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The article presents information about the University of Brighton's third annual conference on Human Resource Management (HRM) in the Hospitality Industry, held in London, England on February 10, 1994. The focus of the conference was "Changing Structures and Changing Responsibilities." Gill Maxwell of Glasgow Caledonian University talked of "Competitiveness and Human Resource Management in the UK Hotel Industry." Her paper examined the case for a central role for HRM in the industry against the background of the general organisational status and structure of HRM. It discussed the structures and responsibilities of the HRM function in two units of international hotel chains where HRM is, untypically for the industry as a whole, viewed as centrally important. Sandra Watson and Norma D'Annunzio-Green of Napier University, Edinburgh, in their paper, "The Influence of Organisational Structure on Personnel Management: A Move to Human Resource Management," investigated the implications of organisational restructuring on labour management within the industry.

The paper analyses conflicts associated with policies to protect the built heritage. Such conflicts relate to a host of tensions between private and public concerns and specifically between pro-development and pro-conservation approaches. To examine these cleavages, the paper operationalises private and public concerns over heritage by asking if there is a recognisable set of justifications that policy-makers use for supporting a pro-conservation or alternatively a pro-development approach? To do this, the paper looks at appeals decided by Her Majesty’s Planning Inspectors in London. The findings show that although they are not dichotomous, public and private interests in heritage development can be factually recognised in the setting of appeals. Moreover, the paper finds that Planning Inspectors often channel conflicts through the prism of certain public interests, namely, protecting architectural and physical attributes of the building and its surroundings. Although inspectors are instructed to actively weigh in other (potentially overriding) considerations in heritage appeals, such as socio-economic and proprietary issues, these considerations do not appear to have the same standing within the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a qualitative study of recent Polish migrants in London (). The paper reveals the roles that different family members played in the migration narratives of these Polish migrants. In order to gain a broader understanding of migration patterns, it is necessary to explore what is meant by 'the family' and how this may operate transnationally. By examining spatially dispersed relationships, the paper aims to contribute to an understanding of transnational families. In addition, by highlighting the various ways in which families may be split, reunited, and reshaped through the process of migration, the paper argues for a need to explore the shifting ties between relatives 'here' and 'there'. The paper explores the dynamism of these relationships over time in the context of specific immigration regimes and the interplay with local attachments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2001 Census Special Migration Statistics, this paper explores ethnic variations in the propensity to migrate, the effectiveness of net migration in redistributing ethnic populations, and the connectivity between places that results from ethnic migration. London has by far the largest concentration of ethnic minority populations in Great Britain and plays a key role in the national internal migration system. By decomposing the net migration balances of boroughs into those within and across London's outer metropolitan boundary, the paper reveals different spatial processes of decentralisation and dispersal as well as centralisation when comparing ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws upon research with mothers of diverse Muslim backgrounds in London to explore how these women use 'conservative' interpretations of Islamic beliefs and practices to underpin their parenting strategies. In particular the paper looks at how mothers use religion as a frame to make sense of and give meaning to their experiences and encounters in Britain. We suggest that the women use Islam in four key ways: (i) as a framework for teaching their children right and wrong, (ii) as a means of protecting children from the 'moral' dangers of British society, (iii) as an authoritative voice that reinforces parenting and (iv) as a means of critiquing specific aspects of both the traditional and British culture in which they live and daily negotiate their different cultural and religious belonging. In attempting to instil religious values in their Londonbased children, these mothers have to negotiate the hostility that Islam increasingly provokes in British society's public arenas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to forecast the performance of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Previous research has relied primarily on population size and gross domestic product (GDP) to predict Olympic performance but the methodology used here follows the approach of Shibli and Bingham (2008), who predicted that China would win 46 gold medals in Beijing 2008. This approach is based on the thesis that elite performance is now more a matter of managed public investment and therefore less dependent on non-controllable variables such as population size and GDP. The Shibli and Bingham forecasts proved to be the most accurate forecast made, even though it was five medals short of China's total of 51 gold medals. In this paper, we extend the analysis to include total medals as well as gold medals and conclude that Great Britain and Northern Ireland will win 27 gold medals in London 2012 and 56 medals in total. Furthermore, we can reasonably expect Great Britain and Northern Ireland to win medals in 15 sports and 18 disciplines. If our forecasts prove to be accurate, then on all four measures 2012 will be Great Britain's best performance in the Olympic Games since 1908. