tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/cities-40/articlesCities – The Conversation2024-03-28T09:58:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2267842024-03-28T09:58:19Z2024-03-28T09:58:19ZInvisible lines: how unseen boundaries shape the world around us<p>Our experiences of the world are diverse, often changing as we move across borders from one country to another. They can also vary based on language or subtle shifts in climate. Yet, we rarely consider what causes these differences and divisions. </p>
<p>In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast, we speak to geographer Maxim Samson at De Paul University in the US about the unseen boundaries that can shape our collective and personal perceptions of the world – what he calls “invisible lines”.</p>
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<p>For Samson, invisible lines are: “Boundaries and belts that shape our understanding of and interactions with the planet, even though these boundaries and belts are, to all intents and purposes, unseen.” </p>
<p>While we may not be able to see these lines on a conventional map, people often know that they exist. </p>
<p>One example is the history of redlining in the US. Originating in the 1930s, the practice involved government-backed mortgage lenders colour-coding neighbourhoods. Green denoted the most desirable areas while red marked the highest-risk zones, often inhabited by Black communities.</p>
<p>Although redlining was officially outlawed in 1968 and the lines are no longer marked on any maps, their enduring impact resonates across America today. One example is Detroit’s <a href="https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/eight-mile-road#:%7E:text=Spanning%20more%20than%2020%20miles,east%2Dwest%20throughout%20the%20region.">8 Mile road</a>, which still segregates the city along racial lines – with predominantly African American neighbourhoods to the south, and predominantly white, affluent areas are to the north of 8 Mile.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/removing-urban-highways-can-improve-neighborhoods-blighted-by-decades-of-racist-policies-166220">Removing urban highways can improve neighborhoods blighted by decades of racist policies</a>
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<p>But it’s not just in cities that these boundaries exist. One example Samson gives from nature is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Line">Wallace line</a>, which runs through parts of Indonesia and marks a sharp transition in flora and fauna between the Asian and Australian regions. On one side, you get what are considered Asian animals such as monkeys; on the other, marsupials associated with Australia.</p>
<p>Another invisible line is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinling%E2%80%93Huaihe_Line">Qinling-Huaihe line</a>, which separates China into two distinct regions: the humid and subtropical south and the dry, temperate north.</p>
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<p>In the early 20th century, this was identified as roughly the dividing line between places where the average January temperature would be below zero, and where it wouldn’t fall out that low. So, if you live north of the line, your town probably has a heating system. If you live south of it, it wouldn’t have one. </p>
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<p>This distinction has informed government policy and led to different levels of development in the south versus the north. By recognising the seemingly innocuous Qinling-Huaihe line, it’s possible to discern disparities in economic development, inequality and air pollution between China’s southern and northern regions that might otherwise be obscured.</p>
<p>For Samson, analysing these kinds of boundary can help understand different access to education, employment opportunities and public services, depending on which side of the invisible line someone falls.</p>
<p>Listen to the full interview with Maxim Samson on <a href="https://pod.link/1550643487">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a>. </p>
<p><em>A transcript of this episode will be available shortly.</em></p>
<p><em>This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Stephen Khan is our global executive editor, Alice Mason runs our social media and Soraya Nandy does our transcripts.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxim Samson 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>Maxim Samson speaks to The Conversation Weekly podcast about the hidden lines that explain variations in everything from access to education to animal speciesMend Mariwany, Producer, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194672024-03-25T12:39:47Z2024-03-25T12:39:47ZExcessively high rents are a major burden for immigrants in US cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583715/original/file-20240322-16-rcdx9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C7%2C5069%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nashville is one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities and increasingly a destination for immigrants.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sunrise-view-of-nashville-skyline-as-seen-over-the-news-photo/1449200320">Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rents across the U.S. have <a href="https://theconversation.com/affordable-housing-in-the-us-is-increasingly-scarce-making-renters-ask-where-do-we-go-176778">climbed to staggering levels</a> in recent years. Millions of renters spend <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/americas-rental-housing-2024">more than 30% of their income</a> on rent and utilities, a situation that housing experts call <a href="https://nlihc.org/gap/about#:%7E:text=A%20household%20is%20cost%2Dburdened,%25%20are%20severely%20cost%2Dburdened.">being cost burdened</a>.</p>
<p>High rents affect almost all segments of the population but are an especially heavy burden for immigrants, particularly those who have not yet become U.S. citizens. Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, play <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/opinion/immigration-us-economy.html">important roles in the U.S. economy</a>. They often provide the cheapest labor in the <a href="https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/employment-among-immigrants-and-implications-for-health-and-health-care/">riskiest of industries</a>. Yet they are still not broadly accepted or supported in many U.S. cities. </p>
<p>We are geographers who study housing market issues, including <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CsIu0wMAAAAJ&hl=en">racial-ethnic diversity</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3Z9CehkAAAAJ&hl=en">housing affordability</a>. Our research on Nashville, which has emerged as an immigrant metropolis in the Southern U.S., suggests that foreign-born residents who are not yet citizens are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2023.2217266">far more burdened by high rents</a> than other groups. </p>
<p>Many immigrant workers in Nashville spend more than 50% of their incomes on rent. This makes it hard for them to afford education and job training, healthy food, health care and other necessities that can help them participate as productive residents. Heavy rent burdens undermine their ability to have a higher standard of living and to be included in mainstream society. </p>
<p>As immigrants increasingly <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-28/chicago-and-denver-are-growing-fast-as-migrant-destinations">fan out across the U.S.</a>, we believe cities receiving new foreign-born residents should anticipate a growing need for affordable housing.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A 2022 study found that immigrant families in San Diego faced some of the highest rent burdens in the surrounding county.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Hard times for renters</h2>
<p>The past 15 years have been challenging for renters <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10898-3">across the country</a>. In the 2008-09 recession, which was triggered by a collapse in the housing market, millions lost their homes to foreclosure and <a href="https://www.gao.gov/blog/what-can-great-recession-teach-us-about-rent-affordability-age-coronavirus">became renters</a>. Tighter financing made it harder for others to buy homes. By 2015, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2018/04/rent-burden_report_v2.pdf">almost 43 million households had been pushed into renting</a>.</p>
<p>Today <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-housing-2022">about 37% of U.S. homes are occupied by renters</a>. By 2020, almost 46% of U.S. renters paid more than 30% of their household income toward rent. As of June 2021, the median monthly rent in the 50 largest U.S. cities was $1,575 – an 8.1% increase from June 2020.</p>
<p>The heaviest rent burdens fall disproportionately on minorities. Almost 46% of African American-led renter households are rent burdened, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2018/04/rent-burden_report_v2.pdf">compared with 34% of white households</a>. </p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic worsened housing insecurity for people of color because of <a href="https://theconversation.com/removing-urban-highways-can-improve-neighborhoods-blighted-by-decades-of-racist-policies-166220">longstanding racially targeted policies</a> and widespread <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-misery-index-reveals-far-reaching-impact-of-covid-19-on-american-lives-especially-on-blacks-and-latinos-159902">health and economic disparities</a>. Renters of color faced higher cost burdens and <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/pandemic-exacerbated-housing-instability-renters-color/">eviction rates</a>. In Nashville, this was especially true in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2023.2217266">Latino and Somali communities</a>. </p>
<h2>Why immigrant housing matters</h2>
<p>Immigration is the main driver of population growth in the U.S., which is important for <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/27/economy-immigration-border-biden/">filling jobs and boosting tax revenues</a>. After dipping because of pandemic-era restrictions in 2020-22, immigration to the U.S. started growing again, adding <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/population-trends-return-to-pre-pandemic-norms.html">1.1 million new residents in 2023</a>. </p>
<p>Foreign-born residents make up 7.15% of the U.S. population today. Most of these immigrants are not citizens, although <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/naturalization-statistics">more than 878,000 people became citizens in 2023</a>. The median length of time these new citizens spent in the U.S. before becoming naturalized was seven years. </p>
<p>Nashville is the largest metropolis in Tennessee and one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12496">fastest-growing immigrant gateways in the South</a>. It is home to over 37% of Tennessee’s Latino population and has been a <a href="https://dc.uwm.edu/ijger/vol4/iss1/1/">major destination</a> for Latinos and other foreign-born residents since the early 2000s. </p>
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<p>For <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2023.2217266">our research</a>, we used census data estimates for 2015-19 from the <a href="http://doi.org/10.18128/D050.V16.0">National Historical Geographic Information System</a> covering metro Nashville’s 13 counties, which contain 372 census tracts. We found that Nashville’s most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods had the highest levels of rent burden.</p>
<p>This includes census tracts with high shares of foreign-born residents who are not yet citizens, especially if those residents are Black or Latino. Our analysis of the 37 census tracts (10% of the region’s total) with the largest shares of foreign-born residents who are not yet citizens shows that the average monthly rent paid by a household in these tracts was $1,306.20, compared with $1,288.70 metrowide. </p>
<p>In the 37 tracts with the largest shares of Latino residents and Black residents, we found that about 21% of households spent more than 50% of their household income on rent. </p>
<p>Our findings corroborate other scholarly analyses of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26409159">Nashville’s Somali refugees</a>, who tend to be clustered in communities that also house other diverse groups, including Egyptians and other African immigrants. In these areas, gentrification and urban renewal have forced several Black and Somali communities from ownership into renting. </p>
<p>We believe specific groups of foreign-born residents may either have been ineligible or didn’t know how to apply for <a href="https://www.latinopolicyforum.org/publications/fact-sheets/document/Forum_Housing-PublicCharge-2.pdf">government-funded housing and rental assistance programs</a> and may have had to rent from predatory landlords as a result. Some Muslim immigrants also <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/housing/minnesota-homebuying-islamic-no-interest-loans/">avoid applying for bank loans</a> because of <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/riba.asp">a concept in Islamic banking called ribā</a>, which views charging interest on loans as unjust and exploitative. </p>
<p>More encouragingly, we found that tracts with newer housing stock, built since 2000, have relatively lower rent burdens even though those tracts are home to many Black and non-Asian minority residents. This suggests that newer development has an important role to play in mitigating rent, especially in suburban, relatively affordable locations. In the 37 census tracts with the most foreign-born residents who are not yet citizens, about 28% of the total housing stock was built in 2000 or later, compared with 23% across Nashville. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of men in hard hats, shoveling dirt." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583172/original/file-20240320-17-x2dx79.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&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">Federal, state and city officials break ground in 2022 on a mixed-income residential development at Cayce Place, Nashville’s largest subsidized housing property. The city is replacing aging structures on the site, built between 1941 and 1954.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nashville-mdha.org/2022/05/04/mdha-breaks-ground-on-newest-residential-development-at-cayce-place-2/">Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<h2>Easing rent burdens</h2>
<p>One of the best ways to mitigate rent burdens is to build more housing and create affordable housing. However, communities sometimes oppose affordable housing projects and <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/14/metro/milton-housing-vote-referendum/">pro-development zoning</a> because of fears of crime, traffic congestion or populations viewed as undesirable. Nashville <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/tennessee/article_c69cc1a8-2ae6-11ed-96e6-332a6bc8c03b.html">is not immune to this syndrome</a>.</p>
<p>The cost of housing has been <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/columnists/david-plazas/2017/12/17/nashville-affordable-housing-experts-city-must-talk-less-do-more/945289001/">a heated topic in the Nashville region</a> since the mid-2010s. A 2023 Urban Institute report recommended creating more affordable housing in Nashville by promoting partnerships among academic, faith-based and health care institutions that <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/Promoting%20Affordable%20Housing%20Partnerships%20in%20Nashville.pdf">own land that could be developed for housing</a>. And the <a href="https://www.nashville.gov/departments/council">Metropolitan Council</a> for the Nashville region plans to substantially revamp building codes to <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/metro-council-wants-to-revamp-codes-to-build-affordable-housing/">promote new housing construction</a>. </p>
<p>However, critics argue that the council <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/columnists/david-plazas/2024/02/15/nashville-zoning-laws-affordable-housing-oconnell-cooper-metro-council/72601833007/">gives too much weight to anti-development arguments</a>. And there is little discussion of specific ways to help groups that are ineligible for benefits and assistance that are available to U.S. citizens. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowded meeting room with speakers clustered at a podium." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583161/original/file-20240320-24-33s412.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>
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<span class="caption">Members of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition celebrate on March 26, 2019, after the defeat of a state bill that would have barred most landlords from renting housing to people in the U.S. illegally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ImmigrationHousing/40610c4b5f5a4d099beb8a4b2288c67c/photo">AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise</a></span>
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<h2>A priority for cities</h2>
<p>Our research shows that creating more rental opportunities can help reduce rent burdens for all. We see great potential to take this research further through community-based investigations of local nuances that may add to rent burdens, especially factors and processes that can’t be adequately captured in quantitative data analysis. Many local actors have important roles to play, including elected officials and local nonprofits and community organizations that work to promote <a href="https://www.tnimmigrant.org/">rights for immigrants and refugees</a>. </p>
<p>Given the important role that immigrants play in filling jobs and contributing to local economies, we believe that helping them afford housing is a smart strategy, especially for growth-oriented cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219467/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>The US economy relies on immigrants to fill jobs, but many of them are struggling with high rent burdens that make it harder to build productive lives and integrate into their communities.Madhuri Sharma, Associate Professor of Geography, University of TennesseeMikhail Samarin, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainability, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2237062024-03-19T12:23:24Z2024-03-19T12:23:24ZFemale mosquitoes rely on one another to choose the best breeding sites − and with the arrival of spring, they’re already on the hunt<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582309/original/file-20240315-26-7bf0sq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C0%2C6789%2C4468&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">_Aedes aegypti_, found across much of the U.S., spread Zika, dengue, chikungunya and other viruses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/aedes-aegypti-mosquito-pernilongo-with-white-spots-royalty-free-image/1282216815">Mailson Pignata/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Aedes aegypti</em> mosquitoes, one of the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-control/professionals/range.html">most common species in the U.S.</a>, love everything about humans. They love our <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adi8213">body heat and odors</a>, which enable them to find us. They love to feed on our blood to make their eggs mature. They even love all the standing water that we create. Uncovered containers, old tires and junk piles collect water and are perfect for breeding. </p>
<p>And with the advent of warm weather across the southern U.S., <a href="https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/articles/mosquito-season">mosquito breeding season is already underway</a>.</p>
<p>Given all the options that <em>Aedes</em> females have in urban areas, how do these cosmopolitan mosquitoes find the perfect site to lay their eggs? Scientists previously thought this was a solitary act, but now research shows that female <em>Aedes aegypti</em> mosquitoes – the main vector in the U.S. for diseases such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-where-did-zika-virus-come-from-and-why-is-it-a-problem-in-brazil-53425">Zika, dengue, chikungunya</a> and other viruses – can rely on one another for good reviews of breeding sites. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.degennarolab.org/">Laboratory of Tropical Genetics</a> at Florida International University discovered a new behavior in which these mosquitoes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-05830-5">work together to find suitable egg-laying sites</a>. These findings, recently published in Communications Biology, show that mosquitoes regulate their own population density at breeding sites – an insight that could inform future mosquito control efforts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A half-dozen mosquitoes spread along the inside of a container." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581972/original/file-20240314-30-jxgzpm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Aedes aegypti</em> female mosquitoes laying their eggs in a laboratory breeding container.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaylee Marrero</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where and why female mosquitoes cluster</h2>
<p>Scientists know that female mosquitoes can be picky when it comes to where they lay their eggs. <em>Aedes aegypti</em> look for human-made breeding sites with relatively clean water, such as birdbaths, tires or even water-filled trash. But given two equal choices, you might expect them to spread evenly between the two. </p>
<p>On the contrary, when we released females in a two-choice test where both breeding site options were equivalent, we repeatedly found more mosquitoes in one chamber than in the other. Furthermore, this occurred irrespective of where the preferred chamber was positioned, whether the mosquitoes could touch water or whether mosquito eggs were already present at the breeding sites. </p>
<p>Female mosquitoes clearly were following one another in small groups to one breeding site rather than another – a newly discovered behavior in <em>Aedes aegypti</em> that we call aggregation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two ramekins, one with a few black spots in it, the other with many spots." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581971/original/file-20240314-26-70qvqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=401&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 black spots in the container on the right indicate that <em>Aedes aegypti</em> females have chosen it as a place to lay their eggs over the identical site on the left.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaylee Marrero</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The insects evidently preferred not to lay their eggs alone. When we tested 30 mosquitoes in our trials, they chose one site over another by a 2-to-1 margin. However, this changed as the test population increased beyond 30 mosquitoes. When we tested 60 or 90 females, the aggregation disappeared.</p>
<p>This tells us that females can regulate their own density at breeding sites – a response that likely is a mechanism to limit larval competition.</p>
<h2>Mosquitoes are smelling each other</h2>
<p>Mosquitoes largely sense the world through smell, using three families of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/olfactory-receptor">olfactory receptors</a>. These receptors detect odors when females are choosing where to lay eggs. But how do females sense each other to regulate their densities at breeding sites? </p>
<p>We explored this question by first placing 15 mosquitoes at one of our two test breeding sites. Other females seeking a place to lay preferred the unoccupied site over the one that was already occupied, even though we had already observed that the mosquitoes preferred not to lay their eggs alone. Something was directing them away from the occupied breeding site; we speculated that it might be carbon dioxide, which is an important cue for mosquitoes in all stages of their life cycle. </p>
<p>When female mosquitoes are looking for a blood meal, they fly toward the odor of CO₂, which all vertebrate animals <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-people-mosquito-magnets-and-others-unbothered-a-medical-entomologist-points-to-metabolism-body-odor-and-mindset-187957">exhale and release through their skin</a>. After feeding, they fly away from it, likely to avoid the risk of being killed by the host. </p>
<p>Mosquitoes also emit CO₂, and normally other mosquitoes can smell it, thanks to a receptor component called Gr3 in their olfactory organs. But when we released mutant females that lacked a functional Gr3 receptor to seek a place to lay eggs in our two-site test, we found that these insects, which could not detect CO₂, were willing to lay their eggs at preoccupied breeding sites. This suggested that normal mosquitoes might be avoiding the preoccupied laying site because they smelled CO₂ emitted by mosquitoes that were already there.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EUrOcquy8IU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Female mosquitoes lay eggs on or near still bodies of water.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To confirm this, we offered two unoccupied breeding sites to females seeking a place to lay. However, we increased CO₂ levels around one of the sites to between 600 and 750 parts per million, compared with the normal level of about 450 to 500 ppm at the other site. We found that <em>Aedes aegypti</em> females avoided the unoccupied sites with elevated CO₂. This behavior appears designed to keep occupied breeding sites from becoming too crowded. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that two families of receptors play a role in the interactions between <em>Aedes aegypti</em> females when they seek breeding sites. Odorant receptors detect an unknown odor, which draws females toward a site; gustatory receptors detect CO₂, which deters females from breeding sites when the carbon dioxide level is high. The balance between these attractive and repellent odors will ultimately determine whether a female chooses or avoids a particular site. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic showing common mosquito breeding sites around home, including gutters and pet dishes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582583/original/file-20240318-20-i9yyck.jpeg?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mosquitoes breed in many wet spots, large and small.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cabq.gov/environmentalhealth/urban-biology/mosquitoes">City of Albuquerque</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Implications for mosquito control</h2>
<p>Suppressing mosquito populations in urban areas using <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-control/community/larvicides.html">biolarvicides</a> – pesticides made from live bacteria that are toxic to mosquito larvae – is a primary control strategy to limit the spread of deadly diseases such as West Nile virus and Zika virus. This is especially true for <em>Aedes aegypti</em>, which is the most common urban mosquito species that reproduces in artificial breeding sites that humans create. Other control tactics, such as <a href="https://undark.org/2019/10/25/when-residents-say-no-to-aerial-mosquito-spraying/">spraying pesticides over large areas</a>, target beneficial insects as well as mosquitoes and can be controversial. </p>
<p>Knowing that female <em>Aedes aegypti</em> use social cues to pick the best breeding grounds for their young and will move on from a breeding site when it becomes too crowded could lead to new control measures. Interrupting the female mosquito reproductive cycle would reduce the spread of mosquitoes and the spread of diseases that these insects carry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kaylee Marrero receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andre Luis Costa-da-Silva receives funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Disease and the National Institutes of Health. Views expressed in this article are his own. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew DeGennaro receives funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Disease and the National Institutes of Health. Views expressed in this article are his own.</span></em></p>Female mosquitoes don’t want to lay their eggs alone, but they don’t want sites that are too crowded either. Understanding what guides their choice could inform new control strategies.Kaylee Marrero, Ph.D. Student and Transdisiplinary Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences Fellow, Florida International UniversityAndre Luis da Costa da Silva, Research Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International UniversityMatthew DeGennaro, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Florida International UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238362024-03-19T12:23:06Z2024-03-19T12:23:06ZHow ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk, in Detroit and elsewhere<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580202/original/file-20240306-26-nqkhke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Detroit River inundated Detroit's Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/HighWaterDetroitFlooding/35df93ae560e4e13912b5f36456d2e8d/photo?Query=detroit%20flood&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=74&currentItemNo=18">AP/Corey Williams</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2021, metro Detroit was hit with a rainstorm so severe that President Joe <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/15/president-joseph-r-biden-jr-approves-michigan-disaster-declaration/">Biden issued a major disaster declaration</a> at state officials’ request. </p>
<p>Nearly 8 inches of rain fell within 24 hours, closing every major freeway and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2YshMbUeo0">causing massive damage to homes and businesses</a>. The storm was of a severity historically seen in Detroit every 500 to 1,000 years. </p>
<p>But over the past decade, the region has experienced <a href="https://grist.org/cities/how-many-500-year-floods-must-detroit-endure-in-a-decade/">several other storms only slightly less destructive</a>, one <a href="https://www.freep.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2023/08/24/storms-bring-metro-detroit-heavy-rains-flooding/70669298007/">in August 2023</a>.</p>
<p>As the planet warms, severe rains – and the flooding that follows – may become even more intense and frequent in cities like Detroit that have aging and undersized stormwater infrastructure. These extreme events put enormous pressure on communities, but <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flooding-disproportionately-harms-black-neighborhoods/">low-income urban neighborhoods tend to suffer the most</a> </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qyHbWY0AAAAJ&hl=en">geomorphologist at the University of Michigan-Dearborn</a> specializing in urban environments, water, historical mapping and flood-risk equity.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2023.100134">recent research</a>, conducted with graduate students <a href="https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/pain-research/catherine-sulich">Cat Sulich</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RQkzvOQAAAAJ&hl=en">Atreyi Guin</a>, has identified a hidden contributor to flooding in older, low-income neighborhoods that have seen a lack of investment: ghost streams and wetlands.</p>
<p>Although we studied Detroit, our research has implications for cities across the United States.</p>
<h2>Historic decisions have an impact today</h2>
<p>Ghost streams and wetlands are waterways that previously existed but, as urban areas built up, were either buried below the surface or filled in to support development. Detroit has removed more than <a href="https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/A_century_of_stream_burial_in_Michigan_USA_cities/3483827/1">85% of the total length of streams</a> that existed in 1905. Most major cities in the United States and Europe have removed similar numbers of streams. </p>
