%2F0%2F6720372%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D">movies</a> deploy a reddish-orange palette. There’s even been some backlash to orange and teal, with one filmmaker, Todd Miro, <a href="http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-hollywood-please-stop.html">calling their overuse</a> “madness” and “a virus.”</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Nonetheless, given the frequency with which sci-fi films wish to subtly unsettle viewers, the palette continues to find frequent application in the genre.</p>
<p>As for West Coast residents unnerved by the murky air and bizarre landscapes, they’re probably wishing their lives felt a lot less like a movie.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Johndan Johnson-Eilola does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The eerie San Francisco skyline evoked sci-fi movies for a reason. Filmmakers are increasingly using color grading to tinge their films with two hues, orange and teal, to unsettle viewers.Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Professor of Communication and Media, Clarkson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1399532020-08-06T12:25:15Z2020-08-06T12:25:15ZTwitter posts show that people are profoundly sad – and are visiting parks to cheer up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351165/original/file-20200804-18-1tqnitx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5463%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Central Park, New York City, on Memorial Day weekend, May 24, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/on-memorial-day-weekend-a-man-and-woman-with-masks-practice-news-photo/1226848754?adppopup=true">Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is the deepest and longest period of malaise in a dozen years. Our colleagues at the University of Vermont have concluded this by analyzing posts on Twitter. The <a href="https://vermontcomplexsystems.org/">Vermont Complex Systems Center</a> studies 50 million tweets a day, scoring the “happiness” of people’s words to monitor the national mood. That mood today is at its lowest point since 2008 when they started this project.</p>
<p>They call the tweet analysis the <a href="https://hedonometer.org/timeseries/en_all/">Hedonometer</a>. It relies on surveys of thousands of people who rate words indicating happiness. “Laughter” gets an 8.50 while “jail” gets a 1.76. They use these scores to measure the mood of Twitter traffic. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348999/original/file-20200722-26-1u7hs0l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Hedonometer measures happiness through analysis of key words on Twitter, which is now used by one in five Americans. This chart covers 18 months from early 2019 to July 2020, showing major dips in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">hedonometer.org</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These same tweets also indicate a potential salve. Before pandemic lockdowns began, doctoral student <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0P0ZYbIAAAAJ&hl=en">Aaron Schwartz</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10045">compared tweets before, during, and after visits to 150 parks, playgrounds and plazas</a> in San Francisco. He found that park visits corresponded with a spike in happiness, followed by an afterglow lasting up to four hours. </p>
<p>Tweets from parks contained fewer negative words such as “no,” “not” and “can’t,” and fewer first-person pronouns like “I” and “me.” It seems that nature makes people more positive and less self-obsessed.</p>
<p>Parks keep people happy in times of global crisis, economic shutdown and public anger. Research has also shown that transmission rates for COVID-19 are <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Is-risk-of-coronavirus-transmission-lower-15287602.php">much lower outdoors than inside</a>. As scholars who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yFzb2EUAAAAJ&hl=en">conservation</a> and how nature <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CCnUeN8AAAAJ&hl=en">contributes to human well-being</a>, we see opening up parks and creating new ones as a straightforward remedy for Americans’ current blues.</p>
<h2>Park visits are up during the pandemic</h2>
<p>According to the Hedonometer, sentiments expressed online started trending lower in mid-March as the impacts of the pandemic became clear. As lockdowns continued, they registered the lowest sentiment scores on record. Then in late May, effects from George Floyd’s death in police custody and the following protests and police response once again could be seen on Twitter. May 31, 2020 was the saddest day of the project. </p>
<p>Recent surveys of park visitors around the University of Vermont have shown people <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/sd3h6">using green spaces more</a> since COVID-19 lockdowns began. Many people reported that parks were highly important to their well-being during the pandemic. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1289428912879964160"}"></div></p>
<p>The powerful effects of nature are strongest in large parks with more trees, but smaller neighborhood parks also provide a significant boost. Their impact on happiness is real, measurable and lasting. </p>
<p>Twitter records show that parks increase happiness to a level similar to the bounce at Christmas, which typically is the happiest day of the year. Schwartz has since expanded his <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.10658.pdf">Twitter study</a> to the 25 largest cities in the U.S. and found this bounce everywhere.</p>
<p>Parks and public spaces won’t cure COVID-19 or stop police brutality, but they are far more than playgrounds. There is growing evidence that parks contribute to mental and physical health in a range of communities. </p>
<p>In a 2015 study, for example, Stanford researchers sent people out for one of two walks: through a local park or on a busy street. Those who walked in nature showed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.02.005">improved moods and better memory performance</a> compared to the urban group. And a team led by <a href="https://penniur.upenn.edu/people/eugenia-gina-south">Gina South</a> of the University of Pennsylvania showed in a 2018 study that greening and cleaning up blighted vacant lots in Philadelphia <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.0298">reduced local residents’ feelings of depression, worthlessness and poor mental health</a>. </p>
<h2>Creative strategies</h2>
<p>It isn’t easy to create new parks on the scale of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park or the Washington Mall, but smaller projects can expand outdoor space. Options include greening vacant lots, closing streets and investing in existing parks to make them safer, greener and shadier and support wildlife. </p>
<p>These initiatives don’t have to be capital-intensive. In the University of Pennsylvania study, for example, renovating a vacant lot by removing trash, planting grass and trees and installing a low fence cost only about US$1,600.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Small manmade waterfall park in Seattle, Wash." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351170/original/file-20200804-14-1qshxh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Waterfall Garden Park, a pocket park in Seattle built and maintained by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_park#/media/File:Seattle_Waterfall_Garden_03.jpg">Joe Mabel/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Urban green space is most needed in neighborhoods that have lacked funding for parks, especially given <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/nyregion/coronavirus-race-deaths.html">COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx people</a>. </p>
<p>Cities can also create parklike spaces by <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-fewer-cars-on-us-streets-now-is-the-time-to-reinvent-roadways-and-how-we-use-them-140408">closing streets to cars</a>. Many cities worldwide are currently retooling their transportation systems for the post-COVID-19 world in order to <a href="https://thecityfix.com/blog/bicycles-slower-speeds-livable-city-paris-mayor-anne-hidalgo-plans-ambitious-second-term-dario-hidalgo/">reallocate public space</a>, widen sidewalks and make more space for nature. </p>
<p>Urban designers, artists, ecologists and other citizens can play a direct role, too, creating pop-up parks and green spaces. Some advocates <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-15/a-brief-history-of-park-ing-day">transform parking spaces into mini-parks</a> with grass, potted trees and seating for just the time on the meter, to make a larger point about turning so much public space over to cars.</p>
<p>Or cities can invest a little more. Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Arlington, Virginia, have won <a href="https://www.tpl.org/parkscore">national recognition</a> for their ambitious investments in public park systems. These areas could serve as models for neighborhoods that lack access to parks. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1276558744835379201"}"></div></p>
<h2>A New Park Deal?</h2>
<p>The United States has historically driven economic recovery with major infrastructure investments, like the New Deal in the 1930s and the 2009 <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-recovery-and-reinvestment-act.asp">American Reinvestment and Recovery Act</a>. Such investments could easily include nature-positive spaces. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Parks are not panaceas, as evidenced by the widely publicized <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/nyregion/amy-cooper-false-report-charge.html">racist confrontation between a white woman and a Black birder</a> in New York’s Central Park in early July. But Hedonometer data add to a <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/7/eaax0903?utm_source=miragenews&utm_medium=miragenews&utm_campaign=news">growing body of evidence</a> that they provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807504116">clear mental health benefits</a>. Creating and expanding parks also <a href="https://www.nrpa.org/contentassets/f568e0ca499743a08148e3593c860fc5/economic-impact-study-summary.pdf">generates jobs and economic activity</a>, with much of the money spent locally. </p>
<p>We believe investments in nature are well worth it, offering both short-term solace in difficult times and long-term benefits to health, economies and communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139953/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor Ricketts has received relevant funding from the National Science Foundation, US Agency for International Development, and Johnson & Johnson. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Roman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research that measures the public mood based on Twitter posts shows that it’s currently at its lowest point in a decade. One exception: when people visit parks and green spaces.Joe Roman, Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of VermontTaylor Ricketts, Professor and Director, Gund Institute for Environment, University of VermontLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1361692020-06-11T12:18:45Z2020-06-11T12:18:45ZCity compost programs turn garbage into ‘black gold’ that boosts food security and social justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340732/original/file-20200609-21208-1x82cgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C1728%2C1148&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Compost awaiting distribution at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District's Rancho Las Virgenes compost facility, Calabasas, Calif.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mountainous-piles-of-compost-await-distribution-at-the-las-news-photo/569173321?adppopup=true">Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many Americans’ relationships with food. To relieve some of the stress associated with <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-to-stay-safe-while-buying-groceries-amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic-138683">shopping safely for groceries</a> and ensure food security, many people are once again planting “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/dining/victory-gardens-coronavirus.html">victory gardens</a>.” This tradition hearkens back to previous generations who cultivated home gardens during both World Wars.</p>
<p>Interest was high even before the pandemic. In 2014 the National Gardening Association reported that <a href="https://garden.org/special/pdf/2014-NGA-Garden-to-Table.pdf">42 million U.S. households – about 1 out of every 3 – grew some kind of food</a>, either at home or in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/healthyfood/community.htm">community gardens</a>.</p>
<p>But home gardening isn’t always easy. Poor soil quality will hamper vegetable growth and food production. And many gardeners, especially in lower-income communities, don’t have access to resources that can improve the soil. </p>
<p>We are scholars who have analyzed the power of microbes in settings that include <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YTNhbK8AAAAJ&hl=en">forest soils and permafrost</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F8ZlHPUAAAAJ&hl=en">the built environment</a>, and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sue+ishaq+google+scholar&oq=sue+ishaq+google+scholar&aqs=chrome..69i57.5176j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">digestive systems and agricultural soils</a>. In our view, the time has come for major public investments in a well-known gardening resource: compost. </p>
<p>Microbes make compost by breaking down organic matter, such as food scraps. Compost improves soil health so dramatically it’s often called “black gold.” Large-scale municipal composting is a public resource that can reduce food waste, cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote better stewardship of our most valuable natural resource: soil. </p>
<h2>How compost feeds soils</h2>
<p>Healthy soils are living mixtures of minerals, microbes, organic matter, water and air. Unhealthy soils may contain fewer microbes or less organic material. This makes them less active and less helpful for plants. Poor soils have trouble holding water, and are unable to decompose organic material into usable building blocks for new growth. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330574/original/file-20200426-163077-f8ij43.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Good-quality soil (right) looks, feels and smells different from degraded soil (left).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sue Ishaq</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Making degraded soils healthier requires <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-restore-our-soils-feed-the-microbes-79616">feeding the microbes</a>. They need new organic matter – plant or animal tissues – that they can break down and recycle. </p>
<p>In healthy soil, some of that food comes from growing plants that fix carbon from sunlight and pump almost half of it, in the form of sugars, into the soil. In exchange, the microbes provide other nutrients that plants can’t acquire on their own. </p>
<p>Soil microbes also feed on old organic matter, like leaf litter and dead roots. And new biochemical analyses suggest that when these microbes die, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.12.002">become part of soil organic matter themselves</a>. </p>
<p>To make good compost, you mix green plant waste, like vegetable peels, garden leaf litter or straw, with brown organic matter like soil or manure. Then, over weeks to months, microbes turn the mix into compost, which looks just like soil. </p>
<p>This process produces heat as the microbes break chemical bonds in the plant matter, releasing energy. Compost piles can reach internal temperatures up to 170 degrees F. The heat kills potential microbial pathogens that can ride along with manure inputs. </p>
<p>When gardeners add compost to soils, the organic matter in the compost acts like a sponge for water. It also is a reservoir for nitrogen, phosphorus and other micronutrients that plants need to grow. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/330579/original/file-20200426-163077-1dd8kqn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">High-quality compost, like this batch made from horse bedding, looks very much like healthy soil. Gardeners use it to help soil retain water and nutrients and nourish microbes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kristen DeAngelis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Access to compost is an equity issue</h2>
<p>If compost is such a great resource, why don’t more people make their own? In many ways, <a href="https://theconversation.com/inequity-takes-a-toll-on-your-gut-microbes-too-127659">healthy soil is a luxury</a>. For starters, it takes time to set up a compost pile, followed by continued maintenance – adding browns and greens at the right intervals, watering the pile and turning it over weekly in summer or monthly in winter. </p>
<p>Composting also takes tools and construction materials that not all aspiring gardeners can afford. It requires access to space, and a friendly regulatory environment that allows residents to create compost piles, which can produce odors and attract pests if they are not managed properly.</p>
<p>Factors like these are increasing interest in municipal composting programs, in which a community collects and processes residents’ organic materials. These programs typically accept food and yard waste from restaurants, schools, businesses and local residents, and create a large-scale, <a href="https://ilsr.org/neighborhood-soil-rebuilders/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwb744v7-6AIVzMDACh0gsADnEAAYASAAEgL5TPD_BwE">professionally run composting facility</a>. </p>
<p>Municipal composting saves money for communities by <a href="https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-economics-of-composting">diverting food waste from landfills</a>. It also promotes sustainability by reducing <a href="https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas#:%7E:text=Methane%20Emissions%20from%20Landfills,of%20these%20emissions%20in%202018.">emissions of methane</a>, a powerful greenhouse gas produced in landfills when waste breaks down in the absence of oxygen. And combining lots of different waste sources improves the breakdown of organic materials and generates <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2017-0028">more nutritious compost</a>. </p>
<p>Many municipal programs allot participants a certain volume of compost in return for the waste they provide. And some offer <a href="https://www.cambridgema.gov/Services/curbsidecomposting">pickup and delivery</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uAI_4o0HXuw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How Tacoma, Washington’s municipal composting program works.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Growing compost programs</h2>
<p>We encourage people with the necessary time and resources to <a href="https://www.esa.org/microbial/education-outreach/">try home composting</a>. However, creating and supporting municipal composting is necessary to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food waste and increase access to healthy soil. </p>
