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In this paper, we contribute to recent debates on the geographies of discontent by examining the implications of urbanisation on the state as a territorial‐political community in the European context. Building on an Arendtian conception of politics, we argue that the emergence of the "urban" as a dominant spatio‐political imaginary has led to a narrowing of the conditions of politics and political agency within states. The urban imaginary has provoked selective spatio‐political discourses, geopolitical strategies, and policy practices that have resulted in the exclusion of certain social and spatial fractions of society from a shared sense of community and political agency within the state. To demonstrate this point, we empirically analysed the experience of political efficacy in Europe. The results of our analysis show that perceived external political efficacy is weakest in more rural settings and in regions with low GDP and a declining population. Accordingly, we suggest that policy measures ought to be directed against this sort of political alienation and should be used to create a stronger sense of political belonging and community. In this paper, we argue that the emergence of the "urban" as a dominant spatio‐political imaginary has led to a narrowing of the conditions of politics and political agency within states. The urban imaginary has provoked selective spatio‐political discourses, geopolitical strategies, and policy practices that have resulted in the exclusion of certain social and spatial fractions of society from a shared sense of community and political agency within the state. The results of our analysis show that perceived external political efficacy is weakest in more rural settings and in regions with low GDP and a declining population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper begins with an introduction into the interlocking network model (INM) initially specified by Peter Taylor in the context of the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research network. For that purpose, the intellectual background, purpose, key principles and subsequent applications of the INM are presented. Since the overall purpose of the Special Issue is to take research inspired by the INM further, this paper gives, second, an overview of some of the main critiques raised against the INM. Third, the relevance of the different papers of the Special Issue is framed within these critiques. The papers in the Special Issue can be divided in two groups: while the first set discusses the measurement framework, the second focuses on the conceptual remit of the INM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper contributes to the understanding of socio-spatial trends and urban systems in Europe, with a specific focus on smaller settlements. First, a morphological delimitation of urban settlements as geographical base is used to identify the different settlement structures that characterise regions across Europe. Secondly, an analysis of population and GDP performances of NUTS 3 regions for the 29 countries of the European space (growth rates in 2001-2011) provides evidence of the variety of territorial phenomena that characterise smaller-settlement regions across Europe. Finally, the paper highlights the diversity and complexity of urbanisation structures in Europe and how general trends observed at larger scale are articulated locally according to prevailing structures of urbanisation. It shows the character of 'embeddedness' of smaller settlements within urban systems and territorial structures and how the socio-economic performances of smaller-settlement regions are defined by a combination of macro trends, national contextualisation, local dynamics and regional path dependency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unique contribution of this paper is to empirically compare and contrast demographic change in settlements with a population between 5,000 and under 50,000 (defined as towns) across different national urban systems in Europe with common definitions for the first time. The analysis uses a new data set based on harmonised small area data and harmonised morphological definitions of what a town is. The paper hypothesises first that a general model of demographic growth can be applied across national urban systems and secondly that regional demographic change is a significant predictor of demographic change in towns nested within those regions within this generalised model. A fixed effect multi-level regression analysis tests the importance of town-level and regional factors among towns from five national systems but also within two individual national urban systems. The findings suggest that national context still matters and within some national systems, regional context also strongly predicts demographic change in towns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A quarter of the European population lives in ‘polycentric urban regions’ (PURs): clusters of historically and administratively distinct but proximate and well‐connected cities of relatively similar size. This paper explores whether tighter integration can increase agglomeration benefits at the PUR‐level. We provide the first comprehensive list of European PURs (117 in total), establish their level of functional, institutional and cultural integration and measure whether this affects their performance. ‘Performance’ is defined as the extent to which urbanisation economies have developed, proxied by the presence of metropolitan functions. In this first‐ever cross‐sectional analysis of PURs we find that while there is evidence for all dimensions of integration having a positive effect, particularly functional integration has great significance. Regarding institutional integration, it appears that having some form of metropolitan co‐operation is more important than its exact shape. Theoretically, our results substantiate the assumption that networks may substitute for proximity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper discusses commonalities between two planning-related discourses: sustainable urban development and innovation. It is argued that one common denominator between these discourses is a resource-based view of urban project management. Implementing sustainability and initiating urban innovation both can be reframed as a multilevel governance process of resource management. The paper discusses sustainable urban development and the innovation concept using Berlin-Adlershof, one