tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/barcelona-10243/articles
Barcelona – The Conversation
2023-06-23T14:49:09Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/206432
2023-06-23T14:49:09Z
2023-06-23T14:49:09Z
Are low-traffic neighbourhoods greenwashing? Here’s what the evidence says
<p>Since the pandemic, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/12/low-traffic-neighbourhoods-ltn-may-lead-people-drive-less-london">series of low-traffic neighbourhoods</a> (LTNs) have been installed across the UK. LTNs are designed to curtail car use in residential streets and promote active modes of travel such as walking, cycling and travelling by wheelchair. They aim to create a more pleasant environment for pedestrians and cyclists by using cameras, planting boxes or bollards to restrict motor vehicle traffic.</p>
<p>The initiative aims to address <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/egnmj/">three public health issues</a> directly associated with rampant car use in urban areas: air pollution, road deaths and physical inactivity. Human-made air pollution – which is worse in congested cities – is linked to between <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-applying-all-our-health/air-pollution-applying-all-our-health#:%7E:text=The%20annual%20mortality%20of%20human,and%2036%2C000%20deaths%20every%20year.">28,000 and 36,000 deaths</a> in the UK each year. </p>
<p>The concept of LTNs in the UK can be traced back to the 1970s when a <a href="http://hackneycyclist.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-history-behind-filtered.html">similar scheme</a> (although not referred to as an LTN at the time) was introduced in the London borough of Hackney. Many of the UK’s more recent LTNs are concentrated in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692321002477?via%3Dihub">deprived areas of London</a>, with low rates of car ownership. </p>
<p>By contrast, similar schemes have been more widely adopted <a href="https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/ejtir/article/view/3000/3187">in the Netherlands</a>, where active travel has been separated from car traffic consistently since the 1970s.</p>
<p>But LTNs have become controversial in the UK. Critics have even gone as far as <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/low-traffic-zones-just-greenwashing-says-lobby-group-jvck33c69">accusing the government</a> of greenwashing. They <a href="https://freedomfordrivers.blog/2023/02/23/new-petition-remove-ltns-and-greenwash-traffic-schemes/">argue that</a> LTNs cause more congestion and air pollution on boundary roads (usually larger roads around the perimeter of an LTN), longer emergency response times and increased travel times for disabled people or carers. </p>
<p>Since most LTNs are relatively recent and have been predominantly installed in London, there is limited information on their long-term effects and impacts beyond the capital. </p>
<p>Yet the existing evidence still offers a clearer understanding of how LTNs can positively impact various aspects of urban life. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A queue of traffic." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533704/original/file-20230623-25-llyph0.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Critics argue that LTNs cause congestion on surrounding roads.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blackfriars-london-uk-11th-june-2014-597895856">Lenscap Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fewer cars, more active travel</h2>
<p>Some studies suggest that LTNs are effective in reducing car usage. <a href="https://findingspress.org/article/75470-the-impact-of-2020-low-traffic-neighbourhoods-on-levels-of-car-van-driving-among-residents-findings-from-lambeth-london-uk">Recent research</a> on four LTNs in the south London borough of Lambeth that was co-authored by one of us (Jamie Furlong), found that the annual distance residents within these LTNs drove decreased by 6% compared to control areas.</p>
<p>This finding supports <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/13Nsm_GFdH6CpIpPpOZ7hbhLZScgqCAP7ZGI0xi4qDqA/edit">previous research</a> commissioned by climate action charity, Possible, that examined traffic data from 46 LTNs across 11 London boroughs. The analysis revealed a substantial reduction in motor traffic within LTNs compared to the expected background changes. Importantly, there was no evidence of traffic being systematically displaced onto boundary roads. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4133090">separate study</a> by researchers from Imperial College London on three LTNs in the London borough of Islington showed notable improvements in air quality after their installation. On average, levels of nitrogen dioxide (a harmful car exhaust pollutant) decreased by 5.7% within the LTNs and 8.9% on boundary roads. </p>
<p>LTNs have demonstrated several other benefits beyond reduced car usage. In London, they have even been associated with decreased car ownership and <a href="https://findingspress.org/article/25633-impacts-of-2020-low-traffic-neighbourhoods-in-london-on-road-traffic-injuries">improved road safety</a>. Between 2015 and 2019, rates of car ownership in outer London LTNs <a href="https://findingspress.org/article/18200-the-impact-of-low-traffic-neighbourhoods-and-other-active-travel-interventions-on-vehicle-ownership-findings-from-the-outer-london-mini-holland-progr">reduced by 6%</a> relative to control areas.</p>
<p>Evidence on the shift to active travel prompted by LTNs is more limited. However, a <a href="https://findingspress.org/article/21390-the-impact-of-low-traffic-neighbourhoods-on-active-travel-car-use-and-perceptions-of-local-environment-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">study funded by Transport for London</a> on LTNs that pre-dated COVID in London’s Waltham Forest, found a 1-2 hour increase per person in weekly active travel compared to the control area. </p>
<h2>What about the concerns?</h2>
<p>One criticism of LTNs relates to the <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/traffic-calming-zones-london-delay-fire-crews-xmplwxp38">potential delays</a> they can cause for emergency services. Videos have surfaced online showing fire engines and ambulances unable to get past bollards or planting boxes. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://findingspress.org/article/18198-the-impact-of-introducing-a-low-traffic-neighbourhood-on-fire-service-emergency-response-times-in-waltham-forest-london">only published academic study</a> on the topic, which examined the impact of LTNs on fire service emergency response times in Waltham Forest, found no negative effects. In fact, response times even improved slightly on some boundary roads. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A fire engine driving down a road." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533694/original/file-20230623-29-lpm05q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Concerns have been raised about the delays LTNs cause to emergency services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-september-30-2019-emergency-1519146149">olesea vetrila/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learning from Barcelona</h2>
<p>How residents feel about LTNs and their streets is crucial to the success of these schemes. In both <a href="https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/london-council-scraps-seven-low-traffic-neighbourhoods-after-public-backlash/">Ealing</a> (a district of west London) and <a href="https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/23600038.low-traffic-neighbourhood-westy-will-removed/">Warrington</a> (a town in northern England), councils removed LTNs after the objection of residents.</p>
<p>The fact that relatively few of the UK’s more recent LTNs have <a href="https://twitter.com/hackneycouncil/status/1554765517843570689">altered street layouts</a> to encourage new uses by, for example, widening pavements and turning car parking spaces into public seating may be part of the issue. If LTNs were implemented with a stronger focus on urban design and physical changes to the streetscape, they could have a potentially transformative effect on how people feel about and use residential streets.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/superilles/en/">“superblocks”</a> initiative (city blocks where pedestrians and cyclists are prioritised over motorised vehicles) in Barcelona is a good example of such an approach. Following the implementation of the city’s Sant Antoni superblock, <a href="https://bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat/jspui/handle/11703/129164">research</a> found a 33% reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions, an 82% reduction in traffic within the superblock and a 28% increase in public space to walk and play in. </p>
<p>During trial phases, various features were incorporated into Barcelona’s neighbourhoods, including coloured pavements, mobile tree planters and pop-up playgrounds. In the <a href="https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/superilles/ca/content/poblenou">Poblenou superblock</a>, the final design of street changes resulted from two weeks of <a href="https://bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat/jspui/handle/11703/129164">laboratories and debates</a> involving residents, council officers, political representatives and more than 200 students and teachers from different schools of architecture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A low-traffic neighbourhood with curbside seating and colourful decoration." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533121/original/file-20230621-16-9mq8gq.jpeg?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 Sant Antoni superblock, Barcelona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jamie Furlong</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the UK, the future of LTNs hangs in the balance due to a <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/05/19/low-traffic-neighbourhoods-no-government-money/">shaky funding base</a>. But this development is accompanied by a climate emergency that demands swift and decisive action. </p>
<hr>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.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><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206432/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Jamie Furlong receives funding from TfL for a related project analysing behaviour change and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. He also receives funding, as part of a team at Westminster University, from the National Institute for Health and Care Research for a project examining the effects of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in London.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ersilia Verlinghieri, as part of a team at Westminster University, receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research for a project examining the effects of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in London.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harrie Larrington-Spencer, as part of a team at Westminster University, receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research for a project examining the effects of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in London.</span></em></p>
LTNs were introduced to UK cities to create a more pleasant environment for pedestrians and cyclists - but they’ve become controversial.
Jamie Furlong, Research Fellow in Active Travel Interventions, University of Westminster
Ersilia Verlinghieri, Senior Research Fellow at the Active Travel Academy, University of Westminster
Harrie Larrington-Spencer, Research Fellow in the Active Travel Academy, University of Westminster
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198960
2023-02-01T13:51:25Z
2023-02-01T13:51:25Z
Planting more trees could reduce premature heat-related deaths in European cities by a third – new research
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507592/original/file-20230201-583-dxwqbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5259%2C3482&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Planting trees in urban areas can reduce the impacts of urban heat islands.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/amsterdam-netherlands-12-june-2022-couple-2179666331">Dutch_Photos/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Urban development leads to fewer shaded areas and more heat-absorbing paved surfaces. Cities tend to be warmer than their rural surroundings as a result, a phenomenon known as the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/reduce-urban-heat-island-effect#:%7E:text=%22Urban%20heat%20islands%22%20occur%20when,heat%2Drelated%20illness%20and%20mortality.">urban heat island (UHI) effect</a>. During the summer daytime, cities can be <a href="https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/heat-island-compendium">up to 12°C</a> hotter than rural areas.</p>
<p>UHIs are a major environmental hazard for urban dwellers. <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/64/9/753.short">Research</a> suggests that for each 1°C rise in temperature, the risk of death increases by between 1% and 3%. Heat exposure also increases the risk of suffering <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519622001176">cardiovascular</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22531668/">respiratory illnesses</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02585-5/fulltext">Our research</a> calculated the death rates of urban inhabitants across 93 European cities (57 million people in total) between June and August 2015. We found that 6,700 premature deaths during this period were linked to UHIs. </p>
<p>But the pace of <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature">global warming</a> is accelerating and <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4b71">2 billion to 3 billion</a> people are expected to live in cities by 2050. The health impacts of UHIs will likely worsen in the coming years. </p>
<p>Several strategies exist to protect urban residents from the impacts of heat. These include <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378778814009700?via%3Dihub">covering roofs and facades in vegetation</a> (green roofs), decorating them in lighter colours, and replacing paved surfaces with areas of vegetation. Our modelling revealed that one-third (2,644) of UHI deaths in Europe could be prevented by increasing tree canopy cover to 30% in every urban neighbourhood.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic showing why urban areas are hotter than nearby rural areas." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507545/original/file-20230201-21-prrajt.png?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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The urban heat island effect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)02585-5/fulltext">Èlia Pons/ISGlobal</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Urban tree guidelines</h2>
<p>This <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11676-022-01523-z">target</a> was established last year by a study published in the <a href="https://www.springer.com/journal/11676/">Journal of Forestry Research</a>. Since then it has been adopted by several cities worldwide, including <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Trees-for-Life-Master-Plan-for-Barcelona-s-Trees-2017-2037?language=en_US">Barcelona</a> (Spain), <a href="https://bristolgreencapital.org/new-ambitious-target-launched-double-city-tree-canopy-cover-2050/">Bristol</a> (UK), <a href="https://www.phila.gov/programs/greenworks/">Philadelphia</a> (US), <a href="https://www.environment.act.gov.au/cc">Canberra</a> (Australia) and <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/Trees/Mangement/Canopy/Seattle2016CCAFinalReportFINAL.pdf">Seattle</a> (US). </p>
<p>Urban forests regulate a city’s microclimates effectively. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210670721008301?via%3Dihub">Research</a> found that urban forests cooled the average temperature of 601 European cities by 1.1°C and by as much as 2.9°C.</p>
<p>Leafy neighbourhoods are also linked to improved mental and physical health. In California, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829216301332">10% increase</a> in neighbourhood tree cover has been associated with a 19% reduction in rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes.</p>
<p>Surrounding greenness, particularly greenness at schools, can be important in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1503402112">cognitive development</a> of children. Cognitive testing of schoolchildren in Barcelona revealed a 6% better working memory development in children at schools with the highest levels of greenness compared to those at the least-green schools.</p>
<h2>More trees means less heat</h2>
<p>We found substantial variation in UHI death rates across European cities. In 2015, Gothenburg in Sweden recorded no premature UHI deaths, while urban heat was responsible for 32 premature deaths per 100,000 people in the Romanian city Cluj-Napoca.</p>
<p>The cities with the highest UHI death rates were in southern and eastern Europe. Most of these cities generally had low tree coverage and recorded the highest UHI effect. </p>
<p>Just 3.3% of Thessaloniki in Greece is covered by trees, resulting in urban temperatures 2.8°C higher than the surrounding area. By contrast, 27% of Gothenburg is covered by trees, delivering an UHI effect of just 0.4°C. </p>
<p>Overall, southern European cities will benefit most from increasing their tree cover. Our model estimates that Barcelona could reduce its UHI death rate by 60% by meeting the 30% tree coverage target.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A street view of Gothenburg with trees lining the road and colourful buildings in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507559/original/file-20230201-17-5z86tz.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 urban heat island effect is minimal in Gothenburg, Sweden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/goteborg-sweden-august-25-2016-view-756809815">trabantos/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>But the intensity of the UHI effect depends on multiple factors and is specific to each city. While vegetation cover influences urban temperatures during the day, nighttime temperatures are driven by the height of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_canyon">urban canyon</a>.</p>
<p>The cooling capacity of a tree canopy also varies. This depends on the type and size of trees, which are themselves contingent on the city’s natural climate and the degree to which trees are maintained.</p>
<p>Drier climates, like Thessaloniki, favour smaller trees that have fewer leaves. By contrast, Gothenburg’s cooler and wetter climate favours larger and leafier trees that provide better protection from daytime heat.</p>
<p>Due to this variation, we built a tool called the Cooling Efforts Index. The index assesses how much cooling can be achieved in each city for every 1% increase in tree cover. We also generated high-resolution maps for each city to identify the areas where tree coverage is needed most urgently.</p>
<p>In some cities, the majority of urban forests will grow on private land. Tree planting programmes must therefore encourage residents to plant trees.</p>
<p>In Victoria, a city on Canada’s western coast, <a href="https://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/residents/parks/urban-forest/trees-in-cities-challenge.html">neighbourhoods are offered</a> a CAD$1,000 (£610) grant to plant residential trees. So far, over 78 trees have been planted on private property across the city.</p>
<p>Space can also be a major constraint in compact urban areas. So increasing tree cover to 30% may be challenging for some European cities. </p>
<p>But each city can adapt this target to its local context. For example, a lower tree canopy target can be combined with alternative measures like green roofs in compact urban areas. </p>
<p>Terrace roofs account for 67% of <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Trees-for-Life-Master-Plan-for-Barcelona-s-Trees-2017-2037?language=en_US">Barcelona’s</a> roof surface area. As the city’s urban population continues to rise, the city council has launched a <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Guide-to-living-terrace-roofs-and-green-roofs?language=en_US">guide</a> to transform roofs into areas with partial or total plant cover. The guide sets out the social and environmental benefits of green roofs and offers advice for choosing the right kind of terrace roof for the building.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="View from the rooftop terrace overlooking Barcelona's skyline." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507565/original/file-20230201-3729-xvmqx2.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">Terrace roofs account for 67% of Barcelona’s roof surface area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/barcelona-spain-june-1-2022-view-2187870367">Kirk Fisher/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Incorporating urban green infrastructure into cities should make them more resilient to climate change. But planting trees may not be enough. Tree growth is a long processes and around half of newly-planted trees <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866711000422">die within two years</a>. Preserving existing trees and complementing tree planting schemes with other measures that reduce the intensity of UHIs, such as reducing car use, are similarly important.</p>
<p>Urban trees provide substantial public health and environmental benefits. Our study suggests that by increasing tree coverage, premature UHI deaths in European cities can be reduced. But for the resilience of cities to increase, it remains important to combine greater tree coverage with other urban green infrastructure.</p>
<p><em>The headline of this article was amended to make clear it referred to heat-related deaths and not all premature deaths.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Nieuwenhuijsen receives funding from European Union Horizon funding </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meelan Thondoo and Tamara Iungman 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>
In 2015, 6,700 premature deaths were caused by urban heat – this can be reduced by a third by planting more trees.
Meelan Thondoo, Research Associate, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge
Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Research Professor ISGlobal Barcelona and Professorial Fellow, ACU Melbourne, Australian Catholic University
Tamara Iungman, PhD researcher, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189283
2022-09-02T12:18:04Z
2022-09-02T12:18:04Z
As countries ranging from Indonesia to Mexico aim to attract digital nomads, locals say ‘not so fast’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481872/original/file-20220830-31761-o93l5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=327%2C86%2C5423%2C3742&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A tourist has makeup done ahead of Day of the Dead on Oct. 30, 2021, in Mexico City.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tourist-is-having-makeup-done-as-a-skull-in-a-costume-news-photo/1350360186?adppopup=true">Alfredo Martinez/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Should your community welcome <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/digital%20nomad">digital nomads</a> – individuals who work remotely, allowing them freedom to bounce from country to country?</p>
<p><a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/digital-nomads-9780190931780?cc=us&lang=en&">Our research</a> has found that workers are eager to embrace the flexibility of not being tied to an office. And after experiencing economic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cities and countries are concocting ways to entice visitors.</p>
<p>One idea involves stretching the meaning of tourism to include remote workers.</p>
<p>Today, a growing number of countries offer so-called “<a href="https://nomadgirl.co/countries-with-digital-nomad-visas/">digital nomad visas</a>.” These visas allow longer stays for remote workers and provide clarity about allowable work activities. For example, officials in Bali, Indonesia, are looking to formalize a process for remote workers to procure visas – “<a href="https://coconuts.co/bali/features/the-faster-the-better-bali-tourism-agency-head-tjokorda-bagus-pemayun-talks-digital-nomad-visa-plans-and-what-it-means-for-the-island/">the faster, the better</a>,” as the head of the island’s tourism agency put it.</p>
<p>Yet pushback from locals in cities ranging <a href="https://time.com/6072062/barcelona-tourism-residents-covid/">from Barcelona</a> to <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/07/28/mexico-city-residents-angered-by-influx-of-americans-speaking-english-gentrifying-area-report/">Mexico City</a> has made it clear that there are costs and benefits to an influx of remote workers. </p>
<p>As we explain in our new book, “Digital Nomads: In Search of Freedom, Community, and Meaningful Work in the New Economy,” the trend of “work tourism” <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/digital-nomads-9780190931780?cc=us&lang=en&">comes with a host of drawbacks</a>.</p>
<h2>Wearing out their welcome</h2>
<p>For as long as there’s been tourism, locals have griped about the outsiders who come and go. These travelers are usually a welcome boost to the economy – <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/overtourism">up to a point</a>. They can also wear out their welcome. </p>
<p>Perhaps the classic example is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-25/venice-reinventing-itself-as-sustainable-tourism-capital">Venice</a>, where high numbers of tourists stress the canal-filled city’s fragile infrastructure.</p>
<p>In the U.S., New Jersey shore residents have long used the term “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoobie">shoobies</a>” to denigrate the annual throng of short-term summer tourists. In our research on digital nomads in Bali, locals referred to digital nomads and other tourists as “bules” – a word that roughly translates as “foreigners.”</p>
<p>Generally the terms are used to express minor annoyance over crowds and increased traffic. But conventional tourists come and go – their stays usually range from a couple of nights to a couple of weeks. Remote workers stay anywhere from weeks to months – or longer. They spend more time using places and resources traditionally dedicated to the local residents. This raises the chances that outsiders become a grating presence. </p>
<p>Excessive numbers of visitors can also raise sustainability concerns, as waves of tourists tax the environment and infrastructure of many destinations. Many of Bali’s beautiful rice fields and surrounding lush forests, for example, are being converted into hotels and villas to serve tourism.</p>
<h2>Digital nomads look to stretch their dollars</h2>
<p>Whether they’re lazing around or plugging away on their laptops, privileged tourists ultimately change the economics and demographics of an area. </p>
<p>Their buying power increases costs and displaces residents, while traditional businesses make way for ones that cater to their tastes. <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-food-became-the-perfect-beachhead-for-gentrification-167761">Where once there was a neighborhood food stand</a>, now there’s an upscale cafe. </p>
<p>This dynamic is only exacerbated by long-term tourists. Services like VRBO and Airbnb make it easy for digital nomads to rent apartments for weeks or months at a time, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45083954">people around the world are increasingly alarmed</a> at how quickly such rentals can change the affordability and character of a place.</p>
<p>Living a vacation lifestyle on a long-term basis implies a need to choose lower-cost destinations. This means that remote workers may particularly contribute to gentrification as they seek out places where their dollars go furthest.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://travelnoire.com/digital-nomads-see-why-mexicans-are-fed-up-with-them">Mexico City</a>, residents fear displacement by remote workers able to pay higher rents. In response to calls to choose Mexico City as a remote working destination, one local succinctly expressed opposition: “<a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22999722/mexico-city-pandemic-remote-work-gentrification">Please don’t</a>.”</p>
<p>And in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/13/new-orleans-airbnb-treme-short-term-rentals">New Orleans</a>, almost half of all properties in the historic <a href="https://nola.curbed.com/2018/5/16/17356630/treme-new-orleans-neighborhood-history-pictures">Tremé district</a> – one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in the U.S. – have been converted to short-term rentals, displacing longtime residents. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Locals wearing purple march through the streets playing instruments." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481877/original/file-20220830-35381-cosh9f.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">In Tremé, New Orleans, nearly half of all dwellings have become short-term rental properties.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/crowd-estimated-at-between-1500-and-2000-people-celebrates-news-photo/525178984?adppopup=true">Leon Morris/Redferns via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Culture becomes commodified</h2>
<p><a href="https://suitcasemag.com/articles/neocolonial-tourism">Neocolonialism</a> in tourism refers to the way processes such as overtourism and gentrification create a power imbalance that favors newcomers and erodes local ways of life. </p>
<p>“There’s a distinction between people who want to learn about the place they are in and those who just like it because it’s cheap,” one digital nomad living in Mexico City <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-07-27/americans-are-flooding-mexico-city-some-mexicans-want-them-to-go-home">recently told the Los Angeles Times</a>. “I’ve met a number of people who don’t really care that they’re in Mexico, they just care that it’s cheap.”</p>
<p>Bali, where <a href="https://www.aseantoday.com/2020/10/balis-economy-struggles-to-survive-without-tourists/">as much as 80%</a> of the island’s economy is estimated to be affected by tourism, offers a stark example. </p>
<p>People come to Bali to be immersed in the culture’s spiritual rituals, art, nature and dance. But there’s also resentment over yoga lovers, resortgoers and digital nomads “taking over” the island. And some locals come to see the tourism in and around temples and rituals as the transformation of something cherished – the nuanced and spiritual aspects of their culture – into experiences to be bought and sold. </p>
<p>For instance, Balinese dance performances are huge tourist draws and are even featured in global promotions for tourism on the island. Yet these performances also have cultural and spiritual meaning, and the impact of tourism on these aspects of dance is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37628994_Authenticity_and_commodification_of_Balinese_dance_performances">debated even among performers</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People take photographs of people marching in a parade." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481874/original/file-20220830-22-4l4ult.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">Tourists take pictures of Balinese artists during a parade celebrating the 77th anniversary of Indonesia Independence Day in Bali in August 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/foreign-tourists-take-pictures-of-balinese-artists-during-news-photo/1242552941?adppopup=true">Johannes P. Christo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So there is inevitably friction, which can be seen in the high levels of <a href="https://coconuts.co/bali/features/living-in-a-petty-crimes-paradise-balis-unreported-thefts-and-muggings/">petty crime</a> against foreigners. Neocolonialism can also pit people from the same country or culture against one another. For example, <a href="https://www.travelmole.com/news/bali-taxi-wars-flare-again/">conflicts arise</a> between local Balinese taxi cooperatives and taxi services that employ drivers from other parts of Indonesia. </p>
<p>Although remote employees still make up a small portion of the overall tourist population, their work-related needs and longer stays mean they’re more likely to use services and places frequented by locals.</p>
<p>Whether this leads digital nomads to be welcomed or scorned likely depends on both government policies and tourists’ behavior. </p>
<p>Will governments take measures such as protecting locals from mass evictions, or will landlords’ desire for higher rents prevail? Will guests live lightly and blend in, trying to learn the local language and culture? Or will they simply focus on working hard and playing harder? </p>
<p>As remote work reaches an unprecedented scale, the answers to such questions may determine whether “<a href="https://coconuts.co/bali/features/the-faster-the-better-bali-tourism-agency-head-tjokorda-bagus-pemayun-talks-digital-nomad-visa-plans-and-what-it-means-for-the-island/">the faster, the better</a>” attitude toward digital nomad visas and other incentives continues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Locals usually see tourists as a way to boost the economy. But at a certain point, resentment starts to build.