<p>Detroit is also a city deeply <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/detroit">affected by redlining</a> – <a href="https://metropolitics.org/Before-Redlining-and-Beyond.html">a now-outlawed practice</a> once used by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144203029004002">Home Owners’ Loan Corporation</a>, a government-sponsored corporation that was created as part of the New Deal, that graded neighborhoods on perceived financial risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The 1939 Home Owners' Loan Corporation map of metropolitan Detroit showing redlined areas in the inner city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1939 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation map of metropolitan Detroit shows formerly redlined areas that now experience disproportionate flooding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwilson1949/50077016761">David Wilson/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People living in communities labeled as “high risk” were disproportionately people of color, immigrants and residents of lower socioeconomic status and were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2024.2321226">systematically denied loans and opportunities to build generational wealth</a>. </p>
<p>These neighborhoods received <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2021.1888702">fewer community investments</a>, including interventions such as stormwater infrastructure and landscape modification, than did higher-wealth neighborhoods. </p>
<p>We looked at whether these decades-old decisions have had any impact on flood risk today and learned that they do.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2023.100134">this study</a>, we correlated present-day flood risk in metro Detroit with former Home Owner’s Loan Corporation boundaries’ grades. Flood risk was mapped using the <a href="https://firststreet.org/research-library/flood-model-methodology">First Street Foundation’s Flood Factor</a>, which scores every parcel in the U.S. on a scale of minimal (1) to extreme (10). </p>
<p>We then correlated flood risk to the presence of ghost streams and wetlands, which we extracted from old topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey. The goal was to determine whether a history of waterway burial and/or redlining influenced the overall flood risk of communities today.</p>
<p>We found that flood risk was disproportionately distributed, with historically redlined neighborhoods bearing the greatest brunt of flood risk.</p>
<p>Residents living in communities that were graded as “hazardous” (D) or “declining” (C) in the 1940s are today more susceptible to flood risk than the more affluent A and B communities. Over 95% of parcels classified at extreme flooding risk occur in C and D communities, with less than 4% in A and B communities. </p>
<p>Flood risk increases with the presence of ghost streams and wetlands, with C and D communities having a higher risk. In C communities, the presence of a ghost wetland increases flood risk tenfold, while ghost rivers also increase risk, although by a smaller amount. </p>
<p>The percent of properties in D-graded communities that are located adjacent to the 32-mile-long Detroit River and classified at extreme or severe flood risk is 99.9% if they have ghost wetlands or 95% if they have ghost rivers. </p>
<p>In other words, the combined history of redlining and landscape alteration may still contribute to increased flood risk today. When communities received poor grades, banks, lenders and municipalities neglected those areas’ stormwater infrastructure.</p>
<h2>Invest resources where the risk is greatest</h2>
<p>If communities want to protect residents from flooding, it’s crucial for them to map and understand their “hidden hydrology.” Few cities have the data to inform residents that they are at greater flood risk because they are living on a ghost wetland or river. </p>
<p>In Detroit, residents of most of the neighborhoods that show a major to extreme flood risk are not required to purchase flood insurance because they are not near an active river. This means residents are unknowingly at risk.</p>
<p>Another benefit to mapping ghost wetlands and rivers is that stormwater management is most effective if it follows natural pathways and processes. </p>
<p>Stormwater engineers frequently refer to this as “nature-based interventions” or “green stormwater infrastructure.” </p>
<p>During a flood, water occupies the lowest areas of a landscape, such as an abandoned stream valley or filled wetland. Those low areas are a good place to build green stormwater infrastructure, such as rain gardens that absorb water or <a href="https://www.asla.org/bioswales.aspx">bioswales</a> that convey moving water. </p>
<p>Some solutions can reflect culture or embrace art: Detroit’s <a href="https://www.thewright.org/">Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History</a> installed <a href="https://detroitstormwater.org/projects/chw-sankofa-porous-pavers-project">permeable pavers</a> with a unique West African-inspired design to minimize and manage floodwater following major flooding in Detroit in 2014. </p>
<p>In my view, marginalized communities need to have a strong voice in the search for solutions. Discrimination against these communities helped create the current problem. Listening to them now is key to both minimizing flood damage and beginning to right a historical injustice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob Napieralski 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>Mapping where water once flowed is important for managing flood risk today in Detroit and elsewhere.Jacob Napieralski, Professor of Geology, University of Michigan-DearbornLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254252024-03-14T20:32:41Z2024-03-14T20:32:41ZHousing policies need to fully consider market dynamics to move beyond ‘tall and sprawl’ cities<p>The federal <a href="https://housingandclimate.ca/">Task Force for Housing and Climate</a> recently released its final recommendations for solving Canada’s housing crisis. The <a href="https://housingandclimate.ca/blueprint/">Blueprint for More and Better Housing</a> contains suggestions for adding new affordable and climate-friendly homes by 2030.</p>
<p>The task force was launched in September 2023 to help federal, provincial and municipal governments address housing affordability and the climate crises in Canada. The report is aimed at building 3.8 million new homes, in line with estimates of housing need from the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cmhc-housing-report-1.6965250">Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation</a>.</p>
<p>However, the task force’s report recommendations fall short by failing to fully consider land and housing market dynamics. </p>
<p>Its recommendations could incentivize the building of overly-dense urban cores, perpetuating something called “tall and sprawl,” a term that refers to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020434">development patterns in cities that have very high, dense urban cores</a> surrounded by large areas of lowrise housing.</p>
<h2>Protecting greenfield areas</h2>
<p>The report’s premise is on target in many ways. Considering <a href="https://climateatlas.ca/canadian-cities-and-climate-change">more than 80 per cent of Canadians live in cities</a> and most <a href="https://www.datalabto.ca/a-visual-guide-to-detached-houses-in-5-canadian-cities/">urban land is residential</a>, any effective urban climate solutions must consider housing.</p>
<p>The report argues that increasing urban density can help protect greenfield areas from being converted to housing. However, it doesn’t take into account that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.2237">too-high urban densities — densely paved and without sufficient green space — can exacerbate climate impacts</a>. </p>
<p>This can intensify <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/extreme-heat-report-university-waterloo-deaths-1.6426392">urban heat island effects</a>, a phenomenon where an urban area is warmer than surrounding areas, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c09588">leaving households more vulnerable</a> during <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c00024">combined extreme heat and power outage events</a>.</p>
<p>The report recommends governments implement province-wide zoning rules to better manage urban development. But it also suggests eliminating zoning regulations that ensure new buildings leave space for <a href="https://theconversation.com/residential-green-spaces-protect-growing-cities-against-climate-change-183513">the green infrastructure that is essential to address climate challenges in our cities</a>, like trees that provide urban cooling and absorb stormwater. </p>
<p>These actions contradict the report’s excellent suggestion that municipalities should plan for 40 per cent tree canopy cover, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1817561116">research shows can help control daytime urban heat island impacts</a>.</p>
<p>Trees need places to grow and thrive, which is typically ensured by regulations like minimum setbacks, landscaping requirements and maximum building footprints. Without these measures, land and housing markets will likely overlook the importance of providing these public good aspects, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2006.12.004">leaving buildings too close together</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2003.09.007">encouraging sprawling development</a>.</p>
<p>Housing research tells us how households respond to too-dense, nature-deficient environments. We know that many households seek <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/missing-middle-housing#desc">“missing middle” housing</a>, which refers to medium-density, family-sized housing such as townhomes, duplexes and triplexes, and lowrise to midrise apartment buildings. </p>
<p>Without <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083231180610">this type of housing being built in the green and amenity-rich environments</a> they demand, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102940">households will move further afield</a>, increasing pressures for greenfield conversion.</p>
<h2>De-incentivizing unaffordable housing</h2>
<p>The report encourages municipalities to <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-public-lands-can-help-unlock-the-housing-crisis-and-our-governments/">build affordable housing on their own land</a>, facilitated by financing, to help them acquire new land. </p>
<p>This is <a href="https://theconversation.com/publicly-owned-land-should-be-used-for-affordable-housing-not-sold-to-private-developers-198654">a strategy that has wide support</a>, but it could backfire by adding fuel to already-inflated land values because it fails to acknowledge <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104676">how those inflated land values are created</a>.</p>
<p>Housing markets are more than builders who supply homes and residents who demand them. Markets for land, where housing is built and what homes are built are shaped by <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/land12020434">investors who supply finance</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16100446">developers who demand finance</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-is-both-a-human-right-and-a-profitable-asset-and-thats-the-problem-172846">Housing is both a human right and a profitable asset, and that's the problem</a>
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<p>For the report’s strategy to succeed, additional policies must rein in investors and developers by de-incentivizing their participation and reducing their impact on land value.</p>
<p>The federal government can address this by <a href="https://mikemorricemp.ca/motion-71-one-solution-to-the-housing-crisis/">eliminating tax incentives for real estate investment trusts</a>. Provincial governments can implement requirements for a percentage of affordable homes <a href="https://housingrightscanada.com/resources/inclusionary-zoning-considerations-for-an-affordable-housing-policy/">(known as inclusionary zoning</a>) across municipalities — not just around transit stations — to prevent developers from leap-frogging regulation by building elsewhere. </p>
<p>Inclusionary zoning decreases <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-value-capture-and-what-does-it-mean-for-cities-58776">land value uplift </a>by reducing market developers’ profits, which creates an entry window for lower-cost and non-profit developers, as envisioned by the report.</p>
<p>The report’s recommendations to eliminate height and density restrictions near transit will further inflate land values. While building more units on a given piece of land might appear to lower housing costs, this is not the case.</p>
<p>At present, <a href="https://www.altusgroup.com/insights/canadian-cost-guide/">highrise development costs are roughly 2.5 times that of lowrise</a> and demand high finance costs to compensate for their high risk. Land values reflect these high costs and profits, especially in areas where highrise builds are expected to be allowed.</p>
<h2>Rethinking urban spaces</h2>
<p>How can these conflicts be resolved? One approach is to establish both minimum and maximum residential zoning heights and densities, aligned with the typologies the report supports. </p>
<p>This would include building 10-unit apartments that follow pre-approved designs in residential neighbourhoods, zoning that encourages <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/growing-up-toronto-planner-jennifer-keesmaat-pushes-for-lots-of-mid-rise/article_bd1cb649-3dea-5506-b672-e9ebd01b5bb6.html">desirable midrise developments</a> along main streets and creating 16-storey maximum zones to encourage the building of single-stairwell 16-storey buildings recommended in the report.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/1/15/21058051/climate-change-building-materials-mass-timber-cross-laminated-clt">mass timber buildings</a> and other climate-friendlier highrise forms develop, zoning regulations should adapt to enable these typologies to facilitate and reward affordable, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/18/world/asia/singapore-heat.html">climate-friendly builds</a>. There can still be a place for highrise buildings in well-designed cities, particularly if <a href="https://smartdensity.com/scaling-down-creating-walkable-and-enjoyable-transit-oriented-communities/">we reimagine how higrise and lowrise buildings can be combined</a> to create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(02)00230-X">green and liveable cities</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dawn Parker receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Mitacs Canada</span></em></p>A new report on sustainable and affordable housing falls short by failing to fully consider land-and-housing market dynamics.Dawn Parker, Professor in the School of Planning, Faculty of Environment, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239982024-03-06T07:24:34Z2024-03-06T07:24:34ZThe frantic pace of modern life is damaging our sense of time, but nature can help us heal – new study<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579623/original/file-20240304-24-boijcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2995%2C1989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Huge beech tree with large branches in the enchanted forest in the Basque Country, Alava, Spain.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/huge-beech-tree-large-branches-enchanted-2378469361">José Miguel Sánchez/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p><em>“How did it get so late so soon?”</em> ― Dr. Seuss</p>
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<p>In an increasingly competitive world, time is of the essence. Notions of productivity and timeliness have accelerated contemporary lifestyles to a dizzying, sometimes overwhelming pace, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-is-stealing-your-time-in-ways-you-may-not-realise-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it-216863">our dependence on technology is doing little to help</a>. As the clock grows to dominate the tempo of life, time itself seems to be increasingly fleeting. This is particularly true in large cities, where hours, days, and even weeks can sometimes seem to fly by in an instant. </p>
<p>Indeed, an increasing number of people report constantly feeling <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X18300411">short of time</a>. Such feelings of “time scarcity” emerge from how time is both used and perceived by people. Long working hours inevitably limit the time that people have available for other activities, but leading fast-paced lifestyles while packed into noisy, dynamic and crowded urban environments is mentally exhausting, and this can also influence how we perceive time.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10601">publication</a>, I propose that nature experiences offer a potential solution to the increasingly widespread feelings of time scarcity caused by contemporary urban lifestyles. This emerges from the unique nature of human time perception, which is highly subjective, and moulded by the experiences and environments in which we immerse ourselves.</p>
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Leer más:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/technology-is-stealing-your-time-in-ways-you-may-not-realise-heres-what-you-can-do-about-it-216863">Technology is stealing your time in ways you may not realise – here’s what you can do about it</a>
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<h2>Human sense of time</h2>
<p>Human time perception — our sense of time — is made up of three key dimensions. One of these is <strong>temporal succession</strong>, meaning the way we perceive the order and overlap of different events. For instance, pressing a light switch and the light turning on may seem like simultaneous events, but we have the capacity to perceive the order in which they happen, and this helps us to make sense of the world around us.</p>
<p>Another dimension is <strong>temporal duration</strong>, or how we perceive and estimate the duration of an event. An afternoon spent in the tax office, for example, can seem to last forever, while the same amount of time spent in the company of friends can seem short and swift. Popular expressions such as “time stood still” or “time flies when you’re having fun” reflect our nuanced perception of temporal duration.</p>
<p>The third dimension is called <strong>temporal perspective</strong>, and it refers to the way we regard the past, present and future. Humans have a unique capacity to mentally “time travel” and focus on representations of the past, present and future. Most people have a natural tendency towards certain perspectives, either dwelling on the past or focusing on the future, but maintaining a balanced and dynamic time perspective is <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-07368-2_26">a sign of psychological wellbeing</a>.</p>
<p>Together, these dimensions help humans make sense of time. However, the way we perceive them can be profoundly influenced by our own characteristics, what goes on around us, and what we do during a given period of time. Our perception of time changes hugely when, for example, work captures our attention, when we are stuck in traffic, or when we find ourselves in the dentist’s chair undergoing a painful procedure. </p>
<p>In contrast, nature experiences can be mentally, physically and emotionally restorative, and this is reflected in our perception of time.</p>
<h2>How nature experiences help regulate human time perception</h2>
<p>Evidence from psychological experiments suggests that there are at least two ways natural surroundings can have a positive impact on human time perception. </p>
<p>One of these is expanding our perception of <strong>temporal duration</strong>. For example, one <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494417301081">study</a> reports that when people are inquired how long they have been walking in natural or urban settings, they tend to overestimate the time spent strolling in nature, but not in the city. In other words, time feels longer when we are immersed in natural settings in comparison to urban environments.</p>
<p>The other way nature experiences can influence our time perception is by promoting a shift in perspective. In one <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2019.1642374">experiment</a>, participants spent a short period of silence either indoors or outdoors, and were later asked how this experience influenced their <strong>temporal orientation</strong> towards the past, present and future. People who experienced the natural setting reported feeling more focused on the present, and less on the past. </p>
<p>Other studies have provided similar evidence suggesting nature experiences can help us shift our perspective on time, and induce a more positive outlook of the present moment.</p>
<p>While there is plenty of evidence that nature experiences have various physical and mental benefits, the idea that such experiences can help people uplift their relationship with time is new, and provides a unique perspective on the importance of nature for human well-being. </p>
<p>Further enhancing our understanding of how nature benefits human sense of time can help us design cities and other urban environments in healthier and more sustainable ways.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ricardo A. Correia has received funding from the Academy of Finland (grant #348352) and the KONE Foundation (grant #202101976).</span></em></p>Feelings of “time scarcity” are on the rise, but research shows that natural surroundings can help us to slow down.Ricardo Correia, Assistant professor, University of TurkuLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2214682024-03-05T20:11:08Z2024-03-05T20:11:08ZIt’s time we include cities and regions as equal partners in global climate negotiations<p>Last year’s UN climate conference (COP28) made history in Dubai by introducing — for the very first time — language on “<a href="https://unfccc.int/documents/636584">transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems</a>” in the final version of the negotiated text.</p>
<p>While significant, this achievement was not the only notable event of last year’s climate talks.</p>
<p>COP28 was also the occasion of the first <a href="https://www.unep.org/gef/events/conference/cop28-local-climate-action-summit">Local Climate Action Summit</a> (LCAS) which brought together over 250 subnational and local leaders. As part of this program a delegation of mayors and governors from around the world took the stage alongside world leaders.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/access-and-exclusion-what-cop28-revealed-about-the-dynamics-of-global-climate-diplomacy-220198">Access and exclusion: What COP28 revealed about the dynamics of global climate diplomacy</a>
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<p>The purpose of LCAS was to demonstrate how subnational authorities around the world are already taking action to bolster climate mitigation and adaptation, often surpassing the ambition of national governments. Such recognition is long overdue.</p>
<p>Subnational and local authorities have historically been grouped in with civil society and private interests as “observers” at COP negotiations. Such a categorization dismisses the fundamental role subnational governments play both in implementing a just transition and in managing humanity’s lines of defence against the climate crisis. </p>
<p>It is high time that subnational voices be heard loud and clear, alongside national governments, within the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties framework.</p>
<h2>Broadening diplomacy</h2>
<p>Subnational climate summits are by no means a novelty of contemporary global governance.</p>
<p>Conferences of cities and regions organized by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098020929261">advocacy networks</a> such as <a href="https://iclei.org/about_iclei_2/">Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI)</a>, <a href="https://regions4.org/about-us/regions4/">Regions4</a>, <a href="https://uclg.org/">United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)</a>, and the <a href="https://www.theclimategroup.org/under2-coalition">Under2 Coalition</a> have been around for decades. However, LCAS is the first gathering of its type to be included in the official program of a COP. This is clear progress.</p>
<p>LCAS sent the message that the parallel system of <a href="https://cris.unu.edu/paradiplomacy-cities-and-states-global-players">subnational diplomacy that has been developing over the past three decades</a> ought to be fully recognized within global governance. Indeed, our climate goals will only be reached if subnational and national governments begin working together ensuring that policy expertise and financial resources are shared among different levels of governance, <a href="https://unhabitat.org/local-action-for-global-goals-an-opportunity-for-enhancing-nationally-determined-contributions">including in national reporting to the UN</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A recording of presentations as part of the LCAS.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The ideas presented at the LCAS forum were an exciting vision for the future, however, more work must be done to make this vision a reality. </p>
<p>Specifically, subnational governments need more direct access to UN institutions and a greater ability to weigh in on global policymaking and intergovernmental negotiations as part of a broader effort to <a href="https://iclei.org/press_release/cop28-a-turning-point-for-cities-and-regions-in-climate-action-leadership/">“formalize subnational voices” in the agenda of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change</a>. </p>
<p>These actions must be done in recognition of the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/c5084924-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/c5084924-en">central role subnational governments play in implementing carbon reduction and climate change adaptation and resilience policies</a>.</p>
<h2>On the frontlines</h2>
<p>Subnational and local governments are “<a href="https://www.cities-and-regions.org/wp-content/uploads/lgma_towardscop28_final.pdf">key enablers of a just transition</a>” on the frontlines of the climate crisis with often greater legitimacy and competence to oversee context specific environmental transitions well-attuned to local needs. </p>
<p>It is worth remembering that <a href="https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-do/cities/cities-and-climate-change">cities emit up to 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions</a> and often serve as the economic engines of their respective nations. Cities therefore have a critical role to play in reducing energy demands and consumption. These are ambitions which can be achieved by incorporating densification, climate adaptation, public transportation and building decarbonization into future urban planning.</p>
<p>Regional governments constitute a pivotal link between local and central authorities and are often in a better jurisdictional position than national governments to lead the environmental transition. Regional governments already lead by spearheading efforts on <a href="https://regions4.org/project/regions-adapt/">climate adaptation</a> and <a href="https://regions4.org/news/launch-of-regionsadapt-progress-report-2023/">climate justice</a> — jointly tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.</p>
<p>Ultimately, we must move beyond understanding subnational governments as “<a href="https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1445">non-state actors</a>” — alongside businesses, NGOs and private individuals — and begin viewing them as state actors in their own right. This means giving municipal and regional authorities more opportunities to influence national and global environmental outcomes.</p>
<p>The multilateral declaration that created the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships at COP28 — endorsed as of now by 72 sovereign states — stimulates such progress, by encouraging national governments to create “<a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/cop28-uae-coalition-for-high-ambition-multilevel-partnerships-for-climate-action">inclusive institutional and informal processes to enable subnational governments to contribute to further enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions</a>.”</p>
<h2>Subnational leadership</h2>
<p>Luckily, the gradual recognition and inclusion of subnational authorities is underway and the trends are only accelerating. Meanwhile, some cities and regions have already leapt ahead by demonstrating path-breaking leadership.</p>
<p>Some, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/11926422.2021.2002702">Québec and California, have even become fully autonomous actors of global environmental governance</a>. California was a leading force in the Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange launched at COP27 as a forum for incubating new ideas. One of these ideas, the <a href="https://www.state.gov/lowering-organic-waste-methane-initiative-low-methane/">LOW-Methane initiative</a>, was later launched by a coalition of international partners at COP28.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/press-release/62299/as-quebec-takes-on-co-presidency-of-the-beyond-oil-and-gas-alliance-climate-organizations-present-their-expectations-for-what-this-new-role-means/">Québec was appointed to the co-presidency of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance</a>. The BOGA is a coalition of sovereign and subnational states committed to banning fossil fuel investments and production on their territory. Québec <a href="https://www.economie.gouv.qc.ca/en/outside-quebec/ban-on-petroleum-exploration-and-production">first accomplished this goal in 2022</a>, making it the first jurisdiction in North America (and one of the first in the world) to do so.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-the-scientific-basis-for-a-rapid-fossil-fuel-phase-out-219382">COP28: The scientific basis for a rapid fossil fuel phase out</a>
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<p>Such transformational subnational leadership raises important questions about the validity of continuing nation-state monopoly in international affairs, especially in this evolving era of global transformations and ecological crisis.</p>
<p>It is crucial that local and regional governments <a href="https://www.global-taskforce.org/organized-constituency-pledge-achieve-2030-agenda-and-reformed-multilateral-system-sdg-summit">be formally awarded a distinct status and role</a> in global governance institutions, differentiating them from <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/parties-non-party-stakeholders/non-party-stakeholders/overview/admitted-ngos#Constituencies-in-the-UNFCCC">other “non-state” stakeholders</a>. </p>
<p>The creation of the <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/personnel-appointments/2023-10-06/secretary-general%E2%80%99s-advisory-group-local-and-regional-governments-scroll-down-for-french-and-spanish-versions">Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments</a> undoubtedly represents a step in the right direction. However, much remains to be done to meaningfully reform multilateralism in the lead-up to the UN <a href="https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda/summit-of-the-future">Summit of the Future</a> next September and COP29 in December 2024.</p>
<p>Simply put, subnational and local authorities must be brought into the room where diplomacy and global governance takes place. An ambition which entails a critical reflection on the inherent interconnections between local, subnational and national activities.</p>
<p>Including the subnational and local levels is not just a good idea, it is a crucial stepping stone in achieving global climate goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marjolaine Lamontagne receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Vanier Scholar) and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Berthelet receives funding from the Centre d'étude des mouvements sociaux (CEMS - CNRS/EHESS), the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). </span></em></p>Subnational authorities are leading the charge on a just transition and dealing with climate change impacts. It is time for this key role to be reflected in international climate negotiations.Marjolaine Lamontagne, Ph.D. Candidate in International Relations (Global Environmental Governance and Diplomacy), McGill UniversityCharles Berthelet, Ph.D. Candidate in Philosophy, Political Studies, and Sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239262024-02-27T14:07:54Z2024-02-27T14:07:54ZJohannesburg’s water crisis is getting worse – expert explains why the taps keep running dry in South Africa’s biggest city<p><em>Since <a href="https://mg.co.za/the-green-guardian/2023-11-06-joburg-water-outages-nobody-should-be-living-like-this/">the latter part of 2023</a> hardly a week has gone by without some residents of Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial capital, losing their water supply. Notices of <a href="https://twitter.com/JHBWater/status/1759553128679002329?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">planned</a> outages from the local water authority are a common occurrence. Unplanned water shutdowns also happen regularly.</em></p>