<p>Composting programs are sometimes available through <a href="https://ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/growing-local-fertility.pdf">local community gardens or farms</a>. Many private companies operate <a href="https://compostnow.org/compost-services/">local compost pickup services</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340726/original/file-20200609-21230-jwmjfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All San Francisco residents and businesses are required to separate their waste into compostables (green bin), recyclables (blue bin) and trash (black bin). Food wastes are composted for use by residents and on farms in the Bay area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sfenvironment.org/recycling-composting-faqs">SF Environment</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among U.S. cities, leaders in promoting city-scale composting services include <a href="https://sfenvironment.org/es/zero-waste/recycling-and-composting">San Francisco</a>, <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/services/food-and-yard/food-and-yard-waste-at-home">Seattle</a>, and smaller cities like <a href="https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/DPW/Recycling-Solid-Waste/FAQs">Burlington, Vermont</a>. These programs rely on local ordinances that either offer incentives or require restaurants and other large food waste sources to compost food waste instead of sending it to landfills. </p>
<p>Municipal composting needs consumer support to attract and retain funding and other resources. Demands for land, especially in urban settings, can spur city governments to sell underfunded or underutilized community spaces for commercial use – especially if local neighborhoods <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-019-10011-w">lack social capital to advocate for themselves</a>.</p>
<p>Promoting community-based food production and recycling waste via composting <a href="http://illinoiscomposts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Municipal-Composting-one-pager-1.pdf">provides many benefits</a>. It creates jobs, expands access to healthy fruits and vegetables, improves the local environment – especially the soil – and helps <a href="http://www.safsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Silvestri_Estrada_SoilsCommunity_Final.pdf">mitigate climate change</a>. Best of all, investing in local agriculture helps boost the local economy, especially for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czu109">those who need it most</a>: people seeking better access to safe and nutritious food.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen DeAngelis receives funding from the DOE and NSF to study soil health, microbial communities and climate change. She is also affiliated with the Massachusetts Healthy Soils Action Plan Working Group as a volunteer and part of the 30-member Work Group of soil and wetland scientists, conservationists, farmers, foresters, and researchers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwynne Mhuireach receives funding from USDA NIFA to explore soil microbial communities in urban gardens. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Ishaq receives funding from USDA NIFA for research on soil microbial communities in agriculture. </span></em></p>Turning food scraps and yard trimmings into compost improves soil, making it easier for people to grow their own food. City composting programs spread those benefits more widely.Kristen DeAngelis, Associate Professor of Microbiology, UMass AmherstGwynne Mhuireach, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Biology and the Built Environment, University of OregonSue Ishaq, Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of MaineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1392852020-06-09T14:18:49Z2020-06-09T14:18:49ZCities must end homeless camp evictions during the coronavirus pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340207/original/file-20200607-176595-1dnbac5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C413%2C5991%2C3700&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A homeless woman sits outside a fenced-off camp in Vancouver after a 12 p.m. deadline for the park to be vacated in Vancouver on May 9, 2020. The province relocated hundreds of people from tent encampments in Vancouver and Victoria to hotel and community centre accommodations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Those who can stay at home during COVID-19 are <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnTory/status/1254096636420263936">praised for self-isolating</a>. But where should those without stable housing shelter in place?</p>
<p>In the early days of the pandemic, cities like <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/05/15/standoff-between-homeless-city-officials-at-downtown-toronto-encampments.html">Toronto</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-homeless-camps-covid-coronavirus-1.5580368">Edmonton</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/victoria-allows-camping-homeless-physically-distance-1.5516887">Victoria</a> proudly announced moratoriums on the removal of homeless tent encampments.</p>
<p>But as the number of <a href="https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/its-awful-calgary-homeless-sleeping-outdoors-over-fears-of-catching-covid-19">tents has grown</a> in many cities, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/homeless-toronto-encampments-1.5571750">some have resumed</a> destroying encampments, even as COVID-19 cases <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2020/05/22/ontarios-covid-19-testing-is-falling-well-below-capacity-as-fewer-samples-collected.html">were growing</a> in some provinces and a <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6952845/toronto-homeless-shelters-ontario-assistance/">lack of universal testing in shelters</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/ForcedEvictions.aspx">Forced evictions</a> are <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/human-rights-approach-national-protocol-homeless-encampments-canada%C2%A0">a violation of international human rights law</a> in normal circumstances. The global pandemic is anything but normal. Now, the destruction of encampments <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/homeless-shelters/unsheltered-homelessness.html">poses a significant public health risk</a>. </p>
<p>Encampment residents continue to be framed as a risk to public health instead of having their <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/154734">heightened vulnerability</a> recognized. British Columbia, for example, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-enacts-order-to-move-tent-city-residents-into-hotels-amid-covid-19-pandemic-1.5545146">enacted a public safety order</a> to dismantle encampments in Vancouver and Victoria using police powers. Concerned doctors stressed the need to “<a href="https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/doctors-call-for-patience-compassion-as-decampment-of-tent-cities-continues-1.4923137">balance safety and the province’s wishes with trauma-informed practice</a>.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/10/bay-area-scrambles-to-keep-coronavirus-from-spreading-among-homeless/">Other cities</a> and <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/sacramento-new-stay-at-home-orders-prohibit-sweeping-homeless-encampments-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/103-909add39-bdec-45d0-b6fa-c721222d4c97">regions</a> have heeded public health advice to prohibit homeless sweeps to curb the spread of the virus.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/a1acce66bedb3310f39a5c389d849461">San Francisco</a> has even created a “safe sleeping village” equipped with sanitation facilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340214/original/file-20200607-176560-5bbanc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rectangles designed to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by encouraging social distancing line a city-sanctioned homeless encampment at San Francisco’s Civic Center on May 21, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Noah Berger)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All cities should follow that lead, starting with a moratorium on encampment evictions. The city of Toronto provides a good case for why this human rights-based approach is so urgent.</p>
<h2>Toronto’s unprepared shelter system</h2>
<p>Despite Toronto’s <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11524-008-9270-2">experience with SARS</a>, the city’s shelter system was <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-evictions-dont-solve-homeless-problems">woefully unprepared</a> to deal with the current public health crisis. Since the pandemic began, <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-latest-city-of-toronto-news/covid-19-status-of-cases-in-toronto/">more than 500 people in the shelter system have tested positive</a> for the virus, and <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8ed7-Toronto-Active-Shelter-Outbreaks-June-5-2020.pdf">more than a dozen shelters</a> have reported outbreaks — one of which <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/st-simons-outbreak-toronto-1.5590942">temporarily closed</a> as a result. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/st-simons-outbreak-toronto-1.5590942">Four people</a> have died. There is no universal testing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C371%2C3600%2C2193&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340206/original/file-20200607-176546-hfcw9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">City of Toronto workers clean up garbage under the Gardiner Expressway as homeless people camp out in tents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto in May 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Without the ability to physically distance in shelters, homeless people have been forced to camp outdoors. Yet the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/29/how-can-billions-of-people-stay-home-to-beat-covid-19-without-a-safe-place-to-live">city has ignored calls</a> to provide encampments with sanitation facilities to ensure people can follow public health directives. </p>
<p>Instead, the city of Toronto has used police to <a href="https://www.policingthepandemic.ca/">disproportionately ticket</a> homeless people, forcibly remove them from public spaces and destroy their belongings. The uneven enforcement of lockdown rules, and claims to public space, was on full display when thousands recently gathered in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park and were met with <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/2020/05/24/mostly-white-covidiots-at-trinity-bellwoods-think-the-rules-dont-apply-to-them-theyre-right.html">little more</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-in-toronto-may-25-1.5583095">than warnings</a>. </p>
<p>While we applaud the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/04/29/city-plans-to-clear-out-homeless-encampments-and-offer-temporary-housing-in-two-apartment-buildings-slated-for-demolition.html">measures taken by the city</a> to provide temporary housing for those living in encampments, they are insufficient to house the growing number of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/05/14/tents-housing-the-homeless-are-popping-up-around-toronto-heres-what-the-city-is-doing-about-it.html">encampment residents</a>. And without safe shelters and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.12.20059618">universal testing</a>, the city’s attempts to contain COVID-19 don’t justify encampment sweeps.</p>
<h2>The right to housing in a pandemic</h2>
<p>Under international law, everyone has the right to housing. While societies work toward securing the <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/861177?ln=en#record-files-collapse-header">right to housing for all</a>, cities must ensure there’s sufficient shelter space and uphold the human rights of encampment residents.</p>
<p>Prohibitions on tent encampments and evictions have been successfully challenged by housing advocates and residents in Canada and the United States. In a <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2008/2008bcsc1363/2008bcsc1363.html?autocompleteStr=victoria%20(city)%20v%20a&autocompletePos=4">series of cases</a> in British Columbia, courts have found prohibitions on shelters in public space violated Section 7 of the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-15.html">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>. The <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2016/2016bcsc584/2016bcsc584.html?resultIndex=2">shortage of safe and adequate shelter space</a> has been a key finding in these cases. </p>
<p>Similarly, a <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-35845/15-35845-2019-04-01.html">U.S. court ruled</a> it was cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize homeless people sleeping outside in cities with insufficient shelter space. Now, with shelters full and a failure to implement public health requirements, many cities are ripe for a successful tent city challenge.</p>
<p>In fact, in April, <a href="https://ccla.org/coronavirus-update-ccla-defends-homeless/">advocacy groups launched a constitutional challenge</a> against the city of Toronto for the way it has operated shelters during the pandemic. As a result of an <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-city-of-toronto-activists-partially-settle-court-fight-over-homeless/">interim settlement with claimants</a>, the city has agreed to ensure shelter beds are two metres apart and report on their progress — a necessary first step. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340208/original/file-20200607-176560-nxs9my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Doug Johnson Hatlem, a worker at The Sanctuary, a respite centre in Toronto, hands a tent to a homeless person in April 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While not challenging the encampment sweeps directly, the case has highlighted the inadequacies of Toronto’s shelter system and its response to the pandemic. Indeed, <a href="https://ccla.org/cclanewsite/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Progress-Report-May-19-2020_Redacted.pdf">the first</a> <a href="https://ccla.org/cclanewsite/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Progress-Report-May-25-2020-Final_Redacted.pdf">and second</a> progress reports confirm that many shelters continue to be at or over capacity.</p>
<p>Without sufficient safe shelter space and universal testing, cities are forcing people into encampments, limiting their ability to stay safe during the pandemic by continuing evictions, violating international human rights and probably domestic constitutional law too. Cities must do better. </p>
<p>Toronto, and all cities, should immediately declare a moratorium on encampment evictions and institute universal testing in shelters. As we continue to spend most of our time in the safety of our homes, those without access to private space or safe shelters have the right to stay safe in the public spaces we all share.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Estair Van Wagner sits on the Board of Directors for the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Potamianos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Without sufficient safe shelter space and universal testing, cities are forcing homeless people into encampments, limiting their ability to stay safe and violating international human rights laws.Estair Van Wagner, Assistant Professor, Law, York University, CanadaAlexandra Potamianos, J.D. (Juris Doctor) student at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1376482020-05-01T15:03:59Z2020-05-01T15:03:59ZFace masks: what the Spanish flu can teach us about making them compulsory<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331959/original/file-20200501-42913-1f48dqp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Red Cross nurses in San Francisco, 1918. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should people be forced to wear face masks in public? That’s the question facing governments as more countries unwind their lockdowns. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/24/face-masks-mandatory-spread-coronavirus-government">Over 30</a> countries have made masks compulsory in public, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/countries-wearing-face-masks-compulsory-200423094510867.html">including</a> Germany, Austria and Poland. This is despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-everyone-be-wearing-face-masks-its-complicated-135548">the science</a> saying masks do little to protect wearers, and <a href="https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2764367/effectiveness-surgical-cotton-masks-blocking-sars-cov-2-controlled-comparison">only might</a> prevent them from infecting other people. </p>
<p>Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, has nonetheless announced new guidelines <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/28/sturgeon-urges-scots-to-wear-coronavirus-face-masks-for-shopping-and-travel">advising Scots</a> to wear masks for shopping or on public transport, while the UK government <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/30/uk-get-new-guidance-face-masks-next-week-12636404/">is expected to</a> announce a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8247407/Government-tell-Brits-wear-facemasks-work-shops-public-stop-coronavirus-spread.html">new stance</a> shortly. Meanwhile, US vice president Mike Pence has controversially <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/28/mike-pence-face-mask-mayo-clinic-visit-coronavirus">refused to</a> mask up.</p>
<p>This all has echoes of the great influenza pandemic, aka <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-historians-ignored-the-spanish-flu-101950">the Spanish flu</a>, which <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/1918-pandemic-history.htm">killed some</a> 50 million people in 1918-20. It’s a <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198819660.001.0001/oso-9780198819660">great case study</a> in how people will put up with very tough restrictions, so long as they think they have merit. </p>
<h2>The great shutdown</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198819660.001.0001/oso-9780198819660">In the US</a>, no disease in history led to such intrusive restrictions as the great influenza. These included closures of schools, churches, soda fountains, theatres, movie houses, department stores and barber shops, and regulations on how much space should be allocated to people in indoor public places. </p>
<p>There were fines against coughing, sneezing, spitting, kissing and even talking outdoors – those the Boston Globe called “big talkers”. Special influenza police were hired to round up children playing on street corners and occasionally even in their own backyards. </p>
<p>Restrictions were similarly tough in Canada, Australia and South Africa, though much less so in the UK and continental Europe. Where there were such restrictions, the public accepted it all with few objections. Unlike the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4422154/">long history of cholera</a>, especially in Europe, or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/312523">the plague</a> in the Indian subcontinent from 1896 to around 1902, no mass violence erupted and blame was rare – even against Spaniards or minorities.</p>
<p>Face masks came closest to being the measure that people most objected to, even though masks were often popular at first. The Oklahoma City Times in October 1918 described an “army of young women war workers” appearing “on crowded street cars and at their desks with their faces muffled in gauze shields”. From the same month, The Ogden Standard reported that “masks are the vogue”, while the Washington Times told of how they were becoming “general” in Detroit. </p>