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that organisational sustainability is not a continuation of the status quo but, seen from a complexity theory perspective, is a continuous dynamic process of co-evolution with a changing environment. It is underpinned by learning, and it creates new structures and ways of working to adjust and to continue adjusting to a changing set of conditions. Design/methodology/approach - This longitudinal study concerns two London-based NHS hospitals: a teaching hospital and a District General Hospital. The analysis is based on several sets of semi-structured interviews, group interviews and workshops, conducted in June and July 2005 and again in October 2006 and finally in January 2007. The argument used to analyse narrative data is underpinned by complexity theory and based on two hypotheses and two assumptions defined in the paper. Findings - Both hospitals faced a significant deficit and in addressing it they had to change fundamentally ways of working and relationships, to become capable of learning and changing. Empirical data reveal two different styles of leadership, creating totally different "enabling environments" and illustrate some essential elements of sustainability. Leadership and the creation of an enabling environment are necessary but not sufficient, if the changes have not been embedded within the organisational culture, through a different way of working, relating and thinking. Originality/value - The paper provides theoretical insights in practice through case study exploration to emphasise that the distinctive characteristic of complex systems is their ability to create new order; that is, not simple adaptation, but in this case a different way of working, thinking and relating. A key insight is that sustainability is a continuous process of co-evolution. The paper also highlights the critical significance of leadership styles in fostering or inhibiting learning in organizations and the importance of co-creating enabling environments which facilitate learning. It further demonstrates the value of leaders understanding and working with (not constraining) their organisations as complex social systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses upon the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games (CWG) legacy proposals regarding the regeneration of the East End. It provides a preliminary pre-event evaluation by examining local progress towards urban regeneration legacies, primarily physical and economic renewal. Following an examination of the events' legacy landscape and problems within the legacy planning process, the paper outlines the socio-economic profile of the locale. Thereafter, the relevance of the CWG to the area is highlighted and an evaluation of the progress towards physical and economic urban regeneration goals is charted. Key risks in the legacy planning process are identified. It is suggested that while there are elements of good practice in local progress towards legacy planning and regeneration, there are community issues that could pose tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings from an evaluation of a pilot interprofessional training ward project for pre-qualification medical, nursing, occupational therapy and physiotherapy students. This initiative required sustained collaboration from staff based in two National Health Service (NHS) trusts and four schools in three universities. The ward was based on a model of interprofessional education developed in Sweden, but adapted in the light of this experience and also to meet the needs and aspirations of the training ward stakeholders in London. The training ward was evaluated using a multi-method design. Data were collected from all participants involved in this pilot: students, facilitators and patients. The findings from the evaluation are presented and discussed. This paper pays particular attention to the collaborative experiences of the students, staff and institutions involved in this initiative. In addition, 1-year follow-up data collected from the students who had, by then, qualified as clinical practitioners are reported. The paper presents conclusions from the evaluation, and comments on the training ward's strengths, limitations and future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between social class and parental agency. It does so through an analysis of the findings of a recently completed qualitative research project exploring parental voice in relation to secondary schools. The first part of the paper presents a summary of a typology of parental interventions. This illustrates some of the differentials between parents in terms of their access to and deployment of a range of social, cultural and material resources, all of which translates into varying levels of effectiveness in finding and using a voice in their relationship with their children's school. The second part of the paper focuses on the middle-class parents at both schools, suggesting that more nuanced differences in their attitudes to various educational issues (namely discipline and appropriate parental involvement) are closely linked to the class fractions which they belong. It is argued that, despite the broad title of 'middleclass', variations within this general grouping in parental education, occupational pathways and spatial mobility affect their approaches to the education of their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how literary and cinematic constructions of Essex noir expose the darker, chaotic sides to working-class embourgeoisement: initially via post-War suburbanisation and later, via Margaret Thatcher's attempt to encourage competitive individualism and entrepreneurship. Noir angles a 'dark mirror' to suburban Essex and develops a distinctive aesthetics of social and cultural change, while also puncturing myths of social mobility and suburban security. The paper points to both affinities and breaks between noir's bleak pessimism and Walter Benjamin's understanding of history as overcoming the concept of progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the international conference on Melodrama hosted by the British Film Institute in London, England from July 6-10, 1992. Discussions covered the history of melodrama, gender issues in the genre, the relationship between critics and readers/consumers and the relationship between theory and practice. Issues that the conference reportedly did not address more forcefully were concerns on the dominance of western legacy on studies of melodrama and how theorists' ideas can be applied.

