scholarly journals Urban Biodiversity in Pre- and Post-Social Isolation Times: A Case Study of the Public Squares on the City of Sorocaba, SP, Brazil

Author(s):  
Julia Fernanda de Camargo ◽  
Fabio Leandro da Silva ◽  
Welber Senteio Smith

Abstract The environmental range has long been neglected. Species that play crucial roles for the good functioning of the planet have their activities jeopardized by human ignorance, but the emergence of a zoonotic disease (COVID-19) in December 2019 turned attention to an atypical fact: previously uncommon animals seen in urban environment began to frequent them looking for resources, this is due to the measures of confinement, distance and social isolation adopted in order to contain the spread of the virus. In this work, public squares located in the city of Sorocaba, inlands of São Paulo, were studied, regarding the richness of species, bioindicator groups (birds, butterflies and dragonflies) in three different periods: before the social isolation system coming into effect, during and after it, to analyze whether such measures had an influence on urban biodiversity. The Sorensen and Cluster (Jaccard estimator) analytics methods, Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (nMDS) and One-Way ANOVA variance analysis showed that, with the reclusion of the citizens, there were no significant difference in species abundance in the sampled locations during the three periods, but the lockdown was marked by the illustrious presence of a rare species butterfly (Greta oto [Hewitson 1854]), unregistered in previous surveys carried out in the municipality. It could be concluded that, although the functioning of urban ecosystems is intrinsically linked to human presence, the sudden decrease in the circulation of people and vehicles has had positive consequences for the environment richness inserted in cities.

Kuntoutus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 6-20
Author(s):  
Hanna Rinne ◽  
Jenni Blomgren

Tieto kuntoutuksen kentän kokonaisuudesta ja erilaisten kuntoutuspalveluiden käytöstä samoilla ihmisillä on varsin hajanaista ja puutteellista. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää kuntoutukseen osallistumisen yleisyyttä ja päällekkäisyyttä eri osajärjestelmissä Oulun asukkailla vuonna 2018 laajalla rekisteriaineistolla (N = 192 844). Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan julkisen sosiaali- ja terveyspalvelujärjestelmän kuntoutusta, Kelan kuntoutusta, työeläkekuntoutusta, työterveyshuollon fysioterapiaa ja Kelan korvaamaa yksityistä fysioterapiaa. Vuonna 2018 oululaisista 18 prosenttia sai vähintään yhden tutkitun osajärjestelmän kuntoutusta (N = 34 061). Yleisintä oli julkisen sosiaali- ja terveyspalvelujärjestelmän kuntoutus, harvinaisinta työeläkekuntoutus. Naiset osallistuivat kuntoutukseen miehiä yleisemmin. Kuntoutukseen osallistuminen oli miehillä yleisintä 65 vuotta täyttäneillä, naisilla 45–64-vuotiailla. Harvinaisinta se oli 16–24-vuotiailla miehillä ja alle 16-vuotiailla naisilla. Suurin osa (90 %) kuntoutukseen osallistuneista oli osallistunut vain yhden osajärjestelmän kuntoutukseen. Useamman osajärjestelmän kuntoutukseen osallistuminen oli naisilla miehiä yleisempää. Ikäryhmistä se oli yleisintä 45–64-vuotiailla ja harvinaisinta alle 16-vuotiailla. Vähintään kahden osajärjestelmän kuntoutukseen osallistuneet olivat keskimäärin vanhempia kuin vain yhden osajärjestelmän kuntoutukseen osallistuneet ja myös naisten osuus oli heillä suurempi. Rekisteritietoja kuntoutuksesta on hankala koota kattavasti, sillä järjestelmä on hyvin hajanainen ja toimijoita ja rekisterinpitäjiä on lukuisia. Myös kuntoutuksen määrittely aineistoista osoittautui vaikeaksi. Yhtenäiset tietojärjestelmät kuntoutuksesta palvelisivat paitsi tutkijoita, myös kuntoutujia. Abstract Prevalence and overlap of participation in rehabilitation in different subsystems – a register-based study among residents of the city of Oulu, Finland, in 2018 Knowledge of the whole spectrum of rehabilitation and of the use of different rehabilitation services by the same individuals is quite fragmented and incomplete. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and overlap of participation in rehabilitation in different subsystems among residents of the city of Oulu, Finland, in 2018 using extensive register-based data (N=192,844). The study examines rehabilitation organized by the public social and health care system, by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, by the earnings-related pension system, as well as physiotherapy in occupational health care and private physiotherapy reimbursed by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. In 2018, 18 per cent of the residents of Oulu received rehabilitation of at least one of the examined subsystems (N=34,061). Receiving rehabilitation of public social and health care was the most common; the rarest was rehabilitation within the earnings-related pension system. Women participated in rehabilitation more often than men. Using rehabilitation services was most common in men aged 65 and over, and in women aged 45–64. It was least common in men aged 16–24 years and in women under 16 years of age. The majority (90%) of those who participated in rehabilitation had participated in rehabilitation of only one subsystem. Participation in rehabilitation of several subsystems was more common in women than in men. It was most common in those aged 45–64 years and least common in those under 16 years of age. Those who received rehabilitation of at least two subsystems were, on average, older than those who received rehabilitation of only one subsystem, and more often women. It is difficult to compile comprehensive register data on rehabilitation, as the system is very fragmented and there are many organizers and registrars. Defining rehabilitation from the data also proved difficult. Unified information systems on rehabilitation would serve not only researchers but also rehabilitees. Keywords: rehabilitation, register-based research, Finland