of Europe's largest urban science and technology parks, as an example. A resource-based view reveals a particular governance-related resource that seems to be underestimated both by the innovation and the sustainability discourse: identity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The beginning of the 21st century marks the first time in history that more than half of the world's population lives in urban areas. In Europe, more than 70% of the population lives in urban areas today. This number is likely to increase to 84% by 2050. However, a shift from growth to decline of urban population is already present for a growing number of cities. The paper examines urban population trends for 158 European agglomerations and assesses the dynamics behind one particular development of growth or decline. Using data from 1991 to 2004, we present statistical evidence of diversifying population trajectories for core cities and fringe areas. The quantitative results are contrasted with the widespread accepted cyclical urbanisation model that has been expounded as a theoretical approach to describe previous and future stages of European urban development. The structural approach of the model is discussed because we believe that such concepts do not reflect the dynamics of present urban development in Europe. The paper argues that the urban agglomerations studied do not show a single evolutionary stage of urban development. Rather, we found a coexistence of intensifying suburbanisation and developing reurbanisation, which is mainly driven by younger households. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a first attempt at the construction of a unified, homogeneous inventory of different classes of urban settlements in the European space, building on the approach of international institutions such as OECD and the EU in relation to larger urban areas and extending it to the specific challenge presented by smaller settlements. Its objective is twofold. The first is to address the fundamental empirical problem that was central to the development of the ESPON 2013 project 'Small and Medium sized Towns in their Functional Territorial Context' (TOWN), that is the proper geographic identification of different classes of urban settlements. The second is to introduce one basic classification of urban settlements, and two more refined typologies of small and medium sized towns (SMST). These typologies are used to provide a first impression of territorial structures of urbanisation throughout Europe, further elaborated in functional terms in the TOWN project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that, over time, Europe's population has undergone progressive regional concentration. Using data at the regional level from the first (1870) until the most recent (2000) available censuses, it is shown that the most densely populated areas in 1870 have continued to absorb subsequent population increase, and that as a result, territorial inequalities with respect to population have been exacerbated. Our main contribution consists of measuring this phenomenon and studying the spatial distribution of population in Europe from a historical perspective. For example, a high correlation (0.83) was found between the population density patterns for 1870 and 2000. These results allow a better understanding of the organisation of European society and more specifically of the phenomenon of counter‐urbanisation, which has traditionally been observed at the local level but not at the regional one. To make this possible, we have built a new and comprehensive database on the distribution of population in Central and Western Europe between 1870 and 2000. In this paper we explain the methodology followed, which involves the combination of historical information from a variety of sources, to produce a homogeneous, regional‐scale database that considers changes in European administrative borders within recent history. This database has been produced to trace the evolution of regional population throughout this period and to provide an insight into the most important long‐term trends and spatial patterns affecting European population. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the economic significance of variation in the number and size of towns across Europe during the early 14th century by comparing the towns of England and of northern Italy. The paper starts by examining the towns of the two countries more closely, distinguishing between those that were very large, large, middle-sized and small. In comparison with rural communities, all towns had more people employed outside agriculture, but this was proportionally more marked in a metropolis like London or Florence than in a small town. The larger the town, the higher the proportion of non-agricultural occupations, the stronger the commitment to producing goods in restricted demand, and the greater the weight of commercial and professional activities. The fact that the contrast between northern Italy and England is so sharp at the top end of the urban scale implies that there was more employment in manufacturing and services in Italy. It also suggests that northern Italy had a wider range of specialized occupations. Studies of urbanization and urban hierarchy characteristically go beyond the statistical classification of towns to establish and explain rank-size relationships between them in different economic regions.

An analysis of eastern European urbanization goes beyond the bounds of the paper. Viewing Eastern Europe in a monolithic way is common given contemporary geopolitical divisions, but these societies' experiences with city growth and urban developments are heterogeneous. East central European societies also lack the skewed urban size distributions associated with dependent urbanism. Urban primacy is not characteristic. In fact, National City size distributions are quite flat, with the obvious exception of Hungary. To some extent this exception proves the rule. The primacy of Budapest, Hungary is partly a consequence of changes in national boundaries. In the postrevolutionary period, there also have been substantial efforts to contain the growth of the largest cities and encourage the development of medium-sized places. In summary, east central European urbanization has been characterized by some inequalities and especially shortages that are particularly noticeable in housing. These levels of inequality and poverty are, however, less serious than those experienced by rapidly urbanizing third-world societies.