Examines the changes and challenges of the public examination system in the United Kingdom. What were changes; Investigations by the University of London Examinations Council (ULEAC) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER); Findings and conclusions.

The author discusses the conflict over nationalization as an economic policy in London, England. The proposal for nationalization of the British industries is from White Paper titled "The Regeneration of British Industry," by the Labour Party. It is stated that the paper deals mainly with planning agreements of assistance between major companies. The author suggests that the concerned parties should be wise and informed in making decisions about the economy.

The UK's creative industries are growing at four times the rate of the wider economy. British creative products are exported all over the world and politicians often celebrate the great success of our creative sector. Yet, despite this commercial success, there is a significant inequality of access for aspiring creative entrepreneurs and those looking to build and scale up their small businesses. Market failures in the private sector and limited public finance options means that opportunity is weighted towards those with strong networks and personal funds. This paper describes the market failure that is restricting small business growth in the creative industries, and shows how it is more overt in England's regions outside of London and the South-East. The example of Silicon Valley is used to make the case for a public sector approach to financing creative businesses at early stages of their growth, arguing that mission-led finance is key to building inclusive growth and regenerating cities and towns through the cultural and creative industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the role that the green wedges idea played in the main official reconstruction plans for London, the County of London Plan 1943 and the Greater London Plan 1944.1 Green wedges were theorised in the first decade of the twentieth century and discussed in multi-faceted ways up to the end of the Second World War. Despite having been prominent in many plans for London, they have been largely overlooked in planning history. This paper argues that green wedges were instrumental in these plans in the formulation of a more modern, sociable, healthier and greener peacetime London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the unusual opportunities for motoring leisure provided by the modernistic landscape of the Great West Road in the inter-war period. This suburban arterial road had become ribboned by new Americanized factories, which featured 'Californian' white elevations, floodlit at night. This modern roadscape, likened to the 'great white way of an exhibition' by John Betjeman, attracted leisure drivers who would cruise the new road, experiencing a sensation of displaced Americanization and modernity. Using David Nye's work on technological sublimity, this paper positions the Great West Road as a special space for driving as a new leisure experience, distancing this period from the exploration of the countryside that typified motoring in the previous decades. The paper uses material from motoring magazines, architectural sources and poetry to explain the nature of this sublimity through leisure driving. Not being California, the juxtaposition of wet British weather and this road could also provide a misty and mysterious driving experience. As the inter-war period drew to a close, some commentators saw this road as tawdry and vulgar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that postgraduate education forms an important, but hitherto neglected, element in the distinctive institutional landscape of the City of London. In particular, and drawing on research into early-career financial and legal elites in the City, we show how postgraduate education tailored to the demands of employers within London plays an important role in indoctrinating early-career elites into situated, Cityspecific, working practices and, in so doing, helps to sustain the City's cultures and norms of financial practice. Specifying the role of postgraduate education in reproducing these situated City practices is significant because, although geographical variegation in working practices between international financial centres has been widely reported, less attention has been paid to how such institutionally embedded differences are created and sustained. By identifying education as one mechanism of creation and sustenance, our analysis enhances understanding of how the institutional landscapes that underlie financial centres might be maintained or, when necessary, challenged; challenge being significant in relation to attempts to reform practices and cultures in international financial centres in the wake of the 2007-08 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on social capital theory to discuss the way social class plays out in the friendships of teenage students. Based on data from individual interviews and focus groups with 75 students in four London secondary schools, it is suggested that students tend to form friendships with people who belong to the same social-class background as them. Social-class ‘sameness’ is considered to be an element that importantly exemplifies the quality of their friendships, and hence close, inter-class friendships were significantly less common than close, intra-class ones. In addition, class differentials were evident and often reproduced by students, even in the context of the rarer inter-class friendships. This paper concludes that social class is of continuous importance in teenagers’ lives and despite some agentic negotiation of class boundaries, as in the case of omnivorousness, students’ friendship networks are dynamically informed by class inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the social ties forged by Romanians in London with migrants of different origins in work and non-work contexts to offer a more nuanced view of ‘bridging’ social ties and related discussions of ‘everyday’ cosmopolitanism. Contrary to the overemphasis on ethnic ties seen as a form of bonding in migration research, the paper shows how Romanians bridge informally with many other migrants based on shared ‘non-native’ status. Alongside non-ethnically marked commonalities, ethnicity emerges as an important ingredient of cosmopolitan socialization, yet without necessarily signalling coexisting ethnic identities, as commonly assumed. Romanians' experiences further show that despite providing significant social and cultural capital, bridging ties with migrants, rather than natives, rarely accrue effective resources for social mobility. The findings suggest the need to disaggregate and qualify current understandings of ‘bridging’ social ties usually depicted in positive terms and uniformly as cross-ethnic relationships, or only linked with the ‘mainstream’ population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author discusses aspects of maximizing the use of public research in Great Britain. He states that the most significant policy moves in open access in 2012 came from Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Wellcome Trust. He mentions that from April 2013, papers arising from RCUK funding must be made free to access.

