Lest Power be Forgotten: Networks, Division and Difference in the City

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Bridge ◽  
Sophie Watson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Urban Sociology ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
City Life ◽  
Space Networks ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The City

Over the last decade we have seen a notable shift in the urban sociology literature from discourses of division to discourses of difference. This shift has opened up new ways of understanding the complexities of city life and the formation of heterogeneous subjectivities and identities in the spaces of the city. There has been, we argue, a worrying tendency in this process to lose an analysis of the workings of power. While early Marxist, feminist and race/ethnicity debates were firmly located within a framework which highlighted power, post-structuralist debates have operated with a more fluid notion of power, which at times has become so fluid as to evaporate into thin air. Our intention here is to re-emphasise the significance of power while holding on to the concept of difference. We do this by using the notion of power networks that operate at different temporal and spatial scales. These give the city contrasting spatialities and temporalities that overlap one another. The city is seen as a palimpsest of time-space networks that capture some of the ‘presence of difference’ as well as suggesting its absences. These time-space networks of power are considered in the material, perceived and imaginary realms in relation to bodies, interests and symbols.

Lest Power Be Forgotten: Networks, Division and Difference in the City

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Bridge ◽  
Sophie Watson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Power Networks ◽  
City Life ◽  
Space Networks ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The City

Over the last decade we have seen a notable shift in the urban Society literature from discourses of division to discourses of difference. This shift has opened up new ways of understanding the complexities of city life and the formation of heterogeneous subjectivities and identities in the spaces of the city. There has been, we argue, a worrying tendency in this process to lose an analysis of the workings of power, While early Marxist, feminist and race/ethnicity debates were firmly located within a framework which highlighted power, post-structuralist debates have operated with a more fluid notion of power, which at times has become so fluid as to evaporate into thin air. Our intention here in to re-emphasise the significance of power while holding on to the concept of difference. We do this by using the notion of power networks that operate at different temporal and spatial scales. These give the city contrasting spatialities and temporalities that overlap one another. The city is seen as a palimpsest of time-space networks that capture some of the presence of difference as well as suggesting its absences. These time-space networks of power are considered in the material, perceived and imaginary realms in relation to bodies, interests and symbols.

Theoretical Analysis of the Concept of a Sustainable City

2016 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 1650029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mou WANG ◽  
Junyan LIU
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Dynamic Equilibrium ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Sustainable City ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The City

This paper systematically presents the information about a sustainable city and the process of putting forward, developing and evolving the concept, and it provides an analysis of some current main views in the studies of sustainable cities. In this paper, it is argued that the construction of a sustainable city should not be carried out simply by bringing the concept of sustainable development down to the city level; sustainable development should be more materialized, scenario focused, and localized at the city level, and it should be internalized into the various dimensions of the construction of a city at the special temporal and spatial scales of a city. Based on literature reviews, this paper holds that there are three drawbacks in the current understanding of a sustainable city, mainly including: First, emphasis is placed on the internal equilibrium of a city, but no attention is paid to the negative environmental externalities of other cities or areas and the compensation for them; second, the ultimate goal of sustainable development — achieving equilibrium — is excessively stressed, while the embodiment of the stages of development and regional differences in the goal of sustainable development is overlooked; third, the form of the city is a key indicator for building a sustainable city, but this indicator is basically unavailable in the current definitions of sustainable cities. The definition and theory of a sustainable city should fully reflect the temporal and spatial nodes of differentiation in a sustainable city and the dynamic relationship of equilibrium between the systems of a city and the surrounding areas; its definition and theory should also realistically address the urban needs and the practice of the sustainable development of a city. Based on a comprehensive analysis, this paper stresses that a sustainable city is a city in which the form of the city is scientifically designed in line with a certain social and economic development level, and environmental conditions in order to optimize the internal and external functions, improve the system of urban governance, achieve a dynamic equilibrium among economic development, environmental safety, resource utilization and social equity, continuously enhance its capability for coping with risks, make it more livable, and provide positive externalities in perspectives of economy, environment and social governance for other cities.

‘Stepping in Time’: Walking, Time, and Space in the City

2009 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1943-1961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Transport Policy ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Time Saving ◽  
Physical Mobility ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The City ◽  
Policy Arena ◽  
Walking Time

There is a well-documented emphasis within transport policy on speed and efficiency, with the benefits of transport schemes frequently assessed in these terms. The focus on reducing journey times is also evident in pedestrian policy, with the ‘time-saving’ attributes of walking often promoted. However, this emphasis on speed within the transport policy arena reflects linear understandings of time as nothing more than ‘clock time’ passing. In contrast, this paper explores the multiple forms of temporality and spatiality that emerge out of and shape urban pedestrian movement. The discussion draws upon in-depth interview and diary data from fieldwork undertaken in London, and in so doing provides a ‘timely’ empirical engagement with theoretical understandings of time and space. Within this examination of the multiple temporalities of urban walking, it is suggested that people become aware of the experiential dimensions of time when they are made to wait. The paper moves on to explore the issues of physical mobility difficulties in the context of highlighting the multiple spatialities of walking, and attention is also drawn to how people use temporal and spatial concerns to frame their identities as to who they are in relation to others. It is suggested that notions of rhythm provide a productive means for engaging with how time, space, and identity interrelate as people walk.