Rachael A. Woldoff, Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University
Robert Litchfield, Associate Professor of Business, Washington & Jefferson College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/186073
2022-07-26T12:12:58Z
2022-07-26T12:12:58Z
How your Spanish holiday could be quite different this year – and why that matters
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473009/original/file-20220707-16-ctd0w6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sunloving crowds flock to Lloret de Mar, Spain.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/crowded-beach-lloret-de-mar-spain-148539626">BGStock72 | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Iberian coasts and islands have long been <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-age-of-cheap-flights-city-breaks-and-world-cruises-how-to-make-your-holiday-better-for-the-environment-85478">popular destinations</a> for partying holidaymakers. As Britons, in particular, prepare to descend on Spain over the summer months in search of sun, sea, and sangria, a flurry of recent headlines suggest that quite what that tourist experience looks like is set to change significantly.</p>
<p>Hotels in Malaga are reportedly <a href="https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/05/10/hotel-rooms-noise-monitors-malaga-costa-del-sol/">being fitted with noise detectors</a> to clamp down on unruly hen and stag parties visiting the seaside town. The authorities in San Sebastian, meanwhile, have said they will start <a href="https://marineindustrynews.co.uk/spanish-city-to-charge-for-emergency-rescues-at-sea">charging tourists for sea rescues</a>, if their behaviour is found to have been reckless. Elsewhere, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/18942123/spain-beach-warning-sea-wee/">urinating in the sea</a> at Vigo, <a href="https://galaxyconcerns.com/spain-beach-warning-as-easy-mistake-could-cost-you-2400/">barbecuing on the beach</a> at Salobreña, and <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/18753107/palma-majorca-drunk-rules-fines-shell/">unruly drunken behaviour</a> in Palma will all see the ill-behaved tourists in question incur hefty fines and, potentially, an early ride home.</p>
<p>Spain is the second most-visited country in the world, after France. In 2019, it welcomed <a href="https://www.epdata.es/datos/turismo-espana-mundo-datos-graficos/272">83.5 million tourists</a> – the majority of whom were from the UK – and the sector contributed <a href="https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/1088773/pib-turistico-anual-en-espana/">€154,737.5m (£130,876)</a> to Spain’s GDP. As of May 2022, <a href="https://finanzasdigital.com/2022/06/en-espana-el-turismo-aporto-4-de-cada-10-empleos-creados-en-mayo/">four out of every ten new jobs</a> in the country are connected to the industry. </p>
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<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.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><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/should-i-still-go-on-holiday-if-i-have-covid-186185">Should I still go on holiday if I have COVID?</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-travel-solo-this-summer-184000">Why you should travel solo this summer</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/amsterdam-is-laying-down-a-model-for-what-tourism-should-look-like-after-covid-162271">Amsterdam is laying down a model for what tourism should look like after COVID</a></em></p>
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<p>This year, Spanish tourist officials have launched the <a href="https://socialnewsroom.spain.info/slowtravelspain-campaign/">#SlowTravelSpain</a> campaign to promote a more sustainable and considerate form of visiting the country. Anyone planning a holiday should be considering the customs and rules of their destination and the way their visit may affect local people’s lives, both positively and negatively.</p>
<h2>How Spain defined tourism as we know it</h2>
<p>Spain was a pioneer among European countries in fostering mass tourism. In the first decades of the 20th century, early attempts to promote the country to foreign audiences via a variety of <a href="http://camara-de-maravillas.blogspot.com/2011/02/espana-en-el-cartelismo-turistico-de.html">travel and tourism posters</a> were followed by full-blown campaigns to <a href="https://www.ucm.es/data/cont/docs/297-2013-07-29-3-07.pdf">visit Spain</a>. </p>
<p>In the wake of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/80-years-on-from-the-guernica-bombing-and-spain-is-still-struggling-to-honour-historical-memory-76238">Spanish civil war</a> and the second world war, dictator <a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-up-franco-why-spain-still-cant-decide-what-to-do-with-the-dictators-body-100781">Francisco Franco</a> then sought to harness its immense resources, from its filmic landscapes to its cuisine and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sagrada-familia-how-gaudis-masterpiece-became-a-myth-and-a-divisive-political-tool-173456">culture</a>, to kickstart the economy. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473011/original/file-20220707-18-ksriqb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&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">Playa Torremolino, Malaga, in 1960.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Playa_%28Torremolinos%292.jpg">Biblioteca de la Facultad de Empresa y Gestión Pública Universidad de Zaragoza | Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In the 1960s, the Ministry of Information and Tourism subsequently launched its “<a href="https://www.abc.es/espana/20141221/abci-spain-diferent-201412181821.html">Spain is Different</a>” campaign. Across the world the now-stereotypical image of Spain was promoted: sun, beaches, varied architecture and <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/es">heritage sites</a>, the <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/under-the-hoods-the-brotherhoods-and-sisterhoods-of-spains-holy-week-76223">Semana Santa</a></em> religious festival, oranges, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-paco-de-lucia-transformed-modern-flamenco-23807">flamenco</a> and bullfighting.</p>
<p>The government’s strategy was such a success that big-name visitors, including Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, Sofia Loren and others from the global film industry <a href="https://www.traveloldhollywood.com/post/becoming-carmen-hollywood-flamenco-and-the-birth-of-modern-tourism-in-spain">flocked to the country</a>. Iconic movies, from the 1965 classic Doctor Zhivago to Sergio Leone’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-political-history-of-dubbing-in-films-164136">spaghetti-western</a> Dollars trilogy, were shot on its plains. </p>
<p>It also resulted in a <a href="https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/commentaries/spains-flourishing-tourism-the-mainstay-of-the-economy/">43% rise in tourist numbers</a> in 1960. And those numbers have kept rising almost annually <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL?locations=ES">ever since</a>.</p>
<p>Research shows how Spain was particularly badly affected by the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320871/">2008 global economic crisis</a>. The number of tourists flocking to its beaches nonetheless rose by <a href="https://www.bankinter.com/blog/economia/turismo-espana-2017">42.6%</a> between 2012 and 2017. </p>
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<img alt="A dusty western scene of a town square with mountains in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473012/original/file-20220707-14-4m4eo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&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">The Oasys theme park in Almería, Andalusia was originally built for Sergio Leone’s 1965 western, For a Few Dollars More.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_Hollywood#/media/File:Town_square_in_Mini_Hollywood.jpg">Emilio del Prado | Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<h2>How mass tourism affects local people – and what we can do</h2>
<p>With this <a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-tourism-attacks-in-spain-who-is-behind-them-and-what-do-they-want-82097">popularity</a> have come <a href="https://theconversation.com/tourists-behaving-badly-how-culture-shapes-conduct-when-were-on-holiday-72285">increasing challenges</a>. The 1992 Olympic Games saw <a href="https://theconversation.com/barcelonas-las-ramblas-economic-powerhouse-and-symbolic-heart-of-a-city-82713">Barcelona</a> take off as a <a href="https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcelona/20220724/8428031/barcelona-global-juegos-olimpicos-92-1992.html">prime destination</a>. </p>
<p>In recent years, a number of measures have been implemented to deal with what the local media has referred to as “<a href="https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2022-04-26/barcelona-la-ciudad-que-no-quiere-a-los-turistas.html">the suffering</a>” of the city’s residents. These measures lately have included banning the use of megaphones, limiting the number of participants in guided tours, and the introduction of <a href="https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/06/27/barcelona-one-way-streets-and-no-more-megaphones-in-crack-down-on-disruptive-tourists">one-way systems</a> around major attractions. </p>
<p>In 2021 Barcelona introduced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/travel/barcelona-airbnb.html">unique regulations</a> to limit single-room rentals, such as those advertised via Airbnb, for less than 31 days. The aim was to temper the tourism boom and the negative impact it was having on <a href="https://revistas.um.es/turismo/article/view/405001">housing</a> for local people and <a href="https://www.publico.es/sociedad/barcelona-dependiente-turismo-servicios-herencia-juegos-olimpicos-modelo-economico.html">the city’s general services</a>. </p>
<p>This dual nature of the tourism industry has long been the subject of popular culture. The documentary series <a href="https://www.channel5.com/show/bargain-loving-brits-in-the-sun/">Bargain-loving Brits in the Sun</a> has followed expats relocating from the UK to destinations such as Alicante or the Costa del Sol for eight consecutive seasons. British sitcom <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/jan/26/benidorm-review-silent-witness">Benidorm</a>, meanwhile, mined <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAUo65ZaQWA">real-life tourist stereotypes</a> for laughs for ten seasons, until 2018. <a href="https://theconversation.com/brits-behaving-badly-new-report-details-travel-troubles-16146">Such behaviour</a> has led to the UK and other countries sending <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/06/british-police-to-patrol-magaluf-and-ibiza">police officers</a> to help local Spanish forces maintain public control.</p>
<p>Spain, of course, is not alone in facing up to the impact of <a href="https://responsibletourismpartnership.org/overtourism/">overtourism</a>, one of the Oxford English Dictionary’s words of the year in 2018. Before the pandemic emptied these places of their visitors, numerous bucket list destinations, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/amsterdam-is-laying-down-a-model-for-what-tourism-should-look-like-after-covid-162271">the Netherlands</a> to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/rome-unruly-tourists">Italy</a> and even <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/how-to-stop-overtourism/index.html">the UK</a> sought to balance out how to both grow the local economy and <a href="https://www.diariodesevilla.es/sevilla/turismo-masivo-Triana-divide-vecinos-comerciantes_0_1691531607.html">protect local people</a>, the landscape and wider cultural heritage. </p>
<p>Those proposing measures to regulate tourism recognise its importance for the Spanish economy. They claim they are <a href="https://www.cope.es/emisoras/region-de-murcia/murcia-provincia/murcia---san-javier/noticias/pprm-insta-gobierno-reforzar-medidas-para-garantizar-turismo-seguro-calidad-20220626_2164778">promoting</a> a “<a href="https://www.cope.es/emisoras/region-de-murcia/murcia-provincia/murcia---san-javier/noticias/pprm-insta-gobierno-reforzar-medidas-para-garantizar-turismo-seguro-calidad-20220626_2164778">safe and high-quality</a>” tourism experience. If you’re planning a visit to Spain this year, think about what part you might play in making the unique Spanish tourism experience different.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark McKinty previously received funding from AHRC. </span></em></p>
Overtourism has seen Spanish authorities take ever stricter measures. Individual visitors have a part to play in making tourism more sustainable.
Mark McKinty, Early Career Researcher in Spanish Studies, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173456
2022-01-06T12:44:11Z
2022-01-06T12:44:11Z
The Sagrada Familia: how Gaudí’s masterpiece became a myth and a divisive political tool
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439680/original/file-20220106-27-cwqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The new tower stands completed, to the left, with its summit star in place.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sagrada-familia-basilica-barcelona-antoni-gaudi-2101137517">Petr Tran | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s Catalan masterpiece, recently celebrated the completion of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/huge-star-atop-sagrada-familia-rekindles-residents-complaints">Mare de Déu tower</a> by hoisting a giant, 12-pointed star of metal and textured glass to its summit. After 140 years of construction on the church, this is the first of its six main towers to be finished and its outsized decoration now lights up the Barcelona nightscape. </p>
<p>Not everyone is pleased though. The installation has been met with criticism about the ongoing building works and the adverse impact of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-i-could-go-anywhere-the-dizzying-spectacle-of-gaudis-basilica-de-la-sagrada-familia-159532">tourism</a> it generates on the local area.</p>
<p>The Sagrada Familia has been a magnet for controversy since well before Gaudí was commissioned to build it in 1883. <a href="https://eprints.ncl.ac.uk/262978">As my research shows</a>, the Sagrada Familia has become both a <a href="https://diumenge.ara.cat/diumenge/preservant-gaudi-del-mite_1_1617290.html">myth</a> and a tool co-opted by different political movements and ideological campaigns. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437316/original/file-20211213-21-1c5eeem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&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">When Homer Simpson visits the Sagrada Familia in a 2013 episode of The Simpsons, the façades depicted are not those built by Gaudí, but the ones that better fit within the architect’s myth.</span>
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</figure>
<h2>Conservative roots</h2>
<p>The Sagrada Familia was originally conceived in 1881 by philanthropist and bookseller Josep Maria Bocabella as an expiatory temple – a place of atonement – devoted to the cult of the Holy Family (the child Jesus, his mother, the Virgin Mary and his father, St Joseph). In buying entry tickets, visitors, still today, effectively atone for their sins. </p>
<p>The decline of the Spanish empire in the 19th century had given rise to powerful ideological and political debates across Spain. The late 1870s saw the emergence of left-wing and anarchist movements, against which Bocabella aimed to make a stand with a new basilica. </p>
<p>To that end, in 1882, he bought a plot of land just outside the Eixample district of the city. He created a foundation to manage the works and appointed the architect Francisco de Paula Villar y Lozano. They envisaged an edifice in the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323628098_Como_nacio_el_Templo_de_la_Sagrada_Familia">Gothic revival style</a>. </p>
<p>Lozano, however, only got as far the building’s foundations and the crypt before public disagreements about its construction system and finances led the foundation to ask Gaudí to take over.</p>
<p>Gaudí attuned his designs to both Bocabella’s ideals and the rightwing political and ideological movements sweeping through Catalonia at the time. He referenced the local Montserrat mountain range – which lies inland from Barcelona – in his radical new designs for the building’s sculptural mass and its elevation. </p>
<p>He also proposed that the church be built as a succession of single façades, each replete with a carefully curated, baroque medley of sculptures. In this way, even while under construction, the basilica would instruct visitors in the Catholic values associated with the Holy Family.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437315/original/file-20211213-19-1fdrxwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sagrada Familia under construction in 1920.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A myth is born</h2>
<p>Until this moment the Lliga Catalanista, the main rightwing, nationalist party in Catalonia, had seen Gaudí as an <a href="https://library.ccny.cuny.edu/c.php?g=950858&p=6907396">outsider</a>. Its leaders had labelled his architecture disgusting. But as he became ever more popular and his work more powerful, the Sagrada Familia appeared as a useful means for spreading their message.</p>
<p>The Lliga started presenting Gaudí as “the genius of Catalonia”, claiming that his basilica was a classical temple that belonged to all Catalans. It urged the public to contribute financially to its construction, belabouring the fact that in doing so, they would be buying forgiveness. </p>
<p>When Gaudí passed away in 1926, Barcelona was at the centre of the anarchist and left-wing movements in Europe. In 1936, at the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, the construction site was vandalised by anarchist groups. Gaudí’s studio was burned down and all the drawings and models it contained were <a href="https://www.editorialtenov.com/en/books/antoni-gaudi-ornament-fire-and-ashes-juan-jose-lahuerta/">destroyed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1002&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1002&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437339/original/file-20211213-25-15pknzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1002&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gaudí’s plan for the basilica was first published in the January 20, 1906 edition of <em>La Veu de Catalunya</em>, a newspaper with close links to the <em>Lliga</em>.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The post-war period saw construction resume and the myth of Gaudí take shape. In the absence of the plans and archival materials lost in the fire, architects and historians began to interpret Gaudí’s ideas to suit their own agendas. In 1964, an international group of architects and intellectuals called for work on the basilica to be halted. Most of them deplored the quality of these post-Gaudí additions. </p>
<h2>Tourist destination</h2>
<p>Tourism has placed ever greater strains on the site, with neighbourhood associations also bemoaning the lack of planning permits and payment of building permit fees. Inscribing the basilica into the surrounding urban context remains a primary challenge. </p>
<p>For the temple’s main façade and its staircase to be built, a series of housing blocks is set to be demolished, as defined in the unique leasehold terms under which they were built during the second half of the 20th century. At the time the completion of the temple seemed too far in the future. Now, with an end date set – just before the pandemic outbreak – for 2026, it’s a very real problem.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437326/original/file-20211213-27-508t7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With this 2002 collage showing the Sagrada Familia as Barcelona’s high speed train station, architect and landscaper Beth Galí aimed to spark debate about the building site.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Until COVID brought the industry to a halt, ever-increasing visitor numbers ensured a vast and steady stream of income to keep construction underway. In 2019 alone, <a href="https://www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20210529/7490507/sagrada-familia-reabre-sabado-visitantes-fines-semana.html">4.5 million people</a> came to the site.</p>
<p>The pandemic has of course been a major impediment. Visitors dropped to only 810,000 in 2020 and work on the church has been put on hold until 2024. However, if the church’s history is anything to go by, the Sagrada Familia will endure. It has become a myth equalled only by that of its creator, Gaudí. And like any myth, it is impervious to historical fact.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Josep-Maria Garcia Fuentes 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>
Barcelona’s fabled basilica recently celebrated the completion of its first tower with a giant star. But as at every stage in its history, not everyone is pleased.
Josep-Maria Garcia Fuentes, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Newcastle University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/159292
2021-04-19T17:49:10Z
2021-04-19T17:49:10Z
European Super League: why punishing the breakaway 12 could backfire badly
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395796/original/file-20210419-23-hqr4jf.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&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/soccer-ball-95315320">Mikhael Damkier</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The football world has been rocked by the announcement of a breakaway European Super League (ESL). The majority think it a bad idea, from governing bodies <a href="https://www.fifa.com/who-we-are/news/fifa-statement-x3487">Fifa</a> and <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/news/0268-12121411400e-7897186e699a-1000--statement-by-uefa-the-english-football-association-the-premier-/">Uefa</a> through to national bodies such as the FA and English Premier League. </p>
<p>The same goes for the fan groups at the six English clubs that comprise half of the ESL’s initial membership of 12: Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal from England. The remaining founders are Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid from Spain; and Juventus, AC Milan and Inter from Italy. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/bayern-munich-and-borussia-dortmund-not-joining-european-super-league">top German</a> and French clubs are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakgarnerpurkis/2021/04/19/why-paris-saint-germain-and-bayern-munich-bailed-on-the-super-league/?sh=43482dd299f5">not participating</a>. </p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/explainer-how-will-the-new-european-super-league-work">proposed system</a>, these 12 clubs would join three more unconfirmed founder members and five additional clubs that would have to qualify each year. They would play midweek fixtures in two mini-leagues of ten clubs, with the highest finishers progressing to knock-out stages and eventually a final each May. </p>
<p>Effectively replacing the <a href="https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/">Uefa Champions League</a>, the founders stand to receive €3.5 billion (£2.5 billion) in initial infrastructure payments between them, plus €10 billion for an “initial commitment period”. The 12 clubs propose to compete in their national leagues as normal. </p>
<p>The proposals are considered so outrageous that even the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/ministers-urged-to-take-action-over-european-super-league-plan">vowing to</a> find a way to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/government-pledges-to-stop-english-clubs-joining-european-super-league">block them</a> – despite not being known for his love of football. Pundits, <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12279996/gary-neville-on-european-super-league-plans-im-fuming-but-it-wont-go-through-not-a-chance">including Gary Neville</a>, the former Manchester United defender, have also been showing exasperation. </p>
<p>The ESL is being condemned as money-grabbing, since it would mostly be a “closed shop” without the jeopardy of relegation for founding clubs. Many consider it against the spirit of football’s long history, particularly with lower-league outfits struggling from the pandemic. </p>
<p>Neville thinks there is “not a chance” the proposals will go ahead, given the huge opposition. Others <a href="https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/european-super-league-teams-champions-league-reforms-arsenal-man-utd-city-liverpool-tottenham-chelsea">suggest they could</a> be intended as a bargaining chip as <a href="https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/news/0268-1213f7aa85bb-d56154ff8fe8-1000--new-uefa-club-competition-formats-from-2024-25/">Uefa unveils</a> a revamped and expanded Champions League, which it says will take place regardless of the ESL proposals. </p>
<p>In England, many also want the football authorities to punish the “big six”. Relegations, expulsions and bans on players competing in the Euros and World Cup are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/super-league-players-face-world-cup-and-euros-ban-warns-furious-uefa-chief">being mooted</a>. </p>
<p>But we suggest that everybody pauses for breath. Acting harshly against these clubs could achieve exactly the opposite effect to what is intended. </p>
<h2>Pots and kettles</h2>
<p>Authorities such as the English Premier League (EPL) may struggle to win hearts and minds by invoking football’s history. The EPL itself broke away from the English Football League in 1992, and the football authorities and fans were just as enraged at the time. Relegation was included in the proposal, although the clubs did not ask permission for the structure they created. </p>
<p>With the lion’s share of English football broadcasting revenues going to Premier League clubs, many in football <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/05/10/premier-league-spending-obscene-greedy-threatening-future-lower/">already criticise</a> the footballing pyramid. Not enough money filters down to the lower leagues, they argue, while years of transfer-price and wage inflation drove numerous clubs to the brink even before the pandemic.</p>
<p>Amid the empty stadiums of 2020-21, <a href="https://theconversation.com/english-football-why-financial-calamity-facing-clubs-is-even-worse-than-in-mainland-europe-147156">football is facing</a> a choice: watch more clubs go to the wall or consider some kind of reset with reduced player salaries, regulated transfers, agents removed from the game, and resources distributed more equally. </p>
<p>The clubs behind the ESL appear to be rejecting this form of sustainable austerity. They are positioning themselves above rather than atop the existing pyramid. Of course, with some <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/football/barcelona/story/4301666/barcelonas-debt-is-greater-than-1-billion-forget-bringing-back-neymarthey-cant-even-afford-eric-garcia">sitting on</a> more than €1 billion of debt, receiving a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f00bb232-a150-4f7d-b26a-e1b62cd175c3?desktop=true&segmentId=d8d3e364-5197-20eb-17cf-2437841d178a#myft:notification:instant-email:content">signing-on bonus</a> of €200 million to €300 million may solve their own financial crises.</p>
<h2>What happens next</h2>
<p>The ESL could be a bargaining chip, of course. The big clubs have long sought Champions League reforms that benefit them financially, and timing the announcement a day ahead of Uefa confirming the Champions League revamp was clearly no accident. </p>
<p>Adding games to the congested football calendar is not something any leading club will relish. So perhaps the ESL proposal melts away in the coming days on the back of a compromise with Uefa. As Neville has pointed out, <a href="https://accessaa.co.uk/project-big-picture-scrapped-manchester-united-down-70m/">something similar happened</a> with the English Premier League in 2020 having a plan to further strengthen the big clubs called <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/gary-neville-european-super-league-sky-sports-interview-b930353.html">Project Big Picture</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the big clubs could be seeking an extreme reaction from football authorities to enable them to go further. Maybe a standalone league is what the owners really have in mind, rather than the parallel mid-week league proposed.</p>
<p>The model we need to consider is that of top American sports such as American football or basketball, where there is no relegation and teams travel thousands of miles to play. They schedule matches abroad on neutral venues, and often move the team to a new city without any care for their local fan-base. </p>
<p>That owners refer to clubs as “franchises” is <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/raiders-las-vegas-move-explained/26kge720q0dv1stx8mwfqij0q">instructive</a> here: four of the proposed ESL founder clubs have US owners with arguably little interest in football except for its earning potential. </p>
<p>You can imagine them thinking a group of 20 clubs from Europe will act like a gigantic vacuum cleaner to suck all the cash from football broadcast revenues and sponsorship. Teams can play multiple times each year, and why not have the local Madrid or Manchester derbies played to packed audiences in Rio, Shanghai or LA? Indeed, why restrict yourself to European clubs when you could also add rivals from South America, the US or China?</p>
<p>To counter this threat, the governing bodies and national leagues need to keep the 12 teams in their competitions. If such a standalone league effectively became – excuse the pun – the only game in town, it might matter little to individual players if they were banned from playing for national teams. They could console themselves with the even greater salaries likely to be on offer as the whole world watches their every game.</p>
<p>We certainly don’t think the ESL would be good for the game, but knee-jerk measures could do untold damage to all outside of the elite. It could squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remodel the Champions League and ensure that football at all levels remains financially viable. It may come down to who has the strongest brand: the football authorities, leagues or clubs – at the moment it seems the clubs have confidence in the answer to this question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian R. Bell receives funding from the AHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Brooks receives funding from Innovate UK and the ESRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Urquhart 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>
Everyone seems united against the new proposals, but can they really be stopped?
Adrian R Bell, Chair in the History of Finance and Research Dean, Prosperity and Resilience, Henley Business School, University of Reading
Andrew Urquhart, Associate Professor of Finance, ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading
Chris Brooks, Professor of Finance, Henley Business School, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155916
2021-02-28T17:35:33Z
2021-02-28T17:35:33Z
Is the Mediterranean Basin really a hotspot of environmental change?
