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Since being selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games, numerous studies have addressed the legacy of the event in Rio de Janeiro. The significance and sensitivity of the issues raised, namely the displacement of favela residents, has raised serious questions during and immediately after the Games about whether mega-events are fundamentally worthwhile. This paper revisits the topic and shares the findings of four focus groups reflecting non-favela youths’ thoughts about the Games after years. The findings show that while many still have positive attitude to few aspects of the Olympic Games, social justice issues significantly adversely affected respondents’ views of the event’s legacy. Some believe that discrimination continues a long-standing trend in the city, exacerbated by the Games. We believe that the International Olympic Committee always needs a Plan B if things do not work correctly in the host city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imam Reza's holy shrine in the Samen area in Mashhad and its impact on the urban fabric of the area has always been of interest to residents and pilgrims. In addition to being an area where people live and businesses are based, the district has continuously supported the sacred act of pilgrimage. Although mainstream sources have defined the quality of Samen's environment mostly from a physical and psychological perspective, this neighbourhood fabric also has spiritual values. This paper aims to reconceptualise the quality of the environment by looking at the renovation process that the district has experienced to date. The research approach is qualitative, and grounded theory, including descriptive techniques, frames the methodology. The philosophical position of the study is interpretivism, and the research strategy is abductive. We collected data through libraries (documents) and survey techniques (observation and interview). The statistical population surveyed was people who are well informed about the plan and the district. We then conducted theoretical sampling through 28 semi-structured interviews. The number of interviews continued until data saturation. Using MAXQDA, we coded the interviews in three phases: open, axial, selective. The findings show that the quality of the environment is a multilayered concept and includes management, physical, economic, sociocultural and environmental dimensions, helping planners and policymakers respond to physical, psychological and spiritual spheres needs. In the case of the Samen district, decision makers must develop all aspects of the environment's quality, including those related to the pilgrimage culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of visual media, cities, and society are represented, experienced, and interpreted through images. The need for interdisciplinary visual approaches, therefore, is indisputable. By focusing on cinema, this paper aims to develop a conceptual, methodological framework through which theory helps a broad range of researchers in social sciences, humanities, and arts interpret the represented phenomenon. Based on Peirce's model of signs, the framework provides the basis for a dynamic interpretation of the city and society. This paper shows that Peircean cinesemiotics takes advantage of theory in three ways: First, as the basis that provides scholars with clues necessary for identifying eligible "image-signs"; second, as the guiding framework that helps them reach a final interpretation; third, as ideas are being criticized from visual perspectives. As an example of its application, using Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," the final part of the paper applies Peircean cinesemiotics to an image-sign from Death Wish (2018) and interprets it as the representation of safety/crime in a neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]