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Backgrounds: Healthy volunteers play a key role in clinical trials and it is crucial to develop recruitment strategies that capitalise on their motivations and maximise their participation. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of finding motivated healthy volunteers for the development of new vaccines. Public registers represent a promising way to promote the participation of healthy volunteers in the research field, but their adoption is still limited. The current study aimed to explore the motivations of healthy volunteers to enrol in an Italian public register for clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic and their attitude toward participating in a phase 1 COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. The impacts of different enrolling interview modalities (in person, by phone, by mail) on motivation, understanding of information and trust in researchers were also investigated. Methods: An online survey investigating experience with COVID-19, motivations to enrol, trust in researchers, political and healthcare authorities and pharmacological companies was presented to people applying as healthy volunteers in the public register for clinical trials at Phase 1 Unit Research Centre of ASST Monza, Italy, and considering to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial. Data were collected in June 2021. Results: Altruistic motivations were the main driver for enrolling in the public register, while self-interested motivations were secondary. No gender differences were found. As for enrolling modalities, no differences emerged between in-person and interviews for motivation to enrol, understanding of information and trust in researchers. Email modality led to significantly lower volunteers’ satisfaction and understanding of information but similar trust in research. Conclusions: This study supports the validity of different interview modalities (in person and by phone) for the enrolment of healthy volunteers for clinical trials and highlights the positive role of p

Contemporary urban areas are characterized by the growing number of resident and non-resident people living, working, and consuming in cities. According to the analysis of Martinotti (1993), we have four types of metropolitan populations: inhabitants, commuters, city users (mainly tourists), and businessmen. These populations come and stay in the city in different moments during the day or in different seasons, for different reasons and purposes, generating different types of real or potential conflicts. In particular, it is possible to focus on six types of possible conflicts: from a spatial point of view, in terms of conflicts concerning occupation and mobility in the space; from a more general point of view, in terms of economic, cultural, fiscal, and political conflicts. Of course, non-resident populations constitute very important resources also for improving the living conditions of resident populations, and vice versa. However, scholars and planners should also recognize that contemporary cities have to tackle many problems related to the high concentration and flow of people in urban areas, where new worrisome phenomena of social polarization and political disenfranchisement are emerging that require innovative types of public policies.

Contemporary cities are characterized by an increasing concentration of populations (inhabitants, commuters, tourists) using a limited set of services and resources. Accessibility of services can be evaluated according to educational, cultural and economic disparities, but also in terms of traffic, transport systems and other issues concerning urban mobility. The first part of the paper deals with the concept of accessibility as a crucial aspect to examine in order to evaluate quality of life in the metropolitan areas as well as in the medium cities and small towns. This part is developed according to a theoretical framework based on Amartya Sen’s categories of functionings and capabilities . In the second part of the paper survey data regarding the accessibility of services in Italy are analyzed in order to test similarities and disparities among cities of different size.

Cities are nowadays characterized by the presence of a growing number of commuters. Commuting practices are not only increasing but also transforming in connection with changes in residential patterns, labor markets, transport facilities, and household structure. Commuting toward the metropolis can generate a weakening of identity and linkages with the origin community and with respect to the family, a sense of risk in relation to criminality issues, health and psychological problems, and transport costs. But commuting also contributes to improving economic conditions, job opportunities, cultural level, and to maintaining a relationship with the social and environmental local context as well as with the large and fascinating city. One of the main results of these daily flows is that cities are currently characterized by the presence of different resident and non-resident populations competing in the processes of accessing, controlling and using local resources and services. Therefore, communities are no longer stable and closed entities but interact every day with different populations coming from different places. The chapter analyzes all these aspects with a specific focus on the Italian case.