<p>The Mediterranean basin, which includes the Mediterranean Sea and the countries it borders, is often referred to as a hotspot for climate change and biodiversity. This image is used to illustrate the multiple risks for the region, its people and its ecosystems. A <a href="https://www.medecc.org/">new analysis of the scientific literature</a> co-authored by 120 scientists concludes that the sum of climate change, pollution, unsustainable use of land and sea, and the invasion of nonnative species has induced these overlapping risks that are often underestimated.</p>
<p>Concerning the existence of the hotspot, the answer is both yes and no. It is no if we mean that the Mediterranean region has warmed faster than other regions. It is true that increases in air temperature have now reached +1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period (1850-1900) while the global average increase has just exceeded +1°C. However, this is not surprising since all of the world’s land surfaces have <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/">warmed more than the atmosphere above the oceans</a>. The strongest warming occurs at high latitudes with a speed <a href="https://theconversation.com/100-degrees-in-siberia-5-ways-the-extreme-arctic-heat-wave-follows-a-disturbing-pattern-141442">twice that of the global average</a>. The Mediterranean, being semi-enclosed and relatively shallow, is warming faster than the global ocean (+0.3°C to +0.4°C per decade vs. approximately <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature">+0.2°C globally</a>. </p>
<p>Temperature is only one among several factors in global change, however. The answer is yes if we consider the cocktail of multiple hazards (see the infographic below) that makes the Mediterranean particularly vulnerable, especially on its eastern and southern shores.</p>
<h2>Terrestrial and marine heat waves</h2>
<p>Warming rates are highest in summer, particularly for maximum temperatures, projected to reach <a href="https://www.medecc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MedECC_MAR1_SPM_ENG.pdf">+3.3°C for a global warming of +2°C</a>. This will increase the intensity and frequency of heat waves. Cities will experience heat peaks that will be further amplified by several degrees by mineral surfaces, with particularly significant health risks for the most vulnerable city dwellers (children, the elderly and the poor). Their health risks are further amplified by air pollution, which is also exacerbated during hot episodes, for example, in large cities such as Cairo and Barcelona. </p>
<p>The increase in maritime traffic in ports such as Marseilles, to meet the growing demand for tourist cruises, has an <a href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/luxury-cruise-giant-emits-10-times-more-air-pollution-sox-all-europe%E2%80%99s-cars-%E2%80%93-study">even greater impact on health</a> because it generates peaks of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide when summer temperatures reach their maximum.</p>
<p>In the ocean, conditions are no better. Stronger and more frequent marine heat waves kill sensitive species. The effect of warming on living organisms is amplified by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ocean-acidification-the-forgotten-piece-of-the-carbon-puzzle-50247">acidification of seawater</a> which, due to its higher alkalinity, absorbs more CO<sub>2</sub> than the global ocean. In addition, tropical species arriving through the Suez Canal or the Strait of Gibraltar tend to replace some native species. Coastal areas are heavily impacted by sea-level rise, which is currently accelerating (4.8 cm over 10 years) and which could reach 40 cm to 120 cm in 2100, depending on the greenhouse gas emission scenario. </p>
<h2>Successions of droughts and floods</h2>
<p>The retreat of the coastline has been amplified by a drastic decrease in sedimentary input and by urbanisation. While sea level rise is less of a problem in less populated or high tide areas elsewhere in the world, it poses a huge problem to the densely populated Mediterranean where people, agrosystems, cultural heritage sites and coastal infrastructure are all dangerously near a low tide coastline. The <a href="https://tos.org/oceanography/article/the-2019-flooding-of-venice-and-its-implications-for-future-predictions">“Acqua Alta” in Venice in November 2019</a> with 190 cm of peak tide foreshadows what will happen increasingly more often on the Mediterranean rim during marine submersions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385859/original/file-20210223-14-114rknu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Summary of the conclusions of the first report on the environment and climate change produced by the MedECC network, released in November 2020 and which alerts policy makers and the public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.medecc.org/">Author provided</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Precipitation is undergoing a paradoxical evolution with an accentuation of drought during the summer months and an increase in heavy rains and thus the risk of flooding in the winter months. An average decrease of 4% in the amount of rain per degree of global warming has been estimated by climate models, affecting up to 180 million people, for whom the lack of water will become more pronounced. </p>
<p>In addition, water demand could increase by 22% to 74% by 2100 due to demographic changes, mass tourism and irrigation for agriculture. This shortage will be most significant in the southern and eastern Mediterranean where the climate is already arid and where three-quarters of the basin’s population live.</p>
<h2>Biodiversity under threat</h2>
<p>The Mediterranean territory is also a biodiversity hotspot with 25,000 plant species, 60% of which are endemic. It provided a “service” to plant and animal species as refuges during the last ice age (when the climate was much colder and the sea level was 120 meters lower). These ecosystems are now under the triple threat of drought, rising sea levels and intensified land use. Forest fires due to heat waves and droughts will be increasingly dramatic despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/wildfires-in-mediterranean-europe-will-increase-by-40-at-1-5-c-warming-say-scientists-104270">prevention efforts and fire response forces</a>. Climate change, pollution and overfishing are having a heavy impact on marine ecosystems, which contain 18% of known species and cover 0.82% of the global ocean.</p>
<p>The Mediterranean is also currently a hotspot of social and political instability, experiencing economic losses, conflicts and significant suffering of populations; even if the causal links with climate change cannot be demonstrated, expected future changes are so great that the risk of increased instability is significant and will require major adaptation efforts. In economic terms, the region depends heavily on tourism (<a href="https://planbleu.org/en/publications/soed-2020-state-of-environment-and-development-in-the-mediterranean/">30% of world tourism</a>) which faces the dual threat of heat waves and environmental degradation on the one hand, and the necessary decarbonisation of transport on the other.</p>
<p>The peak in water consumption by tourists coincides with that of agriculture, which will increasingly require irrigation, exacerbating use conflicts. The current Covid-19 crisis accentuates these developments and, in the short term, makes a paradigm shift inevitable regarding economic development based on <a href="https://www.ademe.fr/sites/default/files/assets/documents/vers_engl_25_oct_bat_web.pdf">perpetual growth, abundant (mostly fossil) energy</a> and waste. Climate change is also an opportunity for a transition to lifestyles that are more respectful of nature.</p>
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<p><em>Kasia Marini, scientific officer for MedECC in Plan bleu (Regional Activity Centre of Mediterranean Action Plan), contributed to the writing of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155916/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joël Guiot has received funding from the French government and the European Union for his research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wolfgang Cramer has received funding from the French government and the European Union for his research.</span></em></p>
The Mediterranean region, with its biodiversity, climate, demographics, and economic activities such as tourism, agriculture and fisheries, is particularly vulnerable to environmental risks.
Joël Guiot, directeur de recherche émérite CNRS sur le changement climatique, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU)
Wolfgang Cramer, Directeur de Recherche CNRS, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/150774
2020-12-15T14:32:34Z
2020-12-15T14:32:34Z
Sustainable cities after COVID-19: are Barcelona-style green zones the answer?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375084/original/file-20201215-15-1376y5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5760%2C3794&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Part of Barcelona's Eixample district. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-barcelona-eixample-residencial-district-1095000005">marchello74/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The lockdowns and restrictions introduced to control the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in huge changes to urban life. Previously bustling city centres remain empty, <a href="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cp-cloudpublish-public/p6/5fabfe1720d24.pdf">shunned in favour</a> of suburban or rural areas where social distancing is easier and connections to the outdoors are abundant.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-could-turn-cities-into-doughnuts-empty-centres-but-vibrant-suburbs-151406">Coronavirus could turn cities into doughnuts: empty centres but vibrant suburbs</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>The roll out of vaccines provides hope for a partial restoration of normality in cities. However, the impact of COVID-19 could last much longer. </p>
<p>In particular, the pandemic has shown how damaging congestion, pollution and lack of green space can be – including how these factors have contributed to the <a href="https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_covid_urban_world_july_2020.pdf">severity of suffering for city dwellers</a>. We have an opportunity to change city living for the better. </p>
<p>Barcelona offers an example of how city areas can be transformed to reduce pollution and increase access to green space. </p>
<p>The city pioneered the concept of superblocks, first introduced in 2016, as part of green urban planning. Superblocks are <a href="https://theconversation.com/superblocks-barcelonas-car-free-zones-could-extend-lives-and-boost-mental-health-123295">neighbourhoods of nine blocks</a>. Traffic is restricted to major roads around the superblocks, leaving the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZORzsubQA_M">streets inside</a> for pedestrians and cyclists. </p>
<p>Recently, further plans have been announced to expand green zones in the city’s central district, Eixample. This is a major expansion of low-traffic zones, giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists to reduce pollution and provide green spaces. </p>
<p>The new plan will <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-11/barcelona-s-new-car-free-superblock-will-be-big">cover 21 streets</a> and have space for 21 new pedestrian plazas at intersections. At least <a href="https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/premsa/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/201111-DOSSIER-Superilla-BarcelonaVDEF.pdf">80% of each street</a> is to be shaded by trees in summer and 20% unpaved. A public competition in May 2021 will decide the final design.</p>
<p>The purpose of the plan is to ensure that no resident will be more than 200 metres from <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54920342">a green space</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1326478526913146880"}"></div></p>
<p>There are many benefits to creating urban green spaces like these. They include an improvement in air quality and noise levels on the car-free streets, and a reduction in levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) from road traffic. Exposure to high level of NO₂ can lead to a range of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK138707/">respiratory problems</a>.</p>
<p>Green spaces have been shown to improve <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4204431/">mental health</a>, as well as lead to a reduction in risk of <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-56091-5_11">obesity and diabetes</a> – conditions which <a href="https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/coronavirus-and-your-health/what-makes-you-at-risk-from-coronavirus">significantly increase vulnerability to COVID-19</a>. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has made the case for green urban planning even more compelling. However, these plans can come at a cost. </p>
<h2>Barriers to green cities</h2>
<p>A particular negative impact of green zones could be a high demand for housing, leading to subsequent rises in property prices. This can lead to <a href="https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/2020/10/20/to-green-or-not-to-green-four-stories-of-urban-injustice-in-barcelona/">gentrification and displacement</a> of local residents and businesses. Care must be taken to make sure that homes remain affordable and urban green zones do not become rich enclaves. </p>
<p>The COVID-19 lockdowns highlighted the difference in living conditions <a href="https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/cp-cloudpublish-public/p6/5fabfe1720d24.pdf">faced by city dwellers</a>. Green initiatives must work for all socio-economic groups, and must not exacerbate <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/52/26139">existing inequalities</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, while city centres are the usual focus areas for greening initiatives, suburbs and other peripheral areas also need attention. The goal is to reduce carbon dependence in total – not shift it from one area to another, or one sector to another. </p>
<p>The plan should also include steps to make private and public transport completely green. This could include replacing carbon-producing transport system with zero-emission vehicles and providing ample infrastructure such as dedicated lanes and charging stations for electric vehicles.</p>
<p>Cities differ hugely in how they look, shape and operate. One size will not fit all. If other cities choose to follow Barcelona’s model, local issues must be carefully considered. Superblocks work really well in a neat grid system such as in central Barcelona. But many cities do not have a well-designed grid system. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cyclist on cycle lane" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375128/original/file-20201215-18-m21c47.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">Many cities are looking to expand green initiatives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cyclists-following-cycle-track-on-street-269488517">Robsonphoto/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>However, the principles of green, environmentally friendly, car-free or restricted-traffic neighbourhoods can be adopted in any city. Examples of schemes include low-traffic neighbourhoods <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-54180647">in London</a>, the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/videos/paris-is-planning-to-become-a-15-minute-city-897c12513b">15-minute city</a> initiative in Paris, or Manchester’s plans for a <a href="https://www.manchestersfinest.com/articles/new-plans-proposed-for-mcr-city-centre-its-going-car-free/">zero-carbon city centre</a>. </p>
<p>While adopting such interventions, it is important to keep citizens’ daily needs in mind to avoid adding extra burdens on them. If motor traffic is to be limited, the availability of public transport must be considered, safe infrastructure for walking and cycling as well as adequate road structure for essential services or deliveries. </p>
<p>Significant capital investment is needed to support these plans. The Barcelona plan is projected to cost <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-54920342">€38 million (£34 million)</a>. Much more will be required if it is to roll out to more areas. Cities in the developing world and poorer countries cannot afford such huge sums. Moreover, COVID-19 has left several cities laden with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/next-covid-casualty-cities-hit-hard-by-the-pandemic-face-bankruptcy-142539">huge amount of debt</a>. </p>
<p>Green city initiatives need to be long-term – and created with the support of local people. Recognition of the benefits of green living and informed support of developments will result in positive behaviour changes by the citizens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150774/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anupam Nanda's research has been sponsored by UK and international public and private funding bodies and companies, including UKRI/Innovate UK, the Real Estate Research Institute in the US, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Investment Property Forum and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is a board member of the European Real Estate Society.</span></em></p>
Making cities greener is a vital endeavour – but one that comes with potential pitfalls.
Anupam Nanda, Professor of Urban Economics & Real Estate, University of Manchester
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141582
2020-06-28T16:00:19Z
2020-06-28T16:00:19Z
Was coronavirus really in Europe in March 2019?
<p>The novel coronavirus – SARS-CoV-2 – may have been in Europe for longer than previously thought. Recent studies have suggested that it was circulating in <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.25.20140061v1">Italy</a> as early as December 2019. More surprisingly, researchers at the University of Barcelona found traces of the virus when testing untreated wastewater samples dated March 12, 2019. </p>
<p>The study was recently published on a preprint server, <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.13.20129627v1">medRxiv</a>. The paper is currently being subject to critical review by outside experts in preparation for publication in a scientific journal. Until this process of peer review has been completed, though, the evidence needs to be treated with caution. </p>
<p>So, how was the experiment conducted and what exactly did the scientists find?</p>
<p>One of the early findings about SARS-CoV-2 is that it is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmv.25795">found in the faeces</a> of infected people. As the virus makes its way through the gut – where it can cause <a href="https://gut.bmj.com/content/69/6/973">gastrointestinal symptoms</a> – it loses its outer protein layer, but bits of genetic material called RNA survive the journey intact and are “shed” in faeces. At this point, it is no longer infectious – as far as current evidence tells us.</p>
<p>But the fact that these bits of coronavirus RNA can be found in untreated wastewater (known as “influent”) is useful for tracking outbreaks. Indeed, they can predict where an outbreak is likely to occur a week to ten days before they show up in official figures – the reason being that people shed coronavirus before symptoms become evident. These “pre-symptomatic” people then have to get sick enough to be tested, get the results, and be admitted to a hospital as an official “case”, hence the week or so lag. </p>
<p>As a result, <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-wastewater-can-tell-us-where-the-next-outbreak-will-be-139917">many countries</a>, including Spain, are now monitoring wastewater for traces of coronavirus. In this particular study, wastewater epidemiologists were examining frozen samples of influent between January 2018 and December 2019 to see when the virus made its debut in the city. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344371/original/file-20200627-104538-133u557.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">Experts around the world are monitoring wastewater for signs of coronavirus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/modern-urban-wastewater-treatment-plant-purification-530497726">arhendrix/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>They found evidence of the virus on January 15, 2020, 41 days before the first official case was declared on February 25, 2020. All the samples before this date were negative, except for a sample from March 12, 2019, which gave a positive result in their PCR test for coronavirus. PCR is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-tests-how-they-work-and-whats-in-development-134479">standard way of testing</a> to see if someone currently has the disease. </p>
<p>PCR involves getting samples of saliva, mucus, frozen wastewater or whatever else the virus is thought to be lurking in, clearing all the unnecessary stuff out of the sample, then converting the RNA – which is a single strand of genetic material – into DNA (the famous double-stranded helix). The DNA is then “amplified” in successive cycles until key bits of genetic material that are known to only exist in a particular virus are plentiful enough to be detected with a fluorescent probe.</p>
<h2>Not highly specific</h2>
<p>In coronavirus testing, scientists typically screen for more than one gene. In this case, the researchers tested for three. They had a positive result for the March 2019 sample in one of the three genes tested – the RdRp gene. They screened for two regions of this gene and both were only detected around the 39th cycle of amplification. (PCR tests become less “specific” with increasing rounds of amplification. Scientists generally use 40 to 45 rounds of amplification.)</p>
<p>There are several explanations for this positive result. One is that SARS-CoV-2 is present in the sewage at a very low level. Another is that the test reaction was accidentally contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory. This sometimes happens in labs as positive samples are regularly being handled, and it can be difficult to prevent very small traces of positive sample contaminating others. </p>
<p>Another explanation is that there is other RNA or DNA in the sample that resembles the test target site enough for it to give a positive result at the 39th cycle of amplification. </p>
<p>Further tests need to be carried out to conclude that the sample contains SARS-CoV-2, and a finding of that magnitude would need to be replicated separately by independent laboratories. </p>
<h2>Reasons to be circumspect</h2>
<p>A curious thing about this finding is that it disagrees with epidemiological data about the virus. The authors don’t cite reports of a spike in the number of respiratory disease cases in the local population following the date of the sampling. </p>
<p>Also, we know SARS-CoV-2 to be highly transmissible, at least in its current form. If this result is a true positive it suggests the virus was present in the population at a high enough incidence to be detected in an 800ml sample of sewage, but then not present at a high enough incidence to be detected for nine months, when no control measures were in place.</p>
<p>So, until further studies are carried out, it is best not to draw definitive conclusions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141582/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Crossan has received Covid related research funding from Xenothera Ltd. </span></em></p>
Scientists in Spain have reported finding traces of the novel coronavirus in wastewater dating back to March 12, 2019.
Claire Crossan, Research Fellow, Virology, Glasgow Caledonian University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131304
2020-02-18T18:59:26Z
2020-02-18T18:59:26Z
No need to give up on crowded cities – we can make density so much better
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315188/original/file-20200213-10980-1wd7vmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C186%2C2258%2C1483&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paytonc/5435252820/in/photolist-EfmEni-h8bN8A-ZaLk3L-h8cZ9a-td15uQ-AQN5rC-BedU3K-8eHRsL-twsuJ5-Yy7swG-Yy6szu-8eExMT-8eEHFZ-8eJ7aY-bmguPw-NpJ8sv-8nDcMr-bzbnCa-bmjLWG-bmjKKu-ngPiLx-vC7Ufh-9hi6iw-BL2T55-tLH5Zd-E77x4T-bmi3d1-BC8Erm-tPaukT-PQ6kLf-DhCyBd-vEe4Cs-29C7zx6-vENuha-bmgZnY-bmh19J-DvMidh-bzbRMR-uHM2xo-bzbR2k-bzbRer-vEk6f6-uHM2yW-uHzANV-gs9Yiq-gs9V3Y-dhzMnp-FMVq1s-gsa199-bvDg6m">Payton Chung/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea that we should decentralise our population has come up many times in Australia. Recently, the National Farmers’ Federation president pushed the notion, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/03/fiona-simsons-2020s-vision-lets-double-the-population-outside-capital-cities?CMP=share_btn_tw">calling for a shift to the regions</a>. And the premise is this: city living is unpleasant. Roads are jammed, housing is expensive and it’s all so much nicer out in the country. We need to “spread out”.</p>
<p>We reject this conclusion. Regional centres certainly must play a role in accommodating our population growth, but for now it’ll be a modest role. </p>
<p>The more immediate need is to focus on improving conditions in our major cities. Our smaller towns matter, but we can’t neglect the urgent need to get better at doing the bigger ones right.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-dangerous-fantasy-diverting-population-growth-to-the-regions-105052">Australia's dangerous fantasy: diverting population growth to the regions</a>
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</p>
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<p>Our cities <a href="https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Growing-Victorias-Potential-April-2019.pdf">are growing very rapidly</a>. The fastest growth is in Melbourne, which <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/3218.0">added 119,400 residents in 2017-18</a>. That’s nearly as many extra people as the <a href="https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/701?opendocument">entire population of Darwin</a> in a single year. This rapid growth doesn’t need to mean more traffic, ugliness or stratospheric housing prices and rents – if we confront a difficult truth.</p>
<h2>A dirty word in Australia</h2>
<p>The truth is we’re just really ordinary at <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-density-matters-but-what-does-it-mean-58977">urban density</a>. It’s so poorly executed in Australian cities that it has become a dirty word in local politics.</p>
<p>Urban density targets remain low in planning policies for many states. It’s often set at around <a href="https://cur.org.au/project/national-liveability-report/">15 dwellings per hectare</a>. In practice, <a href="https://cur.org.au/project/national-liveability-report/">even lower density is delivered</a>. </p>
<p>Australians tend to think of density as living in high-rise tiny apartments. Drop the “d-word” at your local pub and see how the term “shoebox” or “vertical slum” quickly follows.</p>
<p>The irony is that the very thing that makes a getaway to central Paris or Barcelona so attractive is what many Australian city residents revile at home. The places we visit and admire are really quite dense. </p>
<p>Our estimates based on <a href="https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/dybsets/2015.pdf">UN figures</a> suggest Paris averages around 213 people per hectare and Barcelona 156. (By contrast, Melbourne averages <a href="https://cur.org.au/project/national-liveability-report/">38 people per hectare and Sydney around 50</a>.) </p>
<p>It’s higher-density living that makes their streets and public spaces buzz. But, importantly, this density is achieved through a combination of well-designed mid-rise apartments (roughly six storeys) close to shops, services and public transport. This gives residents the best of both worlds: cities that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-our-cities-need-to-do-to-be-truly-liveable-for-all-83967">liveable</a> and <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/density-has-to-be-likeable/">likeable</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315192/original/file-20200213-10980-7qrqy2.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">A Barcelona streetscape with bike racks: a picture of high-density liveability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/18601748360">Eric Fischer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-our-cities-need-to-do-to-be-truly-liveable-for-all-83967">This is what our cities need to do to be truly liveable for all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A failure of planning</h2>
<p>Past failed experiments in density have made it difficult to replicate overseas examples locally. The great Australian dream of owning a quarter-acre block and the stigma around density persist with reason. In Melbourne, for example, rapid high-rise development in the last decade has delivered large numbers of very small apartments, in some cases of <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbournes-highrises-riddled-with-bad-apartments-20140613-zs7c9.html">poor quality and lacking natural light and ventilation</a>.</p>
<p>Very modest investment in public transport makes things worse, as new residents try to cram onto <a href="http://theconversation.com/crowded-trains-planning-focus-on-cars-misses-new-apartment-impacts-116514">services that haven’t kept pace with growth</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/of-all-the-problems-our-cities-need-to-fix-lack-of-car-parking-isnt-one-of-them-116179">Car parking</a>, however, is usually mandated. These planning rules mean the price of new apartments includes the expense of multiple floors of parking, and streetscapes are peppered with vehicle crossover ramps.</p>
<p>Without adequate public transport, roads fill with cars, stoking resident opposition to further infill development. The roads and parking these cars need occupy valuable space, which could be better used for <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-density-cities-need-greening-to-stay-healthy-and-liveable-75840">trees and urban greening</a>. Green space is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-13/climate-warning-over-heat-island-effect-as-city-greenery-decline/11923890">often overlooked</a> in the haste to accommodate rapid population growth, yet it’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829218307780">essential for community health and well-being</a> and for reducing urban heat island effects. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-density-cities-need-greening-to-stay-healthy-and-liveable-75840">Higher-density cities need greening to stay healthy and liveable</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Handling population growth doesn’t require us to move to Tamworth or Toowoomba, but it will require some really important changes in our urban development priorities. There has to be a much stronger focus on quality and aesthetics to <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-cut-urban-sprawl-we-need-quality-infill-housing-displays-to-win-over-the-public-63930">win back public support for infill development</a>. It’s also going to take commitment to lift density targets in key planning policies. </p>
<p>Plan Melbourne’s 2017 <a href="https://planmelbourne.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/377206/Plan_Melbourne_2017-2050_Strategy_.pdf">refresh</a>, for instance, has moved to a goal of “over 20 dwellings per hectare”. It follows the recommendations of <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-017-0621-9">research</a> in allowing higher densities in high-activity areas such as activity or town centres. However, it will take time to implement this change in existing and new areas across the city.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315198/original/file-20200213-11040-vmlu5l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reducing car-dominated spaces creates more people-friendly places, as shown here in Basel, Switzerland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanpassmore/10577659514/in/photolist-h7HgDU-vwaxHG-8eHXd1-8eJaxE-8eJ4gb-8eEDP6-8eENjM-vwGYZV-28P7D7q-XtaXGf-a7eeoe-8eERHV-8eJ9V1-9hpDid-8eEPh6-8eEHNF-8eJ9n7-bmgZKq-gs94sU-8eJa3C-a4JC3B-8eEMZv-8eJaoo-oiA3Bo-8eHVt1-8nGm2j-8eJ88y-8eJ98U-8eHVY1-h8b49R-a7edx2-Ywzi4B-8eJaDs-8eJ9eG-8eEEGr-bzc3F2-cw3c4f-8eENC8-8eEQwF-8eJ6Rf-a4JBSM-bmh1kA-8eJ5Ty-a7efHi-8eHSJS-a8Umxw-8KLwbc-bzbS9H-bmguBb-Jgn8Xr">Dylan Passmore/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Density must be complemented by suitable streetscapes and infrastructure. This will require a significant rethink of the role of the car in urban areas, greater investment in public transport, and a reallocation of large areas of streetscape space to greenery and pedestrians.</p>
<p>That’s a big ask, but it’s worth it, because density really doesn’t have to mean “dogbox”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/god-save-us-greenspace-oriented-development-could-make-higher-density-attractive-126204">GOD save us: greenspace-oriented development could make higher density attractive</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Dutch show change is possible</h2>
<p>Take a (<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@53.2231784,6.5600609,3a,75y,254.66h,91.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sshMD7V4VHGDn4q1zEu_CpA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656">digital</a>) walk around a <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/designing-the-compassionate-city-to-overcome-built-in-biases-and-help-us-live-better-92726">woonerf</a></em> neighbourhood in the Netherlands and you’ll notice on-street parking is scant, the speed limit is around 15km/h and plentiful road space is allocated to tree planting and garden beds. Kids play in the street under the watchful eye of long-term locals. You don’t notice the dense apartments around you because there are trees in the way and there’s a lot to see at ground level.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314169/original/file-20200207-27552-pm194k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A <em>woonerf</em> (Dutch for ‘living area’) in Amsterdam. We estimate this area has a residential density of over 100 dwellings per hectare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thami Croeser</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/designing-the-compassionate-city-to-overcome-built-in-biases-and-help-us-live-better-92726">Designing the compassionate city to overcome built-in biases and help us live better</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Remarkably, it was only <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord">in the 1970s</a> that the Dutch started to move away from car-oriented planning to deliver this kind of urban design, which puts people and place first. With courageous policy change, we could have this in Australia too.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bSBdshn2tUM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Life on a Dutch woonerf.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thami Croeser receives funding from the European Commission and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Gunn receives funding from the Australian Prevention Partnership Centre and the NHMRC-funded Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy Liveable Communities. She is also funded by the RMIT Enabling Capability Platform-funded project on the 'Early delivery of equitable and healthy transport options in growth areas'.</span></em></p>
The neighbourhoods of Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam with densities 3-5 times those of Melbourne and Sydney offer an insight into how we could transform our cities for the better.