Poland's accession to the European Union in May 2004 brought many new possibilities and opportunities for Polish migrants to the United Kingdom. However, the focus on individual migrants has underestimated the complex roles of families in migration strategies and decision making. This paper brings together data from two studies of Polish migrants in London. In 2006-2007, we carried out a qualitative study, Recent Polish Migrants in London. That research examined how families may be reconfigured in different ways through migration, for example, transnational networks and splits within families. While the study participants represented varied examples of family reunification, they also revealed the complex decision making processes about leaving, staying, rejoining and returning. In our most recent study, Polish Children in London Primary Schools, we interviewed parents, who had migrated with children, about their experiences and expectations of London schools. This study revealed that the age of children was usually a factor in family migration decision making. There was a common expectation that younger children could easily adapt to a new school and learn English quickly. Drawing on the findings of these two studies, this paper will explore firstly, the variety of family migration strategies and secondly, the factors that inform migrants' decisions to bring their families (especially children) or to leave them back home. Finally, the paper concludes by considering some of the policy implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.Findings – With big issues and crises, there is usually a moment when the dam breaks and the waters flood through. But these are not necessarily remarkable moments. As an Economist magazine examination into the LIBOR (London inter-bank offered rate) scandal says, they can actually be rather banal.Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to digest format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the work of Gordon Stephenson between January 1942 and December 1947 when he worked for the British central planning ministry. Using public and his own personal archives, it shows how, as part of a small, very talented team, he played a key role in developing a new expertise of planning to address the great challenges of the post-war years. The paper discusses his work formulating new planning standards for residential and commercial densities, daylighting and community development. He also played a significant role in Patrick Abercrombie's Greater London Plan team and led the small group that subsequently planned what became the first New Town at Stevenage. The paper shows that, at this time, Stephenson saw the planner as a rational, technical expert rather than as a consciously political actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on private equity in the UK and is set in the context of debates about transformations in the City of London. The article focuses on a particular concept of trust as expressed by senior members of the private equity sector. The argument developed is based on interviews with five senior founding partners of private equity firms who talked to us about their background and education, their understanding of how private equity worked and the basis for successful money making and their relationships with those inside and outside the organization. All interviewees strongly asserted the need for absolute trust between senior partners as an essential condition for the successful operation of their business. At the same time, their description of trust in this context was that while it is deep, it is also easily broken, and that once broken, the breach cannot be forgiven. We call this 'brittle trust': asserted to be simultaneously strong while extremely fragile. The paper argues, drawing on Diego Gambetta's work on the Sicilian Mafia, that this concept of 'trust' reflects a particular understanding of the practice of private equity as a high risk, tough and unforgiving business that nevertheless requires high standards of personal integrity. The study allows us to understand something more about the social ideals that were built into this financial sector by its founders, which we argue formed a crucial part of the transformation of the financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The main aims of this paper are to determine the extent to which experienced traders in investment banks based in London are learning by informal methods, which methods are to the fore, and whether HRD staff are providing support for informal learning. It also seeks to find evidence that such investment banks were attempting to become learning organisations. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical research was conducted involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with experienced traders, line managers of traders, and HRD professionals involved in the training of traders in London based investment banks. Findings – Most of the ongoing learning conducted by traders was informal, and on-the-job in nature. This informal learning was ad hoc, poorly recorded, and limited in scope. Support of line managers to learning by their subordinate traders was patchy, with little accountability. HRD professionals were almost entirely concerned with organising formal training courses, and had little knowledge of, or involvement with, informal learning by traders. There was very little evidence of investment banks striving to become learning organisations. Research limitations/implications – The research study was limited to those investment banks willing to take part in the study, and by the banks selecting those to be interviewed. Practical implications – Investment