<p><em>The entire city has been affected – shanty towns, <a href="https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2024/01/south-africa-water-disruptions-planned-in-parts-of-gauteng-province-due-to-maintenance-works-on-jan-21">less affluent</a> and <a href="https://www.johannesburgwater.co.za/joint-media-statement-between-rw-and-johannesburg-water-re-scheduled-maintenance-of-the-sandton-meter-on-19-january-2024/">more affluent parts of the city</a>. The Conversation Africa asked geography professor Craig Sheridan, director of the Centre in Water Research and Development at the University of the Witwatersrand, what’s gone wrong.</em></p>
<h2>Why don’t Johannesburg citizens have enough water?</h2>
<p>The water allocation for each province is based on the amount available in the dams (which must also supply our future needs) and the number of people in that province. Currently the Vaal Dam is <a href="http://www.dwa.gov.za/hydrology/Weekly/ProvinceWeek.aspx?region=FS">70% full</a>.</p>
<p>Rand Water – the area’s bulk water supplier – buys the water from the Department of Water and Sanitation, which will only sell a certain amount to it. Rand Water takes water mainly from the Vaal Dam – the region’s biggest – and treats it to potable quality. It then sells the water to Johannesburg and Pretoria (and other cities and towns) which are in Gauteng, the smallest of South Africa’s nine provinces and its industrial heartland. </p>
<p>The cities sell the water to their residents through their distribution systems.</p>
<p>Rand Water is not allowed to supply more than the amount set by the Department of Water and Sanitation. But there is a mismatch between what’s allocated by the national government and what’s needed on the ground. This is because the national government takes into consideration future needs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/johannesburg-has-been-hit-by-severe-water-shortages-new-plan-to-manage-the-crisis-isnt-the-answer-214975">Johannesburg has been hit by severe water shortages: new plan to manage the crisis isn't the answer</a>
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<h2>Why can’t new dams be built to supply more water?</h2>
<p>This is the plan. But the next phase (Phase 2) of the Lesotho Highlands Scheme is <a href="https://www.greenbuildingafrica.co.za/lesotho-highlands-water-project-lhwp-ii-now-eight-years-delayed/">eight years behind schedule.</a> The <a href="https://www.lhda.org.ls/lhdaweb/projectphases/phaseii">Lesotho Highlands Water Project</a> is a multinational project to provide water to the Gauteng region of South Africa and to generate hydro-electricity for Lesotho. Work on the dam design started in 2017 and tender design was completed during 2020. Construction is expected to be completed with commissioning expected in 2028.</p>
<p>This eight-year delay roughly coincided with a period during which the population of Gauteng grew from 12 million to <a href="https://census.statssa.gov.za/#/">15.1 million people</a>. In 2023 the province had the same amount of water storage for a population that had grown by over 3 million people (or 25%), because the dam was not built. </p>
<p>There is now substantially less water for everyone in the province, including residents of Johannesburg.</p>
<h2>Why are Joburg residents struggling to get water?</h2>
<p>The City of Johannesburg is running <a href="https://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-13-sas-largest-city-may-not-be-able-to-pay-its-debt-warns-johannesburg-finance-boss/">its finances poorly</a>. The maintenance bill for water infrastructure is R2 billion (US$105 million) per year, but only R1 billion (US$52 million) is allocated. Maintenance needs are spiralling out of control. The city bills residents for rates, water, electricity, sewage and other services. However, the funds received are not ring-fenced. Other projects are competing for the same pot of money. </p>
<p>Because the infrastructure is ageing (for example in the suburb of Parkwood the infrastructure is older than <a href="https://joburg.org.za/media_/Documents/2024-Media-Statements/City-to-urgently-attend-to-Parkwood-water-outages.pdf">70 years</a>), the pipes rust and break. When they break, they leak, sometimes releasing very large quantities of water, before they are repaired. When the city responds to requests by residents for repairs, the response, if it comes, is often too little and the job is poorly done. There is little oversight or accountability by the city to ensure the contractors have done the job correctly and the repairs often do not last long. </p>
<p>Also, 15 million people are relying on a system designed for far fewer people. When everyone starts to use water, there just isn’t enough to go around. </p>
<p>There is also an additional factor in this discussion: non-revenue water. This is the term used for water that’s unbilled by the city – in other words, free water, unauthorised consumption or water lost due to leakages. This is water that is supplied by Rand Water, but is essentially “financially lost”.</p>
<p>In South Africa, the government gives a <a href="https://www.gov.za/faq/government-services/how-do-i-access-free-basic-municipal-services">free basic allowance</a> of 6,000 litres per month to every household. </p>
<p>Gauteng has non-revenue water of <a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/documents/Overall%20findings%20of%20the%202023%20Drop%20reports%20Summit%20Jan%2024%203.pptx">49.2%</a> (pages 25 to 27) – in other words, almost half the water that’s supplied to the cities in the province cannot be charged for (by the cities) because it forms part of the basic allowance, is lost through leaks or is stolen. By comparison, Denmark has non-revenue water of about <a href="https://sydafrika.um.dk/en/sector-cooperation/water-sector-program">7%</a>. Chile, also a country with variable climate, has urban non-revenue water of about <a href="https://www.thesourcemagazine.org/chiles-urban-2030-water-and-sanitation-agenda/">32%</a>.</p>
<p>Of the non-revenue water, the leakage portion for Gauteng is <a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/documents/Overall%20findings%20of%20the%202023%20Drop%20reports%20Summit%20Jan%2024%203.pptx">half</a>. In other words, for every four litres provided to Gauteng by Rand Water, one litre is wasted through leakage (the city’s fault) and one litre is either given away for free (public good), stolen (the public’s fault), or not accounted for (much harder to allocate blame). This means only half of what is provided can be charged for. </p>
<p>Now to water usage. The average consumption in Gauteng is <a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/documents/Overall%20findings%20of%20the%202023%20Drop%20reports%20Summit%20Jan%2024%203.pptx">279 litres</a> per person per day. This is:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>more than <a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/documents/Overall%20findings%20of%20the%202023%20Drop%20reports%20Summit%20Jan%2024%203.pptx">60%</a> greater than the global average </p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/documents/Overall%20findings%20of%20the%202023%20Drop%20reports%20Summit%20Jan%2024%203.pptx">highest</a> of any province </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.dws.gov.za/documents/Overall%20findings%20of%20the%202023%20Drop%20reports%20Summit%20Jan%2024%203.pptx">27%</a> more than the country average. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Gauteng citizens use too much, the cities waste way too much and there is too much theft of drinking water. The social pact is breaking down as a consequence. This is indicated by the number of civic action groups forming, for example <a href="https://watercan.org.za">WaterCAN</a>. </p>
<p>To restore this pact, the city needs to focus on non-revenue water, by allocating the correct and appropriate maintenance spend to fix and even renew the water network. At the same time citizens need to seriously consider their own water usage and how to reduce it. The citizens of Cape Town were forced to face the possibility <a href="https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/cape-town-water-rationing">of the taps running dry permanently</a> in 2018 during a five-year drought. Water consumption was <a href="https://theconversation.com/day-zero-is-meant-to-cut-cape-towns-water-use-what-is-it-and-is-it-working-92055">drastically limited</a>, forcing people to become very water conscious. </p>
<p>This has to become the new normal if there is to be uninterrupted water supply.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Sheridan has received research funding from the following organisations. The Claude Leon Foundation, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), The Water JPI, The BMBF, FORMAS and the Water Research Commission. None of these organisations funded this work.
Craig Sheridan is a member of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE), the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), and the International Water Association (IWA).</span></em></p>Citizens in South Africa’s industrial heartland use too much water, the city wastes way too much and there is too much theft of drinking water.Craig Sheridan, Chair professor, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243122024-02-27T12:32:52Z2024-02-27T12:32:52ZE-bike incentives are a costly way to cut carbon emissions, but they also promote health, equity and cleaner air<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577761/original/file-20240225-22-nb9e6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C15%2C5019%2C2916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man pulls his kids behind an electric bicycle near the pier in Huntington Beach, Calif.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-pulls-his-kids-behind-an-electric-bicycle-near-the-pier-news-photo/1311180585">Paul Bersebach/Orange County Register via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>E-bikes have captured <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/ebike/ebike-gear/5-e-bike-trends-we-expect-to-see-in-2024/">widespread attention</a> across the U.S., and for good reason. They are <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2023/12/11/e-bikes-are-radically-more-efficient-than-electric-cars/">the most energy-efficient way</a> to move from place to place, providing exercise in the process, and offer enough assistance while pedaling uphill or into headwinds to make them usable for many types of riders. </p>
<p>Greenhouse gas emissions from e-bikes are much lower than those from either gasoline-powered or <a href="https://www.itf-oecd.org/good-go-assessing-environmental-performance-new-mobility">electric cars</a>. Some cities and states are encouraging the use of e-bikes by providing purchase incentives, often drawing on public funds dedicated to curbing climate change.</p>
<p>Currently, over 100 cities and states <a href="https://trec.pdx.edu/news/e-bike-incentive-programs-north-america-new-online-tracker">have or plan to launch e-bike incentive programs</a>, most funded by energy or environment initiatives. However, there has been little research on the effectiveness of these types of programs, how to design them or how to define goals. </p>
<p>We study transportation from many angles, including <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I3wi1-EAAAAJ&hl=en">innovation</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Macarthur-4">sustainability</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JltA3IAAAAAJ&hl=en">economics</a>. Our new study, published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2024.104114">Transportation Research Part D</a>, investigates the effectiveness of several types of e-bike purchase incentives and the investment required to induce additional e-bike purchases. </p>
<p>We found that incentives do spur extra e-bike purchases, but at a relatively high cost compared with narrowly defined climate benefits. We find that a public agency using a point-of-purchase discount would have to distribute about US$4,000 in incentives to generate one additional e-bike purchase. This is because over 80% of people who buy an e-bike would likely have bought one even without the discount. For perspective, it takes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2017.01.002">about $30,000 worth of incentives</a> to induce an electric car purchase. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8cAJzqjNx0I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">California initiated a $10 million statewide program in 2023 that offers voucher incentives to low-income residents for purchasing electric bikes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nonetheless, e-bikes provide many other benefits. They make mobility easier and more affordable for many people, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2023.100940">older adults and people with disabilities</a>. They bolster the case for <a href="https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/cost-benefit-of-bicycle-infrastructure-with-e-bikes-and-cycle-sup">investing in bike paths and infrastructure</a>, which produce <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/why-us-cities-are-investing-safer-more-connected-cycling-infrastructure">economic, safety and mobility benefits for cities</a>. And they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.06.002">boost health by promoting exercise</a>. In our view, cities and states should assess e-bike incentive investments based on this broad range of benefits, rather than focusing solely on a narrow environmental objective.</p>
<h2>Not just a climate tool</h2>
<p>Clean technology incentives tend to be focused on a specific outcome – usually, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This works well for most energy-related upgrades, such as replacing old air conditioners, improving home insulation and generating electricity from wind and solar power. Consumers want the services that these devices deliver – cool air, comfortable conditions indoors and electricity that’s available and affordable. The new devices simply deliver those familiar goods more sustainably. </p>
<p>E-bike incentives are different. They invite people to adopt a new technology that can fundamentally change recipients’ travel patterns. In fact, while replacing car trips with e-bike trips <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102482">can provide substantial climate benefits</a>, those benefits may be smaller than other benefits that are less widely measured. Focusing narrowly on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by replacing car trips means providing incentives to people who drive the most, or who drive the biggest gas guzzlers.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/C3lJZJpp8jH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>But what about carless households, transit riders or bicyclists? For them, e-bikes can make it much easier to travel in most North American cities. That increased mobility could provide greater access to jobs, shopping or other important services, such as health care.</p>
<h2>Is investing in e-bike incentives worth it?</h2>
<p>Transportation is the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions">largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions</a>. Electrifying as much of it as possible is an important strategy for slowing climate change. However, e-bike incentives – and, indeed, electric car incentives – are pretty expensive ways to reduce emissions. </p>
<p>The importance of e-bike incentives is that e-bikes are good at replacing car trips and make daily trips easier for people who rely on other options. These advantages provide two main classes of benefits from increasing ownership of e-bikes.</p>
<p>The first set of benefits comes from substituting car-based trips with e-bike trips. Transportation researchers think about a swap like this in terms of vehicle miles traveled.</p>
<p>If I used to drive to work but now ride an e-bike, many benefits will be proportional to the number of miles that I now cover by bike rather than by car. They include reduced traffic congestion, lower fuel and parking costs, increased physical activity and improved health, cleaner air and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In North America, <a href="https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1041">about 60% of e-bike trips replace car trips</a>. </p>
<p>A second class of benefits comes from improvements in mobility. These effects are more complex to measure. For many people in U.S. cities who don’t own cars, the basic options for getting around are walking, public transit, ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, or riding a conventional bicycle. In almost all cases, e-bikes would get them to their destinations faster. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rQhzEnWCgHA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A father explains how his family used electric cargo bikes to replace a car in Toronto and the Netherlands.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carless households <a href="https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/63059">tend to have lower income</a> and lack mobility options. E-bike incentives can make travel more affordable and give people better access to jobs, health care, child care, shopping and other destinations. Such benefits likely far exceed any nominal greenhouse gas accounting from these transportation users. </p>
<p>E-bike purchase incentives are an investment in the broad benefits that e-bikes can provide. We believe they should be measured against the collective goals of the agency providing the incentives, whether its mission is transportation, equitable mobility, public health, economic development or environmental protection. </p>
<h2>Putting more people on two wheels</h2>
<p>Once there’s agreement that e-bikes are worth supporting for many reasons, the challenge is how to induce more e-bike use and realize those benefits.</p>
<p>Point-of-purchase discounts or vouchers are the most popular strategy, because they mimic other clean energy incentives, such as those for high-efficiency appliances or electric cars. Our study found that they are also the most efficient way to influence consumer behavior compared with other purchase incentives, such as rebates. </p>
<p>Other strategies could be more effective but need further research. For example, <a href="https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/bike-libraries-are-increasing-access-to-bikes-across-america">e-bike lending libraries</a> let people test-ride e-bikes without ownership. And employers can <a href="https://transweb.sjsu.edu/sites/default/files/2051-Fitch-Ebike-Employer.pdf">provide e-bikes to employees</a> to help encourage more sustainable and affordable ways to get to work. </p>
<p>Partnering with community organizations or local mobility-oriented programs could be an effective way to get e-bikes into the hands of people who need them and couldn’t afford them otherwise. And giving e-bike owners more reason to use them, such as <a href="https://momentummag.com/is-it-time-governments-start-paying-people-to-bike-to-work/">payments for biking to work</a>, could increase e-bike use and subsequent benefits. </p>
<p>E-bike purchase incentives may be an expensive climate solution, but they also offer other important benefits. Carefully designed incentive programs could help many urban and suburban residents access a faster, healthier and cleaner way to get where they need to go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher R. Cherry receives research funding from State and Federal Departments of Transportation and the National Science Foundation. He has consulted for micromobility operators and bicycling advocacy organizations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John MacArthur has received research support and funding from state and federal agencies, the National Science Foundation, micromobility operators and bicycling advocacy organizations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Jones 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>Many incentive programs promote e-bike use, but they aren’t necessarily targeting the right people for the right reasons.Christopher R. Cherry, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of TennesseeJohn MacArthur, Sustainable Transportation Program Manager, Transportation Research and Education Center, Portland State UniversityLuke Jones, Professor of Economics, Valdosta State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239722024-02-26T18:59:32Z2024-02-26T18:59:32ZFrom a ‘magic mineral’ to the stuff of nightmares: a 6,700-year history of asbestos<p>Asbestos is making national news once again after being found in contaminated mulch used in hundreds of locations, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/24/sydney-asbestos-crisis-epa-following-up-on-whether-second-mulch-supplier-is-involved">schools and hospitals</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/19/asbestos-mulch-locations-sydney-sites-near-me-nsw-map-full-list-when-where-found-schools-parks-epa-news">across Sydney</a> and regional New South Wales. </p>
<p>With headlines featuring terms such as “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sydney-school-supermarket-tainted-with-asbestos-crisis-widens-2024-02-18/">crisis</a>”, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ewhMFXf08">nightmare</a>” and “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/childrens-hospital-at-westmead-among-54-locations-contaminated-with-asbestos/news-story/97aa31383db6f492718d82f099f89d14">deadly</a>”, it’s hard to believe the toxic mineral was once hailed for its supposedly “magical” properties.</p>
<p>In fact, the history of asbestos goes back at least 6,700 years. Its prevalence in our built environment means it’s (unfortunately) here to stay for a long time.</p>
<h2>Before it became a ‘killer dust’</h2>
<p>Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral found in rock formations across the globe, including in <a href="https://www.australianasbestosnetwork.org.au/asbestos-history/asbestos-wittenoom">some national parks</a> in Australia.</p>
<p>It gets its name from the Greek word for inextinguishable (<em>ásvestos</em>), alluding to its resistance to fire and corrosion. It was these characteristics, along with its insulating properties, that made asbestos seem like a “<a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Mineral-Killer-Turner-Newall-Asbestos/dp/0199243999">magic mineral</a>” in centuries prior.</p>
<p>Researchers have found ancient clay pottery from East Finland, dated to 2500 BC, with asbestos fibres mixed into it – <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291349782_Early_Asbestos_Ware">likely added for</a> extra strength and resilience. Some of the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357560672_Asbestos_Ceramics_from_Archaeological_Sites_of_Southern_Fennoscandia_Karelia_Mineralogical_and_Geochemical_Aspects">earliest asbestos</a> pottery, also found in Finland, has been dated to 4700 BC. Asbestos use has also been recorded at other neolithic sites, including in Central Russia and Norway.</p>
<p>In (Western) literature, the first known reference to what might have been asbestos comes from Theophrastus (circa 372-287 BC), a student of Greek philosopher Aristotle and his successor at the Lyceum. In his book <a href="https://www.xtal.iqfr.csic.es/Cristalografia/archivos_01/THEOPHRASTUS_CALEY.pdf">On Stones</a>, Theophrastus writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the mines at Scapte Hyle a stone was once found which was like rotten wood in appearance. Whenever oil was poured on it, it burnt, but when the oil had been used up, the stone stopped burning, as if it were itself unaffected.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the 10th century, Christian pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem were <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440314000399">sold</a> pieces of asbestos as fragments of the True Cross – their divinity supposedly evidenced by their incombustibility. By the medieval ages, trading asbestos-containing items had become common. This fascination continued for millennia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577818/original/file-20240226-24-3mlrqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This earthenware pilgrim flask (circa 1585-1600) has an impresa with burning asbestos and the words ‘ardet aeternum’, meaning ‘burn forever’. It’s painted with a medallion showing a nude male (Bacchus) holding two bunches of grapes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">British Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1725, a young Benjamin Franklin found himself broke and living in London. In need of cash to pay his bills, he sold a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsnr.1952.0018">purse</a> made of fibrous mineral asbestos that he’d brought from North America. The recipient was <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/sir-hans-sloane">Hans Sloane</a>, whose collections would later be used to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/british-museum-was-wonder-its-time-also-product-slavery-180966997/">establish the British Museum</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"691226191462809600"}"></div></p>
<h2>A class I carcinogen</h2>
<p>The carcinogenic effect of asbestos – even at brief, transient and “low” doses (such as bystander exposure) – has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1069377/">recognised since</a> at least 1965. Today, it is classified as a class I carcinogen and considered a deadly threat to humans.</p>
<p>Asbestos is the main <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13782506/">cause of mesothelioma</a>, a cancer of the surface of the lung. It can also cause lung cancer and is implicated in other cancers, including throat and stomach cancers. </p>
<p>In Australia, there are more than <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/about-our-data/our-data-collections/australian-mesothelioma-registry-database-amr">700 cases</a> of mesothelioma each year. We don’t know how many of the roughly 6,000 yearly cases of lung cancer are caused, wholly or partially, by asbestos. </p>
<p>Although asbestos use has been banned in Australia <a href="https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/countries-asbestos-bans#:%7E:text=Asbestos%20has%20been%20banned%20in,on%20all%20types%20of%20asbestos.">since 2003</a>, people the world over continue to deal with its harmful effects.</p>
<h2>The spread of ‘fibro houses’</h2>
<p>Australia started using asbestos goods from around the 1880s, largely for steam-driven machines that benefited from its insulating properties. Only small local mines operated at the time. </p>
<p>Eventually, the world wars increased demand and active exploration led to larger-scale mining, <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-2-000-people-from-wittenoom-died-of-asbestos-related-diseases-a-powerful-and-compelling-requiem-brings-their-story-to-the-stage-198779">especially at Wittenoom</a> in Western Australia. Even then, local production wasn’t meeting demand.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-2-000-people-from-wittenoom-died-of-asbestos-related-diseases-a-powerful-and-compelling-requiem-brings-their-story-to-the-stage-198779">More than 2,000 people from Wittenoom died of asbestos-related diseases. A powerful and compelling requiem brings their story to the stage</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It was initially miners who presented with the disease, followed by workers in industries manufacturing asbestos-containing products, as well as builders, plumbers and fitters. The Wittenoom miners and their families are still being <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/bjc201223">followed by researchers</a> to determine the effects of exposure.</p>
<p>The economic boom that followed WWII further drove demand for asbestos. In addition to local production, more than <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285994368_Asbestos">50,000 tons of asbestos</a> were imported to Australia each year throughout the 1950s and into the late 1970s.</p>
<p>Asbestos afforded many Australians a home. Timber-framed houses clad in flat asbestos cement sheeting (called “fibro houses”) were favoured by people who built or legally supervised the building of their own home.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/asbestos-in-australia-lenore-layman/book/9781925835618.html?msclkid=3d5f43a20ad011798598267e19af1c3d&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Booktopia%20-%20AU%20-%20Shopping&utm_term=4585169650599087&utm_content=All%20Custom%20Label">the mid-1960s</a>, nearly 20% of Australia’s housing stock was made up of fibro houses – with the highest uptake (more than 50%) in the Northern Territory. It’s impossible to say exactly what percentage of existing buildings contain asbestos.</p>
<p>When cyclone Tracy swept through Darwin in 1974, the <a href="https://www.miragenews.com/ken-s-journey-with-asbestos-disease-ends/">death and disease</a> that resulted from the uncoordinated cleanup served as a warning of the possible dangers of asbestos removal.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/asbestos-still-haunts-those-exposed-as-kids-in-mining-towns-9487">Asbestos still haunts those exposed as kids in mining towns</a>
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<h2>Asbestos is here to stay</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292053877_Dail_and_Hammar's_Pulmonary_Pathology">Asbestos-related cancers</a> have a long lag time between exposure and detectable disease. Although this lag is typically about 30 years, it can range anywhere between 10 and 70 years. As such, it can be difficult to trace exposure retrospectively.</p>
<p>Many buildings constructed before the mid-1980s contain asbestos. It’s often inseparably bound to other materials, such as tiles, vinyl and cement. </p>
<p>Regulations demand <a href="https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/find-out-about-asbestos/asbestos-safety-information/brochures/asbestos-safety-householders-and-home-renovators">specialist removal</a> for asbestos-affected areas of more than 10 square metres. In reality, whether this happens comes down to how effectively it can be detected, and whether the people affected can afford removals. Without specialised assessment and analysis, asbestos can be difficult to recognise.</p>
<p>Since there is no recognised “safe” dose – a dose below which there’s no risk of developing asbestos-related cancer – <a href="https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-09/guidance_material_-_asbestos_registers_guide_-_august_2023.pdf">workplace standards</a> can only minimise risk, not eliminate it.</p>
<p>Only time will tell what the long-term outcomes are from the latest exposure in NSW. The risk from asbestos depends on several factors, including the overall amount inhaled, the type of asbestos and the number of years since exposure.</p>
<p>Among the most heavily exposed Wittenoom miners, about 20% have developed mesothelioma so far.</p>
<h2>Documenting cases</h2>
<p>Since July 2010, the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/about-our-data/our-data-collections/australian-mesothelioma-registry-database-amr">Australian Mesothelioma Registry</a> has collected information on new mesothelioma cases diagnosed in Australia. The national <a href="https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/national-asbestos-exposure-register/online">Asbestos Exposure Register</a> also allows any person to register a documented or suspected case of exposure. </p>
<p>If you’re worried about your neighbourhood, the Asbestos and Silica Eradication Agency has produced a national heat map showing the <a href="https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/what-we-do/news-and-announcements/national-residential-asbestos-heatmap-2023-update">probability of asbestos</a> presence in buildings by geographic area.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223972/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sonja Klebe works for SA Pathology and gets called as a paid expert to court. She has received funding from NHMRC, MRFF, AstraZeneca, Roche and Ventana.