Thami Croeser, Research Officer, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
Lucy Gunn, Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130244
2020-01-26T18:22:10Z
2020-01-26T18:22:10Z
‘Dear tourists… get lost!’: When social contagion creates tourismophobia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310890/original/file-20200120-69535-1lrj4o4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C269%2C6000%2C3467&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Outside their usual living environment, tourists feel freer from social constraints. Much to the chagrin of the locals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-young-caucasian-man-wearing-600w-1337805359.jpg">Nito/Shutterstock</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every holiday period now seems to give rise to a flow of <a href="https://www.insider.com/places-europe-ruined-overtourism-last-decade-2020-1">news stories</a> illustrating the negative consequences of the influx of tourists in cities or natural sites, resulting in a real <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/youre-not-welcome-tourismophobia-spreads-across-europe/">“tourismophobia”</a>.</p>
<p>Given the centrality of social networks and the hyperconnectivity of our world, it is interesting to consider the role that tourists’ online behaviours can play in the development of this phenomenon, as well as the potential influence of these online behaviours on “real life”.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296319303534">Our research</a> indicates that these two types of behaviours (on the Internet and in the physical world) are closely interlinked and influence each other through social-contagion mechanisms. These mechanisms amplify the potential harm of these behaviours – yet they also point to ways of counteracting their effects.</p>
<h2>“Deviant” behaviours</h2>
<p>The term <em>tourismophobia</em> refers to the strong aversion that local populations can manifest toward tourists. Such a reaction may seem surprising at first, because tourism is generally viewed as a driver of local economic activity. However, the proliferation of tourist behaviours deemed “deviant” can feed resentment, or even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/02/mass-tourism-kill-city-barcelona">outright hatred</a> toward tourists.</p>
<p>For example, in January of this year, tourists from Brazil, Argentina, France and Chile were arrested in Peru for defiling the site of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/15/tourists-to-be-deported-over-alleged-damage-defecation-at-machu-picchu">Temple of the Sun in Machu Picchu</a>. Similarly, a controversy arose in early 2018 after the publication of a video by American <a href="https://youtu.be/WjNFGZLJLss">Logan Paul</a> in which he appears in a Japanese forest known for being the scene of suicides – a video in which a dead body is shown. As a further example: in 2014, in Barcelona, the sight of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/naked-italians-protests-drunken-tourists-barcelona">Italian tourists walking naked and inebriated</a> triggered protests by city residents.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WjNFGZLJLss?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">YouTuber Logan Paul generated outrage with a video showing the dead body a suicide victim in Japan (ABC News).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These behaviours are called “deviant” because they deviate from generally accepted or observed behaviours by violating social norms, rules or even the law. They can be common among tourists who, outside of their home environment, feel <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016073831100020X">free from the social constraints to which they would normally conform</a>. These behaviours can irritate or outrage the people (other tourists or residents) who respect these norms, laws or rules. They can also damage monuments or natural places. For example, in <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20180830/tourists-behaving-badly-at-trevi-fountain-rome">Rome, the Trevi Fountain</a> is often stormed by tourists who defy swimming bans. What appears to be contempt for the historical heritage reinforces local residents’ resentment toward all tourists, leading to the authorities imposing new, more restrictive rules on all (deviant or not). </p>
<p>These behaviours are increasingly fuelled by the desire to show off online – a behaviour identified as another type of deviance, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315565736/chapters/10.4324/9781315565736-4">this time virtual</a>. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat enable the sharing of photographs or videos of “exploits” that gain in appeal when they are carried out in off-limits locations or situations. They generate a real spiralling effect: a person’s real-world deviant behaviour fuels their online deviant behaviour (for instance, posting content aimed at gaining their followers’ admiration), which in turn generates new deviant behaviours by others in the real world.</p>
<h2>Socially contagious behaviours</h2>
<p>On seeing such behaviours, followers are also <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-51168-9_44">encouraged to imitate them</a> – or adopt even more outrageous behaviours – and relay them on their own social networks, entering into an image and ego competition. This phenomenon, known as social contagion, occurs through a permanent back-and-forth between the real and virtual worlds: each new post relaying, on social networks, deviant behaviour that occurred in the real world potentially results in further deviant behaviours, and so on.</p>
<p>There are at least four causes to such social contagion, whether it involves deviant behaviours or not. First, there is the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0047287514563165?journalCode=jtrb">sharing of information between individuals</a>, which intervenes here through photos and videos, but also through simply observing deviant behaviours in the real world. Normative pressures are a second possible cause. They are the pressures that individuals feel, to conform to the behaviours of those they are seeking approval from. For instance, people will go to a protected or off-limits site to take a photograph that will earn them “likes” on social networks because of its uniqueness.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/309252/original/file-20200109-80153-nbnyh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Rome, the Trevi Fountain is often besieged by tourists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rome-italy-october-13-2019-600w-1551643112.jpg">Nito/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The third cause is <a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1260&context=marketing_papers">competitive pressure</a>. It occurs when people put themselves in competition with others, trying to outbid one another, resulting in the adoption of behaviours that are even more deviant than that that originally occurred. Thus, during a recent trip to Iceland, one of the authors of this article was struck by the behaviour of tourists catching increasingly larger pieces of iceberg to take photographs with, even entering the icy water to break the small blocks of ice, returning to shore with their “trophy” and leaving it lying on the ground after the photograph was taken. </p>
<p>Finally, social contagion can also occur when <a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1260&context=marketing_papers">the benefits of adopting a certain behaviour increase with the number of individuals adopting it</a>. Tourists wishing to party will thus gravitate toward the bars or clubs that have long queues on the pavement, increasing in the process the noise and potential nuisance levels in the neighbourhood.</p>
<h2>Reversing social contagion</h2>
<p>Our research further reveals the existence of at least five amplifiers of social contagion between virtual and “real” worlds: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The considerable reach of the Internet (ease and freedom of access to as many people as possible).</p></li>
<li><p>The anonymity afforded by the Internet (although it is becoming increasingly relative).</p></li>
<li><p>The reproducibility of information, which enables its viral dissemination.</p></li>
<li><p>The longevity of the information, which remains accessible long after its initial dissemination (deviant behaviours broadcast years ago can reappear any time and go viral again).</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, the ease of communication at the heart of social networks.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Nevertheless, there are at least two ways to break the vicious cycle of the social contagion of deviant behaviour. First, not all deviant behaviours are voluntary: they may be the result of misunderstandings (for example, related to language) or lack of knowledge of the cultural context or local regulations. It is then possible to communicate and educate tourists to adopt behaviours aligned with local norms.</p>
<p>This was the approach taken by the city of Amsterdam with their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/may/29/amsterdam-gets-tough-on-antisocial-behaviour-from-british-tourists-stag-parties">“Enjoy and Respect” campaign</a>, to raise the awareness of tourists tempted by inappropriate behaviours.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rs91WCUtQUk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Amsterdam’s “Enjoy & Respect” campaign.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, social contagion can also be reversed. In this scenario, a person observing deviant behaviours, or even merely the consequences of such behaviours, adopts a reverse behaviour aimed at correcting the negative effects of this deviance. For example, tourists confronted with other tourists degrading an architectural or natural site may intervene and ask them to stop. They may also attempt to limit or reverse the damage done, for example by collecting rubbish that others would have left behind, or by posting online photographs showing the disastrous results of such behaviours in order to raise the awareness of future visitors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130244/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>
Social networks tend to encourage behaviour considered deviant by local populations.
Loïc Plé, DIrecteur adjoint en charge de la Pédagogie et du Développement Académique, IÉSEG School of Management
Catherine Demangeot, Professeure associee de marketing, IÉSEG School of Management
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/129734
2020-01-24T11:41:49Z
2020-01-24T11:41:49Z
Bosses using tech to spy on staff is becoming the norm, so here’s a realistic way of handling it
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311159/original/file-20200121-117962-8ljl32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gotcha. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/employee-monitoring-workplace-surveillance-concept-group-747181753">Lightspring</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Workplace surveillance sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but we are having to get used to it. In a sign of the times, the European Court of Human Rights <a href="https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7293ae72-a731-4379-9107-8cfcc3251608">has just ruled</a> that a supermarket in Barcelona was entitled to fire employees after catching them stealing on CCTV cameras that they didn’t know were installed. This overturned a decision by the court’s lower chamber that the cameras had breached the employees’ <a href="https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf">human rights</a>. </p>
<p>Yet hidden cameras are almost quaint compared to some of the ways in which employers are now monitoring their staff. They are resorting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/workplace-surveillance-employee-monitoring-methods-ways-face-scanning-microchips-big-data-2019-9">to everything</a> from software that digitally scans workers’ emails to smart name badges that track their whereabouts. There are even <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28560-head-tracker-knows-what-youre-doing-and-helps-you-multitask/">head scanners</a> in development that can monitor workers’ levels of concentration. According to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/workplace-surveillance-employee-monitoring-methods-ways-face-scanning-microchips-big-data-2019-9">one recent analysis</a>, around half of employers are using some form of non-traditional surveillance on staff, and the numbers are growing fast. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310661/original/file-20200117-118359-1tm0rss.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">Big Brother is paying you.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/laptop-computer-being-watched-office-by-290998688">Brian A Jackson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even tech employees are getting worried – witness Google workers <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614623/google-spying-employees-calendar-extension-surveillance-workplace-labor-law-nlra-nlrb/">recently accusing</a> their employer of building a browser extension to automatically notify managers about anyone attempting to arrange staff meetings. They claimed that it was intended to prevent staff from potentially trying to form a union. The <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/23/20929524/google-surveillance-tool-accused-employee-activism-protests-union-organizing">company denied</a> the accusations. </p>
<p>But if high-tech workplace surveillance is looking more and more unavoidable, what should we do about it? Before we go any further down this road, it’s time to weigh up the possibilities. </p>
<h2>The Man is everywhere</h2>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/i%E2%80%99ll-be-watching-you">fear</a> that technologies like wearable tech, digital cameras and artificial intelligence <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/15/the-dominos-pizza-checker-is-just-the-beginning-workplace-surveillance-is-coming-for-you">are turbocharging</a> staff <a href="https://monthlyreview.org/2019/02/01/new-means-of-workplace-surveillance/">monitoring</a>. Some would probably ban such practices outright. After all, most of us want to be free to do our work as we see fit. Yet in reality, employers have always monitored how workers perform. Why ban the new technology and not all such practices? The obvious answer is that we can’t: if all forms of monitoring were banned, how would organisations even function?</p>
<p>Even just to repel the newer forms of workplace surveillance will require huge sustained pressure on politicians and corporations. This seems unlikely, particularly when the culture is already established: most of us are willing to share our lives with the world via social media and allow tech corporations to harvest the data in exchange. </p>
<p>One compromise might be to only allow workplace surveillance where workers opt in. But what would stop employers from insisting that workers sign a consent form as a requirement of the job? You could ban companies from making this mandatory, but it probably wouldn’t work. Workers would still fear that not signing would reduce their job security and cause them to miss out on promotions and other opportunities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310663/original/file-20200117-118337-wgexrh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Wait till I get my hands on worker A651B’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/business-person-holding-long-paper-do-1464579962">Leremy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What about regulating the technology? Allowing it only to enhance employee wellbeing and not to monitor productivity, for instance. Such rules might be possible, but they will mean difficult compromises. One option would be to allow employees access to whatever information is gathered on them, for example.</p>
<p>On balance, well designed regulations and constant vigilance against abuses and workers’ rights being eroded is probably about the best we can hope for. Just as you can’t uninvent the atom bomb, you can’t easily put surveillance technology back in its box. If this sounds very stoical, it is also worth reflecting on a few possible consolations. </p>
<h2>Diamonds in the dirt?</h2>
<p>The firms that develop surveillance software <a href="https://blog.statustoday.com/so-you-care-about-employee-wellness-prove-it-44650a535762">often emphasise</a> the potential for tracking employer wellbeing. We shouldn’t dismiss this too easily. Is it possible that it could catch instances where workers are unhappy or depressed and enable an employer to react appropriately, for example? Could it even spot someone who is suicidal and help instigate a crucial intervention?</p>
<p>Equally, some uses of new technology might actually be less objectionable than existing practices. If AI is being used to monitor your facial expressions or to gauge your attitude from the tone of your voice, it might have fewer biases than a human manager. It won’t make judgements because it is feeling threatened or doesn’t like you and it certainly won’t be lecherous towards you. It might just be that workers can learn to play these things to their advantage. </p>
<p>Also, let’s not forget that the main aim of monitoring employees is to make them more productive. People might actually be willing to sign up for some form of high-tech monitoring if they knew it was likely to improve their productivity. If it showed them ways to make more money for every hour they worked, for example, that might be attractive to them. There might be an analogy here in the ways in which athletes use different monitors to improve their performance. </p>
<p>If people were made more productive in enough workplaces, it should increase national and even global economic productivity. This is what drives economic growth. It should then lead to higher pay, greater profits and more reinvestment in jobs and innovation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/310662/original/file-20200117-118359-8hkjym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fitter, happier, more productive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/workplace-security-guard-watching-video-surveillance-338044973">Marharyta Pavliuk</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You might counter that these economic gains will be concentrated towards the few, trickling up rather than down. The rest of us might just feel more observed and more stressed. This is certainly a risk. But maybe it could be mitigated if the monitoring also underpinned a more progressive tax system that redistributed the gains from this technology to lower paid workers. </p>
<p>I have argued elsewhere that it would be better to tax people according to their hourly income than their annual earnings. For reasons I <a href="https://dougstaxappeal.blogspot.com/2014/08/what-is-hourly-averaging.html">explain here</a>, it would allow you to pay higher wages to lower paid workers and to put a greater share of the tax burden on higher paid workers without taking away their incentive to work harder. </p>
<p>One of the main objections to such a system is that it’s hard to check whether everyone is working the number of hours that they claim. Government access to workplace surveillance data could be used to verify this. And this takes me back to my broader point: if we can’t beat the rise of employee surveillance, we must find ways to make the best of it instead. The private sector tends to lead the way in developing and exploiting technology for profit; workplace surveillance could be harnessed to distribute economic gains more equitably.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129734/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Douglas Bamford 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>
From wearables with monitoring chips to face scanners that assess your contentment, workplace surveillance seems to be going in one direction.
Douglas Bamford, Tutor in Philosophy and Political Economy, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123354
2019-09-17T20:30:39Z
2019-09-17T20:30:39Z
Superblocks are transforming Barcelona. They might work in Australian cities too
<p>The Spanish city of Barcelona has pioneered an innovative approach to managing traffic, freeing up public space and promoting walking and cycling. The “<a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/9/18300797/barcelona-spain-superblocks-urban-plan">superblocks</a>” model produces considerable health and economic benefits, according to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub">newly published research</a>, and could be applied in Australian cities too. </p>
<p>So how does this model work? Large “superblocks” covering an area of around 400m by 400m are created from residential blocks of 150m by 150m. These residential blocks are currently surrounded by normal busy streets. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292349/original/file-20190913-35615-xmqre8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&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 superblocks model explained.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://prod-mobilitat.s3.amazonaws.com/PMU_Sintesi_Angles.pdf">Urban Mobility Plan of Barcelona 2013-2018</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Outside the superblocks, the city’s normal through traffic is accommodated on streets with a maximum speed of 50km/h. Within the superblocks, cars are banned or restricted to 20km/h, priority is given to walking and cycling, and open space is reclaimed or created from parking. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-traffic-signals-favour-cars-and-discourage-walking-92675">How traffic signals favour cars and discourage walking</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZORzsubQA_M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In 2016, Barcelona started creating ‘superblocks’ that are transforming life in the affected neighbourhoods.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These priorities accord closely with the goals of growing Australian cities that are struggling to preserve liveability in the face of increasing congestion and density. While current urban designs for new suburbs across Australia are an improvement on post-war suburban residential developments, the results are still unsatisfactory. </p>
<p>Residents of these new outer suburbs typically <a href="https://theconversation.com/living-liveable-this-is-what-residents-have-to-say-about-life-on-the-urban-fringe-111339">depend heavily on cars</a>. They have limited (if any) public transport access and <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-suburbs-are-being-short-changed-on-services-and-liveability-which-ones-and-whats-the-solution-83966">scant opportunity to walk or cycle to local amenities</a>. Urban sprawl means <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-city-workers-average-commute-has-blown-out-to-66-minutes-a-day-how-does-yours-compare-120598">commuting times and distances continue to increase</a>, <a href="https://www.aaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AAA-Congestion-Report-2018-FINAL.pdf">traffic congestion worsens</a> and <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/transport-climate-change/">transport emissions rise</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30068-X/fulltext">Residents of these suburbs have poorer economic and health outcomes</a> relative to the whole population. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/city-by-city-analysis-shows-our-capitals-arent-liveable-for-many-residents-85676">City-by-city analysis shows our capitals aren’t liveable for many residents</a>
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<h2>What are the benefits of superblocks?</h2>
<p>In light of these issues, Mark Stevenson collaborated with researchers from the Barcelona Institute of Global Health to explore the superblocks model and its potential benefits for Australian cities.
Their research, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub">published in Environment International</a>, found the associated benefits in Barcelona are considerable. </p>
<p>Premature mortality rates were reduced by about 700 fewer deaths a year and life expectancy increased. This was due to reductions in air pollution, noise and heat, greater access to green space and increased transport-related physical activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292375/original/file-20190913-35611-g2qelf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&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 Barcelona superblocks model had a number of urban quality goals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://prod-mobilitat.s3.amazonaws.com/PMU_Sintesi_Angles.pdf">Urban Mobility Plan of Barcelona 2013-2018</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The economic effects of transforming the existing urban blocks are also impressive, estimated at €1.7 billion (A$2.7 billion) a year. This benefit mainly comes from increased life expectancy, a 20% reduction in premature mortality and a 13% reduction in overall burden of disease.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/superblocks-barcelonas-car-free-zones-could-extend-lives-and-boost-mental-health-123295">Superblocks: Barcelona's car-free zones could extend lives and boost mental health</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jq2yd4QgL5I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Barcelona residents talk about their experiences of superblocks.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Could this model work for Australian cities?</h2>
<p>The superblock concept is reminiscent of Griffin’s early <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=0J1kAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT373&dq=early+history+verged+on+the+tragi-farcical&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirpKCvqtzkAhWV7XMBHRohBDIQ6AEILDAA#v=onepage&q=early%20history%20verged%20on%20the%20tragi-farcical&f=false">Canberra model of self-contained residential development</a>. Traffic was to be routed around neighbourhoods and suburbs rather than through them. </p>
<p>From the perspective of transport sustainability, that <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=IwWODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70&dq=explicitly+designed+on+the+basis+that+the+car+would+be+the+dominant+form+of+transport&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh8bfXwtnkAhU98HMBHUbtBSwQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=explicitly%20designed%20on%20the%20basis%20that%20the%20car%20would%20be%20the%20dominant%20form%20of%20transport&f=false">model failed, as the city was designed around the car</a>. As the residential neighbourhoods were also low density, schools and neighbourhood retail hubs felt the effect of ageing families and declining populations. </p>
<p>However, a superblock approach might work with two critical differences. </p>
<p>First, if densities were tripled, this would allow for more population within each neighbourhood. Higher density would support more social and retail infrastructure on a smaller footprint. </p>
<p>Second, if cars were restricted within each superblock and more frequent public transport routed around the outskirts of each, then people could get to services and recreational spaces on foot. The result would be a new, healthier urban dynamic. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-creatives-are-remaking-canberras-city-centre-but-at-a-social-cost-97322">New creatives are remaking Canberra's city centre, but at a social cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our cities are already ‘retrofitting’</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=431694382926564;res=IELBUS">case study of Docklands</a> in Melbourne, urban planner Kate Matthews argues along similar lines, but in an inner-urban landscape. She makes the point that the City of Melbourne has retrofitted social infrastructure and open space. An area that was <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/april/1336967175/robyn-annear/big-tumbleweed">sterile, wind-swept and cut-off</a> has now become a family-friendly neighbourhood. </p>
<p>The elements for success were that it was walkable, green, safe and had everything you need. Matthews argues that the Docklands experience could be transferred to other centres by applying the following principles:</p>
<ul>
<li>if you build it, they will come</li>
<li>prioritise infrastructure</li>
<li>actively manage traffic</li>
<li>invest in the public realm – streets, squares, parks, green spaces and other outdoor places that everyone can freely access and use.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-steps-melbourne-can-take-to-regain-its-liveable-city-crown-113726">Seven steps Melbourne can take to regain its 'liveable city' crown</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some cities and towns – such as the <a href="https://tonsley.com.au/residential/">Tonsley redevelopment</a> in Adelaide, <a href="https://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/claisebrook-village">Claisebrook Village</a> in East Perth, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-developments-green-doesnt-help-with-inequality-104941">Barangaroo</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-suburbia-green-square-offers-new-norm-for-urban-living-57633">Green Square</a> renewal projects in Sydney – are already well down this path. We need more examples to draw on and learn from. All levels of government should encourage this approach, as the evidence is now there to show that significant health and ultimately financial benefits accrue to the communities that live within them.</p>
<p>Could we also apply these principles to developments in outer growth suburbs? How might this process be managed? And who pays for the up-front investment in the public realm, more frequent public transport and social infrastructure, whether in existing urban areas or new growth suburbs? </p>
<p>These are real questions, but surely none are greater than those we face now. If we commit ourselves to resolving the challenges of designing high-quality, affordable, higher-density urban environments in Australia, the research shows the beneficiaries will not just be ourselves but our children and their children’s health in, importantly, a sustainable future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Stevenson holds an NHMRC Research Fellowship. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Love 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>
The Spanish city is remaking urban neighbourhoods by limiting through traffic in superblocks that give priority to pedestrians and street activities, not cars.