<h2>Shifting science</h2>
<p>There was scientific debate from the beginning about whether the masks were effective, but the game began to change after French bacteriologist <a href="https://www.famousscientists.org/charles-nicolle/">Charles Nicolle</a> discovered in October 1918 that the influenza was much smaller than any other known bacterium.</p>
<p>The news spread rapidly, even in small-town American newspapers. Cartoons were published that read, “like using barbed wire fences to shut out flies”. Yet this was just at the point that mortality rates were ramping up in the western states of the US and Canada. Despite Nicolle’s discovery, various authorities began making masks compulsory. San Francisco was the first major US city to do so in October 1918, continuing on and off over a three-month period. </p>
<p>Alberta in Canada did likewise, and New South Wales, Australia, followed suit when the disease arrived in January 1919 (the state basing its decision on scientific evidence older than Charles Nicolle’s findings). The only American state to make masks mandatory was (briefly) California, while on the east coast and in other countries including the UK they were merely recommended for most people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/331958/original/file-20200501-42923-1k8sptw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">San Francisco gathering, 1918.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Numerous photographs, like the one above, survive of large crowds wearing masks in the months after Nicolle’s discovery. But many had begun to distrust masks, and saw them as a violation of civil liberties. According to a November 1918 front page report from Utah’s Garland City Globe:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The average man wore the mask slung to the back of his neck until he came in sight of a policeman, and most people had holes cut into them to stick their cigars and cigarettes through.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Disobedience aplenty</h2>
<p>San Francisco saw the creation of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/coronavirus-pandemic-1918-protests-california">anti-mask league</a>, as well as protests and civil disobedience. People refused to wear masks in public or flaunted wearing them improperly. Some went to prison for not wearing them or refusing to pay fines. </p>
<p>In Tucson, Arizona, a banker insisted on going to jail instead of paying his fine for not masking up. In other western states, judges regularly refused to wear them in courtrooms. In Alberta, “scores” were fined in police courts for not wearing masks. In New South Wales, reports of violations flooded newspapers immediately after masks were made compulsory. Not even stretcher bearers carrying influenza victims followed the rules. </p>
<p>England was different. Masks were only advised as a precautionary measure in large cities, and then only for certain groups, such as influenza nurses in Manchester and Liverpool. Serious questions about efficacy only arose in March 1919, and only within the scientific community. Most British scientists now united against them, with the Lancet calling masks a “dubious remedy”.</p>
<p>These arguments were steadily being bolstered by statistics from the US. The head of California’s state board of health had presented late 1918 findings from San Francisco’s best run hospital showing that 78% of nurses became infected despite their careful wearing of masks. </p>
<p>Physicians and health authorities also presented statistics comparing San Francisco’s mortality rates with nearby San Mateo, Los Angeles and Chicago, none of which had made masks compulsory. Their mortality rates were either “no worse” or less. By the end of the pandemic in 1919, most scientists and health commissions had come to a consensus <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-everyone-be-wearing-face-masks-its-complicated-135548">not unlike ours</a> about the benefits of wearing masks. </p>
<p>Clearly, many of these details are relevant today. It’s telling that a frivolous requirement became such an issue while more severe rules banned things like talking on street corners, kissing your fiancé or attending religious services – even in the heart of America’s Bible belt. </p>
<p>Perhaps there’s something about masks and human impulses that has yet to be studied properly. If mass resistance to the mask should arise in the months to come, it will be interesting to see if new research will produce any useful findings on phobias about covering the face.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Cohn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over 30 countries today are making people wear masks in public, despite serious doubts from scientists.Samuel Cohn, Professor of History, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1256192019-11-21T20:09:57Z2019-11-21T20:09:57ZE-scooters, bikes and urban mobility: lessons from the streets of Paris<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300678/original/file-20191107-10935-1rthtu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C59%2C4000%2C2473&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rue des Tournelles, Paris, November 5, 2019. Four Voi scooters wait hopefully for potential clients, with a Lime and Dott sprawling nearby. Behind them, a Velib' rider has made his choice. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leighton Kille/The Conversation France </span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mobility is a crucial challenge for global cities in the 21st century. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50401308">growing impact</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/climate/climate-change-food-supply.html">immense risks</a> of climate change are becoming clearer every day, and cities are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/29/climate/coastal-cities-underwater.html">on the front line</a>. Globally, transportation generates <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data">14% of all greenhouse gases</a>, much of it for personal transportation.</p>
<p>To reduce their carbon footprint and increase mobility options, many cities have been investing in <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/pdf/10.1289/EHP3754">bike-share systems</a>. One of the largest is Paris’s <a href="https://www.velib-metropole.fr/en_GB/discover/service">Velib’</a>, with more than <a href="https://velib.philibert.info/">14,000 bicycles</a>. Launched in 2007, the system is built around docks – it’s there that customers pick up and drop off bikes, and they also serve as recharging stations for electric models.</p>
<p>Since 2017, a host of start-ups has emerged offering fleets of dockless bikes and electric scooters in cities around the world. The concept was simple: users downloaded an app and paid, grabbed a bike or scooter, and off they went, leaving it wherever they wanted after. Floating on an <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/03/reuters-america-scooter-startup-bird-raises-275-million-in-latest-funding-round.html">ocean of venture capital</a>, the firms took advantage of a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/27/17676670/electric-scooter-rental-bird-lime-skip-spin-cities">legal void</a> and distributed thousands of bicycles and scooters in cities large and small around the world.</p>
<h2>Destination, the City of Light</h2>
<p>For mobility start-ups, Paris offered an irresistible target. The region’s population is more than 12 million and it attracted approximately <a href="https://press.parisinfo.com/news/press-releases/Paris-record-tourist-numbers-in-2017">40 million tourists in 2017</a>, each one a potential customer. For better or worse, the city’s leadership initially took a hands-off approach to free-floating bikes and scooters and the result was predictable: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2019/09/10/e-scooter-havoc-across-french-cities-is-a-crackdown-needed/">chaos</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300680/original/file-20191107-10905-16tamrk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A snapped Lime lies abandoned in Paris. Attempting to speed their launch and minimise costs, e-mobility firms have often used off-the-shelf scooters that die quickly on city streets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leighton Kille/The Conversation France</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the height the boom in the summer of 2019, more than a dozen firms were filling Paris streets with vehicles of all sorts. Not only was the free-for-all <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/12/electric-scooter-victims-sue-paris-authorities-demand-end-anarchy/">bad for residents and visitors</a>, it was cruel to the start-ups themselves. E-scooters in particular proved to cost far more than they bring in over their <a href="https://qz.com/1561654/how-long-does-a-scooter-last-less-than-a-month-louisville-data-suggests/">extremely short lives</a> and the companies burned through their cash.</p>
<p>The result was high turnover, with firms exiting the market almost as quickly as they entered. At least six Paris e-scooter operators have <a href="https://www.clubic.com/mobilie-urbaine-electrique/actualite-862650-trottinettes-electriques-6-12-operateurs-jettent-provisoirement-eponge-paris.html">“suspended operations”</a> (read, given up), and that follows the departure of free-floating bikes from <a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/les-velos-en-free-floating-ofo-mis-en-pause-a-paris-18-12-2018-7971831.php">Gobee, Obike and Ofo</a>. The most recent victim is Coup, an affiliate of Bosch, which announced November 25 that it would suspend operations in Paris and Berlin because its electric-scooter service was <a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/info-paris-ile-de-france-oise/transports/scooters-en-libre-service-l-operateur-coup-va-mettre-fin-a-ses-activites-a-paris-25-11-2019-8201487.php">“economically non-viable”</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the numerous failures and the city’s demand that companies show <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2019/08/24/trottinettes-electriques-en-attendant-les-regles_5502278_3224.html">greater responsibility</a>, the venture-capital-driven optimism continues. Newer entrants such as Jump, Wind and Donkey Republic are all hoping to beat the dockless jinx, and more will certainly come. This makes Paris an interesting case study, where regulatory loopholes and brute capitalism meet, with the city’s streets as the battlefield.</p>
<h2>Easy come, easy go</h2>
<p>A key puzzle is why the companies that were the first to arrive in Paris exited almost as quickly. Shouldn’t they have had <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/firstmover.asp">“first-mover advantage”</a>, allowing them to keep others at bay? Unfortunately, there were powerful economic realities at play in the micromobility space that made their reigns brief, and that will likely do away with many of the newer entrants as well.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Low barriers to entry</strong>: When new firms enter an industry, there are often factors that protect existing operators – patents, deep pockets or regulations, for example. But all an e-mobility start-up needs are a modest amount of capital, a website and an app. Scooters are manufactured as cheaply as possible overseas, distributed in the targeted city, and from there it’s up to users and teams of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/business/lime-bird-scooters-rechargers.html">freelance “juicers”</a> to keep things moving. Operators can go wherever they deem attractive, and that’s bad news for existing operators.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Non-existent switching costs</strong>: When customers shift between, say, smartphones, there’s often a cost in terms of money or time and effort. When it comes to e-scooters or dockless bikes, however, they’re all nearly identical other than the logos. The same goes for the applications and the pricing – in Europe, the unlocking costs are generally 1 euro ($1.14) and the per-minute charges around 0.25 (30 cents). So other than the time spent installing an app, there is no reason for customers to be loyal to any one operator.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Abundant substitutes</strong>: Today most urban centres offer a wealth of options for solving the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lastmile.asp">last-mile problem</a>. First among these are <a href="https://www.bikesharingmap.com">bike-share systems</a>, which are often city-supported, with dedicated maintenance teams and docks that automatically recharge electric models. Other options include mass transportation, taxis, ride-sharing services, a personal bike, scooter or hoverboard, and the list goes on. Indeed, a <a href="http://transports.blog.lemonde.fr/2019/06/06/enquete-inedite-utilisateurs-trottinettes-electriques/">June 2019 survey</a> of Paris e-scooter users revealed that 47% would have simply walked if one hadn’t been available.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Misaligned interests</strong>: E-mobility operators have the benefit of being untethered by fixed infrastructure, but that also creates a situation where riders and “juicers” are the de facto service providers. This creates <a href="https://www.oxford-review.com/oxford-review-encyclopaedia-terms/distributed-agency-definition-application/">“distributed agency” problems</a>, where these individuals’ interests may not align with those of the firms – for example, users can drop scooters in locations they’re unlikely to be rented or even <a href="https://laist.com/2019/06/13/bird_graveyard_scooter_instagram_q_and_a.php">destroy them</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Not so green after all</h2>
<p>Beyond these cruel economic realities, the business model currently used by operators of dockless e-scooters and bikes imposes a range of <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/externality.asp">negative externalities</a>, which are costs imposed on those not directly involved in a transaction between two parties – an e-scooter left sprawling after being used is a simple example. Cities find themselves stuck with having to impose order, discard broken vehicles, and sort out accidents, minor and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/13/tv-presenter-emily-hartridge-dies-in-scooter-crash">sometimes fatal</a>.</p>
<p>And while e-scooters are often promoted as a “green” mode of transportation, research indicates that, as a whole, dockless systems have <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2da8">high environmental costs</a>. In <a href="https://chesterenergyandpolicy.com/2019/01/28/its-a-bird-its-a-lime-its-dockless-scooters-but-can-these-electric-powered-mobility-options-be-considered-sustainable-using-life-cycle-analysis/">some scenarios</a>, their per-kilometre lifetime carbon emissions that are comparable to those of midsize gas-powered cars.</p>
<p>Scooter companies and users don’t pay these external costs, but they <a href="https://www.lesnumeriques.com/trottinette-electrique/dott-en-veut-a-bird-lime-responsables-desamour-trottinettes-n88947.html">damage the firms’ public image</a> and that’s no small matter in a battle for a market that has a wealth of competitors and <a href="https://qz.com/1561654/how-long-does-a-scooter-last-less-than-a-month-louisville-data-suggests/">non-existent margins</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300686/original/file-20191107-10935-c5f50p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paris, Rue de l'Abbé de l'Epée and the Boulevard Saint-Michel, May 27, 2019. Eight Birds, one Jump and a Mobike try to temp city residents and visitors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leighton Kille/The Conversation France</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Some hope on battlefield</h2>
<p>All this makes the situation ominous for any current operator of dockless e-mobility services, and enormously complicate the task of any start-up wishing to launch a competing service. A few of the possibilities:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>New and ideally patented innovations can differentiate what are essentially interchangeable services and thereafter create entry barriers – say, scooters with markedly superior battery performance or unique safety features. For example, <a href="https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/90161/wind-unveils-new-e-scooter-with-industry-first-swappable-battery/">Wind</a> recently introduced scooters with swappable batteries that speed recharging.</p></li>
<li><p>Interconnection of related services (or <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economiesofscope.asp">economies of scope</a>). Uber has started offering electric bikes and scooters through the same app that allows customers to call a car ride or order food. In a sense, Paris has long used the same all-in-once approach, connecting the city’s regional rail and metro with the Velib’ bike-sharing system through the same <a href="http://www.navigo.fr/">Navigo card</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Complementary partnerships. <a href="https://www.li.me/second-street/lime-google-maps-integration-expands-over-80-new-cities">Lime</a> is now available on Google Maps, increasing the odds that it will be chosen by those looking for the best available routes.</p></li>
<li><p>Change the value propositions and service delivery to create a <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2019/09/24/how-digital-businesses-can-leverage-the-high-cost-for-consumers-to-switch-platforms/">lock-in effect</a>. For example, firms could target corporate customers or rent for longer periods, something Bird has introduced in select cities. This has the advantage for operators of making customers responsible for charging and could theoretically cause them to behave more responsibly.</p></li>
<li><p>Negotiate contracts. Many cities have effectively banned scooters, including New York and London, but that also creates an opportunity a firm can obtain an official contract. That’s what happened in San Francisco, and while fleet sizes remain <a href="https://sf.curbed.com/2019/10/15/20915198/san-francisco-e-scooter-electronic-escooter-scooters-sf">strictly controlled</a>, for operators it’s better than being driven out of business in an all-for-none brawl.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>No easy answers</h2>
<p>It’s hard to predict how the e-mobility industry will evolve, but the low entry barriers, non-existent switching costs, abundant substitutes, distributed agency problems, and negative externalities will not disappear anytime soon. That makes it supremely difficult for any one operator to remain in place, much less dominate a market. </p>
<p>Worse, because there are no barriers to entry, new firms can show up overnight, a fresh threat to those that had managed to survive up to that point. While some companies are trying to counter some of these adverse conditions, the headwinds are stiff and the story so far is anything but reassuring.</p>
<p>So which start-up will win the urban mobility battle? Quite possibly, none of the above.<br>