Urban polycentricity has become a key concept in urban and regional studies and is increasingly adopted as an organizational framework for conducting empirical research. Within this literature, polycentric urban regions are commonly defined as territories that have multiple, proximately located (sub)centers and are characterized by balanced urban development. However, analytical‐operational frameworks to identify and classify PURs are often ad hoc efforts to answer a specific research question and underlying work is often shelved rather than shared and/or made accessible. As a result, challenges associated with generalizability, reproducibility, and replicability clearly loom large in the urban polycentricity literature. Against this backdrop, this article describes the discrepancy between a rich debate on polycentricity and the paucity of tools enabling the disambiguation and reproducibility of results claimed by various authors around this polysemic concept. We present an online and open tool—PURban—that brings together the major analytical‐operational frameworks and data sets in urban polycentricity research and allows parametrizing key operational choices. To illustrate the tool, we demonstrate how it facilitates the identification, mapping and analysis of degrees of morphological polycentricity in European urban systems. We conclude by reflecting on how this tool can act as a catalyst for future research on urban polycentricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than three decades, it has been recognized that Ixodes ricinus ticks occur in urban green space in Europe and that they harbour multiple pathogens linked to both human and animal diseases. Urban green space use for health and well‐being, climate mitigation or biodiversity goals is promoted, often without consideration for the potential impact on tick encounters or tick‐borne disease outcomes. This review synthesizes the results of over 100 publications on questing I. ricinus and Borrelia spp. infections in ticks in urban green space in 24 European countries. It presents data on several risk indicators for Lyme borreliosis and highlights key research gaps and recommendations for future studies. Across Europe, mean density of I. ricinus in urban green space was 6.9 (range; 0.1–28.8) per 100 m2 and mean Borrelia prevalence was 17.3% (range; 3.1%–38.1%). Similar density estimates were obtained for nymphs, which had a Borrelia prevalence of 14.2% (range; 0.5%–86.7%). Few studies provided data on both questing nymph density and Borrelia prevalence, but those that did found an average of 1.7 (range; 0–5.6) Borrelia‐infected nymphs per 100 m2 of urban green space. Although a wide range of genospecies were reported, Borrelia afzelii was the most common in most parts of Europe, except for England where B. garinii was more common. The emerging pathogen Borrelia miyamotoi was also found in several countries, but with a much lower prevalence (1.5%). Our review highlights that I. ricinus and tick‐borne Borrelia pathogens are found in a wide range of urban green space habitats and across several seasons. The impact of human exposure to I. ricinus and subsequent Lyme borreliosis incidence in urban green space has not been quantified. There is also a need to standardize sampling protocols to generate better baseline data for the density of ticks and Borrelia prevalence in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses and illustrates the ‘knowledge turn’ in urban policy across Europe. We identify four manifestations of it: 1) widespread efforts to lure knowledge workers; 2) a growing involvement of knowledge institutes in urban development and planning processes, 3) an explicit ‘knowledge based’ approach to planning and the design of public space, and 4) efforts to underline a ‘knowledge city’ identity using all kinds of marketing and branding techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the notable successes of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activism in the region, individual European countries have varied considerably in the extent and speed with which they have adopted legislation to recognise the rights of their LGBTI citizens. Scholars have often turned to modernisation theory to explain these variable outcomes and argue that high levels of national wealth are an important factor in the success of LGBTI movements. Although the correlation between modernity, economic development and tolerance of LGBTI lifestyles is often treated as a truism in the literature, scholars have paid less attention to the precise mechanisms by which the complex processes associated with modernisation facilitate policy change. Drawing on the classic works of both modernisation theory and gay and lesbian history, we examine a less explored route by which modernisation leads to the expansion of LGBTI rights. Specifically, we posit that urbanisation facilitates the adoption of rights policies by strengthening LGBTI movements and enhancing their political effectiveness. To test this proposition, we use event history analysis and an original dataset that contains measures for institutional, cultural, economic and movement variables, as well as measures of urbanisation in 44 European countries between 1980 and 2015. Our findings support the contention that urbanisation has a strong effect on the formation of LGBTI movement organisations as well as the speed with which European states adopt both same‐sex union and anti‐discrimination legislation. The relationship between urbanisation and rights expansion persists even after controlling for a country's level of wealth, religious adherence and the influence of European institutions and norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is a global phenomenon with major effects on species, the structure of community functional traits and ecological interactions. Body size is a key species trait linked to metabolism, life‐history and dispersal as well as a major determinant of ecological networks. Here, using a well‐replicated