Reclaiming the City as Commons. Learning from Latin American Housing Movements

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-153
Author(s):  
Stavros Stavrides
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Housing Conditions ◽  
Urban Living ◽  
City Life ◽  
Urban Condition ◽  
Collective Creativity ◽  
Urban Movements ◽  
The City

This paper explores a renewed problematization of contemporary metropolises' dynamics in the light of speci fic efforts to reclaim the city as commons. Building on Lefebvre's theorizations of the city's virtuality and comparing it to contemporary approaches to the urban condition that emphasize the potentialities of contemporary city-life, it suggests that urban commoning is unleashing the power of collective creativity and collaboration. Struggles to appropriate the city as a crucial milieu for sharing transforms parts of city and produces new patterns of urban living. Examples from Latin American urban movements focused on establishing emancipatory housing conditions are used to illustrate the transformative capabilities of urban commoning.

Larval Feeding: Mechanisms, Rates, and Performance in Nature

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Size Spectrum ◽  
Larval Feeding ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Feeding Mechanism ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Bioenergetics Models ◽  
Many Particles

Larvae of many marine invertebrates must capture and ingest particulate food in order to develop to metamorphosis. These larvae use only a few physical processes to capture particles, but implement these processes using diverse morphologies and behaviors. Detailed understanding of larval feeding mechanism permits investigators to make predictions about feeding performance, including the size spectrum of particles larvae can capture and the rates at which they can capture them. In nature, larvae are immersed in complex mixtures of edible particles of varying size, density, flavor, and nutritional quality, as well as many particles that are too large to ingest. Concentrations of all of these components vary on fine temporal and spatial scales. Mechanistic models linking larval feeding mechanism to performance can be combined with data on food availability in nature and integrated into broader bioenergetics models to yield increased understanding of the biology of larvae in complex natural habitats.

Humans and the Environment

2013 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Environmental Archaeology ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

The environment has always been a central concept for archaeologists and, although it has been conceived in many ways, its role in archaeological explanation has fluctuated from a mere backdrop to human action, to a primary factor in the understanding of society and social change. Archaeology also has a unique position as its base of interest places it temporally between geological and ethnographic timescales, spatially between global and local dimensions, and epistemologically between empirical studies of environmental change and more heuristic studies of cultural practice. Drawing on data from across the globe at a variety of temporal and spatial scales, this volume resituates the way in which archaeologists use and apply the concept of the environment. Each chapter critically explores the potential for archaeological data and practice to contribute to modern environmental issues, including problems of climate change and environmental degradation. Overall the volume covers four basic themes: archaeological approaches to the way in which both scientists and locals conceive of the relationship between humans and their environment, applied environmental archaeology, the archaeology of disaster, and new interdisciplinary directions.The volume will be of interest to students and established archaeologists, as well as practitioners from a range of applied disciplines.

‘Seeing like a city’, or ‘seeing like a state’ in a city? Paris, capital of femonationalism

2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442110025
Author(s):  
Claire Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Urban Politics ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Municipal Policy ◽  
City Life ◽  
Women In Decision Making ◽  
The City

This paper questions the ‘seeing like a city’ vs. ‘seeing like a state’ opposition through a detailed discussion of urban politics in the city of Paris, France, a prime example of the ways in which the national remains a driving dimension of city life. This claim is examined by a consideration of the shortcomings of Paris’s recent and timid commitment local democracy, lacking recognition of the diversity of its citizens, and the ways in which the inclusion of more women in decision-making arenas has failed to advance the ‘feminization of politics’. A common factor in these defining features of the Hidalgo administration seems to be the prevalence of ‘femonationalism’ and its influence over municipal policy-making.

scholarly journals 8-Day and Daily Maximum and Minimum Air Temperature Estimation via Machine Learning Method on a Climate Zone to Global Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2355
Author(s):  
Linglin Zeng ◽  
Yuchao Hu ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Xiang Zhang ◽  
Guozhang Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Validation Dataset ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Climate Zone ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Air temperature (Ta) is a required input in a wide range of applications, e.g., agriculture. Land Surface Temperature (LST) products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are widely used to estimate Ta. Previous studies of these products in Ta estimation, however, were generally applied in small areas and with a small number of meteorological stations. This study designed both temporal and spatial experiments to estimate 8-day and daily maximum and minimum Ta (Tmax and Tmin) on three spatial scales: climate zone, continental and global scales from 2009 to 2018, using the Random Forest (RF) method based on MODIS LST products and other auxiliary data. Factors contributing to the relation between LST and Ta were determined based on physical models and equations. Temporal and spatial experiments were defined by the rules of dividing the training and validation datasets for the RF method, in which the stations selected in the training dataset were all included or not in the validation dataset. The RF model was first trained and validated on each spatial scale, respectively. On a global scale, model accuracy with a determination coefficient (R2) > 0.96 and root mean square error (RMSE) < 1.96 °C and R2 > 0.95 and RMSE < 2.55 °C was achieved for 8-day and daily Ta estimations, respectively, in both temporal and spatial experiments. Then the model was trained and cross-validated on each spatial scale. The results showed that the data size and station distribution of the study area were the main factors influencing the model performance at different spatial scales. Finally, the spatial patterns of the model performance and variable importance were analyzed. Both daytime and nighttime LST had a significant contribution in the 8-day Tmax estimation on all the three spatial scales; while their contribution in daily Tmax estimation varied over different continents or climate zones. This study was expected to improve our understanding of Ta estimation in terms of accuracy variations and influencing variables on different spatial and temporal scales. The future work mainly includes identifying underlying mechanisms of estimation errors and the uncertainty sources of Ta estimation from a local to a global scale.

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