</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300687/original/file-20191107-10924-p94sa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An Ofo and an Obike come out after an extended dip in the Seine, June 20, 2019. Both firms gave up trying to crack the Paris market long ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Leighton Kille/The Conversation France</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p><em>The origin of this text and its main arguments gained from insightful conversations with <a href="https://www.emlv.fr/en/team/dan-prudhomme/">Professor Dan Prud'Homme</a> (EMLV Business School). <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/leighton-kille-173484/">Leighton Kille</a> of The Conversation France contributed examples, resources and photographs, and edited the text for clarity</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiago Ratinho ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>In major cities around the world, dockless scooters and bikes are everywhere, yet the companies themselves are often breathtakingly short-lived. Basic economic concepts give us clues why.Tiago Ratinho, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, IÉSEG School of ManagementLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1189312019-06-18T12:16:23Z2019-06-18T12:16:23ZSurveillance cameras will soon be unrecognisable – time for an urgent public conversation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279992/original/file-20190618-118505-1rkskn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Camera never lies.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businesswoman-on-blurred-background-using-futuristic-1087470950?src=8S5H3HpVCq7PWLDR8qK20Q-1-7&studio=1">sdecoret</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is often <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8160757.stm">argued</a> that <a href="https://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/britain-now-officially-the-most-surveilled-state-in-the-world/">the UK is the most surveilled</a> country on the planet. This may or may not have been the case in the past but there are <a href="https://www.disnetwork.co.uk/12-facts-cctv-surveillance-uk/">certainly now</a> millions of surveillance cameras in public spaces – not to mention private buildings and homes. Behind those lenses they are changing in ways that people are often barely aware of, with privacy implications that should be widely discussed as a matter of urgency. </p>
<p><a href="https://videosurveillance.blog.gov.uk/2019/03/21/the-debate-on-automatic-facial-recognition-continues/">Automatic face recognition</a> is currently the hot ticket in this industry, having been introduced in a number of cities around the world, in the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/some-us-cities-moving-real-time-facial-surveillance/">US</a>, <a href="https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/ai/facial-recognition-cameras-5-countries/">China</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-security/german-police-test-facial-recognition-cameras-at-berlin-station-idUSKBN1AH4VR">Germany</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-surveillance/singapore-to-test-facial-recognition-on-lampposts-stoking-privacy-fears-idUSKBN1HK0RV">Singapore</a>. The police argue that piloting such systems has allowed them to test the technology to help identify potential terrorists and other known offenders. Yet this has to be weighed against different concerns. The broadest is our expectation of privacy and anonymity in public places - and whether this is a step too far towards our every move being visible to the state. </p>
<p>Then there is the question of how well these face recognition systems work at present. Their success rate at recognising faces <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/met-police-facial-recognition-success-south-wales-trial-home-office-false-positive-a8345036.html">has been</a> shown to be as low as 2%. Linked to this is an inbuilt bias within the software that makes the technology <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/technology/facial-recognition-race-artificial-intelligence.html">far less accurate</a> at <a href="https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/resist-facial-recognition">identifying</a> darker skinned people and women. It therefore has the potential to exacerbate tensions between ethnic minorities and the police. </p>
<p>This could be compounded by another contentious issue, which is the police using so-called “watch list” databases of faces against which it is trying to match live images. Typically these databases include policing images of people taken in custody, who may never have been convicted of a crime and are unlikely to have consented to their data being used in this way. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279995/original/file-20190618-118530-k8luh1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Watching you not watching me.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businesswoman-on-blurred-background-using-futuristic-1087470950?src=8S5H3HpVCq7PWLDR8qK20Q-1-7&studio=1">MY Stock</a></span>
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<p>For these reasons the use of automatic face recognition software has been very controversial, and until the technology is more reliable we should probably be very cautious in how we use it. There have been two significant pilots in the UK in recent times, in the <a href="https://www.south-wales.police.uk/en/news-room/introduction-of-facial-recognition-into-south-wales-police/">south of Wales</a> and in <a href="https://www.met.police.uk/live-facial-recognition-trial/">London</a>. Both are the subject of judicial review actions, brought respectively by civil liberties organisations <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/facial-recognition-technology-south-wales-16305359">Liberty</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/facial-recognition-uk-police-london-inaccurate-legal-challenge-judicial-review-trials-stratford-a8463541.html">Big Brother Watch</a>, which are due to conclude in the coming months. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/setting-precedents-for-privacy-the-uk-legal-challenges-bringing-surveillance-into-the-open-117639">Setting precedents for privacy: the UK legal challenges bringing surveillance into the open</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the US, meanwhile, the city of San Francisco <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/us/facial-recognition-ban-san-francisco.html">banned</a> the use of face recognition in its public systems in May. Other American cities are <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/how-a-facial-recognition-ban-could-come-to-your-city-soon/">expected</a> to follow suit – with face recognition software currently <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/some-us-cities-moving-real-time-facial-surveillance/">being used</a> in the likes of Chicago, New York and Detroit. The technology has also <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/05/28/toronto-police-chief-releases-report-on-use-of-facial-recognition-technology.html">generated much debate</a> in Canada, where it is in use in Toronto and some other cities. </p>
<h2>Tomorrow’s world</h2>
<p>Face recognition highlights bigger questions around which types of surveillance cameras and systems are acceptable to society. This question is complicated by the fact that surveillance cameras are becoming more sophisticated and computerised without necessarily looking much different. There is no signage or information that tells us about their enhanced capabilities, which means the activities behind them become less transparent. </p>
<p>As the technology has been miniaturised and costs have fallen, new types of cameras have emerged, including <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/30/traditional-police-notebook-gives-way-body-worn-video-police/">body-worn video devices</a>, <a href="https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2018/09/these-police-drones-are-watching-you/">drones</a>, <a href="https://www.driving.co.uk/news/features/revolutionary-dash-cam-portal-makes-sending-police-videos-dangerous-driving-doddle/">dash</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40920095">head cams</a>. At the same time, imaging and recording techniques have become more and more standardised. This has allowed for greater connectivity between systems and has raised quality to the point that images can be trustworthy evidence in legal proceedings. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279996/original/file-20190618-118497-1cabm6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Body cams: already in use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-19th-april-2019-close-1397810531?src=BheoQpeNZ1VjYavPteecVA-1-26&studio=1">John Gomez</a></span>
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<p>Besides face recognition, we are seeing the emergence of cameras <a href="https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/07/19/police-bodycams-get-tech-that-can-identify-faces-and-people/">capable of</a> object tracking and recognition, plus advances in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20629671">noise</a> or <a href="https://thenextweb.com/the-next-police/2018/11/29/ai-scanner-detect-drugs-mail/">smell</a> analysis. Police forces in the US and UK <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2186512-exclusive-uk-police-wants-ai-to-stop-violent-crime-before-it-happens/">have been</a> trialling systems that predict how likely individuals are to commit a crime. It is all a quantum leap away from the old CCTV cameras with which we are familiar. </p>
<p>Governance and regulation is having to evolve quickly to keep abreast of this environment. To this end, surveillance cameras in England and Wales are now regulated by the specialist office of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/surveillance-camera-commissioner">Surveillance Camera Commissioner</a>; along with the <a href="https://ico.org.uk">Information Commissioner’s Office</a>, which has responsibility for overseeing data protection in the UK. Also relevant to the use of face recognition systems is the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/biometrics-commissioner">Office of the Biometrics Commissioner</a>.</p>
<h2>Surveillance Camera Day</h2>
<p>Most surveys <a href="https://www.le.ac.uk/oerresources/criminology/msc/unit8/page_16.htm">suggest that</a> the public are in favour of basic CCTV cameras, but the question for those who set the rules is whether citizens would still support these systems if they knew what they were becoming capable of. Judging by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/16/facial-recognition-useless-police-dangerous-met-inaccurate">most reactions</a> in the media to face recognition, it seems not. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1101&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1101&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279998/original/file-20190618-118526-1hrz7rk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1101&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The future once.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cctv-surveillance-camera-375997810?src=rmfzlnrmQickyz0pxFCNaQ-1-3&studio=1">TUM2282</a></span>
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<p>I suspect that most of the advances in technology could be used to improve the system if they were regulated properly, but cameras must be seen to be delivered in the interests of society and with the support of voters. So where should policymakers draw a line in the sand?</p>
<p>To help with this, a world first is about to take place in the UK on June 20: <a href="https://videosurveillance.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/23/get-involved-in-surveillance-camera-day/">Surveillance Camera Day</a>. This is not intended to be a celebration of surveillance cameras but to allow people to influence how they develop by raising awareness about their capabilities, merits and consequences. It will include everything from <a href="http://www.crisp-surveillance.com/blog/194144/announcing-national-surveillance-camera-day">open days</a> at a number of CCTV control centres to public factsheets to discussions in the media. Everyone can contribute to the conversation through #cameraday2019. </p>
<p>The direction of travel for surveillance cameras does not need to be towards a defined technological determinism where it inevitably becomes more and more intrusive. Surveillance Camera Day represents an opportunity for everyone to help shape the discussion. It will be interesting to observe how the general public and other players respond.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Webster is an unpaid advisor to the Surveillance Camera Commissioner and is responsible for leading the civil engagement element of the national surveillance camera strategy.</span></em></p>If you thought police surveillance was mere CCTV, it’s time to catch up on what’s happening on the other side of the lens.William Webster, Professor and Director, Centre for Research into Information, Surveillance and Privacy, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1168292019-06-06T19:30:38Z2019-06-06T19:30:38ZIf it’s voluntary for developers to make affordable housing deals with councils, what can you expect?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276243/original/file-20190523-187176-jyd4lt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many places overseas require developers to build a certain proportion of affordable housing, but Victoria has opted for a voluntary negotiated approach.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/construction-site-new-homes-792276415?src=ZI91x3LooGoRAPaCRrhDkg-1-19">Lichtwolke/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Housing in Australia is broken. Across the country, <a href="https://anglicare-ras.com/">only 2% of private rentals are affordable for a person on the minimum wage</a>. Less than 1% are affordable for a single person on the pension. There are 650,000 households who can’t afford housing at market rates in Australia right now and this figure is projected to reach <a href="https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/documents/522/Modelling_costs_of_housing_provision_FINAL.pdf">over a million by 2036</a>. </p>
<p>The abject failure to meet the housing needs of lower-income households is partially due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-reboot-affordable-housing-funding-not-scrap-it-72861">decades of underfunded social housing</a> by government. Since the 1960s, the proportion of public housing in Australia has almost <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111149608551610">halved from 8% </a><a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/housing-assistance-in-australia-2018/contents/social-housing-dwellings">to 4.6%</a> of total housing stock. </p>
<p>Scott Morrison’s newly re-elected government made no election statements relevant to social housing. That suggests this situation is unlikely to change soon.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-reboot-affordable-housing-funding-not-scrap-it-72861">Australia needs to reboot affordable housing funding, not scrap it</a>
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<h2>Leaving it to the private sector</h2>
<p>As governments have stepped away from directly delivering affordable housing, more emphasis has been placed on the private sector and market forces to deliver this social good. Internationally, policies like <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/policy/ahuri-briefs/Understanding-inclusionary-zoning">inclusionary zoning</a> require developers to provide a portion of affordable housing in return for planning permission. </p>
<p>For example, in San Francisco inclusionary zoning has been in place since 1992. This policy has <a href="http://default.sfplanning.org/legislative_changes/inclusionary_affordable_requirements/Section_415_amendments_Case_Repost_adoption-042717_FINAL.pdf">generated 4,600 permanently affordable units since 2002</a>. Developers received no incentives in return for being required to deliver this housing. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/media/fellows/Hodyl_L_2014_Social_outcomes_in_hyper-dense_high-rise_residential_environments_1.pdf">In Vancouver</a>, developers wishing to build above a 3:1 plot ratio (for example, three storeys on 100% of the site, or six storeys on 50% of the site) in the CBD must provide social housing or other community amenities. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-lessons-from-cities-that-have-risen-to-the-affordable-housing-challenge-102852">Ten lessons from cities that have risen to the affordable housing challenge</a>
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<p>In contrast, the state of Victoria has very few regulations that encourage or enforce affordable housing or other community benefits in return for development permissions. The rezoning of Fisherman’s Bend for development is <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/lowend-buyers-shut-out-of-fishermans-bend-20141101-11fh5p.html">one particularly egregious example</a> in Melbourne. </p>
<h2>Victoria’s plan for negotiations</h2>
<p>In 2018, the Victorian government took some initial steps towards involving private developers in providing affordable housing. It <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/affordable-housing">changed the Planning and Environment Act 1987</a> to designate affordable housing as a valid planning objective and created a mechanism for negotiated affordable housing agreements. </p>
<p>Local councils can now ask for affordable housing as part of planning approval processes. While these negotiations will inevitably generate a wide range of outcomes through a variety of arrangements, one likely permutation is shown below.</p>
<p>The local council and developer will enter into a negotiation and decide on a “reasonable” affordable housing contribution. In this instance, the developer will sell, “gift” or lease a number of units to a not-for-profit housing provider, which will manage the units and ensure eligible, low-income households occupy the home. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274240/original/file-20190514-60560-1xpbo4n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A negotiated path to delivering affordable housing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The difference between many international examples and Victoria is that these negotiations are voluntary. The argument is that voluntary negotiations avoid a one-size-fits-all solution and allows for flexibility and creativity in negotiations. </p>
<p>On the other hand, <a href="https://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02697459.2015.1008793#.XOd5qogzaUk">international research</a> suggests voluntary programs often generate uncertainty and inequitable outcomes. They tend to generate less affordable housing than mandated systems. And they do so in <a href="https://www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/pubfiles/thaden_wp17et1_0.pdf">more opaque ways</a>.</p>
<p>Think about it: why would a developer voluntarily give up potential profit by selling or renting a property at a below-market rate? Such contributions would need to be enforced and/or incentivised.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/build-social-and-affordable-housing-to-get-us-off-the-boom-and-bust-roller-coaster-113113">Build social and affordable housing to get us off the boom-and-bust roller coaster</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can negotiation theory tell us?</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0739456X07311074">Negotiation research</a> can help us to understand the likely outcomes of these arrangements. It offers insights into stakeholder interests, the potential for mutual gains, and access to knowledge. </p>
<p><strong>Stakeholder interests</strong></p>