urban–rural sampling design in Central Europe, we investigate the direction of change of body size in response to urbanization in three common bumblebee species, Bombus lapidarius, Bombus pascuorum and Bombus terrestris, and potential knock‐on effects on pollination service provision. We found foragers of B. terrestris to be larger in cities and the body size of all species to be positively correlated with road density (albeit at different, species‐specific scales); these are expected consequences of habitat fragmentation resulting from urbanization. High ambient temperature at sampling was associated with both a small body size and an increase in variation of body size in all three species. At the community level, the community‐weighted mean body size and its variation increased with urbanization. Urbanization had an indirect positive effect on pollination services through its effects not only on flower visitation rate but also on community‐weighted mean body size and its variation. We discuss the eco‐evolutionary implications of the effect of urbanization on body size, and the relevance of these findings for the key ecosystem service of pollination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas are expanding globally as a consequence of human population increases, with overall negative effects on biodiversity. To prevent the further loss of biodiversity, it is urgent to understand the mechanisms behind this loss to develop evidence‐based sustainable solutions to preserve biodiversity in urban landscapes. The two extreme urban development types along a continuum, land‐sparing (large, continuous green areas and high‐density housing) and land‐sharing (small, fragmented green areas and low‐density housing) have been the recent focus of debates regarding the pattern of urban development. However, in this context, there is no information on the mechanisms behind the observed biodiversity changes. One of the main mechanisms proposed to explain urban biodiversity loss is the alteration of predator–prey interactions. Using ground‐nesting birds as a model system and data from nine European cities, we experimentally tested the effects of these two extreme urban development types on artificial ground nest survival and whether nest survival correlates with the local abundance of ground‐nesting birds and their nest predators. Nest survival (n = 554) was lower in land‐sharing than in land‐sparing urban areas. Nest survival decreased with increasing numbers of local predators (cats and corvids) and with nest visibility. Correspondingly, relative abundance of ground‐nesting birds was greater in land‐sparing than in land‐sharing urban areas, though overall bird species richness was unaffected by the pattern of urban development. We provide the first evidence that predator–prey interactions differ between the two extreme urban development types. Changing interactions may explain the higher proportion of ground‐nesting birds in land‐sparing areas, and suggest a limitation of the land‐sharing model. Nest predator control and the provision of more green‐covered urban habitats may also improve conservation of sensitive birds in cities. Our findings provide information on how to further expand our cities without severe loss of urban‐sensitive species and give support for land‐sparing over land‐sharing urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to examine rural population/residential movements through a mobilities perspective to provide an inclusive analysis of the diverse processes of movement that (re)produce rural places beyond the dominant counter urbanisation narrative. We seek to contribute to the literature in two ways. Firstly, we examine a sample of rural residents who have moved house within a 10 year period to examine the full range of actually existing residential mobilities, including counter urbanisation, lateral in-migration and local mobility within an Irish context. We suggest that counter urbanisation provides only a partial explanation of rural mobility accounting for 44 per cent of our recent movers - moreover, within the counter urbanisation group, approximately a half of this group were originally from a rural context suggesting a more nuanced 'return-to-roots' movement rather than a stereotypical urban-rural movement. Secondly, we explore two relatively new dimensions of rural mobilities - the importance of the actual house characteristics to where respondents moved to and the pull of family networks as key mobility factors. In the Irish context explored in this article, we argue that rather than a search for greenspace and idyllic landscapes, decision-making is often driven by a desire for more private space (internal and external) and the presence of existing family networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article begins with an overview of what is implied in the notion of the 'post-political' before looking closely at post-political interpretations of the 2011 London riots. It presents a critique of the restricted sense of political subjectivity in such accounts. It demonstrates how participation in the riots and their aftermath may be seen as indicative of an embryonic form of urban politics that works with and against the post-political city. This discussion is illuminated by an analysis of the discursive space of London hip-hop which reveals an ironic, complex and reflexive dialogue about identity, justice and politics that is far removed from the caricature offered by 'strong' interpretations of the post-political subject. This is then linked to readings of the post-political city that place a welcome stress not only on the evacuation of the political dimension from the city, but also on the opportunities for the re-emergence of the proto-political. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological degradation constitutes one of the most severe threats to the ecological integrity of lakes. The development of biotic assessment methods for human lake shore alterations using littoral macroinvertebrates requires quantification of the degree of degradation by a stressor index and is complicated through simultaneous physical pressures that alter natural habitat structure., The Lake Habitat Survey (LHS) method and macroinvertebrate sampling were used to produce a pan-European dataset of morphological lake shore degradation and macroinvertebrate densities covering 51 lakes in seven countries and across four geographical regions - northern, western, southern and central Europe., Lake Habitat Survey parameters that differed significantly among three categories of morphological pressure were combined to develop the stressor index components 'Number of habitats', 'Habitat diversity', 'Total percentage volume inhabited by macrophytes', 'Sum of macrophyte types', 'Sum of vegetation cover types', 'Sum of coarse woody debris/roots/overhanging vegetation', 'Pressure index' (number of human disturbance sources) and 'Natural/artificial dominant land cover type'., Stressor index components were tested for cross-correlations and for differences among pressure levels. The final composition of the stressor index was optimized for the four studied geographical regions in Europe. The resulting stressor index correlated more strongly with macroinvertebrate metrics than simpler site-specific LHS parameters or the HabQA index developed previously in one lake in north-western Europe., The stressor index developed provides deeper insight into the morphological pressures that affect littoral invertebrate communities. The results also support the use of LHS to quantify morphological stressors at sampling site level, which can ease developing other multimetric bioassessment methods., The stressor index offers the possibility for wide and regional specific application to assess hydromorphological pressures on lakes to assist conservation planning and management and further global efforts to develop and test biotic assessment methods for lakes., Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the sustainability potential of the urban water systems in Europe ( UWSE) following their modernisation. A decade after implementation and close to the first deadlines, modernisation efforts seem to have not been (totally) successful. This article examines the ability of governance to achieve sustainability and poses the question of how modernisation develops a particular 'terrain' more or less favourable to sustainability. We use the Institutional resource regimes framework which has been dedicated to determining the potential for sustainability of natural resources regulation. Conclusions show that the modernisation of UWSEs offers a path for progress which though necessary is insufficient due to a lack of coherence between policy design and the regulatory system. Globally, the development of regulation goes hand in hand with increasing inconsistencies that reduce the efficiency of the reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between form and function in European Mediterranean cities has been widely addressed from various perspectives. A number of studies indicate that, until the 1980s, compactness was a key trait of several cities of the Northern Mediterranean. However, after the 'compact growth' period, these cities experienced patterns of urbanization that differed from their traditional trends. Since the 1990s, sprawl, coupled with population decline in the inner cities, has become the main pattern of urban development. This article explores the key features of exurban development in the Mediterranean region in order to provide material for a discussion based on the differences and similarities in the characteristics of sprawl processes originating in the US and Northern Europe. It concludes that any debate on policy responses to sprawl must be specifically formulated according to the scope, administrative level, housing and planning system, territorial and socioeconomic characteristics of the urban system under examination. It is our belief that sprawl requires site-specific analyses and policy strategies for the region being studied if the process is to be effectively controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To compare macroecological patterns between bird communities of European cities and regional species assemblages in the surrounding landscape, and to reveal geographical trends in the urbanization of native avifauna. Location Forty-one towns and cities in continental Europe. Methods We compiled data on the species richness and community composition of urban avifauna from 41 European city breeding bird atlases, and of species assemblages comprising nine grid cells (each about 50 km × 50 km) from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds (hereafter regional assemblages). Species-area relationships ( SARs), latitudinal trends in diversity and the distance decay of community similarity were compared using regression models (generalized linear models). Observed urban communities were compared with randomly assembled ones to reveal systematic effects of the urban environment on native bird communities across Europe. We employed variance partitioning to quantify the relative effect of environmental parameters and the spatial position of cities on species richness. Results The species-area relationships did not differ significantly between cities and regional assemblages. Species richness of both types of communities increased towards higher latitudes, although the relationship was unimodal for regional assemblages, in contrast to cities. The increase in beta diversity with distance was on average less pronounced in cities than in regional assemblages, and was lower between individual cities than between communities of the same size randomly drawn from regional species assemblages. Moreover, average beta diversity was lower in northern cities, which are characterized by a relatively higher proportion of species from regional species pools. Main conclusions The species-area relationship and latitudinal trends are largely congruent