banks have become a powerful component of the UK economy, and the ways in which their traders learn, or could learn, effectively in terms of competence improvement is key to the performance of these banks. Originality/value – Informal learning by traders in investment banks in the UK has been little researched to date. This paper addresses this inadequacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a new method to gauge eighteenth-century crime. It counts the crimes committed against metropolitan London's justices noted in newspapers and in the Old Bailey Sessions Papers, and finds crime more prevalent than current historiography acknowledges. The article contests current claims that the manner in which newspapers noted crime constructed their readers' perception of crime, making their readers believe crime was much more horrific, and the judicial system much more just, than readers would otherwise have thought they were. The article also argues that some crimes were attacks on the powerful because they were powerful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an era when university museums in the UK are engaging new audiences, this paper examines University College London's (UCL) museum and focuses on issues of knowledge, participation and community. Drawing on diverse collections and interests, this paper examines how competing ideologies relating to teaching and research collections raise complex internal political issues in encompassing diverse audiences. At the heart of this are matters of knowledge, institutional and personal memory, possession and control. This paper demonstrates how participatory approaches are as much about the management of knowledge and securing research funding as they are about education and inclusiveness. In doing so, this paper raises some germane questions about the future direction of the university museum in an era when universities are democratising access to academic knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducts a form of racial archaeology in relation to the areas of Brixton and Brick Lane in London. Both inner-city areas are strongly associated with meanings related to race and difference. This paper examines some of the dominant ways though which Brixton and Brick Lane became represented in key policy texts. It investigates how these representations changed through time and identifies three different moments that have dominated the evolution of multiculturalism in local political discourse: a moment of racial pathology, where race is viewed as a problem of space or in space; a moment of reflection, where race is perceived through the lens of cultural difference; and a moment of celebration, where cultural difference is represented as an asset to be capitalised upon by acts of local regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the economic theories of British economist John Maynard Keynes and his associations with economists from the London School of Economics. The author reflects on the reception to Keynes' ideas from former students of his such as Arnold Plant, Lionel Robbins, John Hicks, and Evan Durbin. Topics discussed include the role of tariffs in economic policy, protectionism, research in microeconomics, the influence of the book "General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money," and the book "How to Pay for the War."

In 1908, London hosted the fourth Olympic Games. A centrepiece of the Olympics, still in a nascent form after their creation in 1896, was the marathon, a foot-race of approximately 40 km. The race was run from Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium at Shepherd's Bush in July 1908, and quickly became famous for its controversies, such as the judges' assistance that helped Dorando Pietri over the line, and the questionable amateur status of Canadian runner Tom Longboat. This paper will concentrate on the route of the race: on how it was planned by the Polytechnic Harriers, how it was managed on the day, how it contributed to the development of 'marathon fever' after the Olympics, and what it tells us about the growing suburban landscape of Edwardian London and its hinterlands. The paper will end with a survey of the route today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emphasis of this paper is on the differential impact of Labor Government policies on the City of London in the years 1964-7. Three different areas of Government policy are distinguished and it is shown that Government-City relations in each area had their own very distinct characteristics. Whether or not the policies in a particular area were framed in such a way as to satisfy the perceived interests of the financial institutions was closely related to respective Government-finance power resources and to their respective strategies and objectives. These conditions varied in each of the three policy areas. Controversially, it is argued that the Wilson Government's strategy was informed throughout by Labor party ideals and that these were pursued with loyalty and great skill in the face of much hostility from the City. The final section draws on the analysis of the present paper to indicate just how misleading the standard accounts of City-Government relations have been. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the annual general meeting of the British Ecological Society held at the University College in London on January 6-7, 1949 and its thirty-fourth annual meeting held at Bristol University in London on January 9, 1948 are presented. Various woods and rare plants in Great Britain were discussed in the 1949 event accompanied by exhibits of various photographs of species while the 1948 meeting was about hydrography and ecology.