Patrick Love, Hon Senior Fellow, Transport Health and Urban Design (THUD) Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne
Mark Stevenson, Professor of Urban Transport and Public Health, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123295
2019-09-13T14:04:49Z
2019-09-13T14:04:49Z
Superblocks: Barcelona’s car-free zones could extend lives and boost mental health
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292421/original/file-20190913-8661-g1qajv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C32%2C5447%2C3604&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grid, glorious grid. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/nD2WzCZrlLE">Kaspars Upmanis/Unsplash.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35305586">world’s biggest cities</a> have larger populations and higher economic outputs than some countries. But as they grow in size and complexity, cities are also facing thorny challenges that threaten the health and happiness of residents. Congestion, pollution and a lack of community spaces have become major drags on people’s aspirations and experiences of urban living. </p>
<p>In response, cities must manage their resources and priorities to create sustainable places for visitors and residents, and foster innovation and growth. Enter Barcelona – the capital of Catalonia, in Spain – where a bold stroke of urban planning first introduced “superblocks” in 2016. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292399/original/file-20190913-8661-1k23l3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/210395.php">ISGlobal.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Superblocks are neighbourhoods of nine blocks, where traffic is restricted to major roads around the outside, opening up entire groups of streets to pedestrians and cyclists. The <a href="https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/what-we-do-and-why/quality-public-space/superblocks">aim is to</a> reduce pollution from vehicles, and give residents much-needed relief from noise pollution. They are designed to create more open space for citizens to meet, talk and do activities. </p>
<h2>Health and well-being boost</h2>
<p>There are currently only six superblocks in operation, including the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/17/superblocks-rescue-barcelona-spain-plan-give-streets-back-residents">first, most prominent one</a> in Eixample. Reports <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/9/18273894/barcelona-urban-planning-superblocks-poblenou">suggest that</a> – despite some early push back – the change has been broadly welcomed by residents, and the long-term benefits could be considerable. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub#bb0035">recent study</a> carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health estimates that if, as planned, 503 potential superblocks are realised across the city, journeys by private vehicle would fall by 230,000 a week, as people switch to public transport, walking or cycling. </p>
<p>The research suggests this would significantly improve air quality and noise levels on the car-free streets: ambient levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) would be reduced by a quarter, bringing levels in line with <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health">recommendations</a> from the World Health Organisation (WHO). </p>
<p>The plan is also expected to generate significant health benefits for residents. The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub#bb0035">study</a> estimates that as many as 667 premature deaths from air pollution, noise and heat could be prevented each year. More green spaces will encourage people to get outdoors and lead a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3444752/">more active lifestyle</a>. </p>
<p>This, in turn, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-56091-5_11">helps to reduce obesity and diabetes</a> and ease pressure on health services. The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315223?via%3Dihub#bb0035">researchers claim</a> that residents of Barcelona could expect to live an extra 200 days thanks to the cumulative health benefits, if the idea is rolled out across the city. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292403/original/file-20190913-8693-123306r.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">Space to play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/WOP-W1Yg6cg">Mosa Moseneke/Unsplash.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are expected to be benefits to mental health, as well as physical health. Having access to such spaces can <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-spaces-help-combat-loneliness-but-they-demand-investment-105260">stave off loneliness and isolation</a> – especially among elderly residents – as communities form stronger bonds and become more resilient. </p>
<h2>Stumbling blocks</h2>
<p>It was <a href="http://www.bcnecologia.net/en/team/salvador-rueda">Salvador Rueda</a>, director of the Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona, who first championed the introduction of superblocks – and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/8/4/12342806/barcelona-superblocks">he argues</a> that the idea could be used in any city. Even so, authorities looking to expand the concept in Barcelona or beyond will need to be mindful of some concerns.</p>
<p>Changes like these require capital investment. Even as the car-free streets are transformed with urban furniture and greenery, the remaining major roads will likely have to accommodate <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/10/18273895/traffic-barcelona-superblocks-gentrification">heavier traffic</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292419/original/file-20190913-8682-cd6iox.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">Nothing comes for free.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zvileve/35444410112/sizes/l">Zvileve/Flickr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Further investments in local infrastructure – such as improving surrounding roads to deal with more traffic, or installing smart traffic management system – could be required to prevent serious congestion. Then the question remains, how to finance such investments – a higher tax rate is unlikely to be popular. </p>
<p>What’s more, whenever a location becomes more desirable, it leads to an increase in property demand. Higher prices and rent could create pockets of unaffordable neighbourhoods. This may lead to use of properties for investment purposes and possibly, <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/10/18273895/traffic-barcelona-superblocks-gentrification">displacement of local residents</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also worth noting that Barcelona is an old and relatively well-planned European city. Different challenges exist in emerging global cities across Asia, Africa and Latin America – and in younger cities in the US and Australia. There is a great deal of variation in scale, population density, urban shape and form, development patterns and institutional frameworks across the cities. Several large <a href="https://academic.oup.com/oxrep/article/33/3/355/3926162">cities in the developing world</a> are heavily congested with uncontrolled, unregulated developments and weak regulatory frameworks. </p>
<p>Replicating what’s been done in Barcelona may prove difficult in such places, and will require much greater transformations. But it’s true that the basic principles of superblocks – that value pedestrians, cyclists and high quality public spaces over motor vehicles – can be applied in any city, with some adjustments. </p>
<h2>Leading the way</h2>
<p>Over the history of human civilisation, great cities have been at the forefront of innovation and social progress. But cities need a robust structure of governance, which is transparent and accountable, to ensure a fair and efficient use of resources. Imposing innovation from the top down, without consultations and buy-in, can go squarely against the idea of free market capitalism, which has been a predominant force for modern economies and can lead push-back from citizens and local businesses. </p>
<p>Citizens must also be willing to change their perspectives and behaviour, to make such initiatives work. This means that “solutions” to urban living like superblocks need to have buy-in from citizens, through continuous engagement with local government officials. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292417/original/file-20190913-8658-1a88qwg.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 man speaks at a public consultation on the Eixample superblock in Barcelona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barcelona_cat/16663574507/">Ajuntament Barcelona/Flickr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Successful urban planning also needs strong leadership with a clear and consistent vision of the future, and a roadmap of how that vision can be delivered. The vision should be co-developed with the citizens and all other stakeholders such as local businesses, private and public organisations. This can ensure that everybody shares ownership and takes responsibility for the success of local initiatives. </p>
<p>There is little doubt that the principles and objectives of superblocks are sound. The idea has the potential to catch on around the world – though it will likely take a unique and specific form in every city.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anupam Nanda's research has been sponsored by UK and international public and private funding bodies and companies, including Innovate UK, Research Councils UK, the Real Estate Research Institute in the US, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Investment Property Forum and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the Reading Real Estate Foundation. </span></em></p>
The ‘superblocks’ are expected to have massive benefits for health and well-being – but it takes good governance.
Anupam Nanda, Professor of Urban Economics and Real Estate, University of Reading
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/120200
2019-07-11T15:15:18Z
2019-07-11T15:15:18Z
London to be as hot as Barcelona by 2050? I research urban heat, and I’m sceptical
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283708/original/file-20190711-173355-9usye8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CharlotteRaboff / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Barcelona just had a week of temperatures <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/es/barcelona/307297/july-weather/307297?monyr=7/1/2019">above 30°C</a>. It’s a few degrees hotter than the long-term average, but no heatwave. In winter, Spain’s second largest city is typically a mild 15°C or so. With its climate regulated by warm Mediterranean waters, temperatures rarely drop below freezing.</p>
<p>Is this what the future holds for London? One group of scientists certainly thinks so. In a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217592">new study</a>, they have tried to convey the risks of global warming by finding the closest modern-day climates to describe what the future might be like for certain cities. They predict that, for instance, Madrid’s climate in 2050 will be like Marrakech’s climate now, Seattle will resemble San Francisco, Stockholm will feel like Budapest, and that London will become like Barcelona.</p>
<p>It makes sense to focus on cities as they are literally “<a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/alex/benv/2007/00000033/00000001/art00003">hot-spots</a>” of climate risk due to their dense populations, concentration of assets and susceptibility to extreme weather. Getting this message across to city managers and vulnerable communities is not always easy. </p>
<p>The researchers <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/joc.5086">gathered data</a> on the background climate of 520 major cities. Nineteen variables, including maximum temperature of the warmest month and precipitation seasonality, were combined using a statistical method that takes account of their relative importance and interrelationships. Equivalent variables for 2050 were obtained from three climate models, which were all programmed to take the optimistic view that emissions will stabilise this century. Present and future city climates were then used to “twin” the most similar metropolises.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/8/905/2008/nhess-8-905-2008.pdf">Pairing cities</a> in this way is a clever idea. But such like-for-like comparisons are just too simplistic. This is because cities make their own climates according to their unique layouts, building materials, artificial heat sources, amounts of open or green spaces, and types of water feature. </p>
<p>There can be fundamental differences between two cities in these respects. For example, Barcelona has among the highest population densities in Europe, at about 16,000 per square kilometre, more than the <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationdensitytables">10,000 or so</a> recorded by inner London boroughs. Population density is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212094713000054">useful indicator</a> of both the intensity and level of exposure to the urban heat island – compact cities tend to be hotter cities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/283710/original/file-20190711-173325-63hy98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barcelona: dense city blocks around the Sagrada Família.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">marchello74 / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Barcelona is striving to become a <a href="https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/metadata/case-studies/barcelona-trees-tempering-the-mediterranean-city-climate/11302639.pdf">greener city</a>, nearly two-thirds of Greater London is already occupied by gardens, parks and water. Across the city, such spaces provide <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1191/0309133306pp470ra">cool refuges for people and biodiversity</a>. For instance, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01431161.2012.714505">satellite observations</a> reveal that on a hot summers day Richmond Park – a large space on the western edge of the city known for its deer – can be about 10°C cooler than parts of the more central Southwark, Lambeth and Westminster. Even in these central boroughs, temperatures are chillier along the Thames embankment than just a few hundred metres away. Hence, the multiple micro-climates experienced day-to-day and from place-to-place within a city are not readily characterised by a few summary statistics.</p>
<p>The actual “felt” temperature depends on a host of factors, not least the effect of atmospheric humidity. Conditions can become lethal when dangerous combinations of temperature and humidity are exceeded – something that unfortunately already occurs in cities such as Karachi in Pakistan or Kolkata in India. </p>
<p>Global warming means that <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/15/3861.short">350m more people</a> could be exposed to deadly heat by 2050 – and South Asian mega-cities are in the front-line. However, with 4°C of global warming even New York could become heat stressed. So any assessment of future conditions in global cities should evaluate the combined threat of heat with humidity. According to the <a href="http://www.lancetcountdown.org/media/1420/2018-lancet-countdown-policy-brief-eu.pdf">Lancet Countdown 2018 Report</a>, threats to human health from heatwaves are becoming more frequent and dangerous.</p>
<p>Despite the above reservations, the new study does alert us to the possibility that over one-fifth of the studied cities could shift to climate conditions hitherto unobserved anywhere on Earth. This applies to cities such as Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Libreville in Gabon and Manaus in Brazil, which are all in the tropics. </p>
<p>Extraordinary temperatures are already being experienced within the homes and workplaces of some low income communities of cities such as <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Everyday-Climate-Change-in-Ghana.pdf">Accra, Ghana</a>. Trying to visualise how these places might be further stressed by climate change is an important step towards improving the well-being of some of the world’s most vulnerable urban citizens.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1120200">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Wilby receives research funding from the British Academy, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and Natural Environment Research Council </span></em></p>
Cities make their own climate, so such like-for-like comparisons are too simplistic.
Robert Wilby, Professor of Hydroclimatic Modelling, Loughborough University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/114855
2019-06-12T08:00:01Z
2019-06-12T08:00:01Z
The neuroscience of terrorism: how we convinced a group of radicals to let us scan their brains
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brain scans from three 'radicals'. © Nafees Hamid and Clara Pretus</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The young man sitting in the waiting room of our neuroimaging facility wearing skinny jeans and trainers looked like a typical Spanish 20-year-old of Moroccan origin. Yassine* was bouncy, chatting up the research assistants, and generally in good spirits. He was like so many other Barcelona youths, except he openly expressed a desire to engage in violence for jihadist causes.</p>
<p>As we took him through a battery of tests and questionnaires, we were barely able to keep him in his seat as he kept proclaiming his willingness to travel to Syria to kill himself. “I would go tomorrow, I would do it tomorrow,” he said. When we probed for the sincerity of his claim, he responded, “only if we go together. You pay for the tickets”, with a wink and a smile. Less budding foreign fighter and more extremist provocateur, he enjoyed insulting us with impunity and showed us the middle finger as he left. And yet, Yassine agreed to let us scan his brain – for the first ever brain scan study on radicalisation.</p>
<p>Imagine being a young Muslim man, walking down the street in Barcelona, when you’re approached by a stranger asking if they can do a survey with you. The survey is on your religious, political and cultural values. This might sound fine, if it weren’t for a few details: we were at the height of Islamic State’s reign in Syria and Iraq and the survey questions included questions about creating a worldwide caliphate, being ruled by strict Sharia law and engaging in armed jihad.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277702/original/file-20190603-69075-rw2v59.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 market in busy Barcelona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/barcelona-spain-august-2018-market-hall-1165712356?src=Ufk93fM5hp0Mb5kzx_jBHQ-1-50">MikeDotta/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You’re then told the reason for the survey is to find people suitable for a brain scan. And those few people would be the most radicalised ones we could find; a fact that would only be revealed in the post-experiment debrief. To our surprise, the part about the brain scans piqued people’s interest.</p>
<p>The responses varied from concerned: “You think there’s something wrong with my brain?”, to pride: “There’s definitely something different about my brain.” Even the most hardcore jihadist supporters tapped into their nerdy side and started asking questions about how the brain works, what we’ve found in other studies, and what might the implications be of this research. Some would even ask us for medical advice (we had to explain that we weren’t those kinds of doctors). Once satisfied with the scientific merit of the work, most consented to participate.</p>
<p>As Ahmed*, a 31-year-old Pakistani immigrant and staunch supporter of Al Qaida, told us: “People like us, our brains are so different. You can’t compare us to others. But go ahead and try. It’s interesting what you’re doing.”</p>
<p>But he had one very important condition to be satisfied before agreeing to participate. He leaned in close, as if there could be someone listening, and whispered: “Can I get a picture of my brain? Just to prove to my mother that I have one.” Humour was never in short supply among our participants.</p>
<p>We carried out two brain studies in Barcelona between 2014 and 2017. Spain <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/european-union-terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-2018-tesat-2018">ranks</a> among Europe’s top countries for failed and completed terror attacks and the greater Barcelona region is the country’s <a href="http://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/publicaciones/libros/Informe-Estado-Islamico-Espana.pdf">primary</a> recruitment hotspot. In fact, it was <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/09/19/terrorism-the-lessons-of-barcelona/">during our fieldwork</a> that the Islamic State-inspired attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils took place in August 2017, killing 16 civilians and injuring 152 others. </p>
<p>Given that our aim was to study willingness to engage in violence for cultural and religious values, we needed a sample of people with the same cultural background and language. So, we recruited Sunni Muslim men of Moroccan and Pakistani origin (the two largest groups of Sunni Muslims in the province of Barcelona) to participate in our studies.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>This article is part of Conversation Insights</strong></em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/introducing-conversation-insights-a-new-team-that-seeks-scoops-from-interdisciplinary-research-107119">Insights team</a> generates long-form journalism derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges. In generating these narratives we hope to bring areas of interdisciplinary research to a wider audience.</em></p>
<p><em>You can read more Insights stories <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Despite years of <a href="https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/08/23/what-makes-a-terrorist/">research</a> to the contrary, two oversimplified categories of thinking about violent extremism still continue to hold sway in public opinion. On the one hand are those who want to reduce radicalisation to an individual pathology. In this view, people who become terrorists are all mentally ill, have a low IQ, or a personality disorder. On the other are those who ignore the individual altogether and explain away those who become terrorists by purely environmental factors – whether it’s poverty, marginalisation, or being “brainwashed” by online propaganda. </p>
<p>So radicalisation tends to either be seen as caused by individual characteristics or purely social factors. And of course, neither of these depictions are true. We are instead trying to get to the bottom of the interplay between these factors.</p>
<h2>Sacred values</h2>
<p>We’re part of an international research team, <a href="https://artisinternational.org/">Artis International</a>, that’s been studying something called “sacred values” and their role in violent conflicts around the world. Sacred values are moral values that are non-negotiable and inviolable. You certainly wouldn’t trade them in for material incentives. Despite the label “sacred”, these values don’t have to be religious.</p>
<p>For example, most readers would likely consider individual liberty a basic right. If it could be guaranteed that the entire world would experience untold levels of economic prosperity and individual wealth, and to achieve this all we would need to do is enslave a tiny fraction of the world’s population, would you agree to it? If not, anti-slavery is a sacred value for you.</p>
<p>We’ve studied sacred values across a range of conflicts, from nation states such as <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/104/18/7357">Israel and Palestine</a>, <a href="http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/Proceedings/2009/papers/677/paper677.pdf">India and Pakistan</a> and <a href="https://jeannicod.ccsd.cnrs.fr/ijn_00505191/file/jdm91203.pdf">Iran and the US</a> to sub-state groups, such as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Scott_Atran/publication/319470470_The_devoted_actor%27s_will_to_fight_and_the_spiritual_dimension_of_human_conflict/links/59c4d2eaa6fdccc719148e30/The-devoted-actors-will-to-fight-and-the-spiritual-dimension-of-human-conflict.pdf">Kurdish militias</a> and <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/why-isis-has-the-potential-to-be-a-world-altering-revolution">Islamic State/al-Qaeda</a>. We also looked into non-violent conflicts like the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/catalan-referendum-spain-independence/541656/">Catalan independence</a> movement. The sacred values that drive these conflicts are those that are perceived as (or actually are) being contested.</p>
<p>From Israel’s right to exist, to Palestinian sovereignty, or the future of Kashmir, to the resurrection of a caliphate, when people feel their sacred values are under threat, they muster the will to fight for them. This can happen for both long-held values or new values that people adopt as part of their radicalisation process. These threats can even be as abstract as cultural annihilation. As an imam in Barcelona who was implicated in a thwarted terrorist attack in 2008 told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Say what you will about al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or others. If our culture survives modernity, it will be precisely because of these groups.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the case of radicalisation, the adoption of extremist values are concerning enough. But as more of these values become sacred, the propensity towards violence increases and the chance of de-radicalisation decreases.</p>
<h2>Social exclusion</h2>
<p>For our brain scans we used a tool called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which records and identifies which areas of the brain are active during specific tasks. Our <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02462/full">first fMRI study</a> explored what could make non-sacred values become more like sacred values. </p>
<p>After conducting 535 surveys of young Moroccan origin men in Barcelona, we recruited 38 participants who openly said they would engage in violent acts in defence of jihadist causes. The young men were asked to play “Cyberball”, a video game where they and three other young male Spanish players would pass a virtual ball to each other. Unbeknown to them until the debrief, the Spanish players were purely virtual.</p>
<p>Half of these participants were “socially excluded” as the Spanish players stopped passing to the Moroccan players and only played among themselves. The other half continued getting passed the ball. Then, both the excluded and included participants got into the brain scanner, where we measured their willingness to fight and die for their sacred values (for example, forbidding cartoons of the prophet, banning gay marriages) and their important but non-sacred values (women wearing the niqab, Islamic teaching in schools) which were ascertained beforehand in the surveys.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, participants rated higher willingness to fight and die for sacred rather than non-sacred values. Neurally, sacred values activated the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) – an area associated with rule processing and previously correlated with sacred values in <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2011.0262">American university students</a>. But those who were excluded increased their willingness to fight and die for their non-sacred values, and the left IFG became activated even during non-sacred value processing. </p>
<iframe title="Left IFG activity" aria-label="Grouped Column Chart" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/wdEx8/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In other words, social exclusion made non-sacred values more similar to sacred values. This is an alarming shift as it suggests that social exclusion contributes to making attitudes less negotiable and increases a propensity towards violence. As values become fully held sacred values, prospects are grim: no research has been able to demonstrate how to de-sacralise them. </p>
<h2>Highly radicalised</h2>
<p>Even if we can’t de-sacralise a value, perhaps we can still pull a highly radicalised person back from the edge of violence. This is what our <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.181585">second neuro-imaging study</a> explored. After surveying 146 Pakistani men from the small and tight-knit community in Barcelona, we recruited 30 participants who explicitly supported al-Qaeda associate, <a href="https://www.counterextremism.com/threat/lashkar-e-taiba">Lashkar-e-Taiba</a>, endorsed violence against the West, endorsed armed jihad and stated they would be willing to carry out violence in the name of armed jihad. These participants were more radicalised than our previous study participants.</p>
<p>In the first part of the study, they were scanned while rating their willingness to fight and die for their sacred and non-sacred values. These participants showed a different pattern of neural activity from the Moroccans in our first study, who exhibited the same patterns as US university students. </p>
<p>As the highly radicalised Pakistani men rated their sacred values, there was deactivation in a network that includes the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a part of the brain which is associated with deliberative reasoning and integrating cost-benefit calculations. When they rated a high willingness to fight and die for their values, we found increased activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a part of the brain that is associated with subjective valuation (how much value does this have for me?). In daily life, the DLPFC and vmPFC work in tandem when making decisions.</p>
<iframe title="Willingness to fight and die" aria-label="Grouped Column Chart" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2lTJ4/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="433"></iframe>
<p>A <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan/advance-article/doi/10.1093/scan/nsz034/5486105">follow-up analysis</a> found that these two regions of the brain were highly connected when participants rated low willingness to fight and die – that is, subjective value was regulated by decision control mechanisms. But when they rated high willingness to fight and die, we found that these two regions were more disconnected. This suggests that, when someone is ready to kill and be killed in defence of an idea, they are no longer using decision control mechanisms typically involved in deliberative reasoning.</p>
<p>They essentially disengage this part of their brain. But, their willingness to fight and die lowers as their deliberative and subjective valuation regions reconnect. So what mechanisms bring people to lower their willingness to fight and die for a cause?</p>
<h2>The influence of peers</h2>
<p>In the second part of the study, while still in the scanner, the participants were shown each value again with their own original rating but this time they could press a button to see the average willingness to fight and die ratings of their peers. What they weren’t told was that these average ratings were an invention and were evenly split between lower, the same, or higher ratings to serve as an experimental manipulation.</p>
<p>When they got out of the scanner they rated their willingness to fight and die for each value again. In post-scan interviews and surveys, the participants stated that they were surprised and even outraged when their peers were not as willing to engage in violence as they were.</p>
<p>Despite this, we found that people lowered their willingness to fight and die for both sacred and non-sacred values to conform to the responses of their peers. This change was correlated with increased DLPFC activation in the brain. Their deliberative pathways were reopening.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276984/original/file-20190529-192451-y0fn4t.jpg?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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brain scans from three ‘radicals’ who took part in the Barcelona studies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brain scans from three 'radicals'. © Nafees Hamid and Clara Pretus</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ‘normal’ radicals</h2>
<p>So – what does all this imply as to the various explanations for radicalisation often touted? </p>
<p>Let’s take the contention that it all comes down to individual characteristics. All the participants in our studies were given a battery of tests from measuring their IQs, to assessing mental illness, to personality scales. They were all considered “normal”. </p>
<p>We also found that the idea that radicalisation derives solely from social or environmental conditions is flawed. Our studies did not find any relationship between economic factors like poverty and support for extremist ideas or groups. The picture that started to emerge from our research paints a more complicated image – one that has a variety of policy implications. </p>
<p>Our first study suggests that social exclusion can contribute to the hardening of values and increased willingness to engage in violence. This is consistent with other research on social exclusion such as <a href="https://behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BSP_vol1is2_-Lyons-Padilla.pdf">survey findings</a>, which showed that when marginalised American Muslims faced discrimination, they increased their support for radical groups. </p>
<p>But social exclusion does not merely mean the experience of discrimination. Social exclusion is a much broader and more complex phenomenon – a person’s feeling that they do not have a seat at the table in their own society. </p>
<p>Terrorist groups recruit new members throughout the world by capitalising on this feeling. Previous research in <a href="https://www.international-alert.org/sites/default/files/Syria_YouthRecruitmentExtremistGroups_EN_2016.pdf">Syria</a>, <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper266.pdf">Somalia</a> and <a href="https://www.peacemakersnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Understanding-Boko-Haram-in-Nigeria-%CC%B6-Reality-and-perceptions-WEB.pdf">Nigeria</a> has shown that among the grievances that drive individuals and tribes towards joining terrorist organisations are those of religious, ethnic or political exclusion. </p>
<p>A feeling of not having a voice doesn’t lead to radicalisation on its own, but rather creates social cracks that local extremist groups can exploit by claiming they are fighting on the behalf of these disenfranchised groups.</p>
<p>Feelings of social exclusion by Sunni Arabs in post-invasion Iraq were an <a href="https://carnegie-mec.org/publications/55372">important factor</a> in laying the groundwork for Islamic State’s territorial victories. Our <a href="https://ctc.usma.edu/islamic-states-lingering-legacy-among-young-men-mosul-area/">research</a> into post-Islamic State Mosul and preliminary investigations into post-Islamic State Raqqa suggests that there were lingering feelings of social exclusion among those who were the most vulnerable to Islamic State recruitment. This will help to lay the groundwork for a resurgence of a similar organisation.</p>
<p>Western countries contain marginalised communities who are recruitment targets of both jihadist and extreme right-wing groups. It is in these countries where disenfranchisement is felt particularly strongly because the narratives of these societies are supposed to be based on unbiased access to social mobility and equality.</p>
<p>But in reality, the lived experiences of marginalised communities in the West make them see these claims as hypocritical. Extremist groups exacerbate these feelings with other narratives that polarise them from the rest of society while empowering them with offers of joining a revolution against those who are excluding them. As one British member of Islamic State stated in another of our ongoing research projects:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I had a choice of either selling merchandise for a corrupt system or being part of a revolution against it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All this implies that both foreign and domestic policies that facilitate social inclusion could have a variety of benefits, including stripping violent extremist groups of one of their most exploitable issues. </p>
<h2>Counter-messaging</h2>
<p>Our research also points to potential problems in mainstream anti-terrorism communications policies. One tool that many governments use is that of alternative and counter-messaging, such as France’s <a href="http://www.stop-djihadisme.gouv.fr/">Stop-Djihadisme</a> campaign. There are a multitude of such campaigns by civil society organisations that are discretely funded by governments. These are mostly online messages that attempt to subvert the appeal of extremist groups by, in some cases, prompting self-reflection. </p>
<p>Our research suggests that if areas of the brain associated with deliberative reasoning are disengaged for sacred values, then messages aimed at these issues may not work as intended. In addition, sacred values are unique to the individual. This adds an additional difficulty for mass distributed online alternative and counter-messaging. </p>
<p>Successful radicalisation, even online, usually contains an element of person-to-person interaction. Recent investigations into Western foreign fighters who went to Syria <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-studies-explore-why-ordinary-people-turn-terrorist?">found</a> that 90% were recruited through either face-to-face or online social interaction. No compelling evidence shows that disembodied online messages play a determining role. Radicalisation is a deeply social process that promises a sense of belonging and a purposeful role in social change. </p>
<p>The impulse to become an agent of social change need not be negated. It should instead be re-channelled towards positive ends. So instead of simple counter-messaging, policies should seek to <a href="https://icct.nl/publication/dont-just-counter-message-counter-engage/">counter-engage</a> by encouraging activities that foster a sense of purpose and belonging.</p>
<p>This is exactly what we’re finding in our ongoing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-GmXLvLGlY">research in Belgium</a> into why some youth networks remained resilient to Islamic State recruiters. One of the main differences was how engaged non-radicalised peers were in their communities. They were involved in socially beneficial activities, like youth mentoring, helping the homeless, assisting refugees, or social activism like political advocacy for their own or other communities. While some were still frustrated they nonetheless felt they had the power to effect social change. The greater sense there is of being able to make a difference in the current system, the lower the appeal of violent anti-establishment movements.</p>
<h2>Feeling involved</h2>
<p>Our experiments indicate that creating inclusive societies that offer pathways to purpose and a sense of belonging to all its citizens has to be a priority in the fight against political violence. Radicalisation is a social phenomenon that must be socially combated with the help of inclusive governance, friends and families, and media. </p>
<p>Policies aimed at disengaging extremists from violent pathways might, for example, benefit from enrolling the help of their non-radicalised friends. Additionally, any strategic communications that can enhance the perception among vulnerable youth that their peers do not consider political violence to be acceptable may help in preventing future breakouts of violent extremism. </p>
<p>The importance of this was highlighted to us by the example of Fahad, a charismatic young man we came across during our fieldwork. Every other week he had a new life goal: becoming an athlete, a scientist, an artist, even a politician. At every turn his conservative parents rejected his ambitions. He soon began to turn inward, spending less time with friends and more time roaming the streets of Barcelona alone. </p>
<p>One day he came in contact with a former acquaintance who was now radicalised. Within weeks Fahad’s starry-eyed demeanour changed. Shortly after, he disappeared. His social media accounts and other forms of communication were shut down. </p>
<p>But the worst-case scenario had in fact not emerged. His parents became aware of his nascent transformation and offered him an alternative: if he worked part-time in a relative’s business then he could spend the rest of his time pursuing his career ambitions. As the possibility of a purpose-driven life re-emerged it washed out his flirtation with extremist ideology. In a later communication he told us how well his life was going and how he finally felt that he “really belongs here”.</p>
<p>The process of radicalisation remains a complex system that cannot be reduced to the brain, behaviour, or environment. It exists at the intersection of these elements. Simplistic explanations that call people “crazy”, blame a whole religion or ethnicity, or cast local communities as the villains only obscure practical solutions and provide a recruitment boost to terrorist groups. An inclusive society with pathways to purpose must be an aim for policies that seek to counter violent extremism.</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p><em>* All names have been changed to protect participants’ anonymity. Our research undergoes the strictest of academic ethics reviews which sets in place protocols that protect the researchers, the participants and the general public as established by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Part of what convinces radicalised people to speak with us is the guarantee of their anonymity. However, if we ever felt that the public were in danger we would follow the appropriate protocols to ensure their safety.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/they-put-a-few-coins-in-your-hands-to-drop-a-baby-in-you-265-stories-of-haitian-children-abandoned-by-un-fathers-114854?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">‘They put a few coins in your hands to drop a baby in you’ – 265 stories of Haitian children abandoned by UN fathers</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-the-world-a-history-of-how-a-silent-cosmos-led-humans-to-fear-the-worst-120193?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">The end of the world: a history of how a silent cosmos led humans to fear the worst</a></em></p></li>
<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-right-how-a-frenchman-born-150-years-ago-inspired-the-extreme-nationalism-behind-brexit-and-donald-trump-117277?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">The New Right: how a Frenchman born 150 years ago inspired the extreme nationalism behind Brexit and Donald Trump</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nafees Hamid is a Fellow at Artis International. He received funding from the Minerva Research Initiative and the Frederick Bonnart-Braunthal Trust.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clara Pretus is affiliated with Artis International. She received funding from the Minerva Research Initiative and the BIAL Foundation.</span></em></p>
The process of radicalisation is a complex system that cannot be reduced to the brain, behaviour, or environment. It exists at the intersection of all these elements.