</span></em></p>One of the earliest known references to asbestos may come from Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle and his successor at the Lyceum in Athens.Sonja Klebe, Associare Professor, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216062024-02-20T03:59:52Z2024-02-20T03:59:52ZThe art of ‘getting lost’: how re-discovering your city can be an antidote to capitalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576389/original/file-20240219-18-goulp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C23%2C3943%2C1947&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you remember what it was like to discover the magic of a city for the first time? Do you remember the noises, smells, flashing lights and pulsating crowds? Or do you mostly remember cities through the screen of your phone?</p>
<p>In 1967, French philosopher and filmmaker Guy Debord <a href="https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf">publicised the need</a> to move away from living our lives as bystanders continually tempted by the power of images. Today, we might see this in a young person flicking from one TikTok to the next – echoing the hold images have on us. But adults aren’t adverse to this window-shopping experience, either.</p>
<p>Debord notes we have a tendency to observe rather than engage. And this is to our detriment. Continually topping-up our image consumption leaves no space for the unplanned – the reveries to break the pattern of an ordered life. </p>
<p>Debord was a member of a group called the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Situationist-International">Situationist International</a>, dedicated to new ways we could reflect upon and experience our cities. Active for about 15 years, they believed we should experience our cities as an act of resistance, in direct opposition to the (profit-motivated) capitalistic structures that demand our attention and productivity every waking hour.</p>
<p>More than 50 years since the group dissolved, the Situationists’ philosophy points us to a continued need to attune ourselves – through our thoughts and senses – to the world we live in. We might consider them as early eco-warriors. And through better understanding their philosophy, we can develop a new relationship with our cities today. </p>
<h2>Understanding the ‘situation’</h2>
<p>The Situationist International movement was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183p61x">formed</a> in 1957 in Cosio di Arroscia, Italy, and became active in several European countries. It brought together radical artists inspired by spontaneity, experimentalism, intellectualism, protest and hedonism. Central figures included Danish artist <a href="https://museumjorn.dk/en/">Asger Jorn</a>, French novelist <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/author/michele-bernstein-10219/">Michèle Bernstein</a> and Italian musician and composer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Olmo">Walter Olmo</a>. </p>
<p>The Situationists were driven by a <a href="https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/34141">libertarian form of Marxism</a> that resisted mass consumerism. One of the group’s early terms was “unitary urbanism”, which sought to join avant-garde art with the critique of mass production and technology. They rejected “urbanism’s” conventional emphasis on function, and instead thought about art and the environment as inexorably interrelated.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576377/original/file-20240219-20-4pucih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&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">Times Square in the modern day. The Situationists viewed consumerism as oppressive forces that should be rebelled against.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>By rebelling against the invasiveness of consumption, the Situationists proposed a turn towards artistically-inspired individuality and creativity.</p>
<h2>Think on your own two feet</h2>
<p>According to the 1960 <a href="https://hts3.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/situationist-international-manifesto.pdf">Situationist Manifesto</a> we are all to be artists of our own “situations”, crafting independent identities as we stand on our own two feet. They believed this could be achieved, in part, through “<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/psychogeography#:%7E:text=Psychogeography%20describes%20the%20effect%20of,emotions%20and%20behaviour%20of%20individuals">psychogeography</a>”: the idea that geographical locations exert a unique psychological effect on us.</p>
<p>For instance, when you walk down a street, the architecture around you may be deliberately designed to encourage a certain kind of experience. Crossing a vibrant city square on a sunny morning evokes joy and a feeling of connection with others. There’s also usually a public event taking place. </p>
<p>The Situationists valued drift, or <em>dérive</em> in French. This alludes to unplanned movement through a landscape during journeys on foot. By drifting aimlessly, we unintentionally redefine the traditional rules imposed by private or public land owners and property developers. We make ourselves open to the new unexpected and, in doing so, are liberated from the shackles of everyday routine.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-10-8100-2">our research</a>, my colleagues and I consider cities as places in which “getting lost” means exposing yourself to discovering the new and taken-for-granted. </p>
<h2>Forge your own path</h2>
<p>By understanding the Situationists – by looking away from our phones and allowing ourselves to get lost – we can rediscover our cities. We can see them for what they are beneath the blankets of posters, billboards and advertisements. How might we take back the image and make it work for us?</p>
<p>The practise of geo-tagging images on social media, and sharing our location with others, could be considered close to the spirit of the Situationists. Although it’s often met with claims of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/when-why-not-to-use-geotagging-overtourism-security">over-fuelling tourism</a> (especially regarding idyllic or otherwise protected sites), geo-tagging could <a href="https://www.melaninbasecamp.com/trip-reports/2019/5/1/five-reasons-why-you-should-keep-geotagging">inspire us</a> to actively seek out new places through visiting the source of an image. </p>
<p>This could lead to culturally respectful engagement, and new-found respect for the rights of traditional custodians as we experience their lands in real life, rather than just through images on our phones.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576619/original/file-20240219-28-6bptso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Online, there’s a strong temptation to fall into the spectator role by merely consuming other people’s content. Geo-tagging offers a way to share experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Then there are uniquely personal and anarchistic forms of resistance, wherein we can learn about the world around us by interweaving ourselves with our histories. In doing so we offer a new meaning to a historical message, and a new purpose. The Situationists called this process <em><a href="https://www.theartstory.org/movement/situationist-international/">détournement</a></em>, or hijacking. </p>
<p>For instance, from my grandfather I inherited a biscuit tin of black and white photographs I believe were taken in the 1960s. They showed images of parks and wildlife, perhaps even of the same park, and cityscapes of London with people, streets and buildings. </p>
<p>I have spent many hours wandering the London streets tracking down the exact places these images were snapped. I was juxtaposing past with present, and experiencing both continuity and change in the dialogues I had with my grandfather. In this way, I used images to augment (rather than replace) my lived experience of the material world. </p>
<p>Urban art installations can also be examples of detournment as they make us re-think everyday conceptions. <a href="https://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/forgotten-songs/">Forgotten Songs</a> by Michael Hill is one such example. A canopy of empty birdcages commemorates the songs of 50 different birds once heard in central Sydney, but which are now lost due to habitat removal as a result of urban development. </p>
<p>There are also a number of groups, often with a strong environmental or civic rights focus, that partake in detournment. <a href="https://popularresistance.org/dancing-revolution-how-90s-protests-used-rave-culture-to-reclaim-the-streets/">Reclaim the Streets</a> is a movement with a long history in Australia. The group advocates for communities having ownership of and agency within public spaces. They may, for instance, “invade” a highway to throw a “<a href="https://pasttenseblog.files.wordpress.com/2022/02/road-rave.pdf">road rave</a>” as an act of reclamation. </p>
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<p>As French avant-garde philosopher <a href="https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/07/24/the-poetics-of-reverie-gaston-bachelard/">Gaston Bachelard</a> might have put it, when we’re bombarded by images there is no space left to daydream. We lose the opportunity to explore and question the world capitalism serves us through images. </p>
<p>Perhaps now is a good time to set down the phone and follow in the Situationists’ footsteps. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-you-want-size-with-that-the-mcmansion-malaise-1563">Do you want size with that? The McMansion malaise</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Dobson 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>‘Situationists’ believe the physical spaces around us, and how we interact with them, has a significant impact on how we feel.Stephen Dobson, Professor and Dean of Education and the Arts, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183062024-02-14T16:55:05Z2024-02-14T16:55:05ZNew study reveals four critical barriers to building healthier Canadian cities<p>Many streets around the globe are becoming increasingly inhospitable to children and the elderly due to compounding traffic and road safety concerns which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15568318.2020.1858376">deter these groups from active transport, like walking or cycling</a>. The recent emphasis on designing cities that cater to the well-being of individuals from ages <a href="https://www.880cities.org/">eight to 80 isn’t just a catchy phrase, but a vital requirement to accommodate evolving demographic realities</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, the concept of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-023-00749-4">15-minute city</a> has garnered significant attention in recent years — <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-the-conspiracies-15-minute-cities-will-free-us-to-improve-our-mental-health-and-wellbeing-200823">despite baseless conspiracies accusing local authorities of plotting to limit residents to a small radius around their homes</a>. </p>
<p>The 15-minute city is all about accessibility, time efficiency and expanding options for everyone, not just the most well-off. Achieving this goal, and designing healthier spaces, begins with a comprehensive understanding of how urban environments impact our health and well-being — along with a realistic look at the current barriers to healthier urban design. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.05.23299446v1">recent research</a> — conducted with the help of research assistants Shanzey Ali and Agnes Fung and the City of Regina and Saskatchewan Health Authority and currently awaiting peer review — set out to understand these barriers.</p>
<h2>Designing better spaces</h2>
<p>Research shows that the layout of streets, access to grocery stores, choice of construction materials in dwelling design, and the distribution of public services <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30066-6">all play pivotal roles in influencing our health and well-being</a>. </p>
<p>Neighbourhoods with accessible public and community spaces and social events have been shown to improve mental health, increase happiness, and offer a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12472">sense of belonging and community</a>. At the same time, readily accessible grocery stores, community gardens and farmers’ markets have been shown to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041943">enhance mental, social and physical health</a>. </p>
<p>So, how do we create built environments that are more beneficial? This is where urban planning comes in as municipal policy-makers develop and implement policies, which can alter the structure, use and regulations of public spaces in cities.</p>
<p>The intricate dance between urban planning and health has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087406296390">deep historical roots</a>. The <a href="https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/leading-figures/john-snow-the-origin-new-medicine-time-of-cholera/">early use of sanitation and segregated zoning to control infectious disease outbreaks in the 19th century</a> is well established <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30066-6">and these efforts continue to this day</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, global agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) have championed the integration of health and equity into urban governance. Indeed, the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11">UN Sustainable Development Goal 11</a> aims for inclusive, resilient, safe and sustainable cities. Accordingly, cities are well positioned to safeguard population health and reduce health inequities in a changing climate.</p>
<h2>Day-to-day challenges</h2>
<p>So, why are we not seeing more urban design policies focused on residents’ health and well-being? Our findings shed light on four key issues.</p>
<p><strong>1 – A lack of shared understanding of health equity</strong></p>
<p>Policy makers lacked a shared understanding of health and equity which highlights the complexity of addressing health inequities and implementing effective policies. While the importance of physical and mental health was widely acknowledged, a glaring gap exists in the recognition of the <a href="https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health#tab=tab_1">social dimension of health</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-not-just-heat-waves-climate-change-is-also-a-crisis-of-disconnection-210594">It is not just heat waves — climate change is also a crisis of disconnection</a>
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<p>Policy-makers often struggled to find common ground on what constitutes health and equity, which hindered meaningful action. As one policy-maker noted: “I don’t think our (design) standards have ever really been looked at from that health perspective.”</p>
<p><strong>2 – The evidence is usually inaccessible</strong></p>
<p>While policy-makers acknowledged evidence (data) as an essential building block of policy making, they explained there are significant barriers to accessing it. Administrative roadblocks, such as a lack of co-ordination between, and within, provincial and municipal governments, can prevent access to crucial data needed for policy making. </p>
<p>Financial barriers, such as paywalls, can lock access to scientific studies. Meanwhile, technical barriers — including the use of jargon and overly-technical language by the academic community — can interfere with the accessibility of academic literature. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large building stands in the background with a field and flower beds in the foregound." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575443/original/file-20240213-20-uh97si.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">The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the City of Regina, Sask. A lack of inter- and intra-governmental communication can inhibit free access to vital evidence and data across provincial and municipal governments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>As one policy-maker put it: “There’s a lot of academic acumen that’s used and terminology, and it can be overwhelming, and nobody wants to walk out of a room and feel stupid.” As a result, sometimes the best approach is also not well understood by the municipal actors, creating greater need for knowledge translation and accessible research. </p>
<p><strong>3 – Government structures are fragmented</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.2846">A fragmented governance structure, marked by silo-ing, is another stumbling block</a>. This lack of co-ordination among different branches and divisions within a municipality can result in missed opportunities for collaboration. Differences in the use of terminology can exacerbate the problem, causing confusion and impeding cross-sectoral work. </p>
<p>Conflicts between the objectives of various divisions, such as those between active transportation planners and traffic engineers, underscore the challenges posed by siloed governance. As one policy-maker noted: “There were lots of policies that we seem to put in place that very much favour the movement of vehicles over the movement of pedestrians, cyclists”.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-arctic-landscapes-and-canadian-cityscapes-share-a-similar-pattern-213707">How Arctic landscapes and Canadian cityscapes share a similar pattern</a>
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<p>Adding complexity to the mix is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087416684380">limited legal power of local governments in Canada</a>. Deemed “creatures of the province,” municipalities can only exercise powers delegated to them by provincial governments – meaning municipal powers can be modified or revoked theoretically at will. </p>
<p>The ambiguity surrounding the roles and responsibilities of municipalities versus the provincial government creates tension and incurs costs, as municipalities grapple with disagreements over whose jurisdiction certain issues fall under. Most often, this results in funding decisions that impact healthy urban design. </p>
<p><strong>4 – Political ideologies get in the way</strong></p>
<p>Beyond bureaucratic challenges, differing political ideologies present a formidable barrier.</p>
<p>The integration of health in urban design is rooted in the idea of collectivism, which aims to maximize benefits to the community as a whole. While the current favouring of car-centric roads in most areas reflects a libertarian individualism at odds with collective ideals in urban design.</p>
<p>This imbalance is especially striking when one considers the <a href="https://thediscourse.ca/scarborough/full-cost-commute">considerably higher costs to society of driving over walking or biking</a>.</p>
<p>Policy-makers noted that these political ideologies permeate public perception, resulting in resistance to policies perceived as infringing on individual liberties — while policies benefiting only a minority face opposition if they entail personal drawbacks. </p>
<p>We found this issue was exemplified by a fierce resistance to proposals for safer conditions for sex workers by those who wanted them to remain in out-of-sight areas.</p>
<h2>Overcoming these barriers</h2>
<p>The journey towards creating healthier and more equitable cities is riddled with challenges. From a lack of shared understanding, to inaccessible evidence, fragmented governance and legal limitations of municipalities and differing political ideologies, the barriers are multifaceted. However, understanding these challenges is the first step towards meaningful change. </p>
<p>By fostering collaboration, restructuring governance, empowering local governments, and promoting a collective mindset, we can pave the way for more effective integration of health into urban policies that truly support the well-being of communities at large.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akram Mahani holds funding from SHRF (Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation) and CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research). This project was funded by SHRF Align program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nazeem Muhajarine receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He is affiliated with the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit and is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joonsoo Sean Lyeo 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>Canada’s cities must be planned around resident
health and well-being, our research reveals the key barriers to developing truly healthy cities.Akram Mahani, Assistant Professor at Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of ReginaJoonsoo Sean Lyeo, Research Associate, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of TorontoNazeem Muhajarine, Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and Director, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207402024-02-07T13:26:16Z2024-02-07T13:26:16ZGhana: Kumasi city’s unplanned boom is destroying two rivers – sewage, heavy metals and chemical pollution detected<p>Ghana’s urban population has <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/opinion/2015/05/14/rising-through-cities-in-ghana-the-time-for-action-is-now-to-fully-benefit-from-the-gains-of-urbanization">more than tripled</a> in the past three decades, from 4 million to nearly 14 million people. Competition for land in cities has increased among various land uses. These trends have led to encroachment in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Kumasi">Kumasi</a>, Ghana’s second largest city, has a high level of encroachment and this has led to the pollution of water bodies. Kumasi’s population growth has been rapid because of its central and strategic location and its functions as a major commercial, traditional and administrative centre. In 2022, the <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/kumasi-population">population of Kumasi</a> was 3,630,326 with a growth rate of 4.02%. The city’s growth puts pressure on its natural assets.</p>
<p>As scholars of urban planning and chemistry, we conducted a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19463138.2022.2146121">study</a> in the <a href="https://www.luspa.gov.gh/media/plan/EIJR13206_Greater_Kumasi_01.pdf">greater Kumasi metropolis</a> to understand the extent of encroachment and pollution of two rivers, Subin and Wiwi. We wanted to understand how cities can be developed and functional without destroying natural resources. We also wanted to know more about the extent of water pollution, land-use dynamics and water resources regulations, and how they influence the quality of water resources. </p>
<p>We found that people were building homes in informal settlements along the rivers. Liquid and solid waste was being dumped into the rivers. People were using land on the river banks for agriculture and industrial activities, which had a negative effect on water quality. </p>
<p>We recommend that the city authorities monitor what is happening better and do more to prevent degradation of Kumasi’s water bodies.</p>
<h2>Effects of land use on the quality of water bodies</h2>
<p>We discovered that, in the greater Kumasi metropolis, more land alongside the rivers was being used for industrial, residential and commercial purposes than for green spaces. City authorities were ineffective in controlling development in these areas despite the fact that <a href="https://www.luspa.gov.gh/media/document/ZONING_GUIDELINES_final_DESIGN.pdf">Ghana’s zoning guidelines</a> say there should be a buffer of 100 feet (30 metres) along water bodies. </p>
<p>Land values in Kumasi are increasing due to rapid urban growth, but values are lower for wetlands. This difference has contributed to city residents building in wetlands. Also, the intense pressure of urbanisation on the available land has resulted in a <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/483045/wetlands-in-kumasi-metropolis-under-siege.html">high level of encroachment</a> in wetlands. The study revealed that 35.4% of the land uses within the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/River-Wiwi-and-some-other-streams-that-drain-the-Kumasi-Metropolis-Department-of_fig2_257939998">River Wiwi</a> buffers were residential development. </p>
<p>This research further confirmed that the Wiwi and Subin rivers had been heavily polluted with faecal coliforms over the years. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/fecal-coliform">Coliform counts</a> are an indicator of possible faecal contamination, and reflect hygiene standards. </p>
<p>The mean of the coliform counts surpassed the limits of 400 total coliforms/100ml and 10 faecal coliforms/100ml allowed by the <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241546743">World Health Organization standard</a>. The two rivers are extremely polluted with faecal matter. </p>
<p>The research also confirmed that heavy metals in the water bodies were above the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535301/table/ch8.tab2/">WHO’s recommended standard</a> of 0.01mg/litre. For example, the average concentration of lead (Pb) recorded in the Wiwi and Subin rivers was 0.018–0.031 mg/l and 0.035–0.055, respectively. Exposure to lead is <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health">dangerous</a> to health. </p>
<p>As a result of limited investment in sewage plants, most of the city’s untreated waste water is discharged into the surface water bodies. This has implications for the quality and sustainability of these water bodies. </p>
<p>The study also showed that some city residents dump their <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Resolving-dying-water-bodies-Dealing-with-waste-pollutants-through-lucrative-means-569358">waste near the city’s wetlands</a>. During heavy rains, the refuse runs off into the water, affecting water quality and flow. </p>
<p>The inability of city authorities to enforce land-use regulations and legislation has allowed people to carry out agricultural activities close to the rivers. The use of agrochemicals threatens aquatic habitats. Chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers are likely to seep or be washed into the rivers. The use of polluted water from the rivers for irrigation also poses a threat to human health. </p>
<p>The industrial activities along the water bodies include washing bays, auto-mechanical activities, welding and wood processing. These pose a threat of chemical pollution due to likely seepage of petroleum products into the water.</p>
<h2>Time for Kumasi to wake up</h2>
<p>The development of sustainable cities relies on the ability of city authorities to plan for social, environmental and economic growth. Urban growth can coexist with natural resources if human activities located near water bodies don’t threaten their quality and continued existence. </p>
<p>Our study shows that Kumasi has developed with little regard for its natural assets. This is a threat to the city’s sustainability. City authorities ought to put in place measures to clean the water bodies and convert buffer areas into parks and green spaces. Environmentally friendly urban agriculture can also be promoted along the water bodies. </p>
<p>Activities such as disposal of liquid and solid waste must be stopped. <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-polluter-pays-principle/#:%7E:text=The%20%27polluter%20pays%27%20principle%20is,human%20health%20or%20the%20environment">The “polluter must pay” principle</a> must be applied to people who contravene environmental regulations. </p>
<p>Urban centres in Ghana need a water resource management policy. Regulatory institutions such as the Physical Planning Department and the <a href="https://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> should be restructured and equipped to respond to emerging complex environmental problems in cities. There should be continuous environmental monitoring and regulations must be strictly enforced. The <a href="https://westindiacommittee.org/historyheritageculture/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Contents-and-Introduction.pdf">River Thames Policing model</a> in the UK can be adopted to ensure the continuous monitoring of the water bodies. To monitor and enforce the zoning regulations, city authorities and policy-makers must invest in technologies such as drones. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.luspa.gov.gh/media/document/ZONING_GUIDELINES_final_DESIGN.pdf">Zoning Guideline and Planning Standards</a> provide standard setback average distances for a buffer zone of 50–100 feet from the water bodies. We recommend that the buffer should rather be 100 feet (30 metres) away from the wetland. The wetlands are an important <a href="https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/documents/library/services_00_e.pdf">ecosystem service</a> that needs to be protected. Ecologically sensitive areas that are 100 feet away from wetlands should be compulsorily acquired as natural assets for the public interest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220740/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 organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The inability of city authorities to enforce land-use regulations has allowed people to carry out ecologically unfriendly activities along the water bodies.Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Owusu Amponsah, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2184952024-01-22T20:42:47Z2024-01-22T20:42:47ZDespite legislative progress, accessible cities remain elusive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566380/original/file-20231218-29-jo501r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5755%2C3833&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Textured surfaces on city pavements can help make public space more accessible to disabled persons.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/despite-legislative-progress-accessible-cities-remain-elusive" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Amid a complex web of disability civil rights legislation in Canada and the <a href="https://www.ada.gov/">United States</a>, one could easily be lulled into thinking that the work is done. Some of this legislation is now <a href="http://www.ccdonline.ca/en/humanrights/promoting/20years">several decades old</a>; more recent additions include <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/110191">accessible design standards and guidelines</a> and barrier-free elements of <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/120332">building codes</a>.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://accessnow.com/moca/">if only this were true</a>. Watching Toronto and other cities in North America work on accessibility feels a bit like watching a snail moving through molasses: the best route is unclear, progress is slow and they often become stuck.</p>
<h2>Paratransit</h2>
<p>Access to safe and reliable public transit is one such problem. For example, many of the issues <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839919888484">plaguing paratransit (ideally on-demand, door-to-door service for disabled persons) today</a> — unacceptably long wait times, having to plan and schedule days in advance, service costs, convoluted trip regulations, failing to pick people up — are often as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839919888484">old as the services themselves</a>. </p>