between cities and the regional assemblages. However, city avifaunas tend to be relatively more uniform across space, revealing biotic homogenization. Urban communities in northern cities are more uniform as a higher proportion of bird species breeds in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, urbanisation in Europe has been characterised by the development and expansion of functionally integrated urban regions. Areas around Copenhagen, Denmark, have also experienced continuous urbanisation and a considerable in-migration, which has contributed to the development of a wider metropolitan region. Most recently, however, a shift of migration towards the urban centre has occurred. Was the emergence of the urban-rural region just an ephemeral phenomenon? Migration patterns are used to analyse urban-rural relationships. Generally, in-migration was concentrated in areas located at medium to long-distances from the city centre from 1996-2005, while in the years since 2006, this trend has been reversed. However, a differentiated view on migration shows a very diverse and non-linear development. We focus on three migration types, Ex-urbanisation, Displaced urbanisation and Anti-urbanisation and compare their development since 1986 in three time periods. Each type shows a different behaviour, partially unstable over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Transit migration is not a completely new phenomenon. In fact the real novelty is that it is perceived or presented as new by international experts. By re-emphasising the transitory nature of migration the term reintroduces an aspect of uncertainty in migration patterns, associating social marginalisation with precarious impermanence and illegality with criminality and transit, in order to provide an argument to eliminate it. In fact it is only a minority of nationals of sub-Saharan African countries who, having crossed the Sahara, actually want to continue to Europe. The majority are happy to work more permanently in the Maghreb while cross border circulation continues on a seasonal basis. To confuse the figure of the trans-Saharan migrant with those of the victim stuck on a boat off the coast of Lampedusa or trapped in the forests of Bel Younes at Ceuta or Mariwari, near Mellila is to twist reality. There is one certainty, nevertheless, amongst all these approximations: the precarious status of transit migrants has grown as states have cooperated in border control operations and as solidarity between migrants and other migrants or non-migrants, which provides a safety net during migratory movements, has gradually faded. Across the Sahara, migrants in transit leave traces, particular changes in places which research must explain before they are totally erased, before both states and migrants themselves contribute for different reasons to their disappearance. The Sahara is not only a space that is crossed, it's also a place that is worked on, urbanised by the passage and residence of generations of migrants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent large declines in house sparrow Passer domesticus L. populations in many European towns and cities have generated much speculation as to possible environmental causes, although empirical insights have been lacking. We measured reproductive success in a declining house sparrow population along an urbanization gradient in Leicester, England, and used mixed models to identify correlates of nesting success. A stochastic simulation approach was developed to estimate annual reproductive success when the number of breeding attempts was unknown, and to assess the sensitivity of reproductive success to variation in different environmental factors. During 2 out of 3 years, reproductive output was lower than the predicted threshold required for population stability. Years of inadequate reproduction were characterized by lower chick survival and body mass at fledging (a predictor of post-fledging survival). Factors associated with reduced reproductive output included low ambient temperatures, extremes of rainfall, high levels of vegetable material in the diet (all affecting chick survival and body mass), low aphid densities (an important component of chick diet) and high concentrations of air pollution from traffic (affecting chick body mass). Reproductive failure linked to inadequate invertebrate availability provides a plausible demographic mechanism accounting for declines in urban–suburban house sparrow populations. Increased traffic volume and vegetation removal are candidate causal factors in these declines although the mechanism underlying the former is unclear. Increasing densities of key invertebrate prey away from major roads should be an objective of conservation management aimed at urban–suburban house sparrows. This study illustrates the utility of mixed models for the analysis of individual sibling survival and of stochastic simulation for modelling reproductive success in multi-brooded animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To evaluate the relative importance of water–energy, land-cover, environmental heterogeneity and spatial variables on the regional distribution of Red-Listed and common vascular plant species richness. Location Trento Province ( c. 6200 km2) on the southern border of the European Alps (Italy), subdivided regularly into 228 3′ × 5′ quadrants. Methods Data from a floristic inventory were separated into two subsets, representing Red-Listed and common (i.e. all except Red-Listed) plant species richness. Both subsets were separately related to water–energy, land-cover and environmental heterogeneity variables. We simultaneously applied ordinary least squares regression with variation partitioning and hierarchical partitioning, attempting to identify the most important factors controlling species richness. We combined the analysis of environmental variables with a trend surface analysis and a spatial autocorrelation analysis. Results At the regional scale, plant species richness of both Red-Listed