<p>Interests are the underlying values and priorities that motivate stakeholders’ demands or positions in negotiations. Interests in this context relate to the degree to which state government, local councils, or developers feel it is their responsibility to provide affordable housing. It relates to views on “valid” profit margins for developers and concerns about reputation.</p>
<p>It also relates to the priorities and strategies of the community housing providers, who are most likely to own and manage the housing delivered through these negotiations. </p>
<p>We know most developers don’t feel it is their responsibility to deliver affordable housing. Similarly, while some councils have <a href="http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/councils-role-affordable-housing.htm">explicit statements on affordability</a>, this is not the case across Victoria. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235115/original/file-20180905-45143-1cnw8r8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The City of Port Phillip is unusual in having an explicit position on the council’s role in providing affordable housing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Port Phillip</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Mutual gains</strong></p>
<p>In places like San Francisco where affordable housing is required in all developments over a certain size, these requirements are built into feasibility calculations from the outset. Therefore, no incentives are included. </p>
<p>This also creates an even playing field for all developers in the consideration of land and development. As there is no negotiation or incentive that could shift the profit margin, the required approach places everyone on the same starting line. Further, the cost considerations are the same for all, when considering the purchase of a site and undertaking an analysis of the feasibility of a proposed project. </p>
<p>Voluntary negotiations only work when the parties at the negotiating table are interdependent – they must have something to gain and something to contribute in the negotiation or they wouldn’t be there. In places where negotiations are voluntary, incentives are often “bundled together” as sweeteners to offer to developers in the negotiation process. Possible incentives include car park waivers, increases in permissible developable area (i.e height or density bonuses) and fee reductions or waivers.</p>
<p>In Victoria, key incentives like allowing an increase in the floor area of a development – so-called <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/106253/How-to-calculate-Floor-Area-Uplifts-and-Public-Benefits_November-2016.pdf">floor area uplift</a> – are difficult to implement in most local government areas. And expedited planning approvals are politically contentious and have limited impact on developers. </p>
<p>Inconsistency between councils may also allow developers to “shop around”. They are likely to avoid local government areas with a reputation for pursuing contributions. </p>
<p>As negotiations take place across Victoria the capacity for mutual gains for local communities and developers will be a key component in deciding how much affordable housing is provided and at what cost. </p>
<p><strong>Access to knowledge</strong></p>
<p>In negotiations, money and knowledge is power. Stakeholders are likely to hide or manipulate information in negotiations to support their own arguments and interests. This is particularly likely when there is little established trust between parties. Not only does this lead to undemocratic decisions made in a “black box”, it also creates opportunity for exploitation. </p>
<p>Negotiations will centre on trade-offs to achieve economically feasible developments that also include affordable housing. To engage in such discussions, a high degree of knowledge about development economics is required to allow for informed debate. While this is the bread and butter for developers, local councils are often far less resourced to engage in these discussions. There is work to be done in building the capacity of local councils in this area. </p>
<p>Acknowledging this, the authors of this article have <a href="https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/research/projects/current/transforming-housing/affordable-housing-tools/affordable-housing-calculator">built a calculator </a> to help communicate many of the basic premises behind development economics and affordable housing trade-offs. </p>
<h2>Have your say on affordable housing</h2>
<p>We don’t know yet enough about interests, mutual gains or access to knowledge to fully understand the landscape of this change to Victorian housing policy. And that is why we are surveying the affordable housing industry to gather this feedback.</p>
<p>If you are a private developer, local or state government representative with involvement in residential development or affordable housing policy, a not-for-profit housing provider, or consultant to the housing industry, then we want to hear from you. </p>
<p>Please <a href="https://melbourneuni.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_br4iiTkcQ0CYCnr">click here</a> to take the survey.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116829/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Raynor receives funding from the Transforming Housing Research Network, funded by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, Brotherhood of St Laurence and Launch Housing. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgia Warren-Myers receives funding from the Transforming Housing Research Network, funded by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, Brotherhood of St Laurence and Launch Housing. She is a Certified Practising Valuer under the Australian Property Institute. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Palm has previously received funding from the Transforming Housing Research Network at the University of Melbourne, funded by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation, Brotherhood of St Laurence, and Launch Housing. He is currently supported by the XSeed program of the University of Toronto and the Department of Human Geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough. </span></em></p>People on the minimum wage can afford only 2% of private rentals and only 1% if on the pension. Affordable housing requirements are often mandatory overseas, but Victoria is relying on negotiation.Katrina Raynor, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Transforming Housing Project, The University of MelbourneGeorgia Warren-Myers, Associate Professor in Property, The University of MelbourneMatthew Palm, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1163242019-05-24T10:43:24Z2019-05-24T10:43:24ZAs Airbnb grows, this is exactly how much it’s bringing down hotel prices and occupancy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276198/original/file-20190523-187165-nvs9x7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Airbnb is a growing threat to the major hotel chains. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/indianapolis-circa-march-2018-indy-downtown-1052905802?src=sXQZjdKt6mHixDuufMBzBA-1-17">Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Airbnb has grown exponentially since its founding in 2008 and is expected to soon go public in an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-airbnb-ipo/airbnb-ceo-says-co-will-be-ready-for-ipo-later-this-year-cnbc-idUSKCN1S51M9">initial public offering</a> that would rank it among the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/19/18272274/airbnb-valuation-common-stock-hoteltonight">world’s most valuable hotel companies</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/25/18276296/airbnb-hotels-hilton-marriott-us-spending">U.S. consumers spent more money on Airbnb</a> last year than they did on Hilton and its subsidiaries, the second-biggest hotel chain in the world, which was founded a century ago. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MXFcg7EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">an expert in hospitality management</a>, I was curious to know precisely how all this growth has affected the hotel industry – and just how scared hotels should be.</p>
<p><iframe id="AR5CS" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AR5CS/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Exponential growth</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.11.008">Research I recently conducted</a> with colleagues Makarand Mody and Courtney C. Suess studied Airbnb’s impact on hotels’ performance in 10 major U.S. cities to determine how the fast-growing company has influenced three key metrics: room prices, hotel revenues and occupancy rates. Our research included data from 2008 to 2017 in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.</p>
<p>In those cities, the number of properties on Airbnb – from room shares to entire houses – surged from just 51 in its first year of operation to more to 50,000 five years later and to over half a million in 2017.</p>
<p><iframe id="cvpQX" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/cvpQX/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Some of this growth can be attributed to consumers’ <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312046857_The_Role_of_Authenticity_in_Airbnb_Experiences">increasing demand</a> for authentic lodging experiences – in people’s real homes – at affordable prices. </p>
<p>But another important factor is the <a href="https://www.frmjournal.com/news/news_detail.airbnb-lets-may-be-unsafe-due-to-lack-of-regulation.html">lack of regulation</a> Airbnb faced during its first decades, which gave it more flexibility and made it easier to add new properties to its inventory. </p>
<p>While this is now changing as <a href="https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2016-06-22/places-with-strict-airbnb-laws">cities clamp down</a>, this provided Airbnb with a significant competitive advantage against the hotel industry. Indeed, the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/112414/airbnb-brings-sharing-economy-hotels.asp">typical regulatory framework</a> in cities across America means it can take several years to add a new hotel to the market and requires permits, adherence to safety codes and more tax collection. </p>
<h2>A significant impact</h2>
<p>And our study showed that these advantages translated into a significant impact on the hotel industry in terms of revenues, prices and occupancy rates. </p>
<p>Specifically, we found that every 1% increase in the number of Airbnb properties decreased the average revenue per room by 0.02%. Although this impact seems small, consider Airbnb’s phenomenal year-over-year growth rate when measuring the company’s impact on hotel room revenues. Accordingly, every time Airbnb’s supply doubles – which is its average yearly pace since inception – hotel revenues fall 2%. </p>
<p>While it’s hard to convert this into dollar amounts given the statistical nature of our analysis, we crunched the data on New York City and found that total potential hotel revenue lost to Airbnb may have totaled US$365 million in 2016 alone. </p>
<p>The impact on average room prices and occupancy rates was similar but smaller. Room prices fell 0.003% to 0.03% for every 1% increase in Airbnb supply, while hotel occupancy declined by 0.008% to 0.1%. </p>
<h2>Bearing down on luxury</h2>
<p>Although Airbnb was initially perceived to be a potential threat to economy hotels – defined as the bottom 20% in terms of average price – we found that Airbnb also had a significant impact on the luxury segment – or the top 15%. </p>
<p>That suggests the company has successfully pushed to provide more unique experiences across the spectrum, and now there’s a large inventory of more <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-29/airbnb-to-offer-200-new-luxury-suites-at-rockefeller-plaza">“luxury” experiences on the platform</a> where one can rent designer homes and unique accommodations like cabins, boats and even treehouses – all of which tend to be in the higher price range. </p>
<p>Our findings also showed that midscale and independent hotels were the least hurt by Airbnb’s increasing supply, probably because both have very similar price points. Another possible reason is that people who chose independent hotels perceived those properties to be more authentic compared to chain hotels, and so those consumers were less motivated to switch from independent hotels to Airbnb.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276201/original/file-20190523-187172-16ktaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Airbnb’s luxury offerings – including treehouses – have manage to snag significant revenue from hotels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Airbnb-Renovations/93d0ba1b77cc4815a61446ffe5e595d2/7/0">AP Photo/Eric Risberg</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Airbnb’s continuing threat</h2>
<p>These results collectively suggest that Airbnb appears to have taken a slice of the pie from the hotel industry. </p>
<p>The question now is will that phenomenal growth continue? </p>
<p>Airbnb <a href="https://www.arabianbusiness.com/travel-hospitality/420624-airbnb-launches-arabic-website-amid-63-growth-in-uae-visitors">continues</a> to grow its <a href="https://www.travelpulse.com/news/hotels-and-resorts/airbnbs-growth-worries-mexico-hoteliers.html">supply of properties</a> <a href="https://www.eturbonews.com/251935/off-the-beaten-track-thai-destinations-experiencing-explosive-airbnb-growth/">around the world</a>, and it is clear to me that the company represents a permanent challenge to hotel chains. </p>
<p>While there are efforts to regulate the home rentals that makes up the Airbnb properties and other sharing platforms – which could curb its growth – decisions on how to regulate these platforms <a href="https://skift.com/2019/02/12/airbnb-isnt-going-anywhere-so-why-arent-cities-regulating-it-more/">have not been straightforward</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, hoteliers should continue to fear Airbnb.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116324/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tarik Dogru does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The number of Airbnb properties has exploded since its founding in 2008. A hospitality management expert looked at how this has hurt hotels.Tarik Dogru, Assistant Professor of Hospitality Management, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/959152018-07-17T10:45:45Z2018-07-17T10:45:45ZThing-makers, tool freaks and prototypers: How the Whole Earth Catalog’s optimistic message reinvented the environmental movement in 1968<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221064/original/file-20180530-120487-m6qllc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Earthrise,' which appeared on the cover of the second and third Whole Earth Catalog, was taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders during lunar orbit, Dec. 24, 1968.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthrise#/media/File:NASA-Apollo8-Dec24-Earthrise.jpg">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the fall of 1968 a Stanford-trained biologist, organizer of the legendary <a href="http://experiments.californiahistoricalsociety.org/what-was-the-trips-festival/">Trips Festival</a> and <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/trip-of-a-lifetime-ken-kesey-lsd-the-merry-pranksters-and-the-bi/">Merry Prankster</a> named <a href="http://sb.longnow.org/SB_homepage/Bio.html">Stewart Brand</a> published the first Whole Earth Catalog. Between 1968 and 1972, the Catalog reached millions of readers and won the National Book Award.</p>
<p>The title and iconic cover image of this counterculture classic celebrated the first publicly released <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATS-3">NASA photographs</a> showing the whole planet Earth from space. These images profoundly changed the way humans thought about the environment. And the Catalog played an important role in that change. </p>
<p>Today many know Brand and his Catalog as part of the information revolution and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/opinion/stewart-brand-hippie-silicon.html">cyberculture</a> it spawned. As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KeYPzn8AAAAJ&hl=en">environmental historian</a>, however, I see the Whole Earth Catalog as relevant 50 years later for another reason.</p>
<p>Starting with that amazing image of the planet in a sea of inky black space, Brand helped change the trajectory and constituency of the American environmental movement by bringing together a new community of environmental thinkers and advocates who invented what came to be known as “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission">sustainability</a>.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LZLIAa6LZRs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Stewart Brand believed that a photograph of the whole Earth – ‘complete, tiny, adrift’ – would help people understand that the planet was finite.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An optimistic vision</h2>
<p>Brand’s unique catalog brought together the products and ideas of an eclectic mix of intellectuals, computer hackers, hippies, alternative designers, architects, builders and environmentalists. All of them were innovators and iconoclasts, linked by a shared rejection of traditional ways of learning, doing business, building things and organizing communities. </p>
<p>Sections titled “Understanding Whole Systems,” “Land Use,” “Shelter,” “Industry,” “Craft,” “Community,” “Nomatics,” “Communications” and “Learning” led readers toward a holistic view of environment. The Catalog linked wilderness and technology, country and city, culture and nature in a way that was unconventional at that time. </p>
<p>The format was irresistible. The catalogs were huge, with pages overflowing with photos, drawings, mini-essays, reviews and psychedelic graphics. The result was a newsprint celebration of an emerging San Francisco Bay-area creative community of “Thing-Makers, Tool Freaks and Prototypers.” It captured a generation of readers by offering a tantalizing burst of creative optimism in a year marred by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, riots at the Democratic National Convention and the shocking Tet Offensive in South Vietnam. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227895/original/file-20180716-44073-rj1zuv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Whole Earth Catalog was published from 1968 through 1972, with a few special issues in later years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/y79Dxi">Christian Guthier</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Commune bible</h2>
<p>Brand had spent several years earlier in the 1960s traveling across the American West, visiting Indian reservations and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/us/stephen-gaskin-hippie-who-founded-an-enduring-commune-dies-at-79.html">communes</a>. These trips directly inspired the Catalog, which he conceived of as a new information system – one that might subvert existing media and markets, and better connect dispersed creative communities in new ways. </p>
<p>As he explained it, the Catalog was an “access service,” filled with examples of “what was worth getting and information on where to get it … a catalog, continuously updated, in part by the users.” It answered a direct call from commune dwellers who wanted to know, “Where to buy a windmill. Where to get good information on beekeeping. Where to lay hands on a computer.”</p>
<h2>Remaking society</h2>
<p>From the first sentence of the first issue, “We are as gods and might as well get good at it,” Brand issued a bold call for a new kind of environmentalism.