<p>It’s perhaps hard to imagine, but it could get worse. Data from the <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-654-x/89-654-x2021002-eng.htm">2017 Canadian Survey on Disability</a> indicate that nearly 18 per cent of <em>housebound</em> disabled persons report the absence of transport service as the cause — they have somewhere to go, but no way to get there.</p>
<p>New York City, Toronto and Montréal have underground public transit. These systems share a checkered past where disability is concerned. Time and time again, each system has been the site of disability activism, litigation, accessibility retrofit, cycles of investment progress and delay, and what I call last-millimetre problems.</p>
<p>In New York City, it took multiple <a href="https://new.mta.info/accessibility/ada-settlement-notice">class-action lawsuits</a> filed by disabled persons to get the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to launch a multi-decade accessibility plan. This included a promise to stop renovating stations in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/rehabilitation-act-1973-original-text">Rehabilitation Act of 1973</a> and <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/cchr/law/the-law.page">New York City Human Rights Law</a>. </p>
<p>Seven years on, an August 2017 article in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/nyregion/nyc-subway-accessible-disabled.html"><em>New York Times</em></a> reported on the MTA’s stalled progress and justifiable skepticism on the part of disabled passengers.</p>
<p>The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is in the midst of a promising multi-year <a href="https://www.ttc.ca/accessibility/Accessible-Transit-Services-Plan">Accessible Transit Services Plan</a>. The plan includes accessibility retrofit of many stations built before the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/05a11">2005 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)</a> became law. These are massive infrastructure projects with hefty price tags.</p>
<p>Symptomatic of a much broader failure across the province to meet AODA’s 2025 deadline, implementation of the TTC’s accessibility plan is behind schedule. In the most recent <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/msaa-fourth-review-of-aoda-final-report-en-2023-06-30.pdf">AODA progress review</a>, Rich Donovan, CEO of The Return on Disability Group, declared a state of crisis following “17 years of missed opportunities,” “minimal change in accessibility” and reports of terrible accessibility experiences across the province.</p>
<p>Looking back reveals a deep history of transit <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-metro-50-years-criticism-1.3804756">criticism and activism in Montréal</a>. In 1988, members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) protested poor transit accessibility during the <a href="https://adaptmuseum.net/gallery/index.php?/category/24">American Public Transit Association (APTA) meetings held in Montréal</a>. This occurred two years before the iconic “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/us/ada-disabilities-act-history.html">Capitol Crawl</a>” in Washington, D.C. where, tired of congressional inertia, disabled protesters climbed the steps of the Capitol to push for the immediate passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/stSkqzI9mKY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A 2009 documentary about disabled persons’ experiences with Montréal transit.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Montréal’s Société de transport de Montréal (STM) now has a long-range accessibility plan with an <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/stm-metro-accessibility-plan-will-mean-more-elevators-ramps-1.4013361">aspirational end date of 2038</a>. The <a href="https://cutaactu.ca/stm-wins-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-award/">Canadian Urban Transit Association</a>) recently announced STM as the winner of an equity, diversity and inclusion award, noting it has “taken significant steps in enhancing customer accessibility since 2023.”</p>
<h2>The last millimetre problem</h2>
<p>Beyond a now seemingly normalized requirement for disabled persons to hold transit authorities to account, much of the progress underground has focused on elevators.</p>
<p>What I find astounding is the “last millimetre problem” — a wide gap or vertical misalignment between platforms and transit vehicles making it impossible or hazardous for some disabled persons, like my daughter, to get on or off the system. The problem seems to occur most often when newly acquired trains meet up with old stations. </p>
<p>In New York City, a vertical misalignment of up to six inches was reported in at least one MTA station. Gaps across the system have led to <a href="https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/10/26/riders-with-disabilities-sue-mta-to-close-the-gap-between-subway-train-and-platform/">more class-action litigation</a>. </p>
<p>As of 2019, the TTC has a subway platform gap retrofit program. Consultation
with its Accessibility Advisory Committee produced tolerances of <a href="https://pw.ttc.ca/-/media/Project/TTC/DevProto/Documents/Home/Public-Meetings/Board/2019/September_24/Reports/8_Subway_Platform_Gap_Retrofit_Program.pdf">89 mm or less and 38 mm or less respectively for horizontal and vertical misalignments</a>. Misalignment problems have also been reported <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/how-some-universally-accessible-montreal-metro-stations-are-not">across multiple Montréal Metro stations</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X231175595">Disability as an afterthought</a> makes platform and vehicle retrofit an inconvenient, costly necessity. The technical part of this problem can likely be solved with existing technology, like platform gap fillers and bridge plates. Waiting around for disabled passengers to engage in class-action litigation is not an effective strategy.</p>
<h2>Cycling infrastructure</h2>
<p>The voices of disabled persons have been relegated to the edges of the conversation about active transportation (cycling, walking) and healthy, climate-resilient urban futures.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v42i1.8276">Disabled persons ride bikes</a> on and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2059170883639">off-road</a>. The literature on cycling and disability focuses on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.01.013">planning for the inclusion of disabled cyclists</a>. Due consideration should also be given to interactions between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102896">disabled pedestrians</a> and transport infrastructure in general, including bike lanes. </p>
<p>Recently, a bike lane in Toronto was built level to an adjacent sidewalk, without sufficient aids to alert <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/blind-advocates-toronto-bike-lanes-1.7034433">blind pedestrians</a>. Design solutions exist — the Canadian National Institute for the Blind’s <a href="https://www.cnib.ca/en/sight-loss-info/clearing-our-path?region=on"><em>Clearing Our Path</em></a> suggests various types and applications of tactile walking surface indicators.</p>
<p>Curbside bike lanes can produce other <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2018/di/comm/communicationfile-79642.pdf">problems for disabled pedestrians</a>. For example, parking spaces adjacent to bike lanes with a step up to the sidewalk can force wheelchair users into the path of bicycles or vehicles.</p>
<p>Cycling infrastructure needs to be inclusive and safe infrastructure.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a bidirectional bike lane" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570542/original/file-20240122-17-emsqmn.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 bike lane in downtown Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Consulting the community</h2>
<p>Research, policy, legislation, design and technologies exist to improve urban accessibility. Despite real progress on both the legislative and infrastructure fronts, the lived experiences of disabled persons continue to highlight serious incongruity between legislation, policies and outcomes.</p>
<p>Accessibility advisory committees are often a requirement of provincial legislation, and enacted at the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/municipal-accessibility-advisory-committees">provincial or municipal levels of government</a>. Transit agencies often have separate committees comprised of community volunteers and agency staff — the <a href="https://www.ttc.ca/about-the-ttc/the-advisory-committee-on-accessible-transit">TTC</a>, <a href="https://new.mta.info/accessibility/ACTA">New York MTA</a> and <a href="https://www.stm.info/en/about/corporate-governance/board-committees/customer-service-and-universal-accessibility-committee">Montréal STM</a> all have committees. </p>
<p>Committee membership criteria should ensure adequate representation from within and across disability communities. Disabled community members should be compensated for sharing their specialized knowledge. </p>
<p>Real accountability, rather than performative empty consultation, should be the order of the day. Accessible cities can only happen when governments and their various agencies deeply listen to and act upon what disabled citizens have to say.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218495/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ron Buliung 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>Decades of activism have resulted in legislation and infrastructure to make cities more accessible, but the lived experiences of disabled residents shows there’s still a long way to go.Ron Buliung, Professor, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183342024-01-17T21:08:01Z2024-01-17T21:08:01ZAnnual rankings don’t always tell us what it’s really like to live in a city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568293/original/file-20240108-27-dzn9ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C2751%2C1553&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rankings often focus on economic and developmental factors that overlook sustainability. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year various indices are released which rank the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/article-most-livable-cities-canada-2023/">livability</a>, <a href="https://www.arcadis.com/en/knowledge-hub/perspectives/global/sustainable-cities-index">sustainability</a>, <a href="https://innovation-cities.com/worlds-most-innovative-cities-2022-2023-city-rankings/26453/">innovation</a> and general quality of life in cities around the world. Canada’s major cities like Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto <a href="https://www.cicnews.com/2023/12/3-canadian-cities-ranked-among-the-most-liveable-in-the-world-1241721.html">frequently</a> top <a href="https://www.cicnews.com/2023/12/3-canadian-cities-ranked-among-the-most-liveable-in-the-world-1241721.html">these lists</a>, despite being some of the <a href="https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/vancouver-ranks-3rd-most-expensive-city-in-north-america-5490661">most costly</a> places to live. </p>
<p><em>Maclean’s</em> magazine’s ranking of “<a href="https://macleans.ca/canadas-best-communities-in-2021-full-ranking/">Canada’s best communities</a>” evaluated 415 communities according to various indicators, including economic prosperity, housing affordability, taxation, sustainable mobility, public safety as well as access to health services and cultural and leisure activities.</p>
<p>Quality of life indicators and indices can be useful for comparing cities or when deciding where to live. However, if cities base their policymaking on such metrics, it could lead to unsustainable development.</p>
<h2>Differences between sustainability and quality of life</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106879">recent study</a> highlighted the commonly used environmental and socio-economic criteria, using indicators such as green spaces, recycling, the use of public transport, unemployment and crime rates.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.espon.eu/programme/projects/espon-2020/applied-research/quality-of-life">international review</a> by the European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion evaluated cities based on criteria like employment, housing, access to health care and safety. Indicators included, among others, the cost of living, household income and the quality of public services.</p>
<p>Many of the indicators in these rankings are used to measure both the sustainability and the quality of life in a city. This convergence can be explained by the <a href="https://www.iisd.org/articles/deep-dive/pathways-sustainable-cities">common basis of these two concepts</a>: they are essentially about how a city satisfies the essential needs of its residents, such as housing, transport, health, education and leisure.</p>
<p>The ability to meet these needs is closely linked to economic factors, which play a key role in assessing both the sustainability and quality of life of cities. These factors include income, wealth and cost of living.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly couple walking in a park with a bicycle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568733/original/file-20240110-21-uisy1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Development aimed at improving city life can sometimes come at the expense of sustainability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite these commonalities, they also present <a href="https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/81da68e3-f4cb-4b2c-a67b-506d41bd84e4/content">contradictions</a>. For example, initiatives aimed at improving city life, such as infrastructure expansion, can sometimes come at the expense of the environment, which goes against the principles of sustainable development.</p>
<p>Furthermore, an emphasis on sustainability does not necessarily guarantee improved living conditions. Indeed, sustainability may involve reducing the consumption of certain goods and services, reducing the size of housing to promote denser neighborhoods, or implementing taxes to reduce pollution. </p>
<p>These measures, although beneficial for the environment, can lower individual comfort and increase living costs, which affects the quality of life of residents.</p>
<h2>Traits of sustainable and livable cities</h2>
<p>We recently conducted a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275123004201">study aimed at answering the following question</a>: What are the characteristics of cities that perform better in terms of quality of life and sustainability?</p>
<p>To answer this question, we analyzed the similarities and differences between the factors underlying sustainability and quality of life rankings for 171 Canadian cities with more than 25,000 inhabitants.</p>
<p>Our results reveal a positive and statistically significant correlation between urban quality of life and sustainability indicators in Canadian cities. However, our findings also highlight important contradictions regarding sustainable living in the three main dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental.</p>
<p>Wood Buffalo, Alta. ranked in the top 20 per cent for sustainability, mainly due to its high-income and educated population, despite its low environmental performances. However, it is in the bottom 20 per cent for quality of life due to high living costs and limited cultural amenities. </p>
<p>Kamloops, B.C. performed well in quality of life, thanks to affordability, strong education and health care, and cultural richness. Yet it falls in the bottom 20 per cent for sustainability because of waste, greening and energy management challenges.</p>
<p>Evaluations of quality of life are mainly based on economic dimensions and take into account indicators such as the unemployment rate and average income. Some indicators also concern the social dimension of sustainable development, including crime, housing affordability, health and the arts.</p>
<p>However, some fundamental social aspects of sustainable development, like wealth distribution and education, are not addressed directly.</p>
<p>The environmental dimension is also largely neglected, with the exception of sustainable mobility (for example, how many people use public transport). For instance, there were no direct measurements of greenhouse gas emissions, the quality of green spaces or the quality of a city’s water.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A busy city sidewalk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568734/original/file-20240110-21-au3gwa.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">Quality of life indices can be useful for comparing cities, however, if cities base their policymaking on such metrics, it could lead to unsustainable development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cities should put sustainability first</h2>
<p>These differences between quality of life and sustainable development are concerning for two main reasons. Firstly, because people might use these rankings when deciding where to live, it can make cities with high rankings but poor sustainability appear attractive. </p>
<p>Second, as cities generally seek to attract residents, they may be tempted to make decisions based on variables that increase their quality of life ranking to the detriment of sustainable development. </p>
<p>The most highly ranked cities are likely to maintain the status quo with regard to their development strategy in order to stay at the top of the list. Moreover, lower ranked cities are likely to mimic the urban conditions that characterize the most successful cities.</p>
<p>However, these objectives are not always compatible with urban sustainability, which takes into account broader environmental and collective concerns, such as preserving environmental quality and reducing pressure on natural resources and green spaces.</p>
<p>This means quality of life becomes unsustainable if it does not take into account environmental impacts such as waste management and car use. The same goes for how wealth is distributed. </p>
<p>Prioritizing sustainability, even if it means a lower quality of life ranking in the short term, ensures cities remain viable in the future. Integrating sustainability measures into public policies, such as improving public transportation and maintaining green spaces, is essential to meet current needs and anticipate future challenges, ensuring long-term well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218334/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 organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Focusing on metrics that measure a city’s quality of life could be detrimental to its long-term sustainable development.Georges A. Tanguay, Full Professor, School of Management, Department of Urban Studies and Tourism, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Juste Rajaonson, Professor, School of Management, Department of Urban Studies and Tourism, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194742024-01-07T12:34:38Z2024-01-07T12:34:38ZNeighbourhood amenities may have helped youth mental health and stress early in the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567975/original/file-20240105-25-yskfll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=245%2C1003%2C3621%2C1984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers investigated how the availability of neighbourhood amenities may have contributed to changes in youth mental health and stress levels during the first six months of the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Paul Hanaoka)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/neighbourhood-amenities-may-have-helped-youth-mental-health-and-stress-early-in-the-pandemic" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth as a population group <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210201/dq210201b-eng.htm">reported some of the largest declines in their mental health</a> compared to other age groups in Canada. </p>
<p>Research on youth mental health during the pandemic has focused on <a href="https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/full/10.1139/facets-2021-0096">poor academic engagement</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2021-0080">loss of peer networks</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30109-7">missed milestone events</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-023-00653-4">challenging summer employment experiences</a>. Yet little is known about how the places where young people lived played a role in changes to their mental health during the pandemic.</p>
<p>From walking in a park to ordering takeout food, there was not much to do out in public during the early months of the pandemic. Youth were attending school remotely and no longer participating in organized sports and indoor recreation. </p>
<p>For many, that meant their daily activities outside the home often consisted of what could be reached within walking distance of where they lived. Parks and food-related retail became the main places for physically distanced social interactions. They became a break in the routines of remote school, activities and virtual social networks available at home.</p>
<h2>Neighbourhood amenities</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2282850">Our study</a> included Canadian youth between the ages of 13 and 19 in London, Ont. We investigated how the availability of neighbourhood amenities may have contributed to positive or negative changes in mental health — interpreted as their own perception of their mood and outlook on life — and stress levels during the first six months of the pandemic.</p>
<p>Amenities included parks, food outlets and convenience stores in close proximity to home.</p>
<p>We investigated whether these amenities could have protected against declines in mental health and increases in stress levels, and also if youth living in suburban neighbourhoods had different perceptions of mental health and stress levels than those living in urban ones.</p>
<h2>The missing role of parks</h2>
<p>Surprisingly, the availability of parks near the home had no significant impact on mental health and stress levels of youth. This finding runs counter to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13148-2">evidence that suggests these places were crucial to supporting well-being</a> during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Given the pre-pandemic challenges of <a href="https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.40.4.02">engaging young people in using their local parks</a>, these places may have not played as substantial a role in supporting better mental health and lowering stress levels for youth compared to other neighbourhood amenities.</p>
<h2>Youth experiences in urban neighbourhoods</h2>
<p>For youth in urban neighbourhoods, having more fast-food outlets available near young people’s homes resulted in lower levels of stress, but worse declines in mental health. When coupled with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2023.2282850">observed decline in eating habits</a>, urban youth were almost seven times more likely to report worse mental health. </p>
<p>While the places near young people’s homes can make a difference to their mental health, we found that the impact is greater on their stress levels. </p>
<p>It may be that food-based amenities in urban neighbourhoods provided places for young people to relieve their stress and try to cope with declines in their mental health by eating fast-food and convenience-store snacks and socializing.</p>
<h2>Youth experiences in suburban neighbourhoods</h2>
<p>Youth in suburban neighbourhoods were more likely to report changes (both improvements and declines) to their mental health and stress levels. They also had a greater availability of food outlets near them compared to urban youth. In particular, having more convenience stores near the home was associated with more drastic changes to mental health and higher stress levels. </p>
<p>In addition, youth residing in suburban neighbourhoods who reported a decline in their physical activity levels were also at nearly three times the risk of having worsened mental health than their peers who reported their physical activity levels had not changed since the pandemic. </p>
<p>Overall, boys were substantially less likely than girls to have improved mental health during the study period, and this was especially true for those residing in suburban areas.</p>
<p>One possible reason for this trend could be that boys are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.03.015">more likely to play organized sports</a> than girls, which are often delivered by schools as extracurricular activities. In addition, boys tend to have less <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2021.2011189">extensive social networks</a> on digital platforms outside of their school than girls. </p>
<p>The loss of opportunities for physical activity and transition away from in-person social networks at schools may have created feelings of isolation and loneliness for boys.</p>
<h2>The role of neighbourhood amenities</h2>
<p>The first six months of the pandemic revealed the importance of neighbourhood amenities in protecting against declines in mental health and reducing stress levels. </p>
<p>Parks may have been a helpful feature for other population groups, but we found their role was limited for youth in terms of mental health and stress. Planners and landscape architects can reflect on how these places could be changed to be more attractive to youth, thereby ensuring they receive the same benefits from them as younger and older groups. </p>
<p>In addition, it is important to consider that the experiences of youth living in suburban and urban neighbourhoods may differ. This highlights the need to include youth perspectives in the planning of public spaces that contribute to healthy and thriving communities. </p>
<p>The pandemic exposed long-standing issues in how youth can access amenities in their community, and how to best meet their needs in Canadian communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Wray receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Sport Canada. He is President of the Town and Gown Association of Ontario. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra Nelson Ferguson was provided with funding through a trainee award from the Children’s Health
Research Institute, funded by the Children’s Health Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gina Martin, Jamie Seabrook, Jason Gilliland, and Stephanie Coen 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>Neighbourhood features may have helped youth cope with the mental health impact of pandemic restrictions. Parks didn’t play much of a role but food amenities and the suburbs did.Alexander Wray, PhD Candidate in Geography, Western UniversityGina Martin, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca UniversityJamie Seabrook, Chair and Professor, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Brescia University College, Adjunct Research Professor, Paediatrics, Adjunct Professor, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western UniversityJason Gilliland, Professor, Director, Urban Development Program, Western UniversityKendra Nelson Ferguson, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Faculty of Social Sciences, Western UniversityStephanie Coen, Associate professor, School of Geography, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2201812024-01-05T13:46:13Z2024-01-05T13:46:13ZThe US invented shopping malls, but China is writing their next chapter<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567756/original/file-20240103-29-8zgelg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C0%2C5449%2C3641&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People walk under a light projection at a shopping mall in Beijing. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-walk-under-a-light-projection-at-a-shopping-mall-in-news-photo/1782952230">(Photo by Jade Gao / AFPJade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On a recent research trip to China, I wandered through the Oasis Mall in suburban Shanghai. Like many Chinese shopping centers, this complex was filled with empty stores that reflected the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-07/ghost-malls-in-china-s-once-teeming-megacities?embedded-checkout=true">end of China’s 30-year-long economic expansion</a>. But there also were surprises. </p>
<p>Along a stretch of the mall’s interior walkway, a cluster of parents and grandparents sat on chairs. They were looking through a plate glass window, watching a dozen 5- to 7-year-old girls practice ballet steps, carefully following their teacher’s choreography. A space initially designed for retail had been turned into a dance studio.</p>
<p>From 1990 through 2020, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315609065/shopping-malls-public-space-modern-china-nicholas-jewell">large, shiny shopping malls</a> embodied China’s spectacular economic growth. They sprouted in cities large and small to meet consumer demand from an emerging middle class that was keen to express its newfound affluence. These centers look familiar to American eyes, which isn’t surprising: U.S. architectural firms <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2023.2182639">built 170 malls in China during this period</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A curved modern building labeled Oasis, with towers in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567757/original/file-20240103-15-n9ojl6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=291&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 Oasis (blue building) is one of some 6,700 shopping malls in Chinese cities. Hundreds of new centers open yearly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Rennie Short</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like their <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/shopping-mall-rise-fall-timeline-1950s-to-today-2023-1">U.S. counterparts</a>, many Chinese malls have fallen on hard times. The COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of online shopping have devastated foot traffic, leaving the nation with a huge overhang of retail space. But many Chinese malls are being re-imagined by owners and users as palaces of experience – civic areas for communities to meet and interact, with new configurations of public and private space. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oMPNYhQAAAAJ&hl=en">longtime urban policy scholar</a>, I was fascinated by the new uses I saw for malls in China. In my view, these experiments could become models for new, creative uses of retail space in the U.S., where the mall was invented. </p>
<h2>Serving a new consumer class</h2>
<p>China <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/books/how-china-opened-its-door/">opened up to foreign trade and investment</a> less than 50 years ago. Since then, it has become the <a href="https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/top-10-largest-economies-in-the-world/86159/1">world’s second-largest economy</a>, surpassed only by the U.S. </p>