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (2/3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Mork Lomell

The rise of video surveillance in the United Kingdom, in the form of the public installation of closed circuit television (CCTV), has been seen by several scholars as a contributing factor to the increasing exclusion of unwanted categories of people from city centers, a development often referred to as the 'commercialization' or 'purification' of the city. Drawing from field observations over three years in control rooms in Oslo, Norway, this article discusses whether CCTV systems in Oslo contribute to a similar process of exclusion. To do so, I compare the open street video surveillance system with two other CCTV systems - a shopping mall and a major transport center. The introduction of open street CCTV in Oslo in 1999 did not create social exclusion, but recent developments show the possibility remains. Although drug addicts and young people were the primary targets of surveillance in all three sites studied, ejections varied considerably from site to site. The shopping mall system had a higher ejection rate than the open street system, and was therefore the system with the clearest exclusionary effects. Reasons for the different ejection rates are discussed, in particular the social structure of the site under surveillance and the organizational relationships of CCTV operators to the policing agents connected to the surveillance system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-176
Author(s):  
Katarina Rukavina

The paper analyses the concept of space in contemporary art on the example of Suprematist Composition No. 1, Black on Grey by Kristina Leko from 2008. Referring to Malevich’s suprematism, in December 2008 Leko initiated a project of art intervention in Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb, where she intended to cover in black all commercials, advertisements, signs and names of various companies. This poetic intervention, as the artist calls it, was intended to prompt people to relativise material goods in the pre-Christmas period. However, despite the authorisation obtained from the city authorities, the companies concerned refused to remove their respective advertisements, be it for only for 24 hours, so this project has never been realised. The project, however, does exist in the virtual space, which is also public, and continues to act in the form of documentation. The non-feasibility of the intervention, or rather its invisibility on Jelačić Square, makes visible or directly indicates the ordering of the powers and the constellation of values in the social sphere, thus raising new questions. Indeed, in this way it actually enters the public space, sensitising and expanding it at the same time.


ILUMINURAS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (47) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovane Antonio Scherer ◽  
Marco Pereira Dilligenti ◽  
Ricardo Souza Araujo