Decades before the term was coined, he argued that we were living in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/anthropocene-the-human-age-1.17085">Anthropocene</a>, where human influences were altering conditions for life on Earth. In Brand’s view, the logical response was to make a plan. </p>
<p>The Catalog featured traditional environmental topics, but urged readers to see nature everywhere – not just in remote places without people. Nothing made that point more clearly than the image of the Earth from space. </p>
<p>Brand’s genius was understanding the links between windmills, bees and computers. In his view, connections between high and low technology and between nature and culture united hippies in Taos with geeks building computers in the Bay Area. On his commune trips, he saw growing demand for a new type of hybrid knowledge absent from the mainstream media of the day. The Whole Earth Catalog became a bible for tens of thousands of Americans living in communes in the 1960s and 70s. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sJqRnoOn6bs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In a modern-day commune in Washington, D.C., residents pool their incomes and disavow capitalist values.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Appropriate technology</h2>
<p>Brand’s optimistic vision of reconciling American technological know-how with environmentalism also appealed to broader audiences. With its call for readers to recognize their status as “gods,” and its celebration of good tools and green technologies, the Whole Earth Catalog helped popularize the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology">appropriate technology</a>” movement, which advocated for small-scale, decentralized and environmentally benign options. Brand introduced readers to key thinkers like economist E.F. Schumacher, whose 1973 classic “Small Is Beautiful” offered an influential argument for appropriate technology and “economics as if people mattered.” </p>
<p>The Catalog provided a forum for environmentalists like Schumacher who celebrated human ingenuity at a time when the mainstream movement focused on wilderness, wildlife and the non-human. And by showcasing green technologies like windmills, ecological design, solar power and alternative energy, it offered a widely accessible “<a href="https://www.nature.org/greenliving/gogreen/everydayenvironmentalist/index.htm">everyday environmentalism</a>” that was open to urbanites and others unable to visit remote wilderness areas. </p>
<p>Appropriate technology worked in tandem with the emerging <a href="https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice">environmental justice</a> movement. These ideals spread globally, taking root most deeply in the developing world.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/227857/original/file-20180716-44088-kpgr71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stewart Brand, 32, publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog works on the last issue of the Whole Earth Catalog at Menlo Park, Calif., May 28, 1971.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-Domestic-News-Californi-/0806943a11054e77a120897da545e16a/7/0">AP Photo/Richard Drew</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the next several decades Brand was omnipresent at many of the most critical moments in the rise of personal computers and the internet. He witnessed the first use of a mouse, mingled with the first hackers, and co-founded the <a href="https://www.well.com/">WELL</a>, one of the first online communities and proto-social networks. </p>
<p>The Whole Earth Catalog featured information on all of these cyber-trends long before most people saw them coming. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/steve-jobs-told-students-stay-hungry-stay-foolish/2011/10/05/gIQA1qVjOL_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.422690721750">Steve Jobs</a> claimed that the Catalog was the paperback prototype for Google. This cyber-pioneering helped spread the environmental message.</p>
<h2>A more human-centered movement</h2>
<p>Fifty years after its publication, the Whole Earth Catalog remains insightful and urgent, even though it has been out of print since 1998. The American environmental movement now embraces appropriate technologies and the human-centered everyday environmentalism that the Catalog first presented to millions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"983897983283376129"}"></div></p>
<p>Though environmentalism remains a deeply polarizing issue, the constituency for environmental change is much broader and more diverse than it was in 1968. A new generation of advocates assume people and their tools are part of nature, and believe that thoughtful personal choices can be part of saving the planet. This evolution happened in part because a groovy counterculture publication offered a new way to understand the whole Earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Kirk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Whole Earth Catalog was a blueprint for sustainability that envisioned humans living in balance with nature. Its creative spirit was welcomed in a year riven by war, assassinations and riots.Andy Kirk, Professor of History, University of Nevada, Las VegasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/990602018-07-05T10:35:26Z2018-07-05T10:35:26ZLocal, county and state governments are suing oil companies over climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225814/original/file-20180702-116120-40bjye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Superstorm Sandy wrecked these Rhode Island cottages in 2012.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Superstorm-Sandy/6944824dec6849439c8810c09f09224e/29/0">AP Photo/Steven Senne</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thanks to climate change, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/new-study-finds-sea-level-rise-accelerating">sea levels are rising</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/flood-severity-along-us-coastline-has-worsened-45208">storm surges are becoming more costly</a> and frequent. Since most American state and local governments are cash-strapped, cities and counties fear that they won’t be able to afford all the construction it will take to protect their people and property.</p>
<p>So some communities in California and <a href="https://seattle.curbed.com/2018/5/9/17337514/king-county-climate-change-lawsuit">Washington state</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.climateliabilitynews.org/2018/05/11/new-york-climate-lawsuit-hearing-exxon-chevron/">New York City</a>, are <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26062018/california-cities-climate-change-lawsuits-dismissed-fossil-fuels-industry-rising-sea-levels">suing oil companies</a> in a bid to force them to foot the bill. Recently, <a href="https://www.ri.gov/press/view/33626">Rhode Island became the first state to take this step</a>, when it sued 21 oil and gas companies “for knowingly contributing to climate change and the catastrophic consequences to the State and its residents, economy, eco-system, and infrastructure.”</p>
<p>Does it make sense to hold the industries responsible for global warming liable for the price – in dollars and cents – that everyone will have to pay to adapt to a changed climate?</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=patrick+parenteau&btnG">scholar of environmental law</a>, I believe climate liability cases like these have merit. </p>
<h2>A public nuisance</h2>
<p>The local governments asking the courts to intervene allege that higher sea levels brought about by climate change are a <a href="https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/elq/vol2/iss2/1/">public nuisance</a>. That may sound odd at first, but I believe that is fair to say. It is also the legal basis on which <a href="https://uknowledge.uky.edu/law_facpub/391/">similar liability lawsuits</a> have been filed before. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.kqed.org/science/1915608/californians-must-change-thinking-to-meet-challenge-of-rising-seas-says-author">sea level along California’s coasts</a> may have risen about 8 inches in the past century. Scientists project that they may rise by as much as 55 inches by the end of this century.</p>
<p>That worst-case scenario would put nearly half a million people at risk of flooding by 2100, and threaten US$100 billion in property and infrastructure, including <a href="http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation/documents/Statewide_Adaptation_Strategy_-_Chapter_6_-_Ocean_and_Coastal_Resources.pdf">roadways, buildings, hazardous waste sites, power plants, parks and tourist destinations</a>.</p>
<p>Superstorm Sandy caused over $60 billion in damage along the New Jersey and New York coasts. Several researchers have concluded that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/jun/22/new-study-links-global-warming-to-hurricane-sandy-and-other-extreme-weather-events">sea level rise and a warming ocean</a> played a major role in making that storm so catastrophic.</p>
<p>The Trump administration has released a national climate change assessment, confirming that <a href="https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/9/">extreme weather events</a> – storms on steroids – are becoming more frequent and intense. </p>
<p>If anything, <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-weather-extremes-both-heat-and-cold-can-kill-77449">characterizing these catastrophes</a> as a public nuisance is an understatement.</p>
<h2>A question about jurisdiction</h2>
<p>Oakland and San Francisco both sued five of the world’s largest oil companies in state court, asserting claims based on California’s own <a href="https://legalnewsline.com/stories/511469115-a-closely-watched-climate-case-is-dismissed-will-the-others-survive">nuisance law</a>. They are seeking billions of dollars for an abatement fund.</p>
<p>But Chevron, one of the five oil majors being sued, objected and sought to transfer the San Francisco and Oakland lawsuit to a federal district court, where <a href="http://blogs2.law.columbia.edu/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2018/20180625_docket-317-cv-06011_order-2.pdf">Judge William Alsup recently dismissed the case</a>. </p>
<p>Still, it wasn’t a clear win for oil companies.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4559977-Case-Dismissed-6-25-2018.html">Alsup accepted the scientific consensus</a> that the defendants’ line of business is driving climate change and therefore poses a clear and present danger to coastal communities and others. But in his ruling, he also questioned whether it’s “fair to now ignore our own responsibility in the use of fossil fuels and place the blame for global warming on those who supplied what we demanded.”</p>
<p>And while the judge also acknowledged that <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180625006367/en/Northern-District-California-Grants-Chevron%E2%80%99s-Motion-Dismiss">federal courts have the authority</a> “to fashion common law remedies for claims based on global warming” he opted to “stay his hand in favor of solutions by the legislative and executive branches.” In other words, he said it’s up to Congress and the White House to figure out whether oil companies ought to pay to, say, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/sea-level-rise-in-the-sf-bay-area/">move San Francisco’s airport to higher ground</a>.</p>
<p>Even if prospects for federal action on this front are next to nil for the foreseeable future, given the <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-energy-dominance-the-right-goal-for-us-policy-79825">Trump administration’s warm embrace of oil</a>, gas and coal, this is no legal dead end. I believe that Oakland and San Francisco will surely file an appeal to the 9th Circuit, which could rule differently.</p>
<p>Even more importantly, there is another case pending that is taking a different course. The counties of Marin and San Mateo and the City of Imperial Beach, California, are also suing oil companies with similar climate liability claims. Judge Vince Chhabria sees things differently than Alsup and ruled that state law, not federal law, should prevail.</p>
<p>He has ordered that case back to state court, a move that Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil and the other <a href="https://legalnewsline.com/stories/511469115-a-closely-watched-climate-case-is-dismissed-will-the-others-survive">oil company defendants are trying to prevent</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to coastal communities concerned about rising sea levels, several <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/colorado-counties-sue-exxon-suncor-over-climate-change.html">Colorado counties</a> filed their own climate liability cases in April 2018. Those lawsuits allege that oil companies should be held responsible for the higher temperatures now reducing the state’s snowpack. Getting less snow is jeopardizing Colorado’s agriculture, water supply and ski industry.</p>
<h2>Several legal precedents</h2>
<p>I maintain that these cases do belong in <a href="https://fedsoc.org/contributors/patrick-parenteau">state court</a> because there are many relevant legal precedents.</p>
<p>U.S. courts have repeatedly held manufacturers liable for the damage their products wreak, especially when those companies knew full well that their products, used as intended, would cause that harm.</p>
<p>The biggest precedent is the <a href="http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/tclc-fs-msa-overview-2015.pdf">tobacco industry’s 1998 settlement with the states</a>, which called for companies to pay out $246 billion over the next 25 years.</p>
<p>In addition, there have been many judgments against oil companies and other corporations responsible for manufacturing a potentially cancer-causing chemical called <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/24541226/ns/us_news-environment/t/most-oil-companies-mtbe-lawsuits-settle/#.WzfNp6dKhPY">MTBE that used to be a common gasoline additive</a> and has contaminated public water supplies.</p>
<p>And a panel of California judges ordered paint companies to pay more than $1 billion to help get <a href="https://www.law.com/therecorder/2018/05/03/landmark-lead-paint-liability-ruling-faces-rare-ballot-box-resistance/?slreturn=20180530143913">lead out of housing</a> that remains contaminated decades after the government banned lead-laced paint. The companies are vowing to take the case to the Supreme Court if they can.</p>
<p>Currently, another new kind of liability lawsuit is emerging against <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-look-inside-ohios-lawsuit-against-opioid-manufacturers-79322">opioid manufacturers</a>. Ohio and at least <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/6/7/15724054/opioid-epidemic-lawsuits-purdue-oxycontin">six other states</a> are seeking damages to help cover the expense of dealing with widespread addiction from the allegedly irresponsible marketing of prescription painkillers – which it says the companies should have known were being abused.</p>
<h2>Exxon knew</h2>
<p>As for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa815f">the oil industry, it has evidently known for 60 years or longer</a> that burning fossil fuels would eventually overheat the planet, with monumental consequences.</p>
<p>Rather than alert the public and engage in good-faith discussions to address the problem, oil majors like Exxon <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/merchants-of-doubt-9781596916104/">sought to mislead and deny</a> what they knew about the risks of fossil fuels. Furthermore, the fossil fuel industries have sought to block any meaningful federal climate response by <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/industries./recips.php?ind=E01++">donating vast sums</a> to the political campaigns of candidates who promised to oppose the requisite policies.</p>
<p>In a perfect world, the nation’s elected leaders at all levels of government would be hard at work passing laws and establishing programs to confront the existential threat of climate change and to help communities prepare for the unavoidable impacts that are already baked into the system. </p>
<p>Alas, that is not the case. The courts are the last line of defense in this epic struggle to deal with the effects of climate change – including the astronomically expensive costs of moving housing, businesses, schools and other structures out of harm’s way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Parenteau is Senior Counsel for the Institute for Energy and the Environment.</span></em></p>There are precedents for trying to make the industries responsible for climate change foot the bill for adapting to a changed climate.Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law, Vermont Law & Graduate SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/968082018-05-17T13:14:00Z2018-05-17T13:14:00ZSeven comics with vital things to say about humanity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219410/original/file-20180517-26295-1pqzvdh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Taken from Persepolis. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">1. Marjane Satrapi</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the Palestinian literary critic and thinker Edward Said read the comic book <a href="http://www.fantagraphics.com/palestine/">Palestine (1997)</a> by Joe Sacco, he called it a work of “extraordinary originality” – and one of the best attempts to capture the country’s turmoil. Originally published as a serial, Palestine was one of the first examples of journalism as graphic art. Sacco uses it to present the Palestinians in a more sympathetic light, telling the story of his travels in the country and the people he met there. </p>