<p>Rising incomes and a massive population shift from rural areas to cities have created a <a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/macroeconomic-insights/growth-of-china/chinese-consumer/">growing middle class</a> with significant purchasing power. GDP per capita increased <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-squandered-golden-opportunity-overtake-110000713.html">from US$293 in 1985 to $12,500 by 2021</a>. </p>
<p>Today, approximately 350 million Chinese – 25% of the total population – <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cwe.12400">can be considered middle class</a>. More recent economic growth has generated growing income inequality that now is <a href="https://sccei.fsi.stanford.edu/china-briefs/rise-wealth-private-property-and-income-inequality-china">equivalent to U.S. levels</a>.</p>
<p>Malls became a motif of modernity during the country’s economic expansion. They offered consumers year-round protection from heat, humidity, cold and frost, as well as from busy streets and polluting traffic. Malls were safe environments where the steadily increasing numbers of more affluent Chinese families could shop and eat, stroll and meet.</p>
<p>Over the past 30 years, China’s malls have <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10154812/">faced economic booms and slumps</a>. For example, the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/new-south-china-mall">New South China Mall</a> in Dongguan – which is twice the size of Minnesota’s Mall of America, its largest U.S. counterpart – opened in 2005. But most of its 2,300 storefronts remained closed for over a decade as China <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/06/yueh.htm">fought off recession</a> after the 2008 world financial crisis. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5zPkm2SU1DM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This 2013 news report takes viewers inside the then-deserted New South China Mall in Dongguan.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>China weathered that downturn through <a href="https://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/china-credit-expansion-unintended-consequences">aggressive economic stimulus policies</a>, and within a decade it replaced the U.S. as the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1XF218/">world’s top driver of economic growth</a>. This expansion buoyed its retail sector, including <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/11/WS5c380388a3106c65c34e3e65.html">shopping centers</a>. By 2018, a renovated and modernized New South China Mall was <a href="https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/worlds-biggest-shopping-mall-china-no-longer-ghost-mall">near full occupancy</a>. </p>
<p>Then COVID-19 struck in 2020. The Chinese government adopted a rigid <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/what-is-china-s-zero-covid-policy-/6854291.html">zero-COVID policy</a>, in which local governments could impose lockdowns after detecting just a few cases. Hundreds of millions of people were restricted to their homes for weeks or months at a stretch. </p>
<p>This policy was lifted only <a href="https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/no-more-lockdowns-chinas-new-covid-landscape">in late 2022</a>. China’s economy has yet to fully recover, and many experts argue that it <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-economy-debt-slowdown-recession-622a3be4">will never again reach its previous rates of growth</a>. An <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/China-s-aging-population-threatens-a-Japan-style-lost-decade">aging population</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1ZF2YQ/">trade wars with the U.S.</a> and a government focused on centralizing power under the Communist Party are all acting as drags on the economy, and online shopping is drawing consumers away from stores. </p>
<p>As a result, Chinese media reports abound with stories about <a href="https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20230720A06YQI00">well-known stores</a> and <a href="https://www.jiemian.com/article/9356769.html">venerable malls</a> closing. In China, as in the U.S., what scholars once described as the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1993.tb01921.x">magic of the mall</a>” has become an “<a href="https://www.discoursemagazine.com/p/the-allure-of-ruins">allure of ruins</a>.” </p>
<h2>Malls with Chinese characteristics</h2>
<p>But the Chinese are making creative use of excess mall space. New users are filling nonretail areas, such as indoor walkways and atriums that now house café tables. Others have become children’s play spaces filled with giant inflatable figures. The <a href="https://www.capitaland.com/en/find-a-property/global-property-listing/retail/raffles-city-shenzhen.html">Raffles City Mall</a> in Shenzen has a rooftop pet playground, a stage, an art display area and a sun-shaded lawn. </p>
<p>China’s informal economy of food stalls and sidewalk merchants is also filling the void. Although street vending has a long history in China, government officials sought to suppress it in recent years, calling it <a href="https://epaper.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202009/18/WS5f63fbf0a31099a2343506f3.html">unsanitary and a throwback to pre-modern times</a>. Now, however, they are encouraging it as a way to reduce growing unemployment, especially among young people, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-youth-unemployment-problem-has-become-a-crisis-we-can-no-longer-ignore-213751">currently exceeds 20%</a>. </p>
<p>During my trip, I saw small-scale entrepreneurs selling produce, street food and crafts in mall parking lots and around public entrances. The <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Pseudo-Public-Spaces-in-Chinese-Shopping-Malls-Rise-Publicness-and-Consequences/Wang/p/book/9781032177991">distinction between public and private spaces</a> is being reconfigured as vendors set up stalls in areas that once were open space. </p>
<p>Empty store spaces are also being repurposed. Some have been converted into <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-08/luxury-malls-are-the-new-car-showrooms-for-chinese-ev-makers?sref=Hjm5biAW">electric vehicle showrooms</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14702029.2022.2061750">art museums</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2022.2050675">children’s play centers</a> with dance studios, paddling pools, small skating rinks, gyms and yoga centers. Others have been redesigned as sites for art or cooking classes, or for <a href="https://thebusinessofesports.com/2021/07/02/china-opens-countrys-first-esports-themed-shopping-mall/">multiplayer electronic gaming</a> and <a href="https://franchise.sandboxvr.com/what-u-s-franchisees-can-learn-from-the-chinese-mall-experience/">virtual reality experiences</a>. The Dream Time Mall in Wuhan contains <a href="https://indoorsnownews.com/2023/03/03/wuhan-opens-indoor-snow-centre-as-part-of-worlds-new-largest-mall/">an indoor snow center</a> that offers ski lessons, ice mazes and tubing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People crowd into a curved atrium around a giant screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567752/original/file-20240103-15-8btgm3.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">People at Joy City Shopping Complex in Yantai, China, watch a live broadcast of the 2023 League of Legends world championship final on Nov. 19, 2023. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gather-at-joy-city-shopping-complex-to-watch-a-giant-news-photo/1802127612">Tang Ke/VCG via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I see these experiments as a shift in the meaning of the mall. What began as a cathedral of retail consumerism is becoming a place where people can connect and enjoy individual and collective experiences that aren’t available online. </p>
<p>Some U.S. malls are <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/news/5-creative-ways-malls-are-repurposing-their-space/594580/">moving in this direction</a>, but China is doing it on a much larger scale. Just as former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once asserted that his government was pursuing <a href="https://www.cgtn.com/how-china-works/feature/What-does-path-of-socialism-with-Chinese-characteristics-mean.html">its own version of socialism, with “Chinese characteristics</a>,” the U.S.-designed mall is being rewritten with Chinese characters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220181/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Rennie Short 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>China has a lot of vacant retail space, including many underused shopping malls. An urban policy scholar describes how the Chinese are rethinking what the mall is for.John Rennie Short, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2186382024-01-03T13:19:07Z2024-01-03T13:19:07ZAI could make cities autonomous, but that doesn’t mean we should let it happen<p>You are walking back home. Suddenly the ground seems to open and a security drone
emerges, blocking your way to verify your identity. This might sound far-fetched but it is <a href="https://sunflower-labs.com/">based on an existing technology</a> – a drone system made by the AI company Sunflower Labs. </p>
<p>As part of an international project looking at the impact of AI on cities, we recently “broke ground” on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00420980231203386">a new field of research called AI urbanism</a>. This is different from the concept of a “smart city”. Smart cities gather information from technology, such as sensor systems, and use it to manage operations and run services more smoothly.</p>
<p>AI urbanism represents a new way of shaping and governing cities, by means of artificial intelligence (AI). It departs substantially from contemporary models of urban development and management. While it’s vital that we closely monitor this emerging area, we should also be asking whether we should involve AI so closely in the running of cities in the first place.</p>
<p>The development of AI is intrinsically connected to the development of cities. Everything that city dwellers do teaches AI something precious about our world. The way you <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/05/27/1052826/ai-reinforcement-learning-self-driving-cars-autonomous-vehicles-wayve-waabi-cruise/">drive your car or ride your bike</a> helps train the AI behind an autonomous vehicle in how urban transport systems function.</p>
<p>What you eat and what you buy tells AI systems about your preferences. Multiply these individual records by the billions of people that live in cities, and you will get a feeling for how much data AI can harvest from urban settings.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l9Rt8eh8_zU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Sunflower Labs has made a home security drone designed to verify the identity of visitors.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Predictive policing</h2>
<p>Under the traditional concept of smart cities, technologies <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things">such as the Internet of Things</a> use connected sensors to observe and quantify what is happening. For example, smart buildings can calculate how much energy we consume and real-time technology can quantify how many people are using a subway at any one time. AI urbanism does not simply quantify, it tells stories, explaining why and how certain events take place.</p>
<p>We are not talking about complex narratives, but even a basic story can have substantial repercussions. Take the AI system developed by US company Palantir, that is <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/27/17054740/palantir-predictive-policing-tool-new-orleans-nopd">already employed in several cities</a>, to predict where crimes will take place and who will be involved. </p>
<p>These predictions may be acted on by police officers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/07/lapd-predictive-policing-surveillance-reform">in terms of where to assign resources</a>. Predictive policing in general is one of the most controversial powers that artificial intelligences are gaining under AI urbanism: the capacity to determine what is right or wrong, and who is “good” or “bad” in a city.</p>
<p>This is a problem because, as the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-023-00621-y">recent example of ChatGPT has made clear</a>, AI can produce a detailed account, without grasping its meaning. It is an amoral intelligence, in the sense that it is indifferent to questions of right or wrong. </p>
<p>And yet this is exactly the kind of question that we are increasingly delegating to AI in urban governance. This might save our city managers some time, given AI’s extraordinary velocity in analysing large volumes of data, but the price that we are paying in terms of social justice is enormous. </p>
<h2>A human problem</h2>
<p>Recent studies indicate that AI-made decisions are penalising racial minorities <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-2427.12833">in the fields of housing and real-estate</a>. There is also a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951720935141">substantial environmental cost to bear in mind</a>, since AI technology is energy intensive. It is projected to contribute significantly to carbon emissions from the tech sector in coming decades, and the infrastructure needed to maintain it consumes critical raw materials. AI seems to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-14108-y">promise a lot in terms of sustainability</a>), but when we look at its actual costs and applications in cities, the negatives can easily outweigh the positives.</p>
<p>It is not that AI is getting out of control, as we see in sci-fi movies and read in novels. Quite the opposite: we humans are consciously making political decisions that place AI in the position to make decisions about the governance of cities. We are willingly ceding some of our decision-making responsibilities to machines and, in different parts of the world, we can already see the genesis of new cities supposed to be completely operated by AI.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Line, artist's rendition." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564469/original/file-20231208-29-jfdagi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The NEOM project in Saudi Arabia would include a linear city called The Line.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/line-neom-sustainable-autonomous-futuristic-city-2292908383">Corona Borealis Studio / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This trend <a href="https://www.neom.com/en-us">is exemplified by Neom</a>, a colossal project of regional development currently under construction in Saudi Arabia. Neom will feature new urban spaces, including a linear city called The Line, managed by a multitude of AI systems, and it is supposed to become a paragon of urban sustainability. These cities of the future will feature self-driving vehicles transporting people, robots cooking and serving food and algorithms predicting your behaviour to anticipate your needs.</p>
<p>These visions resonate with the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00420980231203386">concept of the autonomous city</a> which refers to urban spaces where AI autonomously performs social and managerial functions with humans out of the loop.</p>
<p>We need to remember that autonomy is a zero sum game. As the autonomy of AI grows, ours decreases and the rise of autonomous cities risks severely undermining our role in urban governance. A city run not by humans but by AIs would challenge the autonomy of human stakeholders, as it would also challenge many people’s wellbeing. </p>
<p>Are you going to qualify for a home mortgage and be able to buy a property to raise a family? Will you be able to secure life insurance? Is your name on a list of suspects that the police are going to target? Today the answers to these questions are already influenced by AI. In the future, should the autonomous city become the dominant reality, AI could become the sole arbiter.</p>
<p>AI needs cities to keep devouring our data. As citizens, it is now time to carefully question the spectre of the autonomous city as part of an expanded public debate, and ask one very simple question: do we really need AI to make our cities sustainable?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Federico Cugurullo 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>AI could take us beyond the concept of smart cities, telling us how and why things happen in urban settings.Federico Cugurullo, Assistant Professor in Smart and Sustainable Urbanism, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2192802023-12-13T13:36:15Z2023-12-13T13:36:15ZBig-box retail chains were never a solution for America’s downtowns − and now they’re fleeing back to suburbia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564994/original/file-20231211-89932-pedkqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C2032%2C1529&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Merchandise is locked in cases to guard against theft in a Target store in New York City on Sept. 23, 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/target-retail-stores-in-new-york-city-have-installed-locked-news-photo/1726478336">Deb Cohn-Orbach/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Holiday shopping is in full swing, but city dwellers may have fewer options for buying in person than they did a few years ago. That’s because many large chain stores are pulling out of central cities. </p>
<p>This trend has been building for several years. Target made national headlines in 2018 when it closed its store in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/30/business/target-baltimore-store-closings.html">predominantly Black Baltimore neighborhood</a> after just 10 years of operation. COVID-19 sped things up by cutting foot traffic in city centers and boosting online commerce. </p>
<p>Target has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/12/business/target-closing-us-cities-crime-dg/index.html">closed additional stores</a> in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-store-closings-2023-full-list">Walmart</a>, <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/retailers/cvs-is-permanently-closing-hundreds-of-stores-for-a-surprising-reason">CVS</a>, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2023/11/29/rite-aid-store-closures-grow/71744831007/">Rite Aid</a> and Walgreens have also closed many urban stores.</p>
<p>Closures have spread to many suburbs and small towns. Retailers saddled with high debt, overexpansion, <a href="https://nrf.com/research/national-retail-security-survey-2023">shoplifting losses</a>, slumping sales and <a href="https://www.jpmorganchase.com/institute/research/cities-local-communities/post-covid-consumer-spending-in-new-york-city">online competition</a> are shedding stores fast. But this contraction lopsidedly affects city dwellers, who often lack the shopping options and price competition suburbanites enjoy. </p>
<p>Many news reports, particularly from conservative outlets, have <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/manhattan-retail-is-getting-destroyed-by-shoplifting/">blamed lawlessness</a> and <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-root-causes-of-san-franciscos-disorder-crime-homeless-911-auto-theift-public-disorder-a45b170c">weak leadership by progressive city governments</a>. In my view, however, there’s another important factor: flawed corporate strategies.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L6g-mJe90pI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">As big-box chain drugstores close in St. Louis, an independent pharmacy works to fill the gap with more personal service.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The self-service revolution</h2>
<p>The concept of letting shoppers serve themselves dates back to 1879, when Frank W. Woolworth <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/february/woolsworth">opened his first store in Utica, New York</a>. Its successors grew into the F.W. Woolworth chain of “five-and-dime” discount dry goods stores, which became fixtures of hundreds of cities, suburbs and small towns in the early 20th century. </p>
<p>Food stores followed suit in the early 1900s, beginning with the <a href="https://www.supermarketnews.com/archive/early-stores-pioneer-self-service-concept">Alpha Beta chain</a> in California in 1914 and <a href="https://mypigglywiggly.com/aboutus/">Piggly Wiggly</a> in Tennessee in 1916. Instead of having clerks gather customers’ orders from store shelves, these stores let shoppers loose in the aisles, then allowed them to pay at the end of their visit.</p>
<p>This approach seeded the meteoric rise of “big box” stores like <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/markets/history-of-walmart-15092339">Walmart</a> and <a href="https://corporate.target.com/about/purpose-history/history-timeline?era=2">Target</a> in the mid-20th century. With their low manufacturing costs, streamlined logistics, minimally staffed stores, national advertising and vast inventories, big-box chains <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/11/19/165295840/the-past-and-future-of-americas-biggest-retailers">drove many small retailers out of business</a> – and most Woolworth stores, too. </p>
<p>Self-service came to rule the suburbs, where big chains could build mega-stores with plenty of parking. But they were rare in central cities for most of the 20th century, except for a few affluent enclaves, such as West Los Angeles or Chicago’s North Side. Generally, these chains avoided poor neighborhoods and many downtowns altogether. </p>
<p>As shoppers increasingly gravitated to suburban malls, many urban neighborhoods became <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-return-of-urban-retail-deserts">retail deserts</a>, with few vendors meeting local needs. Those that endured, often run by small-scale entrepreneurs, typically were businesses that offered a single type of product, such as grocery stores, delicatessens or pharmacies. </p>
<h2>Chains discover downtowns</h2>
<p>Harvard management professor <a href="https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6532">Michael Porter</a> drew attention to the lack of retail services in densely populated urban neighborhoods in a seminal 1995 article, “<a href="https://hbr.org/1995/05/the-competitive-advantage-of-the-inner-city">The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City</a>.” Economic development, Porter argued, was key to revitalizing inner cities – and these zones housed a lot of potential customers.</p>
<p>“Even though average inner city incomes are relatively low, high population density translates into an immense market with substantial purchasing power,” Porter wrote. “Ultimately, what will attract the inner city consumer more than anything else is a new breed of company that is not small and high-cost but a professionally managed major business employing the latest in technology, marketing, and management techniques.” </p>
<p>Chains of many kinds began to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132231472/big-box-retailers-move-to-smaller-stores-in-cities">rediscover the central city market</a> in the early 2000s. <a href="https://nyc-business.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/reduce-operating-expenses">Tax breaks</a> and subsidized redevelopment projects often greased the wheels. Urban gentrifiers were reliably drawn to new urban chain stores like Target, Walmart and Whole Foods.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/cLCAmoR6BL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Many small retail shops now faced a juggernaut of national chains. One example was <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.4588">independent pharmacies</a>: Between 2009 and 2015, 1 in 4 urban pharmacies in low-income neighborhoods closed.</p>
<p>And chain stores often failed to generate major benefits for their new neighborhoods. Employees had few chances for advancement beyond <a href="https://www.epi.org/press/new-company-wage-tracker-shows-low-wages-are-the-norm-at-large-retail-and-food-service-employers/">minimum-wage hourly work</a>. Clustering of chain stores in prosperous neighborhoods and business districts failed to address “food deserts” <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2011/december/data-feature-mapping-food-deserts-in-the-u-s/">in impoverished areas</a>.</p>
<h2>Broken big boxes</h2>
<p>Certain qualities that made chains so successful – national sales strategies, self-service stores and brand awareness – are proving to be liabilities in today’s more complicated and divided urban context. </p>
<p>Retail executives and their <a href="https://nrf.com/advocacy/policy-issues/organized-retail-crime">trade associations</a> have cited excessive shoplifting losses and weak law enforcement as factors in urban store closures, even though they have conspicuously <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/12/shoplifting-holiday-theft-panic/621108/">failed to provide shoplifting data</a> by location. There are signs, moreover, that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/business/organized-shoplifting-retail-crime-theft-retraction.html">shoplifting is receding</a>, except for in a few large cities like New York.</p>
<p><iframe id="nnu49" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nnu49/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In my opinion, there are three reasons why city chain stores are closing at such a high rate compared with those in suburbs.</p>
<p>First, despite job recovery in many cities since the pandemic, low-income urban households remain in crisis, with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/realestate/rent-burdened-american-households.html">high rents</a> and inflation driving up the cost of essentials. According to the nonprofit Brookings Institution, 9.6% of suburban residents lived in poverty in 2022, compared with about <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/post-pandemic-poverty-is-rising-in-americas-suburbs/">16.2% in primary cities</a>. Widespread poverty in a city like Baltimore, for instance, is reflected in the <a href="https://mdfoodbank.org/hunger-in-maryland/maryland-hunger-map/">concentration of food banks</a> on the west and east sides. </p>
<p>Less disposable income, compounded by shoplifting losses, can lead to store closures – especially since national chains like Target and Walmart expect the dollar value of sales from stores that have been open for more than a year to <a href="https://www.wallstreetmojo.com/same-store-sales/">increase steadily over time</a>. </p>
<p>Second, urban chains clustered too many of their own branches close together or too near other chains – usually in high-income residential or business districts. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/business/media/09adco.html">Manhattan below 96th Street</a> is a clear example of this pattern. With affluent customers shifting to online shopping, and reduced foot traffic overall thanks to remote work, this aggressive strategy has failed. </p>
<p>Third, widely distributed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/07/business/shoplifting-surge-hype-nightcap/index.html">media images of rampant shoplifting</a> send a message at odds with these chains’ powerful brand images of order, safety and standardization. A <a href="https://counciloncj.org/shoplifting-trends-what-you-need-to-know/">small but rising share</a> of shoplifting incidents since 2019 have involved assaults or other crimes. These events have the potential to <a href="https://www.vox.com/money/23938554/shoplifting-organized-retail-crime-walmart-target-theft-laws">scare executives</a> concerned about employee lawsuits. Chains want urban locations but not “urban” reputations. </p>
<h2>Retail flight</h2>
<p>Large retail chains have finally figured out that cities aren’t suburbs. Those that remain are adding staff, scaling back self-checkout, checking receipts at exits and <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11949025/why-are-retail-stores-locking-up-basic-necessities">locking down higher-priced goods</a> – essentially, abandoning the self-service model. However, these costly measures won’t bring back online-addicted shoppers or daily commuters, nor will they put more money in struggling consumers’ pockets.</p>
<p>Responding to retail association pressure, some city and state governments are imposing <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/11/organized-retail-crime-nine-states-pass-laws-to-crack-down-on-theft.html">stricter punishments for shoplifting</a> and cracking down on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RIjWTO2Yz4">black-market vending</a> on sites like Amazon and eBay. However, it isn’t clear that this get-tough approach can or should rescue the big-box model, since these stores failed to create safe, secure shopping environments in the first place.</p>
<p>As I see it, the urban chain store implosion raises questions about whether suburban-style retail really does much for cities. These stores are mediocre job creators, undercut local entrepreneurs, often <a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2022/9/13/mainstreet-vs-chain-stores-a-western-north-carolina-analysis">pay relatively low property taxes</a> and build ugly parking lots. They also don’t provide the kind of “<a href="https://medium.com/i-cities/eyes-on-the-street-ab12b39b960b">eyes on the street</a>” local security that small-scale shopkeepers do. In fact, their parking lots and open aisles seem to <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/yonkers-shoplifting-big-box-stores/">attract disorder</a>.</p>
<p>Shoehorning suburban-style stores into urban neighborhoods now looks like a Band-Aid for much deeper urban problems. In my view, city leaders would do better to focus on <a href="https://www.recastyourcity.com/">building local capacity</a> and protecting smaller stores that usually have greater local wealth-building potential, more reasonable growth expectations and the kind of personal service that <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/how-retail-crime-impacts-business-16720683.php">naturally deters shoplifting</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219280/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Dagen Bloom 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>Shoplifting has been hyped as a driver of chain-store closures, but did these companies ever really understand urban environments in the first place?Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, Hunter CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2169842023-12-03T13:27:45Z2023-12-03T13:27:45ZWhy Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge is missing the mark<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561611/original/file-20231124-25-nmarof.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1121%2C0%2C5620%2C3495&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Smart Cities Challenge is designed to address complex economic, environmental and social problems.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-canadas-smart-cities-challenge-is-missing-the-mark" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The Canadian federal government launched the <a href="https://impact.canada.ca/en/node/117">Smart Cities Challenge in 2017</a> to award up to $50 million to municipal governments that are best able to leverage technology to improve life in their cities. </p>