O  presente artigo articula dois fenômenos aparentemente  distintos, o Urbicídio e o Juvenicídio, enquanto expressões da crise estrutural do capital., que se agrava no Brasil e nos demais países dependentes no atual quadro. A cidade é palco de um modelo neoliberal que segrega a classe trabalhadora dos direitos acessados nos grandes centros urbanos, sendo as periferias desprovidas de equipamentos públicos. As juventudes, mesmo que legalmente reconhecidas comosujeito de direitos, são vítimas da  ausência  de políticas sociais, principalmente nas periferias, territórios violados pelo Estado Penal. As políticas públicas até então constituídas promovem ações limitadas focadas no recrutamento de jovens no mercado de trabalho desassociadas de políticas públicas de proteção social básica, cada vez mais precarizadas. No entanto, as juventudes, plenas de potencialidades, podem protagonizar movimentos de resistência a este projeto societário, que exclui, encarcera e mata.Palavras-Chave: Juventudes, Território, Juvenicídio, Urbicídio THE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN: Urbicide and Youthicide in Brasilian Reality.Abstract: The present article discuss two apparently distinct phenomena, Urbicide and Youthicide, as expressions of the structural crisis of capital, which is aggravated in Brazil and in the other dependent countries in the present conjuncture. The city is the stage of a neoliberal model that segregates the  working class, without right to the city  and  the social services.The youth, even if legally recognized as subject of rights, are victims of the absence of social policies, mainly in the peripheries, territories violated by the Criminal State. The public policies e promote limited actions focused on the recruitment of young people in the labor market disassociated with public policies of basic social protection, increasingly precarized. However, youths, full of potentialities, can carry out resistance movements to this project which excludes, imprisons and kills.Keywords: Youth,Territory,Youthcide, Urbicide


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (17) ◽  
pp. 2133
Author(s):  
Virgilio Pérez ◽  
Cristina Aybar ◽  
Jose M. Pavía

The COVID-19 pandemic and the fear experienced by some of the population, along with the lack of mobility due to the restrictions imposed, has modified the social behaviour of Spaniards. This has had a significant effect on the hospitality sector, viewed as being an economic and social driver in Spain. From the analysis of data collected in two of our own non-probabilistic surveys (N ~ 8400 and N ~ 2000), we show how, during the first six months of the pandemic, Spaniards notably reduced their consumption in bars and restaurants, also preferring outdoor spaces to spaces inside. The restaurant sector has needed to adapt to this situation and, with the support of the authorities (regional and local governments), new terraces have been allowed on pavements and public parking spaces, modifying the appearance of the streets of main towns and cities. This study, focused on the city of Madrid, analyses the singular causes that have prompted this significant impact on this particular city, albeit with an uneven spatial distribution. It seems likely that the new measures will leave their mark and some of the changes will remain. The positive response to these changes from the residents of Madrid has ensured the issue is being widely debated in the public arena.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jordan Kuiti

<p>Transport infrastructure is a key aspect of any city. The ability to move large groups of people into and through the city can positively or negatively affect the public life associated with that city. With this in mind transport infrastructure is often designed in a very technical manner, which seeks to move maximum numbers of people around the system as fast as possible for the least amount of money. There seems to be a lack of embrace of other aspects associated with transport infrastructure. These other aspects include public life, place making, enjoyment, and what is the transport adding to the city? With the population of New Zealand’s cities increasing, more money is being allocated to transport infrastructure projects. With a change in approach these projects could work functionally but also offer other benefits, such as public life, new development, enhanced identity, and importantly a more liveable city for the inhabitants. Instead of the functional aspects of transport infrastructure being the only driver, a more holistic approach should be utilised which takes into account the social and public life generating potential. Wellington City has been chosen as a test site as it is an example of a city currently going through transport infrastructure upgrades whilst also struggling with future transport issues. Situated in a unique harbour setting the waterfront is split from the CBD with a traffic heavy six-lane road. The harbour offers a transport resource that is not being utilised. Ferry transport offers a new approach to transport in Wellington that offers greater benefits than just moving people around the system. This thesis proposes a fresh look at transport infrastructure in Wellington with the development of a ferry network designed to service the entire Wellington Harbour. Through researching the development potentials offered by transport networks this thesis argues that a holistic approach to transport infrastructure can have wider reaching benefits that just moving people around the system efficiently.</p>