London today hosts more than 200,000 Italian people. A traditional point of arrival for Italian migrants since the nineteenth century, London is a setting characterised by the presence of the ‘old’ classic economic migration – of those who left Italy mainly in the 1950s and 1960s, and the ‘new’ migration, made up mainly of highly-educated people in the professional, academic and arts sectors. These two groups differ as regards their time of arrival, socio-economic characteristics and educational background, and they rarely have the chance or find the need to interact. This paper is based on interviews with representatives of Italian institutions and associations, and with ‘old’ and ‘new’ Italian migrants; participant observation of Italian events happening in London; and some elements of discourse analysis. By means of this empirical material, I aim to show that, besides their well-known differences, the ‘old’ and ‘new’ communities present striking similarities in their migration narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although most historiographic attention about the quality of London's drinking water has been directed towards the nineteenth century, it was an important subject in the eighteenth century as well. This paper focuses particularly on the New River supply to the city and shows that different groups approached the subject in various ways. The New River Company was constantly concerned about quality in regard to matter that affected the water's taste, appearance and smell, meaning mostly weeds, leaves and mud. Popular opinion, however, fixated on one subject above all others: that of people bathing in the New River. This source of contamination created such ire because the practice of bathing was becoming increasingly popular for its health effects; those objecting mingled moral and spiritual impurity with the contamination of the water; and finally, there was a strong class element to the dispute, with the bathers being from the lower classes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Tube Challenge consists of visiting all stations of the London Underground in the least possible time. The competition started in 1959 and the current record was established in August 2013. This paper shows that under some simplifications, this problem and some of its variants can be cast as a Generalized Traveling Salesman Problem, as a Traveling Salesman Problem, as a Rural Postman Problem or as a Chinese Postman Problem defined on a directed graph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will examine the views and experiences of Black youths living in socially deprived areas of London in order to examine the way in which they recognise the term ‘Black neighbourhood’ as a resource for ethnic identity formation and collective mobilisation. Despite the apparent problems that are typically associated with ‘Black neighbourhoods’ for many Black youths, these neighbourhoods also represent urban spaces through which a range of bonding social capital resources are generated including ties of reciprocal trust, solidarity and civic participation. These spaces hold intrinsic value for these young people providing them with a sense of wellbeing and belonging. However, the analysis will also show that the young people’s experiences of the neighbourhood are not always positive ones, and such spaces create negative outcomes for Black youths residing there. In particular, the data will highlight the restrictive capacity of ‘Black neighbourhoods’ and the various ways in which they limit Black youths’ opportunities to ‘get on’ in terms of social mobility and their ability to move beyond neighbourhood boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper analyses changes in accessibility that might result from a new High-Speed Rail (HSR) line in the UK. A proposal for such a line put forward by Network Rail in 2009 is used as the basis for the analysis. Using travel time to London as the main benchmark to measure accessibility of a station on the current (conventional) and future (high-speed) rail networks the paper examines the likely winners and losers from the construction of the new line. The results show that the accessibility benefits from the proposed line are relatively limited in terms of geographic spread and that many cities close to it would not see any travel time reductions on journeys to London, thus will not see any accessibility benefits in this respect. For such places, this will translate to a relative reduction in the accessibility to London, when compared to other locations, and thus to potentially adverse socioeconomic implications. The paper concludes by arguing that any examination of a HSR line must consider a wider geographic area than just the cities, and especially the stations, on the line and it therefore must give due consideration to integration between transport networks, and especially between the high-speed and conventional rail networks. Based on the current analysis, the paper concludes that the case for a HSR line in the UK from a regional accessibility perspective is questionable. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: In England, influenza and pertussis vaccination has been recommended for all pregnant women since 2010 and 2012 respectively. However, in some areas, vaccination uptake rates have been low. A qualitative study was conducted to gain a contextualised understanding of factors influencing vaccination acceptance during pregnancy in Hackney, a borough in north-east London, UK. This paper draws on in-depth insights gained from the above study, to provide recommendations for increasing long-term maternal vaccination acceptance.Methods: Hackney was chosen as the study site because it has one of the lowest vaccination coverage rates in pregnancy in the UK. A maximum variation sampling method was used to recruit 47 pregnant and recently pregnant women from a wide range of backgrounds, as well as ten healthcare professionals from three general practices; two community antenatal clinics; nine parent-toddler groups; and four community centres. In-depth interviews and a video-recording of a pregnant patient's consultation, explored experiences of care within the National Health Service during pregnancy, and women's views about maternal vaccination. In-depth interviews with healthcare professionals explored their views towards, and how they discuss and provide maternal vaccination. Study data were analysed both deductively, through drawing on insights from anthropological works that address diverse conceptualisations and practices around vaccination; and inductively, with a thematic analysis approach.Results: The findings of this study and the recommendations based on them were divided into five broad themes: access to maternal vaccination; healthcare institution rhetoric and its effect on maternal vaccination acceptance; community and family influences on maternal vaccination decisions; healthcare professionals' views towards maternal vaccination; and the influence of patient-healthcare professional relationships on maternal vaccination acceptance.Conclusions: The strategies to improve maternal vaccination acceptance recommended in this paper would engender a more open and democratised healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews several articles, including "Land, Population and Famine in the English Uplands: A Westmorland Case Study, c. 1370-1650," by J. Healey, which appeared in the periodical "Agricultural History Review" in 2011, "Plague Historians in Lab Coats," by L.K. Little, which appeared in the periodical "Past and Present" in 2011, and "Youth and Old Age in Late Medieval London," by E.D. Spindler, which appeared in the periodical "London Journal" in 2011.