<p>Said, a longstanding Palestine activist who wrote the book’s introduction, compared reading it to the experiences he had as a child – when comics freed him to think and imagine and see the world differently. He <a href="http://journeyofideasacross.hkw.de/anti-narratives-and-beyond/edward-w-said.html">wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Comics played havoc with the logic of a+b+c+d and they certainly encouraged one not to think in terms of what the teacher expected or what a subject like history demanded. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219396/original/file-20180517-155573-5kvi6u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scene from Sacco’s Palestine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joe Sacco.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s a long way from comics as mere light entertainment. Comics offer endless ways to tell stories about ourselves and about one another. What follows is my list of six more groundbreaking examples. They all teach us about our world in refreshing and rewarding – not to mention very funny – ways.</p>
<h2>1. Persepolis (2000-03)</h2>
<p>This is a delightful, funny and moving tale about Iran, very much created with non-Iranians in mind. Marjane Satrapi does a brilliant job of demystifying the country by telling the story of her family and her own experiences growing up there. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219398/original/file-20180517-26266-16e2wyl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using stark black and white drawings that bring an unexpected amount of colour, Persepolis immerses readers in a world where girls play with their new headscarves and a young Marjane converses with God and Karl Marx. </p>
<p>The comic was adapted into a must-see <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808417/">animated film</a> in 2007, which Satrapi co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud. Satrapi has <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/emma-watson-interviews-marjane-satrapi">spoken about</a> how humour can connect people from diverse backgrounds – and the success of Persepolis and her <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/6238.Marjane_Satrapi">other works</a> are certainly testament to this. </p>
<h2>2. The Four Immigrants Manga (1931)</h2>
<p>Perhaps the first American full-length documentary comic, <a href="http://www.jai2.com/HK.htm">The Four Immigrants Manga</a> was originally self-published by Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama. Over 52 humorous episodes, it recounts the misadventures of four young Japanese migrants in San Francisco in the early 20th century as they try to find work, romance and new way of life. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219402/original/file-20180517-26295-amd0lc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arrival in San Francisco.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Drawn in a style reminiscent of earlier American strips such as <a href="http://www.tcj.com/chics-blondie/">Blondie</a> by Chic Young and <a href="http://comicskingdom.com/bringing-up-father">Bringing up Father</a> by George McManus, each episode ends with a “gag”. Yet the stories by Kiyama – himself an original Japanese immigrant – also offer invaluable insights into the difficult living conditions and struggles against discriminatory policies and legislation that <a href="http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/642-issei.html">the Issei</a> faced after they arrived in the United States. </p>
<h2>3. The Photographer (2003-06)</h2>
<p>The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders tells of the impact of war on civilian populations. Angelina Jolie <a href="http://firstsecondbooks.typepad.com/mainblog/2009/06/angelina-jolie-on-the-photographer.html">lauded it</a> for making “Afghanistan, a distant land, a foreign culture, a courageous and resilient people seem closer, more familiar”. </p>
<p>The story is told from the perspective of Didier Lefèvre, a photojournalist invited to accompany Médecins Sans Frontières on a mission into northern Afghanistan in 1986, during the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/08/the-soviet-war-in-afghanistan-1979-1989/100786/">Afghan-Soviet War</a>, to document the devastation of war and the attempts of ordinary Afghans to live their lives. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219411/original/file-20180517-26263-14wwg9g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Emmanuel Guibert/Didier Lefèvre/Frederic Lemercier</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Photographer combines Lefèvre’s photographic contact sheets with drawn strips by Emmanuel Guibert to produce a work that is poignant and often mesmerising. </p>
<h2>4. Billy, Me & You (2011)</h2>
<p>Nicola Streeten’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/oct/15/nicola-streeten-graphic-book-death-child">graphic memoir</a> tells of the devastating loss of her two-year old son, Billy, after he underwent heart surgery. Drawn on lined paper and built from the diary she kept at the time, Billy, Me & You explores in harrowing detail Streeten’s anger, rage and despair. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219412/original/file-20180517-26281-1s283i7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicola Streeten</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In one particularly memorable sequence, the British artist silently awards people marks out of ten for the reaction to Billy’s death. Sadness and bereavement mingle with the absurd and humorous, revealing how loss and recovery can shape a mother’s life. </p>
<h2>5. Big Kids (2016)</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219414/original/file-20180517-26277-ak92i6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1023&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael DeForge</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Coloured in a bright pop style, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25666072-big-kids">Michael DeForge’s story</a> about adolescence is at once familiar and strange. It tells of a teenage boy exploring his sexuality while his body changes, but intermingled with moments when his family and friends transition into twigs. Yes, twigs. </p>
<p>DeForge’s abstract style does a great job of mimicking the feelings of discomfort and alienation and that come with growing up. </p>
<h2>6. American Born Chinese (2006)</h2>
<p>Gene Luen Yang’s comic is <a href="http://cbldf.org/2013/07/using-graphic-novels-in-education-american-born-chinese/">now taught</a> in American high schools, and with good reason. This cleverly constructed work weaves together three distinct narratives about (not) fitting in, which unite at the end of the story. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219415/original/file-20180517-26263-1hvt7xd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gene Luen Yang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It focuses on Chin-Kee, a Chinese boy who comes to America to visit his cousin Danny. Drawing on the Chinese legend of the <a href="http://www.visiontimes.com/2016/11/02/famous-chinese-legends-the-story-of-the-monkey-king.html">Monkey King</a>, as well as cultural stereotypes, it raises penetrating questions about what it means to accept one’s identity and background. It <a href="http://cbldf.org/2013/07/using-graphic-novels-in-education-american-born-chinese/">won</a> the Michael L Printz Award for young adult literature in 2007.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Find out how comics are produced:</strong></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Golnar Nabizadeh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why this art form is rather more than just biff, bang pow.Golnar Nabizadeh, Lecturer in Comic Studies, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/869102017-11-08T11:19:07Z2017-11-08T11:19:07ZThe magazine that inspired Rolling Stone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193610/original/file-20171107-1055-1k844nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'When you look back on it, where else would those articles appear? The Saturday Evening Post?'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Lehr/The Conversation via flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 50th anniversary of Rolling Stone magazine has arrived, and not without fanfare. Joe Hagan’s <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=m4EkDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=sticky%20fingers%20joe%20hagan&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">biography</a> of co-founder Jann Wenner appeared in October to stellar reviews, and earlier this month, HBO aired <a href="http://variety.com/2017/music/reviews/tv-review-rolling-stone-stories-from-the-edge-1202607495/">Alex Gibney’s documentary film</a> about the magazine’s history. Wenner’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/business/rolling-stone-magazine-sale.html">announcement</a> that he was planning to sell his company’s stake in Rolling Stone also prompted a flurry of retrospective tributes.</p>
<p>Conceived during the Summer of Love in 1967, Rolling Stone was always a creature of the San Francisco counterculture. From the outset, the magazine touted Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and other San Francisco bands. Well before that, co-founder Ralph J. Gleason was featuring the Haight-Ashbury’s vibrant music scene in his San Francisco Chronicle column. </p>
<p>But Rolling Stone’s identity can also be traced to two other sources: Berkeley’s culture of dissent and Ramparts magazine, the legendary San Francisco muckraker. </p>
<p>The Berkeley influence was strong and direct. The magazine’s early staff writers were steeped in Berkeley’s ardent campus activism, and their views on politics, drugs and music informed the magazine’s coverage. Wenner wrote a music column for the student newspaper and covered the free speech movement for a local radio station. Even more significant for Wenner, perhaps, was the example of Gleason, who combined an impressive body of music criticism with public support for student activists. Wenner spent hours at Gleason’s Berkeley home, soaking up his insights on music and journalism.</p>
<p>Rolling Stone’s Berkeley roots were important, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5jf6K9MMcSUC&lpg=PP1&dq=a%20bomb%20in%20every%20issue&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">but the Ramparts influence ran even deeper</a>. Ramparts was by no means a hippie magazine, but its rebellious spirit, flair for publicity and professional design would all leave their mark on Wenner and Gleason’s fledgling magazine. </p>
<h2>A bomb in every issue</h2>
<p>Founded in 1962 as a Catholic literary quarterly, Ramparts initially ran articles by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton">Thomas Merton</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard_Griffin">John Howard Griffin</a> and other Catholic intellectuals. But when a young Warren Hinckle became editor in 1964, he converted Ramparts into a monthly, shifted its focus to politics and hired Dugald Stermer as art director. </p>
<p>Hinckle also recruited Robert Scheer, a former graduate student at UC Berkeley’s Center for Chinese Studies, to write about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Scheer and his colleagues challenged U.S. government pronouncements about the war and routinely lampooned the mainstream media’s Vietnam coverage. </p>
<p>Once Hinckle, Stermer and Scheer joined forces, Ramparts achieved liftoff. It adopted a cutting-edge design, forged links to the Black Panther Party, exposed CIA activities and published the diaries of Che Guevara and staff writer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldridge_Cleaver">Eldridge Cleaver</a>.</p>
<p>A Ramparts photo-essay, “<a href="http://www.unz.org/Pub/Ramparts-1967jan-00045">The Children of Vietnam</a>,” persuaded Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to speak out against the war, and the title of a Time magazine article about Ramparts, “<a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,843165,00.html">A Bomb in Every Issue</a>,” described the muckraker’s explosive impact. In 1966, Ramparts earned the George Polk Award for excellence in magazine journalism, and its circulation climbed to almost 250,000. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193600/original/file-20171107-1061-bz4mys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From left to right: Ramparts magazine editor Warren Hinckle, assistant managing editor Sol Stern and writer Robert Scheer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-CA-USA-APHS285245-Editor-Warren-Hin-/a7947b66921a41fcad87291acf32b233/1/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ramparts also became a seedbed for Rolling Stone. Gleason, who was a contributing editor at Ramparts, secured a job for Wenner at the magazine’s spinoff newspaper, the Sunday Ramparts. While there, Wenner picked up layout ideas from Stermer and encountered the work of Hunter S. Thompson, whose bestselling book about the Hells Angels appeared in 1967. Wenner also learned the value of showmanship from the free-spending Hinckle, who frequently echoed playwright George M. Cohan’s <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ur3pu3KGNK0C&pg=PA621&lpg=PA621&dq=%22Whatever+you+do,+kid,+always+serve+it+with+a+little+dressing.%22&source=bl&ots=WYuz43fVCl&sig=0UQq8hB9eEwCmBKapqVzzfELtkY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj64eyF4qzXAhVI6CYKHVsNCNIQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=%22Whatever%20you%20do%2C%20kid%2C%20always%20serve%20it%20with%20a%20little%20dressing.%22&f=false">motto</a> “Whatever you do, kid, always serve it with a little dressing.”</p>
<p>Ironically, Hinckle played an indirect role in the creation of Rolling Stone. Gleason had planned to write about the Summer of Love at Ramparts, but Hinckle ran his own cover article, “<a href="http://www.unz.org/Pub/Ramparts-1967mar-00005?View=PDF">A Social History of the Hippies</a>,” in the March 1967 issue without informing him. A furious Gleason resigned from the magazine, and Wenner lost his job when Hinckle shut down the Sunday Ramparts. That summer, the two men began working on their own publication. By alienating Gleason, laying off Wenner and demonstrating that a “<a href="https://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/fall-2009-constant-change/radical-slick">radical slick</a>” had broad appeal, Hinckle cleared the way for Rolling Stone.</p>
<p>Despite reaching a broad audience, Ramparts never stabilized its finances. After running through two private fortunes, it filed for bankruptcy in 1969. Hinckle left to start Scanlan’s Monthly, where he paired Thompson with illustrator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Steadman">Ralph Steadman</a> to cover the Kentucky Derby; <a href="http://www.gonzogallery.com/books/scanlans-monthly-issue-no-4-the-kentucky-derby">that article</a> is now considered the first example of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism">gonzo journalism</a>.</p>
<h2>The voice of its generation</h2>
<p>Rolling Stone’s first issue appeared in November 1967, but the magazine didn’t come into its own until 1969. </p>
<p>In December of that year, the notorious Altamont free concert <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-altamont-festival-brings-the-1960s-to-a-violent-end">devolved into lethal chaos</a>. Several Rolling Stone staff writers witnessed the mayhem, much of which was attributed to Hells Angels, but other media outlets missed the story. Gleason insisted that the magazine cover Altamont as if it were World War II, and its “<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-rolling-stones-disaster-at-altamont-let-it-bleed-19700121">Let It Bleed</a>” issue landed Rolling Stone a National Magazine Award for Specialized Journalism. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193602/original/file-20171107-1032-1wqxxm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rolling Stone writer Hunter S. Thompson takes notes while listening to testimony at a trial in West Palm Beach, Flaorida in 1982.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-FL-USA-APHS903-Hunter-S-Thompson/2cee9cc0e04f42819ddc50ef8dbd47c6/2/0">Ray Fairall/AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Having established itself as “<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/how-rolling-stone-shaped-narratives-of-woodstock-altamont-w464690">the voice of its generation</a>,” Rolling Stone continued its ascent. After Scanlan’s tanked in 1971, Wenner recruited Thompson and Steadman, published their most notable work, and turned Thompson into a cultural celebrity. Wenner also hired Annie Liebovitz as the magazine’s chief photographer in 1973. </p>