<p>The challenge is part of the government’s <a href="https://impact.canada.ca/en/about">Impact Canada Initiative</a>, which aims to address complex economic, environmental and social problems across the country. </p>
<p>During the challenge, hundreds of municipalities from across Canada submit their ideas for improving their communities. The <a href="https://impact.canada.ca/en/challenges/smart-cities/results">winners receive grants</a> to further develop their innovative ideas into final proposals. <a href="https://montreal.ca/en/articles/montreal-common-city-laboratory-15119">Montréal in Common</a> is the result of the city winning the grand prize $50 million in 2019.</p>
<p>After four years, the government is planning on hosting the second round of the challenge. <a href="https://www.budget.canada.ca/2023/pdf/budget-2023-en.pdf">This year’s federal budget quietly allocated funds</a> for the next one to be announced later this year, the details of which are currently sparse.</p>
<p>If we have learned anything in the interim, it’s that “smart cities” are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/9781787691391">rarely as intelligent and beneficial as the idea seems</a>, and often prioritize <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262538589/too-smart/">private companies’ profit over social good</a>.</p>
<h2>‘Smart cities’ terminology</h2>
<p>The Smart Cities Challenge is missing the mark on a few key fronts. First is the term itself — the very origins of the term “smart city” are a private sector marketing gimmick. When <a href="https://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/">IBM coined the phrase “smarter cities” in 2009</a>, it referred less to intelligence and more to <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2019/06/smart-cities-dreams-capable-of-becoming-nightmares/">the specific set of technologies</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsu011">IBM wanted to sell</a>. </p>
<p>It is clear that this kind of tech firm marketing <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-rio-de-janeiro-a-test-for-the-intelligence-of-smart-cities/">continues to influence</a> how city administrators approach urban problems. Framing urban problems in a way that suggests they can be resolved solely through technical solutions often overlooks the underlying causes of these issues.</p>
<p>For example, if a city government treats homelessness as an issue of <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/can-artificial-intelligence-help-end-homelessness">missing data</a> or a <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2020/09/access-to-mobile-technology-could-help-to-alleviate.html">WiFi connectivity gap</a>, rather than a result of soaring housing costs, degrading tenants’ rights and labour precarity, then homelessness will inevitably persist. While businesses may profit by offering technology “solutions,” the core issues remain unaddressed.</p>
<p>Instead, urban problems need to be treated as deeply rooted political issues requiring deliberation, political struggle and democratic empowerment.</p>
<h2>Focusing on community needs</h2>
<p>Although public spending on the next challenge will shape Canadian cities for generations, there is little transparency about the process, and less accountability than should be expected. If you search for information about the new challenge you will come up empty-handed — let alone if you try to get involved. </p>
<p>Contrast this with Barcelona’s smart city approach, which, while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019872119">not perfect</a>, has made <a href="https://www.here.com/learn/blog/barcelona-smart-city-2020">e-democracy central to its smart city plan</a>. </p>
<p>E-democracy uses technology to address some of the foundational limits of democratic participation, like <a href="https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/e-democracy/">problems of scale, limited time availability, declining community engagement and a lack of opportunities for policy deliberation</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A waterfront city at dusk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561610/original/file-20231124-27-gk8c2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canada should take inspiration from cities like Barcelona that are attempting to use a more democratic approach to smart city planning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The high-profile debacle of <a href="https://www.sidewalklabs.com/toronto">Sidewalk Toronto</a> serves as a cautionary tale for what can happen when smart city projects are distracted by the allure of smartness, instead of focusing on community needs.</p>
<p>Sidewalk Labs is an New York-based urban planning firm that set out to develop a neighbourhood in Toronto. The project was plagued by a <a href="https://biancawylie.medium.com/sidewalk-toronto-the-plan-a-final-note-on-its-history-method-and-trajectory-9bdcb22e7088">variety of problems</a>, including an <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/sidewalk-labs-urban-data-trust-is-problematic-says-ontario-privacy-commissioner/article_ae44fec0-2180-58f3-8799-196a034707ce.html">exploitative data collection and ownership model</a>. In 2020, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sidewalk-labs-cancels-project-1.5559370">the project was called off</a>.</p>
<p>As Canada gears up for another round of its Smart Cities Challenge, policymakers need to look past the hype and glitz of smart technology, prioritize Canadian communities’ needs and strengthen democratic participation in urban planning. </p>
<h2>The next Smart Cities Challenge</h2>
<p>With these challenges in mind, what options does the Canadian federal government have in formulating its next Smart Cities Challenge? </p>
<p>First, the government should consider jettisoning the smart cities label altogether. <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487527174/digital-injustice-in-the-smart-city/">Some have argued</a> there is no rescuing the term from its profit-seeking origins. Using a different, more benign equivalent could signal that people’s needs are what’s important, not companies’ bottom lines. </p>
<p>When considering different titles, “digital cities” is <a href="https://oxfordre.com/communication/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-1083">not entirely guilt-free</a>, but has had a less contentious historical lineage that makes it an apt alternative. </p>
<p>Emerging in policy discussions during the 1990s, the digital cities movement was diverse in its planning goals. Its overarching aim was to explore how technologies could enhance cross-cultural communication, extend economic market transactions and provide deeper insights into how cities work.</p>
<p>Other nomenclature could de-centre technology altogether to acknowledge the goal isn’t digital smartness at all: “equitable cities,” “just cities,” or “healthy cities,” for example.</p>
<p>An examination of the proposals from the first Smart Cities Challenge reveals that municipalities were driven by community needs, not technology. Guelph and Wellington’s proposal about addressing food insecurity <a href="https://guelph.ca/wp-content/uploads/SmartCities_Booklet.pdf">only mentioned technology a few times</a>. Nunavut’s proposal involved <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/cities-villes/winners-gagnants/10m-nunavut-eng.html">suicide prevention</a>, a long-standing issue in its communities.</p>
<p>If the Smart Cities Challenge focused less on the “smartness” of technology, and more on substantive issues, cities would have had more freedom to articulate their challenges outside the confines of digital solutions.</p>
<h2>Community input is key</h2>
<p>Second, when designing the new challenge, tech companies should be all but absent from the table. Instead of hearing from the tech sector, the government should hear from community associations, non-profit organizations, civil groups, planners and urban policymakers. </p>
<p>Policymakers need to recognize that urban planning policies <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300223804/undoing-optimization/">should not be limited by what we think is possible with digital technologies</a>. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095213513579">democratic debates that lead us to recognize and address urban problems</a> must be the foundation, context and ultimate goal of any related digital cities program. </p>
<p>In other words, the technology needs to come second, and technology companies must contribute after the problems are already framed. The smart city must be just “smart enough” and no more, in <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262538961/the-smart-enough-city/">data scientist Ben Green’s words</a>. A reconfigured Smart Cities Challenge could potentially support these processes.</p>
<p>The Canadian government has some difficult decisions to make, but there are clear paths forward to avoid the pitfalls that characterized the first 14 years of “smart cities.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216984/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Burns receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Calgary Institute for the Humanities. He is affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science as a Science & Technology Policy Fellow. </span></em></p>The Canadian federal government is pursuing the idea of “smart cities,” but in the wrong way.Ryan Burns, Associate Professor of Geography, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2148202023-12-01T13:41:00Z2023-12-01T13:41:00ZA First Amendment battle looms in Georgia, where the state is framing opposition to a police training complex as a criminal conspiracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560536/original/file-20231120-23-322rcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C5216%2C3469&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bulldozed land at the planned site of a controversial police training facility, with Atlanta in the distance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/section-of-bulldozed-land-is-seen-at-the-planned-site-of-a-news-photo/1246850758">Cheney Orr/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When does lawful protest become criminal activity? That question is at issue in Atlanta, where 57 people have been <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/dozens-indicted-on-georgia-racketeering-charges-related-to-stop-cop-city-movement-appear-in-court">indicted and arraigned on racketeering charges</a> for actions related to their protest against a planned police and firefighter training center that critics call “Cop City.” </p>
<p>Racketeering charges typically are reserved for people accused of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/21/1200898062/rico-case-against-cop-city-protesters-in-atlanta-stirs-concerns-about-free-speec">conspiring toward a criminal goal</a>, such as members of organized crime networks or financiers engaged in insider trading. Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr is attempting to build an argument that seeking to stop construction of the police training facility – through <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/05/cop-city-protesters-racketeering-charges-georgia">actions that include</a> organizing protests, occupying the construction site and vandalizing police cars and construction equipment – constitutes a “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/09/21/1200898062/rico-case-against-cop-city-protesters-in-atlanta-stirs-concerns-about-free-speec">corrupt agreement” or shared criminal goal</a>. </p>
<p>The indictment’s justification is rooted in <a href="https://immigrationhistory.org/item/1903-anti-anarchist-legislation/">long-standing anti-anarchist sentiments within the U.S. government</a>. However, some civil rights organizations <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/rico-and-domestic-terrorism-charges-against-cop-city-activists-send-a-chilling-message">call this combination of charges unprecedented</a>. </p>
<p>As scholars who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pWgCJMMAAAAJ&hl=en">environmental change</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Pellow-2">social justice</a>, we believe the charges seek to suppress typical acts of civil disobedience. They also target grassroots community organizing models and ideas rooted in the practice of mutual aid – people <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11909218/in-2020-mutual-aid-was-in-the-spotlight-how-are-organizers-holding-up-in-2022">organizing collective networks</a> in order to meet each other’s basic needs.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3MekiLV51Rs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The RICO indictment against ‘Cop City’ protesters describes the accused protesters as ‘militant anarchists.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The ‘Stop Cop City’ movement</h2>
<p>“Cop City,” officially known as the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, was <a href="https://atlanta.capitalbnews.org/cop-city-timeline/">first proposed in 2017</a>. The facility is expected to <a href="https://www.atlantaga.gov/Home/Components/News/News/14700/672">cost US$90 million</a> and is located on 85 acres of public land in the Weelaunee Forest, once home to the Indigenous Muscogee Creek peoples. The site is owned by the city of Atlanta but sits on <a href="https://decaturish.com/2022/09/cop-city-explained-a-look-at-the-ongoing-controversy-surrounding-police-training-center/">unincorporated land in DeKalb County</a>, just outside the city.</p>
<p>The opposition campaign has garnered support from activists and environmentalists who are concerned about <a href="https://theconversation.com/militarization-has-fostered-a-policing-culture-that-sets-up-protesters-as-the-enemy-139727">militarization of police forces</a> and potential threats to <a href="https://stopcop.city">the Black community</a>, as well as to <a href="https://defendtheatlantaforest.org">climate resilience</a> in Atlanta. </p>
<p>Members of <a href="https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/">Defend the Atlanta Forest</a>, a decentralized movement of grassroots groups and individuals, argue that the threatened forest provides essential ecological services – filtering rainwater, preventing flooding, providing habitat for wildlife and cooling the city in a time of climate change. </p>
<p>Activists have led protest marches, written letters to elected officials and <a href="https://www.copcityvote.com/updates">organized a referendum</a> for the public to decide the future of the property. Some have camped out in the Welaunee Forest – a method that radical environmental defense groups like <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Earth-First">Earth First!</a> have used to <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/total-liberation">delay or prevent logging</a>. In one instance, activists reportedly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/atlanta-protests-cop-city-georgia-state-of-emergency-forest-defenders/">set construction equipment on fire</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CyeS2xhvy_r/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Authorities have responded with force. </p>
<p>In January 2023, police <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/13/1163272958/cop-city-protester-autopsy-manuel-paez-teran">fatally shot activist Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán</a>, who had been camping on the Cop City site for months. Authorities assert that Terán had shot and wounded a state trooper, while Terán’s family contends that they were <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-charges-troopers-killing-cop-city-activist-manuel-paez-teran-georgia/">protesting peacefully</a>. </p>
<p>An independent autopsy concluded that Teran <a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/04/20/atlanta-cop-city-protester-autopsy/">was shot 57 times</a> while <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/11/1162843992/cop-city-atlanta-activist-autopsy">sitting with hands raised</a>. A prosecutor opted <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cop-city-atlanta-activist-shot-no-charges-421f6fe392a9202523ea154b2ddabb7d">not to file charges</a> against state troopers involved in the shootout, calling their use of deadly force “objectively reasonable.” </p>
<p>Attorney General Carr <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/05/us/cop-city-atlanta-indictment.html">indicted 61 activists</a> on Sept. 5, 2023, under <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2021/title-16/chapter-14/">Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act</a>, which is a <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/what-to-know-about-georgias-rico-law/3Y2PBKLHWFDMLKYFEURTHLBVZY/">broader version</a> of the <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/rico-racketeer-influenced-and-corrupt-organizations-act-statute">1970 federal RICO law</a>. Three defendants have been charged with money laundering for <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/breaking-more-than-60-training-center-activists-named-in-rico-indictment/DQ6B6GHTAJAJRH4SLGIIBAMXR4/">transferring money to protesters</a> occupying the forest around the construction site, and five are charged with <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/breaking-more-than-60-training-center-activists-named-in-rico-indictment/DQ6B6GHTAJAJRH4SLGIIBAMXR4/">domestic terrorism and arson</a>. Some of the accused face up to 20 years in prison.</p>
<p>Clashes between protesters and police have continued. Protesters organized a march for Nov. 13 and were met by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/16/atlanta-police-cop-city-protest-grenades-snipers-terrorism">heavily armed police officers in riot gear</a>. When activists attempted to push past the officers, the police used <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/police-protesters-atlanta-clash-cop-city-rcna124956">tear gas and flash-bang grenades</a>. </p>
<h2>How does RICO apply?</h2>
<p>Georgia’s <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/GAOAG/2023/09/05/file_attachments/2604508/23SC189192%20-%20CRIMINAL%20INDICTMENT.pdf">109-page indictment</a> of “Cop City” protesters paints a broad – and, in our view, troubling – picture of the actions and beliefs that allegedly contributed to what it describes as a corrupt agreement.</p>
<p>The indictment cites the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html">2020 killing of George Floyd</a> by Minneapolis Police as the event that sparked the “conspiracy.” It refers to the Atlanta-based movement as the Defend the Atlanta Forest “Enterprise” and <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/GAOAG/2023/09/05/file_attachments/2604508/23SC189192%20-%20CRIMINAL%20INDICTMENT.pdf">describes participants</a> as engaging with “anarchist” ideas and practices such as “collectivism, mutualism/mutual aid, and social solidarity.”</p>
<p>Protesters use these practices, the indictment asserts, to advance their goal of stopping construction of the training center. As evidence, it <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/GAOAG/2023/09/05/file_attachments/2604508/23SC189192%20-%20CRIMINAL%20INDICTMENT.pdf">cites examples</a>, including posting calls to action on online blogs, reimbursement for printed documents and transferring money to activists for materials such as camping gear, food, communications equipment and, in two instances, ammunition. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a business suit speaking at a microphone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560542/original/file-20231120-22-tq91hf.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">Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr has filed a sweeping RICO indictment against dozens of activists protesting the planned police training site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2022Georgia-AttorneyGeneral/09a8169fb9aa43f8b2c5bbd6d424a13e/photo">AP Photo/John Amis, File</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Threatening First Amendment rights</h2>
<p>As we see it, these activists are being criminalized for their political beliefs and for engaging in activities protected by the First Amendment, such as exercising free speech. Throughout the indictment, the Georgia attorney general uses the term “anarchist,” we believe, as a synonym for “criminal.” </p>
<p>Such language echoes the Immigration Act of 1903, also known as the <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/total-liberation">Anarchist Exclusion Act</a>. This law targeted anarchists for exclusion from the U.S. solely based on their political beliefs. Section 2 of the law states that “anarchists, or persons who believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States or of all governments or all forms of law, shall be <a href="https://immigrationhistory.org/item/1903-anti-anarchist-legislation/">excluded from admission into the United States</a>.” </p>
<p>This wording reflects a widespread view of anarchy as a state of violent disorder. In fact, however, many anarchist thinkers actually proposed to organize society on the basis of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/anarchism">voluntary cooperation</a>, without political institutions or hierarchical government. </p>
<p>Another, broader view of anarchy is that it is an ideology and practice of <a href="https://www.akpress.org/featured-products/black-dawn.html">organizing communities and society</a> in ways that confront any and all forms of oppression, including <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/total-liberation">oppression by government</a>. </p>
<p>Why would such a philosophy be deemed threatening? Consider recent U.S. history.</p>
<h2>The Black Panthers</h2>
<p>In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the federal government sought to repress and criminalize the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-shootout-between-black-panthers-and-law-enforcement-50-years-ago-matters-today-153632">Black Panther Party for Self Defense</a> as part of a covert and illegal <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/COINTELPRO">counterintelligence program, known as COINTELPRO</a>. </p>
<p>The Black Panther Party created extensive <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/body-and-soul">community survival and mutual aid programs</a> for Black communities at a time of ongoing government neglect. Offerings included free access to medical and dental clinics, ambulance service and buses to visit friends and relatives in prison. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tCGA4TLaq8g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Black Panther Party organized dozens of social programs to directly meet local needs in underserved areas like New York’s South Bronx.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Black Panthers’ <a href="https://www.history.com/news/free-school-breakfast-black-panther-party">free breakfast for children program</a> fed thousands of children across the country. In Chicago, local police destroyed food the night before the program was set to begin operations. A memo by an FBI special agent called the program an attempt to “create an image of civility” and “assume community control,” thus <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00045600802683767">threatening the centralized authority</a> of the U.S. government. </p>
<p>Federal agencies relied mainly on covert tactics to surveil, infiltrate and discredit the Black Panther Party. Like the Cop City protesters, the Black Panthers also engaged in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-shootout-between-black-panthers-and-law-enforcement-50-years-ago-matters-today-153632">direct confrontations with police</a>.</p>
<p>However, we see the current use of RICO charges to address political activism and protest activities as a new tactic. </p>
<h2>Future implications</h2>
<p>In our research, we have explored how mutual aid groups establish networks of care and survival in the face of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2022.0104">climate change</a>. We expect mutual aid to become even more important for Black and Indigenous people of color as environmental disasters <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12986">become more frequent</a>.</p>
<p>From our perspective, efforts to stop Cop City demonstrate the interconnection between two critical issues: overpolicing of communities of color and climate change. We see Georgia’s RICO indictment as an attempt to repress social movement activity, using the state’s tools of legal interpretation and enforcement. </p>
<p>Criminalizing collectivism, mutual aid and social solidarity is particularly concerning for historically marginalized populations, who often rely on these tactics for survival. </p>
<p>Seeking to use the state’s political processes, organizers recently collected over 116,000 signatures supporting a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-10-04/-cop-city-referendum-aims-to-repeal-planned-atlanta-police-training-center">ballot referendum</a> that, if approved, would cancel the lease of the city-owned site for the training center.</p>
<p>However, Atlanta officials have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/atlanta-cop-city-referendum-signatures-4b617a220807b6701c9f46745e4762c4">refused to verify those signatures</a> as they await a federal court ruling on whether the organizers missed a key deadline. Meanwhile, Atlanta is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-10-04/-cop-city-referendum-aims-to-repeal-planned-atlanta-police-training-center?sref=Hjm5biAW">already clearing land</a> for construction at the training site.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214820/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>This isn’t the first time that US authorities have criminalized civil disobedience or framed grassroots organizing as a conspiracy.Rachel McKane, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brandeis UniversityDavid Pellow, Department Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies and Director, Global Environmental Justice Project, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2184712023-11-28T22:34:21Z2023-11-28T22:34:21ZIsrael’s ground offensive in Gaza City is ignoring the past lessons of urban warfare<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/israels-ground-offensive-in-gaza-city-is-ignoring-the-past-lessons-of-urban-warfare" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Mediators are seeking to extend the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-28-2023-a909a0a0c9c76ce80d1ff3e94bbe2ec4">truce between Israel and Hamas</a> beyond Wednesday amid the exchange of hostages for prisoners. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-releases-israeli-thai-hostages-under-temporary-truce-2023-11-26/">resume the war with “full force”</a> when the truce ends.</p>
<p>Hamas’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67480680">terrorist attack on Oct. 7</a> and Israel’s subsequent aerial bombardment and direct ground operation in Gaza on Oct. 27 have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-israel-gaza-conflict-is-so-hard-to-talk-about-216149">polarized world debate</a>. This has led to a dearth of critical analysis on the conflict. One area where this has been poignantly clear is the lack of attention paid to the tactical problems that Israel’s incursion in Gaza faces.</p>
<h2>The challenges of urban warfare</h2>
<p>Urban warfare is not a new phenomenon. The Iliad, <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6130">for example</a>, deals with the problems an army encounters in attacking a fortified city. Although much has changed with regards to urban warfare since the Late Bronze Age, one factor has not: urban warfare <a href="https://mwi.westpoint.edu/the-eight-rules-of-urban-warfare-and-why-we-must-work-to-change-them/">favours the defender</a>.</p>
<p>In any military campaign, knowledge of the terrain is of paramount significance. This fact of military operations is even <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338897778_The_Role_of_Terrain_and_Terrain_Analysis_on_Military_Operations_in_the_Late_Twentieth_to_Early_Twenty-First_Century_A_Case_Study_of_Selected_IDF_Battles">more important</a> in battles against guerrilla forces.</p>
<p>Israel magnified the problem of the urban environment in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks. Since that time, Israel has conducted an <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/news/israels-really-big-bombs-strike-123606995.html">extensive bombing campaign</a> of the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>Counterintuitively, massive bombardment of urban areas can actually work to a defender’s advantage. International attention, rightfully, is on the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/11/1212326333/proportionality-israel-gaza-war-war-crimes">number of civilians killed</a> in the bombing campaign. While bombs can be guided with increased confidence that they will hit their target, the destruction that they will create is more uncertain. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211571220/israel-gaza-damage-map-satellite-imagery">At least a third</a> of the buildings in Gaza City, if not more, have either been destroyed or damaged.</p>
<p>The debris created by artillery and bombing campaigns aids the defender in two ways. First, debris creates natural choke points and fortifications that the defender can use to control the movement of the aggressor. It can even be to a defender’s advantage <a href="https://mwi.westpoint.edu/defending-the-city-an-overview-of-defensive-tactics-from-the-modern-history-of-urban-warfare/">to intentionally destroy buildings</a> to help funnel attacking forces.</p>
<p>Second, the defender has much more <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/pdf/AD1127602.pdf">intimate knowledge</a> of their own city. Unlike an aggressor, which must rely on outside knowledge, the defender knows the city in ways that can only come from firsthand knowledge. The defender, therefore, will know how to bypass the destruction and roadblocks in ways that are impossible for the aggressor.</p>
<h2>Gaza City is not a standard city</h2>
<p>The above issues would be a factor in any urban warfare campaign. Gaza City, however, is not a standard urban environment. Hamas has, in fact, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-hamas-aims-trap-israel-gaza-quagmire-2023-11-03/">prepared the city</a> for precisely the type of operation Israel is now conducting.</p>
<p>The major issue the Israeli military will face in attacking Gaza City is the extensive tunnel network. According to Hamas, the tunnel network is over <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-gaza-tunnels-israel-hamas/">500 kilometers</a> in length. Israel claims the tunnels are so extensive that they even <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-army-displays-tunnel-beneath-al-shifa-it-says-served-hamas-hideout-2023-11-22/">extend into</a> the al-Shifa hospital in their attempt to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/15/israels-raid-on-al-shifa-hospital-heres-what-you-should-know">justify their decision to raid</a> it as a viable military target.</p>