Author(s):  
M.S. Parvathi ◽  

Burton Pike (1981) terms the cityscapes represented in literature as word-cities whose depiction captures the spatial significance evoked by the city-image and simultaneously, articulates the social psychology of its inhabitants (pp. 243). This intertwining of the social and the spatial animates the concept of spatiality, which informs the positionality of urban subjects, (be it the verticality of the city or the horizonality of the landscape) and determines their standpoint (Keith and Pile, 1993). The spatial politics underlying cityscapes, thus, determine the modes of social production of sexed corporeality. In turn, the body as a cultural product modifies and reinscribes the urban landscape according to its changing demographic needs. The dialectic relationship between the city and the bodies embedded in them orient familial, social, and sexual relations and inform the discursive practices underlying the division of urban spaces into public and private domains. The geographical and social positioning of the bodies within the paradigm of the public/private binary regulates the process of individuation of the bodies into subjects. The distinction between the public and the private is deeply rooted in spatial practices that isolate a private sphere of domestic, embodied activity from the putatively disembodied political, public sphere. Historically, women have been treated as private and embodied and the politics of the demarcated spaces are employed to control and limit women’s mobility. This gendered politics underlying the situating practices apropos public and private spaces inform the representations of space in literary texts. Manu Joseph’s novels, Serious Men (2010) and The Illicit Happiness of Other People (2012), are situated in the word-cities of Mumbai and Chennai respectively whose urban spaces are structured by such spatial practices underlying the politics of location. The paper attempts to problematize the nature of gendered spatializations informing the location of characters in Serious Men and The Illicit Happiness of Other People.


SAGE Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401989427
Author(s):  
Nur Belkayali ◽  
Elif Ayan Çeven

Humans change places voluntarily or involuntarily because of many factors, such as life struggle, wars, and diseases. The most intense city environments in which these translocations are observed are cities where many native and foreign individuals1 settle with the purposes of job, education, sheltering, and protection. Today, as in many cities of Turkey, it can be observed that the population of neighboring countries’ citizens in Kastamonu is increasing, mostly for educational purposes. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of cultural differences that especially take place due to migration on the use of public open space. Since squares are the vital points of cities, can be accessed easily by everyone, appeal to everyone, provide opportunity to socializing and they are the democratic environments that symbolize the culture of the city, they were considered to be the public open space which can define the effect of cultural differences in the use of public space the best and in this context Cumhuriyet Square was chosen as the study area which has an important place in the history of the city. In accordance with the aim of the study, the intended use of the square by foreign individuals from different cultures was determined, and therefore, it was aimed to reveal in what way the square was affected by this movement of migration. In the scope of the study, observations were made with area studies, and also 170 questionnaire studies were conducted with the users of the area. As a result of the study, a statistically significant difference was determined between the intended use of the Cumhuriyet Square, which has an important value for the identity of the city, by the local people and foreign individuals. It is required for foreign individuals to socialize with the local people in relation to adopting the space by improving their sense of belonging to prevent the identity of the space to be affected negatively and to create a common value on the emergence of a common culture, and it is considered that the most appropriate place for these values to emerge is squares which are one of the public open spaces.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Smart

Urban metropolitan city-centers offer the most complex, socially connective environments in the built world. The social structures fundamentally embedded in city life are, however increasingly being overshadowed by an isolating system of city densification. The City of Toronto, as a territory of exploration, is one of many cities that are evolving a dense array of restrictive boundaries that increasingly challenge human connectivity, and the deep-rooted ability of these environments to establish vibrant city life. It is the role of architecture to mediate the relationships between the public and private territories and to understand how these environments are utilized and engaged by the surrounding context. This thesis has extracted critical environmental components exemplified in city, community, and building territories, and has re-integrated these defining characteristics into an alternative design strategy that establishes a balanced symbiotic relationship between the private and public realms of Toronto’s future City Core.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Borislav Arnaudov

Public transport is an important element of sustainable development that incorporates responsiveness towards the need for mobility by the population within the framework of the urban transit system. As a part of the public transportation system, bicycle transport, with its environmental aspect, is the bedrock of the idea for accessible public services. This study provides core parameters for the assessment of social and environmental dimensions in order to further develop bicycle transport. It also itemizes the principles that need to be followed with the aim of social and economic sustainability. As a form of transportation in an urban environment, the bicycle traffic, its share and distribution of trips, obstacles and challenges encountered by cyclists in the city, trends and prevalent issues related to the current conditions of cycling infrastructure in Sofia, Bulgaria, were analyzed. In a nutshell, the report delivers a compiled group of suggestions on opportunities that may help to increase the functional efficiency of cycling as part of the transportation system of Sofia, in both, the social and environmental sense.


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