Nafees Hamid, PhD Candidate, Department of Security and Crime Science, UCL
Clara Pretus, Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychiatry and Legal Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116066
2019-05-22T19:47:40Z
2019-05-22T19:47:40Z
Rethinking tourism so the locals actually benefit from hosting visitors
<p>Tourism today has a problem and needs an entire rethink. Pundits are debating <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-might-be-at-risk-of-overtourism-99213">overtourism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-in-the-era-of-overtourism-but-there-is-a-more-sustainable-way-forward-108906">peak tourism</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/@BComuGlobal/they-call-it-tourism-phobia-but-that-s-not-what-s-happening-in-barcelona-cb56b02da97b">tourismphobia</a>. Cities such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-stop-city-breaks-killing-our-cities-79132">Barcelona</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/06/venice-losing-fight-with-tourism-and-flooding">Venice</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/dubrovnik-cruise-ship-cap-croatia-overtourism-two-dock-a8565166.html">Dubrovnik</a> are witnessing a backlash against imposed forms of tourism. </p>
<p>In response, new tactics have been tried, ranging from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/14/venice-stewards-stop-antisocial-behaviour--sandwich-poilice">tourist “police”</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/edinburgh-city-tourist-tax-scotland-holiday-city-break-a8769141.html?fbclid=IwAR2q6q9woKiC226mLbvYkhJcFF5dr-7T2BjsGU9NXAgwn9vsz3uerfPyRlM">tourist taxes</a> to entry fees and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/sep/06/mass-tourism-environmental-damage">crowd control</a>. Cities are having to rethink their engagement with tourism if they want to keep the locals from <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/30/sinking-city-how-venice-is-managing-europes-worst-tourism-crisis?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Twitter&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR1DvMXEHG0OFcWeLmuxzd7OBxPbFEGIlO5VDH2Oo--ZhHepL6q3gwVM0-8">rioting</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tourists-behaving-badly-are-a-threat-to-global-tourism-and-the-industry-is-partly-to-blame-112398">Tourists behaving badly are a threat to global tourism, and the industry is partly to blame</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Fundamental concerns are being raised. If tourism is to have a sustainable future, we need to reorient our focus and put the well-being and interests of local residents at the forefront.</p>
<h2>Understanding tourism</h2>
<p>Tourism is typically understood from two angles. On the one hand, the focus is on the tourists and the nature of their motivations and demand, in the hope of enticing more. On the other is the business side, focused on developing products and services to provide to tourists. </p>
<p>The industry seeks to grow tourism for profits. Governments support the industry for the jobs and revenues it provides. The result has been a relentless growth in tourism in forms that locals have often not appreciated. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Hong Kong, locals have protested about the unregulated numbers of tourists from the Chinese mainland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Hofford/EPA/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Developments like Airbnb are placing tourists <a href="http://www.traveller.com.au/barcelona-tourism-overtourism-and-bad-behaviour-driving-locals-to-despair-h13vqy">in the heart of local neighbourhoods</a>, disrupting the rhythms of daily life. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517717301784">Events are imposed on communities</a>, driving out locals or blighting their quality of life. A case in point is the Newcastle 500 Supercars event, which <a href="https://wrongtracknsw.com/">some locals claim</a> has harmed local businesses and disrupted residents’ lives. </p>
<p>Public assets like the <a href="http://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/current-issues/">Adelaide Parklands</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-light-for-tasmanian-wilderness-tourism-development-defied-expert-advice-104854">Australian national parks and World Heritage areas</a> are being commercialised and privatised for tourism developments. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-kangaroo-island-to-the-great-barrier-reef-the-paradox-that-is-luxury-ecotourism-113044">From Kangaroo Island to the Great Barrier Reef, the paradox that is luxury ecotourism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shifting the focus to the local community</h2>
<p>We could create a different future for tourism if it was reoriented to be centred on the local community. <a href="https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2019.1601732">Our recently published research paper</a> redefined tourism as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The process of local communities inviting, receiving and hosting visitors in their local community, for a limited time duration, with the intention of receiving benefits from such actions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such forms of tourism may be offered by commercial businesses or made possible by non-profit organisations. But in this restructure of tourism, tourism operators would be allowed access to the local community’s assets only under their authorisation and stewardship. </p>
<p>The seeds of such a transition to more sustainable forms of tourism are already growing.</p>
<h2>Respect and fairness go a long way</h2>
<p>Venice provides a good example. In 2017, the authorities launched a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-enjoyrespectvenezia-tourism-campaign-paola-mar-travel-campaign-litter-swim-canals-bridges-a7861321.html">#EnjoyRespectVenezia</a> campaign to overcome problems of poor tourist behaviour. </p>
<p>In 2019, Venetian authorities have gone even further by <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/venice-biennale-city-access-fee-1535137">introducing an entry fee</a> this year and, later, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-booking-system-entry-fee-reserve-overcrowding-overtourism-a8765456.html">a booking system</a>. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We intend to guarantee a better liveability for citizens and, above all, for the residents.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.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">The use of metal turnstiles to limit admissions of tourists is controversial in Venice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-aus-apr-13-2014traffic-on-190693613?src=GrTW563Ailb5qdXCbnuG1Q-1-8">Andrea Merola/EPA/AAP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cruise-lines-promise-big-payouts-but-the-tourist-money-stays-at-sea-66350">Cruise lines promise big payouts, but the tourist money stays at sea</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But local communities and organisations are not waiting for authorities to act. Community activists are organising to take control of tourism for themselves.</p>
<p>A grassroots initiative from Amsterdam and Venice has resulted in <a href="https://fairbnb.coop/">Fairbnb</a>. It’s a social cooperative designed to challenge the damaging and disruptive model of Airbnb. The new platform “provides a community-centred alternative to current vacation rental platforms that prioritises people over profit and offers the potential for authentic, sustainable and intimate travel experiences”. </p>
<p>Like Airbnb, Fairbnb offers a platform to book vacation rentals. The difference is that 50% of revenues will be directed to local community projects. It also has a “one host, one home” policy – only one property on the market for each host – to limit negative impacts on local residential housing markets.</p>
<h2>Meanwhile in Australia …</h2>
<p>Australia does not have the same level of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-might-be-at-risk-of-overtourism-99213">overtourism</a> that places in Europe are suffering. But pressures are building right around the country from Byron Bay and the Great Ocean Road to our bigger cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Locals are complaining about housing affordability, congested roads and badly behaved tourists. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-might-be-at-risk-of-overtourism-99213">Why Australia might be at risk of 'overtourism'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia would benefit from strategies to reorient tourism to local well-being and control. Some promising examples already exist. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.lirrwitourism.com.au/">Lirrwi Tourism</a> in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, stands out. The Yolngu Aboriginal operators have embraced tourism access but only under a visionary set of <a href="https://www.lirrwitourism.com.au/guiding-principles">guiding principles</a>. These declare “Yolngu have a responsibility to care for country” and “Tourism should never control what happens on country”. It’s an example of tourism on the local community’s terms.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melbourne’s laneways strategy has produced benefits for both locals and tourists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-aus-apr-13-2014traffic-on-190693613?src=GrTW563Ailb5qdXCbnuG1Q-1-8">ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2015/09/16/melbourne-a-case-study-in-the-revitalization-of-city-laneways-part-1/">Melbourne’s laneways strategy</a> has demonstrated one way CBD revitalisation, resident well-being and visitor experiences can be brought together for great outcomes.</p>
<p>Tourists can play their part by meeting local communities halfway. In a resource-constrained world the pleasures of tourism must be balanced with some basic responsibilities. </p>
<p>Tourists must gain some basic understanding of local living conditions and shape their travel plans accordingly. The focus must be to give locals the maximum benefits from the visit with the minimum negative impacts. The recent campaign <a href="https://www.kathmandu.com.au/helpful-or-harmful">“Helpful or harmful: what sort of traveller are you?”</a> provides a place to start.</p>
<p>The long-term sustainability of tourism depends on ensuring visitors do not wear out their welcome. Reorienting tourism to enhance local well-being is the way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Freya Higgins-Desbiolles has received grant funding in the past from a number of organisations, including the Cooperative Research Council for Sustainable Tourism, Le Cordon Bleu Australia, the Toda Peace Institute and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She has declared no conflict of interest arising from such funding affecting the content or the views expressed in this article. Freya is affiliated with a number of scholarly and advocacy bodies concerned with tourism, including the Tourism Alert and Action Forum.
She acknowledges her co-authors of the "Degrowing tourism: Rethinking tourism research paper, Dr Sandro Carnicelli of the University of Western Scotland, Dr Chris Krolikowski of the University of South Australia, Dr Gayathri Wijesinghe of the University of South Australia and Dr Karla Boluk of the University of Waterloo.</span></em></p>
The future of tourism depends on ensuring visitors do not wear out their welcome. Giving locals more of a say in tourism can help ensure they share in the benefits and minimise the costs.
Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management, University of South Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/105208
2018-11-15T22:38:23Z
2018-11-15T22:38:23Z
Cohousing is an inclusive approach to smart, sustainable cities
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244729/original/file-20181109-116829-1l3g74c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C750%2C4904%2C1625&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Barcelona is a city where various "smart" aspects contribute to everyday life.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/YCfGk7jRkTA"> Photo by Tim Easley on Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea that technology will fix complex and systemic problems like climate change, poverty, the housing crisis or health care is simplistic to say the least. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report">We need a radical shift in how we live</a>, and designing for environmental and social sustainability <a href="https://search.proquest.com/docview/2054141889">cannot simply be about applying new technologies to our existing models of living</a>.</p>
<p>We need to support models of living that can both improve our actual well-being <em>and</em> reduce material demands on the planet. </p>
<p>Existing models of urban development that can achieve these goals are taking hold across North America. One example is collaborative housing or <a href="http://cohousing.ca/about-cohousing/">cohousing</a>. </p>
<p>As municipalities consider the development of <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/smart-cities-the-smart-persons-guide/">smart cities</a>, they have to consider how citizens contribute to the relative “intelligence” of a city. Cohousing is just one such model as it both a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43030534.pdf?casa_token=JeR_VAJKLSAAAAAA:ZIfa_JpMjaEwj14rcaZimg6U_fLj1DnYHQkjrizzDWSi3pJnvz2ihYFcOxTbU-CWW-q5uhFBNUA0kKkVoXN8A0zjHaEBHMSY309DTKoHygQoAr14UVF8">form <em>and a process</em> of design for co-operation</a> that helps create vibrant and resilient communities. </p>
<p><a href="https://abc.xyz/">Alphabet</a>’s Sidewalk Labs <a href="https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/google-sidewalk-toronto-waterfront/article36612387/">is mapping out a new kind of neighbourhood</a> that would redevelop a 12-acre waterfront district in Toronto called Quayside from “the internet up.” </p>
<p>This is just the beginning of the relationship, as all eyes are on the future development of the <a href="https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/google-sidewalk-toronto-waterfront/article36612387/">750 acres neighbouring the site along the eastern waterfront</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Introducing Sidewalk Toronto, Waterfront Toronto and Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has been a year of scandals at Silicon Valley, from <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/techs-dirty-secret-the-app-developers-sifting-through-your-gmail-1530544442?dlbk">Google sharing emails with app developers</a> to a joint investigation between the Justice Department, the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission into <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/07/02/federal-investigators-broaden-focus-facebooks-role-sharing-data-with-cambridge-analytica-examining-statements-tech-giant/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7f7aa1426953">data leaks by Facebook</a>. A networked neighbourhood built “from the internet up,” may not be the selling feature Sidewalk Labs had hoped it would be. It should come as no surprise that many people are suspicious of this proposal. </p>
<h2>Several paths to the Smart City</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-ca/Smart+Cities:+Foundations,+Principles,+and+Applications-p-9781119226390">different paths that lead to smart cities</a>. For example, we have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/smart-cities-privacy-data-personal-information-sidewalk-1.4488145">techno-utopias</a> that focus on the digital optimization of the city, with a particular focus on infrastructure. Or we might consider how social innovations can lead to a better quality of life for more people. </p>
<p>Of course, there are times when these approaches intersect, but I can’t help but notice the particular focus on the technological aspects of just about every critique of the Quayside project. </p>
<p>These critiques, by <a href="https://theconversation.com/quayside-toronto-project-proves-that-smart-city-talks-must-be-transparent-96323">academics</a>, <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/26/sidewalk-labs-ann-cavoukian-smart-city/">technology writers</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/08/08/sidewalk-labs/?utm_term=.07dfa0fbc517">concerned citizens</a> are warranted because so far, <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JSMA-03-2015-0030">“smart city” approaches the world over have generally been related to top-down processes with a focus on new technologies</a>. People who live in these cities are often excluded from meaningful participation in the planning process that later impacts their lives. Given the levels of engagement on <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/canada/vancouver-sun/20180808/281938838739124">this issue</a>, it’s quite clear that the citizens of Toronto are hungry for the opportunity to truly participate in making their city better. </p>
<p>With this in mind, I want to draw attention to one element of the plan presented by the <a href="https://sidewalktoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sidewalk-Labs-Vision-Sections-of-RFP-Submission.pdf">Quayside proposal</a>: <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328707001103">Cohousing.</a></p>
<h2>A model of meaningful collaboration</h2>
<p>There is an assumption that people understand what is meant by cohousing, but <a href="https://leap-architecture.org/doctorant/cheryl-gladu/">as a researcher</a> in this field, I can assure you, most people don’t.</p>
<p>Some think it’s some kind of approach to affordable housing, which has yet to be the case in North America. There is little understanding of how the nature of this kind of intentional community represents a fairly radical, and positive, shift in modern living, where people learn through regular practice to build consensus with their neighbours on issues of sharing, co-caring and meaningful collaboration. </p>
<p>This is a model of design, development and management that when done properly, can contribute to a “bottom-up” approach to building the city. Yet in both <a href="https://sidewalktoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sidewalk-Labs-Vision-Sections-of-RFP-Submission.pdf">the proposal itself</a> <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2017/10/sidewalk-labs-quayside-development-in-toronto-is-googles-first-shot-at-building-a-city.html">and media coverage</a>, cohousing isn’t clearly defined. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C5%2C1186%2C620&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243354/original/file-20181031-122168-ckpkdu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vancouver Cohousing Courtyard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cheryl Gladu</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>What is cohousing?</h2>
<p>Cohousing includes participation in the project’s design, development and management by a self-organizing group or collective. It is one of a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43030534?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">number of collective housing models</a> that emerged in northern Europe in the late 1960s and 1970s. </p>
<p>Decisions are made by consensus and talking through differences is central to the creation of these communities. Residents own or rent complete private dwellings within the larger project (typically between 15 to 33 households), while also sharing common property, such as a common house, a large kitchen and dining area, guest suites and gardens. </p>
<p>The legal structure of these communities may vary: Some are co-operatives, while others are condominium associations. </p>
<h2>Materially simple, relationally rich</h2>
<p>One reason that this model is interesting is that it shows us that when members of an intentional community get together to design their own neighbourhood, they opt for <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1068/a43296?casa_token=-Ei7J7KC4ywAAAAA:CuimFZxw8sjcDI1DPTGHUTv9tvj_qZiDWFIVmG2j3TG_ldIxpYRIZo2bNdjQTeNDpLbSj6tjZZVRVw">less personal space and more shared resources</a>; they opt for materially simple, yet rich relational lives. </p>
<p>These projects can also help “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23290269.pdf?casa_token=4bHYfxE-EbMAAAAA:ztywAxZdEPXgRY4qJ5wVTbhT0eNiRDOaRV69BrEuFbW498lnUlZiICnwyA6ezzUGlwkZ4UpBFhAfw739GJ1FJSnEeAqcX46GBtWU6-yCVyvf8bWxgXU4">seed community</a>” into a larger area. Despite the fact that most of these communities are not certified green buildings, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09613218.2010.494377?casa_token=pidK2FDLSk4AAAAA%3ACBt-G5ByeT7oUjiJ-e20HkLkVMtl43-r2qg_GR-4MrGLFyk1hJZ03vdg2kblXG7isgijjegw937ihQ&">research</a> <a href="http://summit.sfu.ca/item/10543">shows us</a> that cohousing communities can outperform green buildings on environmental measures, and this is likely related to the governance structure rather than technological innovation. Smart, no?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JSMA-03-2015-0030">A case study in Barcelona</a> suggests there is much to gain from the pairing of top-down with bottom-up approaches in terms of smart city development, as partnerships between different stakeholders can reinforce collaboration. </p>
<p>Cohousing <a href="http://www.cohousing.ca/communities/#all">communities across Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.cohousing.org/directory">the United States</a> could benefit from the capacity of companies like Sidewalk Labs to mobilize people, politicians and resources. </p>
<p>However, in order for this to work for cohousing communities, there has to be a real opportunity to partner with the eventual occupants so that they have ownership of the process because cohousers themselves must be the <a href="https://degrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/lietart_cohousing-and-degrowth.pdf">driving force behind the process</a>. </p>
<p>The sense of community that emerges from cohousing developments is not merely due to its physical design, nor is it a happy accident — it is the central aim of the development and management process, which starts <em>prior</em> to the design and development of these communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheryl Gladu is part of the 500 Communities Program, a program to train the next generation of consultants in collaborative housing development, and received funding from Sam and Diana Scalia Sustainable Real Estate and Built Environment Program to study cohousing in Canada.</span></em></p>
Smart cities need places for people to engage in meaningful ways, and cohousing is one model of smart citizen development.
Cheryl Gladu, PhD Candidate, Concordia University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/97482
2018-08-07T11:04:24Z
2018-08-07T11:04:24Z
Estrella Damm: how Spanish beer took on Heineken to brand itself as the cosmopolitan choice
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230902/original/file-20180807-191025-4wcwd4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3831%2C2573&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Estrella Damm</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The great film director <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/stanley-kubrick-the-rolling-stone-interview-50911/">Stanley Kubrick</a> once wrote about the way in which the line between art and commerce was increasingly blurred: “Some of the most spectacular examples of film art are in the best TV commercials,” he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1987.</p>
<p>And the art of branding in today’s saturated market – or so conventional wisdom suggests – is to create value for your brand by linking them with meaningful experiences and using that to manage consumers’ emotions towards the brand. </p>
<p>Our cultural knowledge of brands is woven into the very fabric of our everyday lives and shapes the choices we make. So, for example, the principle behind Ralph Lauren’s famous quip that “we don’t sell jeans, we sell self-confidence” can be applied to most successful brands. </p>
<p>Arguably, we subconsciously associate Levis with making us look “cool”, while Nike inspires and empowers us to be “greater” – see, for example, its “Find Your Greatness” campaign. Disney, meanwhile, gives us escapism and fantasy while Apple promises greater community and connection through its technology.</p>
<p>By investing in these cultural messages over time, brands can strengthen perception of them by consumers as inseparable from these meaningful qualities with which they have become associated. As branding academics and practitioners alike understand, brands flourish or perish on the strength of this relationship.</p>
<h2>Beer is life</h2>
<p>Storytelling has always been an important way for brands to establish and maintain this meaningful relationship with consumers. These brand narratives are not about finding logical solutions to complex problems – or indeed about telling potential consumers about how useful or high quality their products are – not directly, anyway. Rather, they are about ingraining or reinforcing the symbolic and cultural value of the brand through their story which aims to create or strengthen a meaningful connection between the brand and consumer. </p>
<p>The aim is that their customers begin to feel that the brand is inseparable from aspects of their identity. </p>
<p>Typical of this idea is the 16-minute short film La Vida Neustra (Our Life), promoting the oldest brand in Spain and Catalonia, the Barcelona-based beer, Estrella Damm. The film stars Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage and has been viewed more than 15m times.</p>
<p>We see protagonist Anton move from Barcelona to Amsterdam for an amazing job opportunity. He leaves behind beautiful girlfriend Cora and his equally handsome best friend Rafa. A year of unrest and indecision later, Anton returns to Barcelona to sign over his boat to Rafa. Of course, he discovers he is still in love with Cora – but of course she and Rafa are now an item.</p>
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<p>Dinklage plays a narrator of sorts, Chad Johnson – a character in the style of Dickens’s ghost of Christmas past, guiding Anton through past memories towards a revelation typical of consumer capitalism; he already had a great life but continued to believe far away hills were greener. Johnson tells him: “But you wanted more.” In the end, Anton “lets go of the anchor”, hands over the key of the boat (the anchor a metaphor to past lives and relationships) to Rafa and Cora and embraces his new life in Amsterdam.</p>
<h2>Clash of stars</h2>
<p>Beneath the somewhat frivolous plot, there is something far more interesting going on from a branding perspective. Canadian anthropologist <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/13/1/71/1814669">Grant McCracken argued</a> in 1986 that brands become meaningful by investing in culture – signs and symbols that consumers identify as culturally meaningful. The Estrella film marks a concerted effort by the gold star of the Spanish brand from Barcelona to antagonise its fierce rival and market leader in Amsterdam, the red star of Heineken.</p>
<p>The opening scene of the film depicts the quintessential image of Amsterdam with its beautiful canals and unmistakable Dutch architecture.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=253&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=253&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=253&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230885/original/file-20180807-191044-1rnttm6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sense of place: the opening of Estrella’s Amsterdam film.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Estrella Damm</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I first saw this ad with a couple of friends, they said they didn’t know Estrella was Dutch. I said I didn’t think it was either. The beer’s name, Estrella Damm, sounds as if there’s a connection with Amsterdam –but in fact the beer was first brewed in 1876 by August Küntzmann Damm, a recent arrival to Barcelona from the Alsace region of France. </p>
<h2>Sense of belonging</h2>
<p>The film starts with quintessential images of the canals and townhouses of Amsterdam and jumps to the instantly recognisable cityscape of Barcelona and then moves back and forth between the two cities. It ends with Anton blissfully cycling through Amsterdam and hanging out with his new friends having fully embraced his new life and let go of the “anchor” to this past. </p>
<p>Yet throughout this turbulent time, the only constant, in the wake of disloyal friends, fleeting romances and traded possessions has been Estrella and its symbolic ties to his home city Barcelona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230392/original/file-20180802-136664-4q5su7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Landmark: former Heineken brewery in Amsterdam.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mtcv via Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The film marks a potentially risky but rewarding strategy by Estrella and potentially other brands to invest in a sense of place that arguably, “belongs” to their rival competitors. As the narrative suggests, despite being in the home of “the Heineken Experience”, Estrella is the beer of choice and acts as a more effective medium with which we can celebrate and give thanks for life, love and beer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Lonergan 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>
Advertising as a life story – this clever campaign branded a Spanish beer with a sense of belonging.