<p>Gleason <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/04/archives/ralph-j-gleason-jazz-critic-dead-coast-writer-and-editor-58-was.html?_r=0">died of a heart attack in 1975</a>, the same year Ramparts closed its doors for good. Two years later, Rolling Stone decamped for New York City. Although Rolling Stone’s reputation waxed and waned for decades, it retained its ability to break big stories. In 2008, staff writer Matt Taibbi’s political commentary earned Rolling Stone a National Magazine Award, and his <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405">2010 takedown of Goldman Sachs</a> rattled Wall Street. Since then, the magazine has collected two Polk Awards for stories on the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. </p>
<p>Rolling Stone’s overall record is decidedly mixed. (Consider, for example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/business/media/rape-uva-rolling-stone-frat.html">its misbegotten account</a> of rape culture at the University of Virginia, which appeared in 2014.) But as <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5jf6K9MMcSUC&pg=PT6&lpg=PT6&dq=%22When+you+look+back+on+it,+where+else+would+those+articles+appear?+The+Saturday+Evening+Post?%22&source=bl&ots=JX0pQSl92o&sig=45AKsuRsKZvXbwogpVQci9iLIsA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil27GJ7qzXAhVC7CYKHWx7BkcQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22When%20you%20look%20back%20on%20it%2C%20where%20else%20would%20those%20articles%20appear%3F%20The%20Saturday%20Evening%20Post%3F%22&f=false">one Ramparts staff writer observed</a> after that magazine perished, “When you look back on it, where else would those articles appear? The Saturday Evening Post?” </p>
<p>So it is with Rolling Stone: No other rock magazine could have matched its coverage of the Manson family or the Patty Hearst saga. For all its flaws, Rolling Stone accomplished a rare feat. Like Ramparts, it created a distinctive niche in the national media ecology; unlike its precursor, it maintained that niche for five decades.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Richardson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ramparts started as a Catholic literary magazine. But when Warren Hinckle took the helm, he developed a layout, voice and rebellious spirit that Rolling Stone would go on to mimic.Peter Richardson, Coordinator, American Studies, San Francisco State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/857172017-10-16T19:59:30Z2017-10-16T19:59:30ZWildfire smoke and health: 5 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190429/original/file-20171016-30957-nwk2od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wildfire creates an orange glow in a view from a hilltop Oct. 13, 2017, in Geyserville, California.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/California-Wildfires/d3fa61d25e894092b45c66e4523d075d/85/0">AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: The federal government has declared a <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2017/10/15/acting-secretary-hargan-declares-public-health-emergency-california-due-wildfires.html">public health emergency</a> in Northern California due to wildfires burning across 10 counties. One major threat is smoke, which is causing unhealthy air levels across a wide area, including San Francisco. Atmospheric chemist Richard Peltier explains why smoke from wildfires is hazardous and what kinds of protection are effective.</em></p>
<h2>1. What substances in wildfire smoke are most dangerous to human health? What kinds of impacts can they have?</h2>
<p>Wood smoke contains a mixture of microscopic droplets and particles and invisible gases that spread downwind from the fire source. Surprisingly, relatively <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01865-2014">few studies</a> have investigated the types of exposures we are now seeing in California. Most studies focus on very controlled laboratory experiments, or forest fire fighters who are working on controlled burning, or exposures people in developing nations experience when they use primitive cook stoves. None of these accurately reflects conditions that Californians are experiencing now.</p>
<p>Wood smoke is a very complicated mixture of material in the air, and much of it is known to affect human health. It comes from lots of different fuel sources, including mature trees, dried leaves, forest litter and, unfortunately, local homes. The emissions vary depending on what material is burning and whether it is smoldering or in flames. </p>
<p>For the most part, wildfire smoke is a mixture of carbon monoxide, volatile organic carbon and particles that include alkaline ash, black carbon and organic carbon, which usually contains <a href="https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=80">polyaromatic hydrocarbon</a>, a known cancer-causing agent. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190430/original/file-20171016-31002-156qmnk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=586&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Smoke from wildfires in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana blankets much of the Pacific Northwest on Sept. 5, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/unitedstates.a2017248.2036.1500m.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Is a brief exposure, say for a few hours, dangerous, or is smoke mainly a concern if it lingers for days? How does distance from the fire affect risk?</h2>
<p>We don’t fully know how the size and length of the dose affect risks, but the longer you are exposed to pollutants from wood smoke, the higher the risk of developing smoke-related illnesses. Short-term exposures to intense smoke can lead to lung and cardiovascular problems in some people, especially if they are already susceptible to these diseases. Longer-term exposure over a few days or weeks increases the risk and the chance of health impacts as your cumulative dose increases. </p>
<p>Smoke tends to become more diluted with distance from the source, but there really isn’t any way to estimate a safe distance where the pollutants are so diluted that they pose no risk. Eventually rainfall will clean all of this pollution from the atmosphere, but that can take days or even weeks. In the meantime, these pollutants can travel thousands of miles. That means air pollution from wildfires may threaten people who are far downwind. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190356/original/file-20171016-21946-1xyiamy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Image of a plume of high-altitude smoke from a forest fire near Alaska, observed in northern Quebec, Canada, more than 2,000 miles away.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Peltier</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. How do the worst pollution levels from the wildfires in California compare to bad air days in a megacity like Beijing or Mumbai?</h2>
<p>The concentrations of pollution in communities downwind of these fires are on par with what we see in rapidly growing cities such as Mumbai and Beijing. But there is an important difference. In California these pollutants affect a relatively small geographic area, and the affected areas can rapidly shift with changing weather patterns. In locations like Mumbai and Beijing, high concentrations are sustained across the entire region for days or even weeks. Everyone in the community has to endure them, and there is no practical escape. For now, though, Californians are experiencing what it’s like to live in a developing country without strong air pollution controls.</p>
<h2>4. How should people in smoky areas protect themselves? Are there remedies they should avoid?</h2>
<p>The most effective way to protect yourself is by staying with friends or family who live far away from the smoke. People who can’t leave the area should close windows and doors, and apply weather sealing if they detect smoke leaking in. Even masking tape can be reasonably effective. But most houses leak outside air indoors, so this strategy isn’t foolproof. </p>
<p>Portable high-efficiency filter devices – often marketed as HEPA - can remove indoor air pollution, but often are too small to be effective for an entire house. They are best used in individual rooms where people spend a great deal of time, such as a bedroom. And they can be very expensive.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190439/original/file-20171016-31010-4ei6ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">N95 mask.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/qMPPbm">Max-Leonhard von Schaper</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Products marketed as air fresheners that use odorants, such as scented candles or oil vaporizers that plug into an outlet, do nothing to improve air quality. They can actually make it worse. Similarly, products that “clean” the air using ozone can release ozone into your home, which is very hazardous.</p>
<p>Personal face mask respirators can also be effective, but not the <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-rely-on-cheap-cloth-masks-that-may-provide-little-protection-against-deadly-air-pollution-64791">cheap paper or cloth masks</a> that many people in developing countries commonly use. The best choice is an <a href="https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/GeneralHospitalDevicesandSupplies/PersonalProtectiveEquipment/ucm055977.htm">N95-certified respirator</a>, which is designed to protect workers from hazardous exposures on the job. </p>
<p>These masks are made of special fabric that is designed to catch particles before they can be inhaled. Paper masks are meant to protect you from contact with large droplets from someone who might be ill. N95 respirators block particles from entering your mouth and nose. They can be a little uncomfortable to wear, especially for long periods, but are pretty effective, and many retailers sell them. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"918274991434563584"}"></div></p>
<h2>5. What else do scientists want to know about wildfire smoke?</h2>
<p>We have a pretty good understanding of the pollutants that wildfires emit and how they change over time, but we don’t have a firm grasp of how different health effects arise, who is most susceptible or what the long-term effects may be. It is not easy to predict where and when wildfires will occur, which makes it hard for scientists to evaluate individuals who have been exposed to smoke. Controlled laboratory studies give us some clues about what happens in the human body, but these exposures often are quite different from what happens in the real world. </p>
<p>The California fires are affecting thousands of people, and it is good to see that firefighters are starting to contain them. But there will be more wildfires, so we need to learn more about how smoke exposure affects people long after the fires end.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard E. Peltier receives funding from the US EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. </span></em></p>Wildfires in California have triggered a public health emergency. One threat is smoke inhalation: Some air readings have registered pollution levels comparable to bad air days in Beijing or Mumbai.Richard E. Peltier, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/817112017-08-08T10:18:22Z2017-08-08T10:18:22ZWhy you should think twice before you talk about ‘the LGBT community’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180410/original/file-20170731-22134-1kyzepl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Living in a rainbow of chaos.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does the phrase “LGBT community” mean to you? Chances are if you don’t identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans yourself, you might think about what you’ve seen on TV – so <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185102/">Queer as Folk</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2372162/">Orange is the New Black</a>, or <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330251/">The L Word </a>, to name a few TV hits. It might also bring to mind images of brightly coloured rainbow flags or Pride parades.</p>
<p>But just stop for a minute and think about how often you’ve heard someone talk about “the heterosexual community”? Rarely I imagine – but the term “LGBT community”, or sometimes “gay community”, is frequently used by pretty much everyone. </p>
<p>This might not sound like a big deal – after all it’s just a phrase used to identify a large group of people, right? But herein lies the problem, because after carrying out <a href="http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/news/82107/research-suggests-that-the-term-lgbt-community-can-be-problematic/">my latest research</a>, which involved over <a href="http://www.lgbtcommunityresearch.co.uk/">600 LGBT participants</a> from across the UK, I’m not sure that community is a very suitable word for such a diverse group of people.</p>
<p>And as I explain in my new book, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Exploring-LGBT-Spaces-and-Communities-Contrasting-Identities-Belongings/Formby/p/book/9781138814004">Exploring LGBT spaces and communities</a>, the term “LGBT community” can be understood in many different ways, and can mean many different things to many different people.</p>
<h2>A sense of place</h2>
<p>In <a href="http://www.lgbtcommunityresearch.co.uk/">my research</a>, people often said they experienced the “community” part of the phrase as an actual physical space. This could be a particular geographical area such as Brighton or San Francisco, or could relate to places frequented by LGBT people – such as bars and clubs – often referred to as “the scene”.</p>
<p>People I spoke to also reported experiencing this community aspect as part of a virtual space – such as online, or even in an imagined sense – in that LGBT people were thought to share “something”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180413/original/file-20170731-22126-1nz2cdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=664&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gay disco: the heart of a community?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shuttertstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>People revealed how they often had fears or negative expectations of wider society. And that this is in part why they invest in the idea of an LGBT community – as somewhere where they could feel safe and understood. </p>
<p>But the term does not capture differences and complexities of experience.
It can also wrongly suggest some form of shared experience, which for some people can be frustrating because it seems to ignore their experiences of inequality or discrimination within – or exclusion from – so-called “LGBT community”.</p>
<h2>LGBT and beyond</h2>
<p>Then there is also the issue of the acronym “LGBT” itself, as it excludes a lot of people – such as those who identify as queer or intersex. And it was clear in my research that some people feel less welcomed within this acronym. Even those who do feature within these four letters – notably bisexual and trans people – can often feel marginalised by lesbian and gay people, and like that they don’t really belong to such a “community”. </p>
<p>People also spoke about their quest to find this “community” – with many trying and failing to discover such a thing. The idea of an LGBT community suggests that people who identify in this way should feel part of something. If they don’t it can compound negative experiences. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180415/original/file-20170731-22136-16axubm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not everyone’s experience of sexuality or gender is the same.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many participants in my research also talked about experiencing discrimination from other LGBT people relating to their age, body, disability, ethnicity, faith, HIV status, or perceived social class. So although the phrase implies that LGBT people somehow automatically belong to a ready made community – this is simply not the case. </p>
<h2>A group of people</h2>
<p>It is clear then that community belonging is not a given just because people share a gender or sexual identity. And this is why the notion of “LGBT community” is problematic. As someone I interviewed argued:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The idea doesn’t exist, it’s a kind of big myth – a bit like saying there’s a brown-eyed community or a blonde community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this way, then, the use of the term “LGBT community” could alienate some people and even risks deterring LGBT (and other) people from engaging with services aimed specifically at them. As another participant said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I find anyone who uses this language dubious and with doubtful intention. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is not to say that we should abandon the phrase altogether, but often using “LGBT people” would be more accurate – and would not risk alienation felt by an already (at times) marginalised group of people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eleanor Formby receives funding from, currently, the Government Equalities Office and the British Academy/Leverhulme, and previously the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Department for Education.</span></em></p>The term ‘LGBT community’ can be understood in many different ways, and can mean many different things to many different people.Eleanor Formby, Senior Research Fellow in Sociology and Education, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.