and common species was primarily related to energy availability and land cover, whereas environmental heterogeneity had a lesser effect. The greatest number of species of both subsets was found in quadrants with the largest energy availability and the greatest degree of urbanization. These findings suggest that the elevation range within our study region imposes an energy-driven control on the distribution of species richness, which resembles that of the broader latitude gradient. Overall, the two species subsets had similar trends concerning the relative importance of water–energy, land cover and environmental heterogeneity, showing a few differences regarding the selection of some predictors of secondary importance. The incorporation of spatial variables did not improve the explanatory power of the environmental models and the high original spatial autocorrelation in the response variables was reduced drastically by including the selected environmental variables. Main conclusions Water–energy and land cover showed significant pure effects in explaining plant species richness, indicating that climate and land cover should both be included as explanatory variables in modelling species richness in human-affected landscapes. However, the high degree of shared variation between the two groups made the relative effects difficult to separate. The relatively low range of variation in the environmental heterogeneity variables within our sampling domain might have caused the low importance of this complex factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Several recent studies have considered the relative effects of local vs. landscape factors on diversity of several animal taxa in grasslands. However, very few have considered vascular plant or Orthoptera species, both of which are important biotic components of grassland ecosystems. The general aim of this study was to determine the effect of grassland management and landscape composition, and their potential interactions, on diversity patterns of vascular plants and Orthoptera in Alpine hay meadows. 2. We considered three groups of management regimes defined by different amounts of fertilizer nitrogen applied and cutting frequency: (i) extensive, (ii) low intensive and (iii) intensive meadows situated in different landscape contexts. To evaluate the relative importance of meadow management and landscape composition on diversity patterns, we applied analysis of covariance and variation partitioning analyses. 3. Diversity patterns of both taxonomic groups were affected primarily by grassland management. The extensive management regime was most suitable for conserving high species richness of both taxonomic groups. The intensive meadows were characterized by plant communities dominated by a few ruderal and competitor species, and by Orthoptera communities composed of only a few abundant Caelifera species (e.g. Chorthippus parallelus), while Ensifera species had very low individual densities. 4. Regarding the landscape determinants, plant diversity patterns were not significantly related to any landscape composition variables. In contrast, a high proportion of urban elements and grassland in the surrounding landscape (radius 500 m) affected Orthoptera species richness negatively. 5. Synthesis and applications. The implementation of well-targeted agri-environment schemes for compensation payments against intensification and abandonment of extensive hay meadows seems to be a promising tool to protect both taxonomic groups. In this context, we suggest that the existing Swiss ecological compensation area (ECA) hay meadow agri-environment scheme, which requires at least one cut every year and no fertilizer application, might also be suitable for the Italian Alps. Moreover, the significant influence of landscape composition on Orthoptera diversity suggests that the effectiveness of measures applied at a field scale may be improved by integration of protected area schemes, promoting extensive management at a farm scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses urban capitalisms as European models in competition. The fall of communism in the early 1990s blurred the global opposition between capitalism and socialism, which had broadly structured debates, and this in turn helped to bring to light real, though concealed, differences between countries in the capitalist bloc. Thus came a rediscovery of literature that put this type of differentiation at the heart of its analysis,, the historians of business in the United States, grouped around Chandler and the French Regulation School. These schools have strongly established the major differences between an Anglo-American version of capitalism, financial, and oriented towards a service economy, and a German and Japanese industrial capitalism based on different wage relations and on different coordination mechanisms. But all of them did so essentially through studying the nature of industry and finance.

Whereas the verdict is undecided about the effects of global warming on Europe's flood risks, it is clear that Europeans are becoming more exposed and vulnerable to floods. Losses are increasing dramatically, mainly because of population and capital moving into harm's way and also because of human-driven transformations of hydrological systems, including river basins and floodplains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main research emphases of American political science research on urban politics are outlined, and it is concluded that many American conceptual frameworks have been determined by American political culture and by the nature of urban development in the U.S. This research has only limited utility for Europeans because in many important respects European urban development is distinctive, and because where North American and European urbanism do have similarities, American political science studies have generally not generated theories which are useful for guiding comparative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]