Britain has seen a significant increase in the size of its ethnic minority population over the past 20 years. Because of the relatively youthful age structure of the ethnic minority population, the percentage of ethnic minorities in the school age-groups is much higher than its share of the overall population. Given the very uneven geographical distribution of ethnic minorities, this has raised concerns over the extent of school ethnic segregation. This paper examines the changing distribution of ethnic minority secondary school pupils in England over the period 1999–2009. It shows that, while there have been big increases in the percentage of ethnic minorities in those local authorities with existing concentrations, with ethnic minorities comprising over 50 per cent of pupils in 24 urban authorities in 2009, the dominant trend has been one of an increase in the percentage of ethnic minority pupils across the board combined with the increasing diffusion of ethnic minorities across all local authorities, rather than increasing concentration in a small number of authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines work conducted between 1915 and 1919 by a group of architects and planners based at the Royal Institute of British Architects. The project, called the Civic Survey of Greater London, and the substantial collection of maps and diagrams that resulted from it are currently unknown in histories of mapping and planning, thus this paper offers a preliminary account and analysis of the work. The paper begins by assessing the development of surveying and mapping techniques in the nineteenth century with the aim of situating the Survey within broader historical trajectories. The following section of the paper examines the immediate context for the Survey, in particular the place of Patrick Geddes and his ideas. The third part of the paper focuses on the work of the Survey itself. The fourth part draws out key analytical threads in dialogue with a number of the maps of the Survey. The emphasis placed here is on exploring lines of continuity between the Civic Survey of Greater London and earlier techniques of representation and governmentality. The concluding section reflects briefly on the reasons for the Survey's subsequent relative obscurity and the importance of the project for later traditions of surveying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If women in London in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries sought the perfect crime in which to participate, selecting receiving stolen goods provided excellent opportunities for profit and little chance of punishment. Low conviction rates, combined with the fact that no behaviour outside of gendered expectations was required in its commission, made dealing in stolen goods relatively easy for women in the metropolis. Although this particular offence has not been deeply analysed by historians of crime, its commission did alarm contemporaries, including members of the legal community and social commentators. This paper explores accusations against females in London for receiving, as well as the important roles that familial relationships and work played in their indictments for the crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses judicial records of the Sheriffs' Court of London and the royal Court of Common Pleas at Westminster to investigate whether the concept of a later medieval 'Golden Age' of female opportunity, as Caroline Barron has posited, is indicated by London's legal customs, as reflected in quantitative evidence of London women's court appearances and the types of cases in which they were litigants. It offers an introduction to economic and legal aspects of the 'Golden Age debate' and other quantitative investigations of women in later medieval courts; presents a comparative pre-plague to post-plague analysis of London women in the London Sheriffs' Court and royal Court of Common Pleas; and places trends regarding London women within a national context. It is concluded that women in London, as elsewhere in England, were less likely to act as litigants in the post-plague era, suggesting a general tightening up of patriarchal control over women's public activities that is inconsistent with a socially expressed 'Golden Age' of women in later medieval London. But, some evidence is presented that London women may nevertheless have enjoyed slightly enhanced economic opportunities in the fifteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, the first citizenship ceremony was conducted in the London Borough of Brent. These compulsory ceremonies for those who have been granted British citizenship had been proposed in the government white paper and then in the 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act. They were designed to celebrate the moment of achieving citizenships and were one response to a perceived ‘crisis of citizenship’ in Britain. This study examines the texts of the ‘local welcome’ which is given by a local dignitary at every ceremony as a moment of invention of tradition and of narrating citizenship and thereby narrating the nation-state. The study explores how and what the speeches tell us about understandings of citizenship and its relationship to diversity. It explores how history is also represented within the speeches. Finally, the study interrogates the texts' telling of a multi-cultural story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]