Patrick Lonergan, Lecturer in Marketing and Communications, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/99296
2018-07-26T19:56:27Z
2018-07-26T19:56:27Z
Technology is making cities ‘smart’, but it’s also costing the environment
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228991/original/file-20180724-194131-1q57kz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A smart city is usually one connected and managed through computing — sensors, data analytics and other information and communications technology.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian government has allocated A$50 million for the <a href="https://cities.infrastructure.gov.au/smart-cities-program">Smarter Cities and Suburbs Program</a> to encourage projects that “improve the livability, productivity and sustainability of cities and towns across Australia”. </p>
<p>One project funded under the program is installation of temperature, lighting and motion sensors in buildings and bus interchanges in Woden, ACT. This will allow energy systems to be automatically adjusted in response to people’s use of these spaces, with the aim of reducing energy use and improving safety and security.</p>
<p>In similar ways, governments worldwide are partnering with technology firms to make cities “smarter” by retrofitting various city objects with technological features. While this might make our cities safer and potentially more user-friendly, we can’t work off a blind faith in technology which, without proper design, can break down and leave a city full of environmental waste.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-a-tech-company-build-a-city-ask-google-86402">Can a tech company build a city? Ask Google</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>How cities are getting smarter</h2>
<p>A “smart city” is an <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10630732.2014.942092">often vague term</a> that usually describes one of two things. The first is a city that takes a <a href="http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/37640170/smart_cities_final_report.pdf">knowledge-based approach to its economy</a>, transport, people and environment. The second is a city <a href="http://www.revistaie.ase.ro/content/64/07%20-%20Cretu.pdf">connected and managed</a> through computing — sensors, data analytics and other information and communications technology. </p>
<p>It’s the second definition that aligns with the interests of multinational tech firms. <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/melbourne-profile/smart-city/Pages/ibm-smarter-cities-challenge-2016.aspx">IBM</a>, Serco, Cisco, Microsoft, Philips and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43493936">Google</a> are among those active in this market. Each is working with local authorities worldwide to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270500884_Smart_cities_and_green_growth_Outsourcing_democratic_and_environmental_resilience_to_the_global_technology_sector">provide the hardware</a>, software and technical know-how for complex, urban-scale projects.</p>
<p>In Rio de Janeiro, a <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6e73/7a0e5ef29303760a565ba5e9d98510ab0976.pdf">partnership between the city government and IBM</a> has created an urban-scale network of sensors, bringing data from thirty agencies into a single centralised hub. Here it is examined by algorithms and human analysts to help <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2289141">model and plan city development</a>, and to respond to unexpected events.</p>
<p>Tech giants provide expertise for a city to become “smart” and then keep its systems running afterwards. In some cases, tech-led smart cities have risen from the ground up. <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5960147/">Songdo, in South Korea</a>, and Masdar, UAE, were <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13604813.2015.1016275">born smart</a> by integrating advanced technologies at the masterplanning and construction stages.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-a-city-get-to-be-smart-this-is-how-tel-aviv-did-it-94898">How does a city get to be 'smart'? This is how Tel Aviv did it</a>
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<p>More often, though, existing cities are retrofitted with smart systems. Barcelona, for instance, has <a href="http://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/et.2016.0508">gained a reputation</a> as one of the world’s top smart cities, after its existing buildings and infrastructure were fitted with sensors and processors to monitor and maintain infrastructure, as well as for planning future development. </p>
<p>The city is dotted with electric vehicle charging points and smart parking spaces. Sensors and a data-driven irrigation system monitor and manage water use. The public transport system has interactive touch screens at bus stops and USB chargers on buses.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Barcelona has a reputation of being one of the world’s smartest cities.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Suppliers of <a href="https://www.smartercitieschallenge.org/about">smart systems</a> claim a <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/industries/smart-connected-communities/what-is-a-smart-city.html">number of benefits </a> for smart cities, arguing these will result in more equitable, efficient and environmentally sustainable urban centres. Other advocates claim smart cities are more “<a href="https://ij-healthgeographics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-072X-14-3">happy and resilient</a>”. But there are also hidden costs to smart cities.</p>
<h2>The downsides of being smart</h2>
<p>Cyber-security and technology ethics are important topics. Smart cities <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260799819_Smart_Cities_and_Their_Smart_Decisions_Ethical_Considerations">represent a complex new field</a> for governments, citizens, designers and security experts to navigate. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277581780_Developing_a_critical_understanding_of_smart_urbanism">privatisation of civic space</a> and public services is a hidden cost too. The complexity of smart city systems and their need for ongoing maintenance could lead to long-term reliance on a tech company to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270500884_Smart_cities_and_green_growth_Outsourcing_democratic_and_environmental_resilience_to_the_global_technology_sector">deliver public services</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sensors-in-public-spaces-can-help-create-cities-that-are-both-smart-and-sociable-93473">Sensors in public spaces can help create cities that are both smart and sociable</a>
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<p>Many argue that, by improving data collection and monitoring and allowing for real-time responses, smart systems will lead to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270500884_Smart_cities_and_green_growth_Outsourcing_democratic_and_environmental_resilience_to_the_global_technology_sector">better environmental outcomes</a>. For instance, <a href="https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-smartphone-chips-are-connecting-cities/">waste bins that alert city managers</a> when they need collecting, or that prompt <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=8241694">recycling through tax credits</a>, and <a href="http://www.lighting.philips.com.au/systems/system-areas/roads-and-streets">street lamps that track movement</a> and adjust lighting levels have the potential to reduce energy use.</p>
<p>But this runs contrary to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10807030490513874">studies that show</a> more information and communication technology actually leads to higher energy use. At best, smart cities may end up a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10807030490513874">zero-sum game</a> in terms of sustainability because their “positive and negative impacts tend to cancel each other out”.</p>
<p>And then there’s the less-talked-about issue of e-waste, which is a <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/12/639312-electronic-waste-poses-growing-risk-environment-human-health-un-report-warns">huge global challenge</a>. Adding computers to objects could create what one writer has termed a new “<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/the-internet-of-trash-iot-has-a-looming-ewaste-problem">internet of trash</a>” — products designed to be thrown away as soon as their batteries run down.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229363/original/file-20180726-106527-l0biyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&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">Computer technology is often short-lived and needs upgrading often.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>As cities become smart they need <a href="https://theconversation.com/sensors-in-public-spaces-can-help-create-cities-that-are-both-smart-and-sociable-93473">more and more objects</a> — bollards, street lamps, public furniture, signboards — to integrate sensors, screens, batteries and processors. Objects in our cities are usually built with durable materials, which means they can be used for decades. </p>
<p>Computer processors and software systems, on the other hand, are short-lived and may need upgrading every few years. Adding <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/internet/the-internet-of-trash-iot-has-a-looming-ewaste-problem">technology to products</a> that didn’t have this in the past effectively shortens their life-span and makes servicing, warranties and support contracts more <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8389181/">complex and unreliable</a>. One outcome could be a landscape of smart junk — public infrastructure that has stopped working, or that needs ongoing patching, maintenance and upgrades.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/does-not-compute-australia-is-still-miles-behind-in-recycling-electronic-products-63381">Does not compute: Australia is still miles behind in recycling electronic products</a>
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<p>In Barcelona, many of the gadgets that made it one of the world’s smartest cities <a href="http://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/et.2016.0508">no longer work properly</a>. The smart streetlights on the Passatge de Mas de Roda, which were put in place in 2011 to improve energy efficiency by detecting human movement, noise and climatic conditions, later fell into disrepair.</p>
<p>If smart objects aren’t designed so they can be disassembled at the end of their useful life, electronic components are likely to be left inside where they hamper recycling efforts. Some digital components <a href="http://homedocbox.com/Appliances/67981707-The-global-e-waste-monitor-2017.html">contain toxic materials</a>. Disposing of these through burning or in landfill can contaminate environments and threaten human health.</p>
<p>These are not insurmountable challenges. Information and communications technology, data and networks have an important place in our shared urban future. But this future will be determined by our attitudes toward these technologies. We need to make sure that instead of being short-term gimmicks to be thrown away when their novelty wears off, they are thoughtfully designed, and that they put they put the needs of citizens and environments first.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99296/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Sawyer 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>
As cities become ‘smarter’, they need more and more objects fitted with technology. We need to think about designing these objects to accommodate computers, which often break down and create e-waste.
Mark Sawyer, Lecturer in Architecture, The University of Western Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/97501
2018-07-11T11:14:15Z
2018-07-11T11:14:15Z
How cities help immigrants feel at home: 4 charts
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/como-las-ciudades-pueden-ayudar-a-los-inmigrantes-a-sentirse-en-casa-4-graficos-99898"><em>Leer en español</em></a>.</p>
<p>As anti-immigrant sentiment erupts in Western democracies from <a href="https://theconversation.com/influx-of-immigrants-shines-light-on-the-darker-side-of-europe-41128">Germany</a> to the <a href="http://time.com/4473972/donald-trump-mexico-meeting-insult/">United States</a>, some cities are still finding ways to make immigrants feel at home. </p>
<p>I conducted hundreds of interviews with immigrants in New York, Paris and Barcelona intermittently for over a decade to understand how each city integrates – or excludes – its migrants. </p>
<p>My new book, “<a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=23440">A Place to Call Home</a>,” explains why some cities and their residents do better at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jun/25/tourists-go-home-refugees-welcome-why-barcelona-chose-migrants-over-visitors">incorporating</a> foreign-born newcomers in the local economy, culture and politics.</p>
<h2>A feeling of belonging</h2>
<p>On the surface, immigration in these three cities looks quite different. </p>
<p>Over <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/newyorkcitynewyork,US/PST045216">one-third of all New Yorkers</a> were born abroad, the majority of them in <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/nny2013/chapter2.pdf#page=3">Latin America and the Caribbean</a>. </p>
<p>In Paris, where 20 percent of the population is <a href="https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2874034?sommaire=2874056&geo=UU2010-00851">foreign-born</a>, most immigrants and their children come from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and other former <a href="https://www.ined.fr/en/everything_about_population/data/france/immigrants-foreigners/countries-birth-immigrants/">French colonies in North Africa</a>. </p>
<p>Much of Barcelona’s immigrant population, around <a href="http://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/bcnacciointercultural/sites/default/files/ficheros/La%20poblaci%C3%B3%20estrangera%20a%20Barcelona%202017.pdf">17.8 percent of its total population</a>, is <a href="http://www.bcn.cat/novaciutadania/pdf/pla_immigracio/pla_immigracio_en.pdf">Latin American</a> or Moroccan. </p>
<p>Despite their diverse origins, the immigrants I spoke with consistently cited the same elements as being critical to their sense of urban belonging, helping them to feel “at home” while working, socializing and raising a family in the city.</p>
<p>New York and Barcelona, it turns out, foster this sense of belonging more than Paris does. </p>
<p>Nearly 70 percent of the first-generation Latino immigrants I interviewed in New York City feel that they are part of the community. Just under half of first-generation Moroccans in Barcelona felt that way. But only 19 percent of North Africans in Paris feel like part of the community.</p>
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<h2>Lots of jobs</h2>
<p>In part, interviewees told me, that’s because New York and Barcelona both have ample jobs open to immigrants in both the formal and informal sectors. </p>
<p>Immigrants are vital to New York City’s economy. According to the <a href="https://osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt7-2016.pdf">New York state comptroller’s office</a>, immigrants account for 43 percent of the city’s workforce and nearly one-third of its economic output.</p>
<p>Immigrants have a strong presence in the service sector and construction. Additionally, according to a 2016 comptroller’s <a href="https://osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt7-2016.pdf">report</a>, “Many industries, such as technology, finance and information, draw on a worldwide talent pool of immigrants to maintain their competitiveness.” </p>
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<p>Barcelona, too, has depended on <a href="http://www.ub.edu/geocrit/sn-3.htm">immigrant labor</a> to grow its economy. Until Europe’s 2007 economic crisis, when <a href="http://treballiaferssocials.gencat.cat/web/.content/03ambits_tematics/05immigracio/dades_immigracio/informe_integracio/2015/EN_Informe-integracio-immigracio-2015.pdf">high unemployment</a> slowed immigration and compelled many foreign-born workers to <a href="https://migrationcluster.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk821/files/2017-07/giovanni_immigration_jobs_and_employment.pdf">return</a> to their countries of origin, immigrants were an important part of the labor force. </p>
<p>Employers in both cities are also generally accepting of undocumented status. Some 560,000 undocumented people live in New York City, according to a March 2018 <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/immigrants/downloads/pdf/moia_annual_report_2018_final.pdf">report by the city</a>, which is 6.3 percent of the city’s total population. Undocumented immigrants in New York have a high labor-force participation rate – <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/immigrants/downloads/pdf/moia_annual_report_2018_final.pdf">77 percent</a> for people ages 16 and above. </p>
<h2>Events and services for immigrants</h2>
<p>Both Barcelona and New York also hold regular cultural events celebrating immigrants.</p>
<p>Brooklyn’s <a href="https://nypost.com/2017/09/04/millions-gather-for-annual-west-indian-day-parade-in-brooklyn/">West Indian Day Parade</a>, organized by Caribbean immigrant populations and funded <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/05/nyregion/a-tradition-remade-in-brooklyn-west-indians-prepare-a-lavish-and-popular-pageant.html">partly by corporate donations</a>, draws millions of revelers each year. </p>
<p>In Manhattan, the act of closing down some main avenues to host the Saint Patrick’s, Puerto Rican, Dominican or Mexican Day parades is an important sign of solidarity with foreign-born residents and their descendants.</p>
<p>Many local nonprofit organizations and government agencies in New York and Barcelona exist to serve immigrants’ specific needs. </p>
<p>In Barcelona, the <a href="http://www.bcn.cat/novaciutadania/arees/en/saier/immigracio.html">Service Center for Immigrants, Emigrants and Refugees</a> is a government service that provides free resources for immigrants on how to obtain legal status and eventually obtain Spanish nationality. It also provides educational, employment and housing services in <a href="http://www.bcn.cat/novaciutadania/arees/en/saier/saier.html">seven different languages</a>.</p>
<p>In New York, many different immigration organizations advocate for immigrant rights and provide numerous resources and programs throughout the city. They also aim to elect immigrants into political office and community leadership positions to improve immigrants’ public representation.</p>
<h2>Let immigrants be</h2>
<p>Immigrants also told me that people in New York and Barcelona just let foreign-born residents be themselves, allowing them to maintain their own identity while creating a new home. </p>
<p>From the point of view of immigrants, then, it’s the ratio between being specifically catered to and treated the same as anyone else that determines how welcome they feel. </p>
<p>The key to inclusion, in other words, seems to be to help immigrant integration without forcing it. </p>
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<p>No city is perfect at this. In New York, Barcelona and Paris alike, I found that many immigrants were stuck in low-skilled jobs, working in restaurant kitchens, taxis and construction sites – no matter what they did back home. </p>
<p>All the immigrants I spoke with struggle to find affordable, quality housing in these expensive metropolises. Anti-immigrant politicians publicly decry them as “threats” to the nation. </p>
<p>And immigrants of color in these predominantly white countries reported being racially profiled by both police and residents, though that appears to happen much less often in New York City. </p>
<h2>What Paris gets wrong</h2>
<p>In my interviews, the first- and second-generation immigrants who most often reported that they struggled to feel at home were the ones who lived in Paris and its <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/11/the-othered-paris/543597/">metropolitan region</a>.</p>
<p>France has long embraced the idea of itself as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-french-myth-of-secularism-36227">homogeneous secular republic</a>. This notion endured even as the country <a href="http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol2_2/seljuq.htm">colonized</a> Muslim North African countries like Algeria and Tunisia in the 19th and early 20th centuries and recruited workers from those countries.</p>
<p>The secular ideal makes it difficult for French society to address the ways that immigrants may in fact be <a href="https://www.american.edu/ucm/news/20180702-tale-of-three-cities.cfm">different</a> than native-born French.</p>
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<p>France’s national census cannot ask about racial or ethnic identity, for example. So policies designed to help minorities – such as affirmative action – are not only almost impossible there but also frowned upon as discriminatory.</p>
<p>Racial discrimination and racist comments are not uncommon in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44039566">Paris</a>. But France’s steadfast belief that it is a “color-blind” society means there is little <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/race-policy-in-france/">interest in talking about racism</a>. </p>
<p>Muslim immigrants living in Paris also told me that they felt Parisians expected them to assimilate – to abandon their home culture and become entirely and immediately “French.” </p>
<p>Support for <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289529129_Urban_Citizenship_in_New_York_Paris_and_Barcelona_Immigrant_Organizations_and_the_Right_to_Inhabit_the_City">ethnic and race-based organizations</a> of the sort that proliferate in Barcelona and New York, is also seen as anti-French. As a result, immigrants in Paris typically practice their religion and cultural traditions in private. That isolates them from their neighbors and prevents most native-born French from learning about these newcomers. </p>
<p>This external pressure to conform quickly to the national culture makes immigrants feel less at home – and, based on my research, less likely to actually assimilate over time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ernesto Castañeda 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>
A sociologist interviewed hundreds of immigrants in New York, Barcelona and Paris. Here’s what they say those cities get right — and do wrong — when integrating foreign-born residents.
Ernesto Castañeda, Assistant Professor of Sociology, American University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/91930
2018-03-25T16:14:06Z
2018-03-25T16:14:06Z
City streets: why South Africa should design more people-friendly spaces
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210765/original/file-20180316-104642-1oev41g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People stroll along Moshoeshoe Street in Emfuleni.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darya Maslova</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Streets have many purposes. They carry traffic. They’re conduits for electrical, telephone and water services to homes and businesses; below ground, they provide sewer and storm water networks. They have another crucial use too: they are or should be prominent public spaces in cities. </p>
<p>The importance of streets as spaces for people is being recognised in a range of cities around the world. In Liuyun Xiaoqu, a suburb of the Chinese city Guangzhou, previously access controlled streets have <a href="https://www.itdp.org/pedestrians-first-walkability-tool/">been converted</a> to wide thoroughfares that only pedestrians are allowed to use.</p>
<p>In Barcelona some streets have been turned into <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/17/superblocks-rescue-barcelona-spain-plan-give-streets-back-residents">pedestrian boulevards</a>. London has pushed parking <a href="https://www.itdp.org/pedestrians-first-walkability-tool/">further back</a> from street edges. This limits the negative impact of cars (noise, danger and pollution) and leaves more room for pedestrians to move freely and safely to browse or shop.</p>
<p>Amid these global shifts and ongoing debate about the role of streets, the <a href="http://gcro.ac.za/">Gauteng City-Region Observatory</a> wanted to explore the idea of streets as public spaces in South Africa’s economic capital. This is part of the work we do in partnership with provincial and local governments to provide data for policy making. So we commissioned a series of case studies; these were recently published in a research report, <a href="http://gcro.ac.za/research/project/detail/taking-streets-seriously/">Taking streets seriously</a>.</p>
<p>In the Gauteng province, as is the case across South Africa, the private car dominates road design. A number of <a href="https://openbylaws.org.za/">by-laws</a> limit activities not related to cars and other vehicles – whether that’s selling fruit from a makeshift stall, cutting people’s hair or just sitting, chatting or observing. Pavements tend to be narrow and street furniture, like benches, is rare.</p>
<p>Despite these restrictions, we found that some of Gauteng’s streets are inhabited and used as public spaces in multiple ways. This shows that people recognise streets as spaces of opportunity (both economically and socially). To grow these opportunities, local authorities need to pursue the direction of cities like Barcelona, London and Guangzhou by supporting pedestrian and non-motorised activities on streets. </p>
<p>This research is a rich resource for city designers because it provides local granular data and information about the region’s urban spaces.</p>
<h2>Exploring Gauteng’s streets</h2>
<p>Gauteng is home to about <a href="http://gcro.ac.za/">14.3 million</a> people. Many of its streets bustle with informal traders and their customers. Pedestrians can buy fruit and vegetables, mobile data or second-hand clothes and have their hair trimmed on the pavements. Some streets are full of children playing, dogs barking, grannies chatting and goats grazing.</p>
<p>Two different case studies featured in <a href="http://gcro.ac.za/research/project/detail/taking-streets-seriously/">our report</a> show how residents and users have taken both formal and informal approaches to inhabiting roads that were built as major arterial routes – for cars, not for people.</p>
<p>One is Moshoeshoe Street in Emfuleni in the south-west of Gauteng and the other is Solomon Mahlangu Drive in Mamelodi East. On Solomon Mahlangu Drive a thriving informal node has sprung up at a minibus taxi interchange. On Moshoeshoe Street the activities are less concentrated but all along its length residents and users are challenging the road’s designation as a regional arterial route by engaging in residential and trading activities on the roadside.</p>
<p>These streets have been transformed. They’ve become places of exchange, socially and economically. </p>
<p>But in some places, the shift towards “public space” has created tension. This is because people are trying to expand the functions or activities on streets and pavements by using the space to socialise, play soccer or sell sweets. Not everybody is happy about loud music or the arrival of informal traders in a neighbourhood or area; some <a href="http://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/top-news/2017/09/19/street-vendors-face-eviction/">complain</a> about increased mess and even crime.</p>
<p>In one of our case studies, in De Villiers Street in Johannesburg’s CBD, informal traders have tried to address these perceptions by contributing to cleaning schemes and employing security guards. This has made the street safer and cleaner – and a more attractive public space.</p>
<p>By comparison, residents of an affluent suburb, Killarney, have responded with hostility to a minibus taxi stop and informal traders that serve pedestrians. Residents have erected high walls and fences and installed spikes on low surfaces. </p>
<p>It’s not just informal traders and businesses that unsettle people. One of our case studies focused on suburban high streets in wealthy areas. Restaurants and sidewalk cafes have become more common along the pavements of traditionally quiet retail strips. Some residents resent these activities because of increased traffic and noise levels and reduced pavement space.</p>
<p>But these activities actually bring new functionality to streets and encourage more pedestrian activity. This is good for increasing aspects of diversity in these areas. Varied activities and functions in compact spaces can reduce the need for transportation and improve the quality of our urban environments.</p>
<h2>More public participation</h2>
<p>Gauteng residents are already creating better street spaces. The governance and design of these streets needs more public engagement. Local authorities simply need to follow the lead of inhabitants and users who have embraced streets as public spaces in multiple ways.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gauteng City-Region Observatory receives funding from Gauteng Provincial Government. </span></em></p>
By expanding our understanding of streets and enhancing their design, every street corner could become a space to socialise, to exercise, to play, or to trade.