<p>The tunnels serve two purposes. First, they enable large segments of Hamas to wait out the bombing campaign. Israel has made the elimination of the tunnels a top priority, using specially <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/with-mapping-robots-blast-gel-israel-wages-war-hamas-tunnels-2023-11-16/">designed munitions, ground forces and robots</a> to map and destroy the tunnels. The scale of the tunnels makes such a task, however, difficult, if not impossible.</p>
<p>Second the tunnels will allow Hamas to deploy its forces in ways that are impossible for the Israeli military. The extensive nature of the tunnels, and the resulting ability of Hamas to move troops and equipment through them, has caused the Israeli military to refer to it as the “<a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47754">Gaza Metro</a>.” Much like a metro line, it allows one to bypass clogged streets, in this case caused by the Israeli bombardment, and redeploy elsewhere.</p>
<h2>The call to reserves</h2>
<p>Israel’s military does possess some highly capable units. Israel’s <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/israeli-air-force-one-of-world-s-most-professional-german-chief-tells-post/ar-AA1jBVuZ">air force</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-sends-special-forces-into-gaza-long-war-hamas-2023-10?op=1">special forces</a>, for example, are amongst the most professional and capable in the world. This capability, however, does not extend to the bulk of the Israeli army.</p>
<p>Urban warfare, by its nature, requires a high degree of co-ordination and discipline by the soldiers conducting such operations. This is not the current nature of the Israeli army, at least as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israeli-military-vulnerable-war-hamas/675591/">constituted for its campaign</a> against the Gaza Strip. Israel, to conduct the operation, had to bolster its army by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/10/israel-military-draft-reservists/">recalling 360,000 reservists</a> for active duty. </p>
<p>While many of the reservists <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-reservists-drop-everything-rush-home-following-hamas-bloodshed-2023-10-12/">were enthusiastic</a> in their response to the call-up, enthusiasm does not equate with discipline and the ability to co-ordinate with other branches and units.</p>
<p>Problems created by ill-discipline and underpreparedness is exactly what Hamas seeks from Israel at this juncture. Hamas’s leaders <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/08/world/middleeast/hamas-israel-gaza-war.html">wanted to bring the Palestinian cause</a> to the forefront of international attention. Actions undertaken by ill-disciplined and undertrained troops will only keep Palestine at the forefront of international attention.</p>
<p>The temporary ceasefire, while hopeful in that it shows <a href="https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-27-23/index.html">negotiation is possible</a> between both sides, does not dramatically alter the urban environment. While Israel may <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/21/analysis-how-israel-could-gain-from-a-pause-in-the-gaza-war">replenish the supplies</a> that it expended in the initial bombardment and attack, this does not appreciably change the above constrictions. In fact, it may, for the reasons outlined above, magnify the problems. Given <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/11/middleeast/maps-population-density-gaza-israel-dg/index.html">Gaza City’s urban density</a> it will be the civilian population, more than Hamas, that suffers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Horncastle 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>Urban warfare and the extensive tunnel network in Gaza benefit Hamas and pose a major challenge to the Israeli military.James Horncastle, Assistant Professor and Edward and Emily McWhinney Professor in International Relations, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2171552023-11-20T21:11:36Z2023-11-20T21:11:36ZThe 15-minute city is a popular planning approach, but relies on ableist assumptions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559829/original/file-20231116-20-8b0gta.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Designing cities around the amount of time needed to reach services and amenities is a popular planning approach.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-15-minute-city-is-a-popular-planning-approach-but-relies-on-ableist-assumptions" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The 15-minute city is a popular urban planning concept that promotes people living close to essential services, and encourages the use of walking and biking. Public transit is sometimes included in the transport mix, preferred to automobiles, which are largely absent.</p>
<p>Developed around 2016 by Paris-based urbanist <a href="https://www.moreno-web.net/">Carlos Moreno</a>, the idea of the 15-minute city has spread globally. Moreno subscribes to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X14535905">chrono-urbanism</a>, or the idea of organizing cities around time including the 15-minute city.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQ2f4sJVXAI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Urbanist Carlos Moreno describes the 15-minute city approach.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For his work, Moreno has received numerous accolades and negative attention, particularly from the political <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/28/technology/carlos-moreno-15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theories.html">right and conspiracy theorists</a> claiming it will restrict people’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-15-minute-city-conspiracy-162fd388f0c435a8289cc9ea213f92ee">freedom of movement</a>.</p>
<p>Moreno isn’t the only contemporary urbanist who thinks about time as a key organizing principle for the design of sustainable cities. Variations on the theme include: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.05.005">15-minute walkable neighbourhoods</a>, the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/129">20-minute city</a>, the <a href="https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/21630">30-minute city</a>, and so on. </p>
<p>None of these, however, have gained as much traction as the 15-minute city. Moreno’s work has been plugged into the global <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4010006">conversation about UN Sustainable Development Goal 11</a>: making cities and communities “<a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11">inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable</a>.”</p>
<p>Can one planning concept possibly lead us toward sustainable and inclusive urban futures? </p>
<h2>Health, time and the past</h2>
<p>One unifying feature of the 15-minute city — or 20-, or 30-minute city — seems to be that by making most everyday activities doable by moving actively over shorter distances, we will become healthier. Research has already shown that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2015.04.005">driving less will likely produce health benefits for some people</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heart-health-design-cities-differently-and-it-can-help-us-live-longer-162038">Heart health: design cities differently and it can help us live longer</a>
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<p>Another area of consensus appears to be that these approaches, employed globally, will successfully treat our <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203107683-1/understanding-twenty-first-century-urban-transformation-elliott-sclar-nicole-volavka-close">largely urban</a> and catastrophic engagement with the environment. </p>
<p>While the 15-minute city might be considered revelatory by some, the relationship between cities and time is as old as cities. In the North American context, before the car and before and during the <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442679351/ride-to-modernity/">bike boom of the 1890s</a>, amenities and services were located close to where people lived.</p>
<h2>Ableism and disability</h2>
<p>I think about planning, cities and transportation through a critical ableist and disability studies lens. My lived experience as a parent of a disabled child also informs my <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2023.2279488">research on urban accessibility</a>. </p>
<p>When considering the 15-minute city, I think about the relationship between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.17">ableism</a> — the practices and abilities considered <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203366974">normative by society</a> and the social model of disability. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-86058-6">social model of disability</a> — one of several frameworks — is the idea that disability is produced by discriminatory barriers in society. Ableism produces disability.</p>
<p>The 15-minute city relies on residents’ abilities to walk and bike. This raises several questions: What if a resident’s body <a href="https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v42i1.8276">doesn’t walk or bike</a> in what is considered a normative sense? What if someone <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2022.103521">uses a mobility device or moves at a slower pace</a>? What if a resident requires <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2021.04.005">public or school transportation vehicles to be adapted</a>? </p>
<p>There is no universality to 15 minutes spent in any city. Marginalized people, for example, are more likely to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103003">harassed</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2023.103576">over-policed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a green wall with handwritten graffiti saying 15 MINUTE CITIES R EVIL WILL TAKE OUR FREEDOM" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559831/original/file-20231116-27-rt97p3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Graffiti in a Weston-super-Mare, U.K. bus shelter referring to conspiracy theories about 15-minute cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Planning policy and regulation</h2>
<p>Urban planning and city building occur with a regulatory context. The 15-minute city is unlikely to materialize without professional scrutiny and regulatory compliance. </p>
<p>In Ontario, the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/05a11">Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act</a>, the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/110191">Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation</a>, the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/120332">Ontario Building Code</a> and zoning by-laws regulate accessibility in cities. The <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-code">Ontario Human Rights Code</a> — which prohibits discrimination — protects the right of equal access to services. </p>
<p>The details of this regulatory environment reveal an emphasis on physical disability and serious <a href="https://aoda.ca/recommendations-in-the-third-review-of-the-aoda/">limitations</a> in terms of revision and enforcement. It would therefore be foolish to rely on such a relatively inflexibly narrow regulatory environment to make up for any ableist limitations of planning concepts used to shape sustainable, inclusive urban futures. </p>
<h2>Educating planners</h2>
<p>Disability is often an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X231175595">afterthought in planning education and practice</a>. Perhaps this reflects a lack of representation of disability, and disabled persons in planning education and professional practice. </p>
<p>Designing sustainable, inclusive urban futures, however, requires inclusive education, thinking, rhetoric and design from the beginning. My challenge to those involved in urban design and planning — including planners, engineers, geographers and architects — is to consider what cities or neighbourhoods might look like when <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Doing-Disability-Differently-An-alternative-handbook-on-architecture-disability/Boys/p/book/9780415824958">designed</a> with <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-architecture-of-disability">disability in mind</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ron Buliung 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 idea of the 15-minute city has become popular globally. But this approach relies on ableist assumptions and doesn’t reflect inclusive urban design.Ron Buliung, Professor, Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2165312023-11-17T03:12:35Z2023-11-17T03:12:35ZUrban planning has long ignored women’s experiences. Here are 5 ways we can make our cities safer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557955/original/file-20231107-267416-33aa34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C6%2C4473%2C3004&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/back-view-young-brunette-woman-going-759316678">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women consistently raise <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/425309">concerns about their safety</a> when moving through their cities and communities.</p>
<p>Women <a href="https://www.standup-international.com/au/en/facts">often experience harassment</a> in the street, which can lead them to avoid areas and adjust their lifestyles to feel safe. </p>
<p>Based on our research, here are five ways we can make cities safer for women.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-lighting-alone-does-not-create-safer-cities-look-at-what-research-with-young-women-tells-us-113359">More lighting alone does not create safer cities. Look at what research with young women tells us</a>
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<h2>1. Don’t just invest in lighting and surveillance</h2>
<p>Underlying the desire for lighting and surveillance is women’s concern about the inappropriate (real or anticipated) <a href="https://theconversation.com/catcalls-homophobia-and-racism-we-studied-why-people-and-especially-men-engage-in-street-harassment-183717">behaviour of men</a> and young people in public places. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-lighting-alone-does-not-create-safer-cities-look-at-what-research-with-young-women-tells-us-113359">emerging studies</a> reveal that strategies solely concerned with improved lighting or surveillance are not the only pathways to reducing worry or fear for women. </p>
<p>In fact, the public investment in CCTV with regard to women’s safety may do <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-cctv-footage-help-or-hinder-the-reduction-of-violence-against-women-67137">more harm than good</a>.</p>
<p>The women we surveyed recognised that young people have a right to use public places, but they also said antisocial behaviour from young men, particularly in groups, created significant apprehension, fear and avoidance of places, especially at night.</p>
<p>One participant told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think it’s mainly that drug-affected type of people. And they hang around in a bunch. And people who are affected by alcohol […] they’ll be boisterous.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two streetlights light up a dark, misty night" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558203/original/file-20231108-19-yek2cf.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">Increased street lighting is not the be all and end all for making women feel safer in cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/street-lights-misty-evening-glowing-dark-2014774082">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>While CCTV can reduce property crime, it does not appear effective in addressing women’s safety or for preventing violence and assault.</p>
<p>It may also <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-create-safer-cities-for-everyone-we-need-to-avoid-security-that-threatens-93421">further exclude some members of the communtiy</a> – particularly women from diverse backgrounds.</p>
<p>Instead, <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/safe-spaces-understanding-and-enhancing-safety-and-inclusion-for-diverse-women">studies suggest</a> that improving safety for women requires a shift in overall strategy, moving away from short-term hardware fixes such as installing CCTV and more lighting. </p>
<h2>2. Consider the role of technology</h2>
<p>Women are keen to see digital interventions across both day and night-time. </p>
<p>They see <a href="https://theconversation.com/transport-apps-are-being-hailed-as-a-sustainable-alternative-to-driving-but-theyre-not-female-friendly-181972">real-time information for public transport</a> as vital for their confidence in public spaces. </p>
<p>When combined with well-designed <a href="https://wayfoundvictoria.vic.gov.au/what-is-wayfinding/">wayfinding</a> – such as lighting, footpaths, landscaping and signage – women said they would feel safer. </p>
<p>Increasingly, lighting and digital interactivity are being <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-05-28/we-need-more-public-space-for-teen-girls?utm_content=citylab&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic">combined in public placemaking</a> to enhance women’s safety.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-create-cities-for-slowing-down-75689">We should create cities for slowing down</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>3. Design spaces with women, for women</h2>
<p>Women have been denied a say in their own communities for too long.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/safe-spaces-understanding-and-enhancing-safety-and-inclusion-for-diverse-women">co-design workshop</a> is an approach that aims to engage stakeholders with the people that will benefit from the design outcomes. In this case, it’s women.</p>
<p>Most often a co-design workshop will include high-level decision-makers, planners, designers and various user groups. </p>
<p>If done from the outset, co-design ensures the lived experiences of community members and with the issues faced by communities are factored in. </p>
<p>It’s also an inclusive, collaborative and creative method. </p>
<p>One of our survey participants said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My favourite experience in the workshop was just being able to meet all the different women who I probably wouldn’t have met without the workshop. I think just having a space like – creating a space like that is one of the first steps so that women can gather and meet.</p>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stands in front of a passing train" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560102/original/file-20231117-15-rfgwi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Women value live tracking of public transport to make them feel safer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-girl-passenger-longboard-standing-on-2027228648">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>4. Use ‘walking interviews’</h2>
<p>A walking interview, as opposed to a regular sit-down interview or focus group, can help communities understand what makes women feel safe.</p>
<p>This helps us develop an understanding not only of the physical nature of public places evoking concern, but also of the ways in which different women, and indeed different user groups, engage with each other in a physical place.</p>
<p>The development of <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-create-cities-for-slowing-down-75689">place-based strategies</a> – collaborative design to help build a sense of place – can encourage inclusion and safety for women from different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, life stages and abilities.</p>
<p>By accompanying women on foot and discussing specific locations, we get a holistic understanding about how women move through these public places, or avoid them, and why.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-1-3-billion-for-womens-safety-in-the-budget-and-its-nowhere-near-enough-180256">There's $1.3 billion for women's safety in the budget and it's nowhere near enough</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>5. Survey the right people, with the right questions</h2>
<p>Understanding the way women perceive their communities is key to creating safer spaces.</p>
<p>Community safety surveys are particularly useful for understanding the prevalence of attitudes, sentiments and feelings at one point in time. They can then be repeated each year to track changes over time. </p>
<p>If designed well, community safety surveys can be an effective tool to understand perceptions and experiences of safety and inclusion for women from all backgrounds. </p>
<p>But the survey must be diverse and inclusive.</p>
<p>Our research, the <a href="https://www.monash.edu/mada/research/project/safe-spaces-understanding-and-enhancing-safety-and-inclusion-for-diverse-women">Safe Spaces Project</a>, set out to do just that. We surveyed more than 200 women from a variety of backgrounds.</p>
<p>By figuring out the best ways to engage with women in the research process, we can then empower councils and other community organisations to do the same. </p>
<p>We’ve done that in the form of <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/425310">toolkits</a>. </p>
<p>In the past couple of weeks we have had more than 400 registrations at the launch and more than 1000 downloads of the toolkits from across urban, regional and rural councils in Australia, North America, the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand. </p>
<p><a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/handle/10072/425309">This research</a> has identified effective ways to engage with a diverse range of women. </p>
<p>To make our cities safer, we just have to listen to them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research project was funded by the Department of Justice and Community Safety, Victorian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Wickes has received funding from the Australian Research Council, The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Wyndham City Council. </span></em></p>Women are most likely to feel unsafe in their cities or towns, but planning authorities have rarely listened to them. Here’s what we can do to change that.Nicole Kalms, Director, XYX Lab, and Associate Professor, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash UniversityCharishma Ratnam, Research Fellow, Deakin UniversityGill Matthewson, Lecturer, Department of Design, Monash UniversityMurray Lee, Professor of Criminology, University of SydneyRebecca Wickes, Professor of Criminology, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2152202023-11-07T13:36:48Z2023-11-07T13:36:48ZYoung men in violent parts of Philadelphia, Chicago die from guns at a higher rate than US troops in the heat of battle<p>Mass shootings tend to dominate the debate over gun violence – but they accounted for <a href="https://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10-expanded.html">just 3% of all firearm homicides</a> in the United States in 2021.</p>
<p>The vast majority of gun homicides are murders that happen in an extremely concentrated number of neighborhoods – places where the rate of gun deaths rivals war zones.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mR-1XBIAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of gun violence and victimization</a> in the United States, I study and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2023.102068">publish research</a> on the geographic and demographic concentration of shootings, and I’m always searching for new perspectives to help people understand this crisis. </p>
<h2>Concentrated disadvantage</h2>
<p>Shootings happen over and over in the same locations. About <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2023.102068">half take place</a> in just 1% to 5% of the land area in U.S. cities – in other words, in a tiny percentage of the nation’s homes, stores, parks and street corners.</p>
<p>These same neighborhoods tend to suffer from what criminologists call <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/sampson/files/2006_takingstock_efficacy.pdf">concentrated disadvantage</a> – an unsavory mix of high crime rates, illegal drug markets, poverty, limited educational and economic opportunities, and residential instability. Cumulatively, these factors decrease the residents’ <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5328.918">ability to maintain</a> public order and safety in the ways that safer neighborhoods do informally by confronting violent behavior or supervising teenagers.</p>
<p>Kids who grow up in these neighborhoods suffer <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092316">the long-lasting repercussions of exposure to violence</a>, such as high levels of stress and trauma that dampen educational attainment and result in decreased cognitive ability.</p>
<p>The demographics of these neighborhoods means that both victims and perpetrators of shootings are <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.44221">disproportionately young Black men</a>. Young Black men represented 93.9% of firearm-related homicide victims in Chicago and 79.3% of gun homicides in Philadelphia – where young Hispanic men make up another 12.9%. Homicides disproportionately affect the young largely because men ages 15 to 25 are more likely to engage in delinquent and criminal behavior, a phenomenon known as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674">age-crime curve</a>. </p>
<p>How bad is it? For some young men, it can be safer to be in the U.S. military at war than living at home in the most violent neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Chicago.</p>
<h2>How we did this work</h2>
<p>This finding comes from a study my co-authors, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C7&q=Brandon+Del+Pozo&btnG=">Brandon Del Pozo</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wJJLcZoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Aaron Chalfin</a>, and I did to compare shooting rates in Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles with casualty rates of U.S. military personnel during the recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. </p>
<p>Our paper is published in JAMA Network Open, an open-source medical journal, and is <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.48132">freely available to read</a>.</p>
<p>We first collected all publicly available city-level data on shooting deaths, including the time, exact place and information about the victim. Our study focused on Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago because they were the largest American cities with public data available. However, <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-city-rankings/cities-with-most-murders">gun homicides happen everywhere</a>, with notable rates of gun homicides in St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore; New Orleans; Detroit and Cleveland.</p>
<h2>In military zones</h2>
<p>For the military casualties, we relied on the estimates from studies of the mortality of U.S. soldiers at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2015.1129816">war in Afghanistan</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2007.00185.x">Iraq</a>. </p>
<p>The Afghan War was deadlier, with 395 deaths of U.S. combatants per 100,000 people per year, compared with 330 in Iraq. We used the higher rate from the Afghan War as our reference, setting its value as 1 and expressing the homicide rate in other places in relationship to this benchmark.</p>
<h2>How places compare</h2>
<p>The most violent ZIP code in Philadelphia is 19132 in North Philadelphia, which includes parts of Strawberry Mansion and the blocks further north and east. The violence of these city streets was captured by sociologist Elijah Anderson in his ethnographic study “<a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/Code-of-the-Street/">Code of the Street</a>,” published in 2000.</p>
<p>A young man living in this ZIP code had 1.91 times more annual risk of getting killed with a firearm than a U.S. soldier deployed to Afghanistan for a comparable amount of time. </p>
<p>During 2020 and 2021, this ZIP code was home to about 2,500 young men. Thirty-seven were killed in gun homicides. </p>
<p><iframe id="g54wt" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/g54wt/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>A similar calculation for the most violent neighborhood of Chicago, an area around Garfield Park with the ZIP code 60624, yields statistics that are even grimmer. Young men living there were 3.23 times more likely to die from a bullet than U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan. Sixty-six young men were shot dead during 2020 and 2021.</p>
<p>Moreover, survivors of this violence bear the burden of it for the whole time they live in these neighborhoods. In contrast, <a href="https://www.uso.org/stories/2871-how-long-is-a-military-deployment">the average deployment</a> is less than 12 months.</p>
<h2>Complicating the narrative</h2>
<p>Research papers like ours can raise many “yeah but” questions. Answering them can better help us understand the limitations of our study.</p>
<p>For example, many service members do not engage in active combat. This fact made our research team wonder if the inclusion of data from personnel in safer support roles was skewing our data, so we specifically looked at the casualties of one U.S. brigade combat team that was heavily engaged during the Iraq War. </p>
<p>The brigade had a casualty rate 1.71 times higher than our benchmark. That means that members of the brigade were still safer than male youth in the most violent area of Philadelphia (with a casualty rate of 1.91 times higher) and Chicago (3.23 times higher).</p>
<p>It is also worth noting that we studied two particularly violent years in U.S. cities. 2020 saw <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/10/27/what-we-know-about-the-increase-in-u-s-murders-in-2020/">a record increase in homicide rates</a>. That number stayed high in 2021, before <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/31062/us-homicide-rate/">decreasing slightly in 2022</a>.</p>
<p>Lastly, on a more positive note, gun mortality in New York and Los Angeles was significantly lower than in Philadelphia and Chicago, and much lower than the risks faced in war.</p>
<h2>Faster care could help</h2>
<p>Our research also showed that soldiers who are injured on the battlefield are less likely to die from their wounds than people shot in the American cities we studied.</p>
<p>Surviving a wound is more likely if medical help is immediate. This suggests two ideas to decrease shooting deaths: train more police officers to provide urgent basic <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220904048">medical treatment to the victims of gun violence</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767920916900">add capacity to trauma centers near violent neighborhoods</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215220/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Knorre 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>Mass shootings account for only about 3% of gun homicides in the U.S.Alex Knorre, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boston CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.