Alexandra Parker, Researcher of urban & cultural studies, Gauteng City-Region Observatory
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89403
2017-12-20T14:36:40Z
2017-12-20T14:36:40Z
Catalonia’s cultural struggle against Madrid goes back centuries
<p>Like all constitutions, the <a href="http://www.parliament.am/library/sahmanadrutyunner/ispania.pdf">1978 Spanish constitution</a> is a product of a very specific historical moment. General Francisco Franco <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/20/newsid_4421000/4421636.stm">had died</a> in 1975 and his political heirs understood the need for change: Francoism without Franco in a rapidly modernising country was not sustainable. </p>
<p>The democratic parties, including the Catalan nationalists, recognised they were too weak to impose a clean break and bring Franco’s henchmen to justice. The constitution was a pact between the most forward-looking Francoists and a heterogeneous opposition prepared to turn a blind eye to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9055231/Franco-victims-relatives-relive-the-horror.html">atrocities</a> committed by Franco’s so-called nationalists during the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/roadwar/spancivil/revision/1/">Civil War</a> and nearly four decades of dictatorship. </p>
<p>It is from this uneasy compromise that all recent political upheaval in Catalonia stems – including the latest instalment, the region’s election on December 21. To understand the conflict, however, you have to go back much further than 1978. Neither can you confine yourself to politics; everything is underpinned by the rise of Catalan culture and its battle to express itself. </p>
<h2>Renaissance years</h2>
<p>Today’s Catalan nationalism has its origins in the 19th-century Renaixença (Renaissance). This movement sought to revitalise Catalan culture and the language. It <a href="https://www.barcelonas.com/generalitat-of-catalonia.html">followed</a> a century of cultural and political repression by Spanish rulers, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Decree-of-Nueva-Planta">starting in</a> 1716. These included abolishing the Generalitat – the Catalan government – in favour of central control. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=836&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200189/original/file-20171220-4954-m5yah2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Joaquim Rubió i Ors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.enciclopedia.cat/EC-GEC-0057242.xml">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the early 19th century, Catalonia <a href="https://www.barcelonas.com/cultural-renaixenca.html">had become</a> a major economy, with a sizeable cotton industry and export specialisms like shoes and glass bottles. The accompanying Renaixença sought to turn the Catalan language into the language of culture. It had various prominent intellectuals publishing works in Catalan; and later poets like <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ACRBDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29&lpg=PT29&dq=Joaquim+Rubi%C3%B3+i+Ors+biography&source=bl&ots=lYAiH2bYnP&sig=mjQOYqLUUezXuXiq3yyxHfk5UNM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjNtvHmt5jYAhWhIMAKHRSiBbQ4ChDoAQhSMAc#v=onepage&q=Joaquim%20Rubi%C3%B3%20i%20Ors%20biography&f=false">Joaquim Rubió i Ors</a>, who helped build a literary movement by reviving a <a href="http://lameva.barcelona.cat/jocsflorals/ca/">medieval poetry festival</a> that continues today. </p>
<p>The Renaixença flowed into the Modernisme of the late 19th century and early 20th century – not to be confused with Anglo-Saxon Modernism or Spanish Modernismo. Modernisme was a broad church, from anarchists to conservatives, united in a genuine effort to Europeanise Catalan culture on all artistic fronts. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1110&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1110&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200191/original/file-20171220-4985-1ix1akp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1110&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia._Façana_del_Naixement.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The new generation had come to see the Renaixença as too parochial for the approaching century. Their focal point, after all, was Barcelona, by now a major European city. Leading lights included the writer <a href="http://www.visat.cat/traduccions-literatura-catalana/eng/autor/4/2/fiction/victor-catala.html">Caterina Albert i Paradís</a>, writing under the male pen name Víctor Català; the painter <a href="http://www.spainisculture.com/en/artistas_creadores/ramon_casas.html">Ramon Casas</a>; and the celebrated artist and architect <a href="https://www.barcelona.de/en/barcelona-modernisme-art-nouveau.html">Antoni Gaudí</a>. </p>
<p>On the back of these movements, a separate identity steadily grew. Catalan culture and politics came together after the Spanish election of 1901, which <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=trKvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=Catalonia+election+1901+Lliga+Regionalista&source=bl&ots=G2adN1bxo_&sig=p1klTbjjTsKjTHGED38B7YpHKEw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2uYPWupbYAhXFKMAKHVzeDXsQ6AEILTAB#v=onepage&q=Catalonia%20election%201901%20Lliga%20Regionalista&f=false">was won</a> by the new Catalan regionalist party. In 1914 this led to the creation of the Mancomunitat, the first attempt at Catalan self-government since the 1700s. </p>
<p>The Mancomunitat (or Commonwealth) had limited powers but managed to harness the energies generated by Modernisme. It created a cultural infrastructure that included a standardised language and a network of libraries. The language was outlawed during Spain’s <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2017/12/scars-catalonia">dictatorship</a> under General Miguel Primo de Rivera in the mid-1920s, but the Mancomunitat paved the way for the Generalitat to be restored during the <a href="http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/history/second-spanish-republic">Second Spanish Republic</a> in the 1930s. </p>
<p>When the Civil War ended in 1939 with Franco’s victory, he launched a cultural and linguistic genocide against Catalonia. The Catalan language was banned; institutions were suppressed; Catalan names were not accepted. Every manifestation of Catalan culture and language was to be eradicated. This resumed and exacerbated the repression that had begun in the early 18th century.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200192/original/file-20171220-4965-2d61lz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spain’s strongman: Franco in 1959 (front).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franco_eisenhower_1959_madrid.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After 1978, Catalonia enjoyed some 30 years of relative contentment as one of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities, with its own parliament and statute of autonomy. The linguistic situation improved considerably, enabling Catalan culture to flourish once again. Yet crucially the language has always been officially subordinate to Spanish, a constant reminder of the potential for future conflict.</p>
<p>This arrived abruptly in 2010 after the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/10/catalonia-referendum/541611/">set aside</a> the region’s second statute of autonomy. Because the Spanish constitution says there is only one nation in Spain – the Spanish nation – the court held that references to Catalonia as a nation had no legal effect. </p>
<p>So began the process that led to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/oct/01/catalan-independence-referendum-spain-catalonia-vote-live">referendum</a> on October 1, 2017. Some 2.2m of 5.3m registered Catalans voted overwhelmingly for independence – nearer 3m if <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/10/01/spanish-police-beat-catalan-voters-deepening-divide-threatens-spain/">claims about</a> police removing ballot boxes with 700,000 votes are accurate. The vote was despite Madrid declaring the whole process illegal <a href="https://theconversation.com/spanish-government-crushes-catalan-independence-dreams-at-a-high-price-85014">and countless scenes</a> of police brutality.</p>
<p>The new election took place with regional autonomy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/27/spanish-pm-mariano-rajoy-asks-senate-powers-dismiss-catalonia-president">suspended</a> and pro-independence leaders either in jail or self-imposed exile. The pro-independence parties <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/dec/21/catalonia-voters-results-regional-election-spain-live">held on</a> to their parliamentary majority, despite the fact that the unionist Citizens party won more votes than any other. </p>
<h2>Nationalist impulses</h2>
<p>Many people are understandably wary of nationalisms, yet it is vital to make distinctions. The Catalan version, for example, is not race-related. It is a civic phenomenon that revolves around cultural values, above all the language. This arguably explains the systematic attempts by the Spanish state to undermine, marginalise or eradicate it: the Other can only be tolerated if they speak Spanish; that is, if they can be assimilated. </p>
<p>Catalan nationalism may not even be the driving force behind the recent push for independence: it is the narrow-mindedness of Spanish nationalism, its inability or unwillingness to accept the Other, that has persuaded a substantial proportion of Catalans that their future would be brighter with independence. </p>
<p>Now that pro-independence parties have again an overall majority in the parliament, they will have to rethink their strategy vis-à-vis the uncompromising Spanish government. As a nation state, Spain has a huge repressive apparatus at its disposal; Catalonia is a stateless nation that’s only strength lies in citizens determined to plough the independence furrow peacefully. The contest is extremely uneven, but then nobody ever said the road to independence would be smooth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89403/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jordi Larios 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>
Want to understand the Catalan election? You need to go back a long way.
Jordi Larios, Professor of Spanish, University of St Andrews
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83864
2017-12-18T01:20:13Z
2017-12-18T01:20:13Z
The travel industry has sparked a backlash against tourists by stressing quantity over quality
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186689/original/file-20170920-22632-ozduj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C907%2C4928%2C2117&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The view of Cartagena, Colombia from Tierra Bomba. Despite being one of the most visited cities in South America, Tierra Bomba remains highly impoverished. Why doesn't large-scale tourism benefit such a community?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carter Hunt</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Travel is a major global industry, but in 2017 it attracted unprecedented resentment and retaliation towards tourists. A growing global backlash against tourism extended from tropical <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/a-crowded-paradise-new-zealands-tourism-boom-faces-backlash/a-37525162">rain forests</a> to urban destinations like <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-36653007">Rio de Janeiro</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-enjoyrespectvenezia-tourism-campaign-overcrowding-paola-mar-litter-responsible-travel-a7863041.html">Venice</a>. </p>
<p>I have studied tourism’s social and environmental consequences along the coastlines of Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in the rain forests of Peru and Ecuador, on the islands of Fiji and the Galapagos and across the savannahs of South Africa and Tanzania. My research and that of numerous other scholars spotlights a key fact: More tourism is not always better. Increasing the number of visitors has generated profits for travel companies – particularly the cruise ship industry – but it has not always benefited local communities and environments where tourism occurs.</p>
<p>Fortunately, once people are aware of the often surprising ways in which their trips impact local people and places, it becomes easy to ensure that their travel has more positive consequences for the destinations they visit.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199261/original/file-20171214-27583-1bphwcq.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">A demonstrator holds a Basque-language banner that reads ‘Tourism = a poverty salary’ during a protest against massive tourism in San Sebastian, Spain, on Aug. 17, 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Spain-Tourism-Protest/4bde9418cb5f43c08d9da414ca324236/5/0">AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Billions on the move</h2>
<p>Born from the accessibility of mass air travel, modern international tourism has been popularized as <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/book/9780750643481">“holiday-making”</a> in regions that offer comparative advantages of sand, sun and sea. Travel is often portrayed as a tool for <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Tourist-Experience-and-Fulfilment-Insights-from-Positive-Psychology/Filep-Pearce/p/book/9780203134580">personal growth</a> and tourism as an <a href="https://www.wttc.org/research/economic-research/economic-impact-analysis/">economic motor</a> for destination countries and cities. There is a tendency to assume that tourism is good for everyone involved.</p>
<p>Today the big bang of tourism drives more than <a href="http://media.unwto.org/sites/all/files/images/unwto1billioninfographic2.jpg">1.2 billion tourists</a> across international borders each year, generates 9 percent of global GDP and provides one out of every 11 jobs on earth. But many popular places are literally being <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/world/americas/tourists-thwart-turtles-from-nesting-in-costa-rica.html?mcubz=1">loved to death</a>. Recent protests in ports of call like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/aug/10/anti-tourism-marches-spread-across-europe-venice-barcelona">Venice and Barcelona</a> against disturbances created by larger and more numerous cruise ships show the unfortunate consequences of emphasizing <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article27098413.html">quantity over quality in tourism</a>. </p>
<p>Unabated tourism development has become a primary driver of social and environmental disruption. Tourism studies, which <a href="https://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-tourism-research/">came of age as a scholarly field in the 1970s</a>, provides much documentation of the many <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/223271468141894689/Tourism-passport-to-development-Perspectives-on-the-social-and-cultural-effects-of-tourism-on-developing-countries">negative social impacts of tourism</a> and resulting resentment that local populations direct towards visitors. </p>
<p>Early tourism scholars even developed an “irridex” to measure this <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01384-8_564">irritation with tourists among local residents</a>. Later, scholars identified stages through which tourist destinations evolve. Antagonism toward tourists typically develops in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.1980.tb00970.x">mature, heavily visited destinations</a>. Protests in heavily visited destinations suggest that traditional tourism has overstayed its welcome. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(89)90069-8">Resentment toward tourists</a>, <a href="http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/1799.html">attacks on foreign-owned hotels</a> and <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/42859528">increases in crime against both tourists and local residents</a> were regularly documented in the 1970s and ‘80s, at a time when only 2 to 3 million tourists were crossing international borders annually. So it is not surprising that such protests have escalated in scale and frequency as tourism has grown. </p>
<p>In Barcelona, for example, growing resentment of neighborhood gentrification, elevated real estate and rental prices, and erosion of local social networks has led some residents to call tourism the city’s biggest problem and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/barcelona-locals-hate-tourists-why-reasons-spain-protests-arran-airbnb-locals-attacks-graffiti-a7883021.html">label tourists as “terrorists</a>.”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lvAjMdqzwgI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Nations compete for market share at the 2015 New York Times Travel show.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Friends without benefits</h2>
<p>Residents often become frustrated when the benefits of tourism are not felt locally. Although it can generate foreign exchange, income and employment, there is no guarantee that multinational hotel chains will allocate these benefits equitably among local communities. </p>
<p>On the contrary, when people stay at large resorts or on cruise ships, they make most of their purchases there, leaving local communities little opportunity to benefit from tourist spending. These forms of tourism <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2013.815761">widen economic and political gaps</a> between haves and have-nots at local destinations. </p>
<p>In recent decades, local residents in destination communities also have found themselves negotiating <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2011.591155">new cultural boundaries, class dynamics, service industry roles and lifestyle transformations</a>. For example, data show that tourism activity corresponds to increased <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(95)00075-5">alcohol, drug and sex abuse</a> as local residents adopt the behaviors of tourists, often leading to parallel upticks in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/004728759903800103">crime</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(95)00075-5">addiction</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(96)00068-4">prostitution</a>. </p>
<p>All-inclusive resorts can also <a href="http://www.responsibletravel.org/docs/Summary%20Report%20-%20Impact%20Tourism%20Related%20Development%20Pacific%20Coast%20Costa%20Rica.pdf">privatize access</a> to important coastal, marine, forest and agricultural resources. And when foreign investment drives up local land values and living costs to international standards, it may put ownership out of reach for local residents. In such situations, even people who depend on tourism will often question its ethics, whether they are rural Nicaraguan residents working in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.70.4.xj187458416w1gr8">newly booming resort industry</a> or urban dwellers being priced out of their apartments by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2015.1086076">the sharing economy</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199283/original/file-20171214-27597-1ize115.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">All-inclusive resorts (shown: Hotel Majestic Colonial Punta Cana, Dominican Republic) offer amenities such as shopping, child care, religious services and multiple bars and restaurants, reducing incentives to spend time outside the gates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/6pCKMu">Batle Group</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cruise lines miss the boat</h2>
<p>Jim Damalas, owner of <a href="https://www.sicomono.com/">Si Como No ecolodge</a> in Costa Rica, observes that publicly traded corporations do “not fall in love with the country, they fall in love with the numbers.” No form of tourism is more in love with the numbers than cruises. While all forms of tourism have grown in recent decades, the rise in cruise travel is dramatic. For instance, cruise visitors to Belize grew from <a href="http://www.responsibletravel.org/docs/Cruise%20Tourism%20in%20Belize%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">34,000 in 1999 to 800,000 in 2005</a>.</p>
<p>Contemporary cruise ships can entertain as many as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/21/the-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-and-its-supersized-pollution-problem">5,700 passengers</a>. These boats themselves are the destinations. As they bounce from port to port, they are not beholden to any particular community and provide only the most superficial levels of engagement with local people and places. Their business model emphasizes packing <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article27098413.html">the greatest number of travelers</a> into the greatest number of places in the shortest amount of time.</p>
<p>Research into the industry’s impact has shown that few forms of tourism do less to improve the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1375/jhtm.18.1.107">social</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669581003653534">environmental</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/cruise-lines-promise-big-payouts-but-the-tourist-money-stays-at-sea-66350">economic well-being</a> of the places where they occur than cruises. These trips may give passengers a pleasurable experience, but they miss the boat – pun intended – with regard to supporting local communities and environments. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199287/original/file-20171214-27572-sai6df.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">Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class cruise ships can carry more then 5,400 passengers and displace roughly as much water as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oasis-class_cruise_ship#/media/File:Oasis_of_the_Seas.jpg">Baldwin040</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A better model</h2>
<p>The United Nations declared 2017 the <a href="http://www.tourism4development2017.org/">International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development</a>. What does this mean for the everyday traveler? Here are a few of the U.N.’s suggestions, which research on tourism supports. </p>
<p>First, as Stephen Colbert has <a href="http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/20-funniest-things-ever-said-about-travel-015440/">quipped</a>, “There’s nothing American tourists like more than the things they can get at home.” All tourists should make every effort to honor their hosts and respect local conditions. This means being prepared to adapt to local customs and norms, rather than expecting local conditions to adapt to travelers. </p>
<p>Second, tourism is a market-based activity and works best when consumers reward better performers. Livelihoods, human rights and the fate of endangered species all can be affected by travelers’ decisions. In the information age, there is little excuse for travelers being uninformed about where their vacation money goes and who it enriches. </p>
<p>Informed travelers also are better able to distinguish between multinational companies and local entrepreneurs whose businesses provide direct social, environmental, and economic benefits for local residents. Such businesses are in love with the destination, not just the numbers, and are therefore deserving of market reward. </p>
<p>In the long run, the goal should not be just to minimize the impact of travel. Being <a href="http://www.tourism4development2017.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/tips_web_en.pdf">a responsible traveler</a> means ensuring net positive impacts for local people and environments. With the amount of information available at our fingertips, there has never been more opportunity to do so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carter A. Hunt's research has previously been supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, and the Costa Rica-USA (CRUSA) Foundation, the Penn State Social Science Research Institute and the Penn State Institute for Energy and Environment. </span></em></p>
At many popular destinations, residents are protesting against crowding, rowdy visitors and low wages. With some research, travelers can use their visits to enrich host areas instead of harming them.
Carter A. Hunt, Assistant Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, and Anthropology, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/86792
2017-11-22T05:07:38Z
2017-11-22T05:07:38Z
Productive cities: toward a new biopolitics of cities
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193245/original/file-20171103-1020-11qcol9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Helsinki s City Wall, a collaborative social space.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea of the productive city emerged with the development of industrial capitalism. In this way, the productive model imposed its own logic on cities, which came to be regarded as passive receptacles harbouring economic activities. Cities were supposed to furnish enterprises with basic resources such as transportation networks, reasonably priced property, affordable labour, or sites separated into monofunctional segments. At this time, the city was still largely absent from economic thought, or at least it was marginalised and eclipsed by the interest given to national and regional economies.</p>
<p>With the rise of the “knowledge-based economy”, economists came to look more closely at urban situations. In this new economy, knowledge appears to be replacing natural resources and physical effort as the tool for economic development. But knowledge that creates value is not codified or computerised, it’s that which is tacit, living and happening. Under these conditions, production methods change. It’s no longer a question of producing what we know we can do, but rather of organising conditions in which collective intelligence can develop and thrive. These mutations are particularly affecting the importance of externalities and are taking production out of enterprises. Cognitive capitalism has a fundamental need to multiply contact points with society and with living activity.</p>
<p>Metropolitan territories, with their production and research sites, density, amenities and social and functional diversity, are becoming production centres. All city material and immaterial resources are activated. Communities are furnishing laboratory zones where full-scale innovations can be produced and tested: creation and innovation zones, technology districts, urban cognitive systems. Progressively, production is infusing urban society. The co-working spaces, hacker spaces, fab labs, city labs and other living labs are making the social productive. Residents, tourists, businessmen – the “users” – are invited to act upon the fabric of the city itself and to participate in testing, evaluating and co-producing innovations, services and urban data.</p>
<p>This is among the intentions of the <a href="http://lameva.barcelona.cat/bcnmetropolis/en/dossier/dels-fab-labs-a-les-fab-cities/">Fab City project in Barcelona</a>, the objective being that Barcelonans produce their own “energy, food, goods and knowledge in self-sufficient neighbourhoods” (Tomas Diez, director of the Barcelona Fab Lab). The project, supported by the Barcelona Fab Lab, the <a href="https://iaac.net/">Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia</a> (IAAC) and the city of Barcelona, foresees the creation of approximately 15 microfactories, self-managed by local groups. Other dispositions, like Barcelona’s <a href="http://fablabbcn.org/0000/01/06/smart-citizen.html">Smart Citizen Kit</a> or Shanghai’s Airwaves and Noisetube projects, intend to supply all inhabitants with sensors giving them real-time access to urban data like pollution, humidity, temperature, traffic, luminosity and airwaves. Via these experiments, the citizen’s activity is not only registered, but the citizen himself plays a proactive role by being a sensor of his environment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193024/original/file-20171102-26432-1ijxiqr.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">Valldaura Self Sufficient Labs, Barcelona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Quentin Chevrier for Makery</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Areas related to culture and knowledge figure in the dynamics of productive cities. These spaces, historically considered as places of retreat and protective shelter, are called upon to open up and participate. Thus, libraries, museums, theatres, universities and centres for science and culture become “third places”, progressively integrating leisure, diversion, public service or entrepreneurial functions. They become open, relational spaces, able to stimulate informal encounters among a wide variety of actors (artists, residents, scientists) while ultimately being able to valorise knowledge produced.</p>
<p>The infrastructures themselves are rendered productive. Smart grids, intelligent urban furnishings, and strategies of infrastructure reversibility or temporary management of vacant spaces, contribute to the same political optimism and activation of global city resources. The <a href="https://lesgrandsvoisins.org/">“Grands Voisins”</a> experience in Paris is the French incarnation of temporary urbanism possibilities. While awaiting the conversion of the former Saint-Vincent-de-Paul hospital into an eco-quarter, the associations Aurore, Yes We Camp and Plateau Urbain banded together to animate and manage the space. Today the site houses 600 persons in reinsertion (250 migrant workers and 350 emergency shelters for Aurore), and 180 structures (associations, artists, tradespeople and social entrepreneurs), which employ more than 1,000 people on a daily basis.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/193025/original/file-20171102-26432-35ztlb.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">Grands Voisins, Paris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luc Legay</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This dynamic concerns the very nature of the city. The French projects Productive Landscape or Positive Biodiversity, enhance natural resources in cities working toward self-sufficiency in food and energy. Other examples exist in the <a href="http://valldaura.net/">Valldaura Self-sufficient Labs</a> in Barcelona’s Collserola Park, a 130-hectar nature reserve with remarkable flora and fauna. Located in the centre of Barcelona, Valldaura was acquired by the IAAC in 2010 with the objective of using its natural potential to co-produce prototypes related to city self-sufficiency. Activity is structured around three labs: the Energy Lab (energy production), the Green Fab Lab (production of goods) and the Food Lab (food production), and is financed by the Spanish government, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Valldaura prototypes under development include bio-batteries, micro-bio architectures, bio-photovoltaic panels, solar ovens, and connected beehives among others, and will be tested in the city of Barcelona.</p>
<p>This short review of contemporary thought in productive cities, calls for a hypothesis of a new biopolitics of cities. Beyond economic institutions, production spreads to urban morphology and infrastructures as well as social and cultural organisations, places of knowledge and natural and vacant spaces. All actors and other aspects the city have become productive. In this integrated urbanism, vacant lots and passages, third places or collaborative digital platforms become new production sites. These intermediary spaces, essentially unstable and subject to friction, are proving themselves well adapted for experiments, for creation and for inventing new life styles, new forms of organisation and ways of doing things. These areas are not unlike the “biological layers” described by the landscape architect, botanist and author <a href="http://www.gillesclement.com/">Gilles Clément</a> when he wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The limits – interfaces, canopies, edges, outskirts and borders – are in themselves biological layers. Their richness is often greater than that of the environment they delineate”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Consequently, all urban vitality is mobilised in production. The pitfalls of the productive city, in that it produces, transforms and valorises the living, are therefore potentially numerous. How can production coming from intermediary spaces or from freely developed and shared collaborative, digital platforms be evaluated in economic terms? Everyone’s productions can hardly be reduced to the status of merchandise. They are similar to public property and the danger would be in establishing measures to harness and privatise these free cognitive resources. Another hazard of the productive city resides in the tendency to overstimulate contacts among residents.</p>
<p>No vacant area, abandoned lot or alley seems able to resist this movement of creating hyper-relational spaces. But aren’t these intermediary spaces the last shelters of protection from an urban society in constant acceleration? Aren’t they community belongings to be preserved rather than be transformed into third places or something else like “digital space 3.0”? A final risk of the productive city is in the mass distribution of sensors. These would collect and analyse considerable amounts of data produced by individuals. While intended to optimise city function and management, it’s also subject to questions about threats to personal liberty.</p>
<p>One understands the necessity to regulate the potential drifts of productive cities by defining urban policies related to city life itself, be it social, cultural, vegetal or proper to spaces with “biological layers”. The stakes reside in mobilising all the productive and creative forces for the benefit of cities’ democratic and ecological organisation, and less to a “technified productionist” oriented logic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raphaël Besson 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>
With the rise of the knowledge-based economy, fab labs, maker spaces and more, cities are being transformed into production centres. This dynamic movement is ripe with promise, but also has risks.
Raphaël Besson, Directeur de l'agence Villes Innovations, Chercheur associé au laboratoire PACTE (Université de Grenoble), Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.