Search

Centre-city neighbourhoods is where residents expect a diversity of residents and an active social life, along with numerous amenities. This study investigates the relationship between the transforming morphology of Over-the-Rhine – a historic centre-city neighbourhood in Cincinnati, Ohio – and its urban social life. Detailed observations and morphological analyses of four new residential projects reveal that typologies that on the face appear urban, in fact promote a suburban lifestyle that prioritizes independence and seclusion and focus on private domestic life, in an urban context. We conclude with a set of strategies to increase the interaction between the private and the public realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates traffic load as a cause of urban decay and failure on a highway in Nigeria, using Ibadan–Oyo road as a case study. This study identifies road failure as a major city nightmare that affects the well-being of urban dwellers in the study area. The Ibadan–Oyo road is a segment of the major road intersection that connects the southern part of Nigeria with the north. The methodology for this study involves a well-structured questionnaire administered to road users to elicit primary data on the factors and effects of urban decay due to traffic load. A total of 100 Questionnaires were randomly distributed among the road users (vehicular and pedestrians) of the Ibadan–Oyo road. In all, 92 questionnaires were returned. These were analyzed using the Relative Importance Index (R.I.I) and basic statistical tools, to better understand the trend of responses. The results from the study show the factors that enable traffic load and failure include the road as a major route to various parts of the country, not obeying driving laws, poor driving habits, and poor/absence of road pavements. The stress of heavy vehicles on the Ibadan–Oyo road also proves to be a major factor which leads to incessant failure of the road, even after maintenance or reconstruction has been carried out. The failure of this urban infrastructure and the poor road networks leads to many accidents, acute vehicular fuel consumption, waste of time, breakdown of vehicles and road rage. To drastically reduce the impact of infrastructural decay and failure on highways, this study suggests the following: construction of separate routes for trucks and other heavy vehicles, provision of various parks along travel routes for heavy vehicles, and use of a weighing bridge to regulate the range of axle load, replacement of flexible paving with a more rigid design for increased strength and road life span, proper rehabilitation and reconstruction of the failed segment, provision of an alternate railway system to convey heavy goods and also reduce the stress on road transport, in-depth training of vehicle drivers and traffic personnel and lastly, enlargement of the road width. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design, diversity, and density in planning cities configure travel demand. The theory of natural urban transformation processes implies that street network topology influences built density and mixed land-use patterns. This study aims to understand Chennai city's recent development patterns by understanding the interdependencies of elements of urban morphological parameters, such as street network efficiency, mixed-use-index values, and density of the built environment by quantifying and corelating. The current trend of urban development patterns in Chennai city may override the natural theory, as the development pressure is at the forefront of dealing with rapid population immigration. The lowintegrated streets have to cater to densely built areas, which causes congestion, according to the findings. The results suggest a favorable association between street network efficiency and mixed-use but no correlation between the other criteria. Housing developments, which are both an origin and a destination of travel, are concentrated in segregated spaces. The urban structure of Chennai consists of more extensive monofunctional typologies, and pedestrian accessibility is threatened. People have to travel long distances or make a more significant number of shorter trips by private vehicles. Local area-level planning interventions to densify the mix of functions and street alignment/improvement can improve the existing condition to achieve better development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surge in late-nineteenth century American divorce rates, particularly among the working class, has since then perplexed scholars. This study argues that understanding this phenomenon requires a multifaceted approach, considering both the urban context and various intersecting factors such as gender, ethnicity, class, and race. By focusing on the 1881 divorce trial of Paul and Johanne Geleff in Chicago, this article explores the influence of new social environments on the adoption of a burgeoning divorce culture, beyond transnationally transmitted values. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data, the analysis examines the intersectionality of social categories, arguing that urban living conditions, combined with class and racial, gender, and ethnic dynamics, contributed to the high divorce rates in urban America. By situating the Geleff divorce within the broader context of Scandinavian American historiography and labor movements, this article provides a nuanced understanding of the socio-economic and cultural factors driving late-nineteenth-century divorces. Ultimately, it demonstrates that the rise in divorces was a complex social phenomenon influenced by an interplay of diverse factors in both private and public spheres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the relation between participatory arts practices and urban living has been a topic of debate. In an increasingly plural urban society, the co-presence of different social and cultural groups has created an urgent need for new ways to relate the right to individual freedom and hence diversity, to the necessity of social coherence. In this search, participatory art has gained in relevance. By addressing missing artistic forms and taking into account cultural reference patterns from the people involved, participatory arts practices are deemed to play an important role in producing new societal metaphors that go beyond the discourse of living together on the basis of a common, national history. Whereas in academic literature this has often led to ambitious social and political claims, this article turns to the social pedagogical mandate of these practices. How does participatory art concretely intervene in the social relations between people, which challenges are being addressed and which individuals are at the heart of these challenges? By reporting on the findings of semi-structured interviews with practitioners in Brussels, the – unofficial – capital of Europe, we aim to gain an empirical understanding of how these new societal metaphors may look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Low socioeconomic background (SB) has been associated with lower breast cancer (BC) incidence and higher BC mortality. One explanation of this paradox is the higher frequency of advanced BC observed in deprived women. However, it is still unclear if SB affects similarly BC incidence. This study investigated the link between SB and early/advanced BC incidence from Loire-Atlantique/Vendee Cancer registry data (France). Materials and methods: Fourteen thousand three hundred fifty three women living in the geographic area covered by the registry and diagnosed with a primary BC in 2008–2015 were included. SB was approached by a combination of two ecological indexes (French European Deprivation Index and urban/rural residence place). Mixed effects logistic and Poisson regressions were used, respectively, to estimate the odds of advanced (stage ≥ II) BC and the ratio of incidence rates of early (stage 0–I) and advanced BC according to SB, overall and by age group (< 50, 50–74, ≥ 75). Results: Compared to women living in affluent-urban areas, women living in deprived-urban and deprived-rural areas had a higher proportion of advanced BC [respectively, OR = 1.11 (1.01–1.22), OR = 1.60 (1.25–2.06)] and lower overall (from − 6 to − 15%) and early (from − 9 to − 31%) BC incidences rates Advanced BC incidence rates were not influenced by SB. These patterns were similar in women under 75 years, especially in women living in deprived-rural areas. In the elderly, no association between SB and BC frequency/incidence rates by stage was found. Conclusion: Although advanced BC was more frequent in women living in deprived and rural areas, SB did not influence advanced BC incidence. Therefore, differences observed in overall BC incidence according to SB were only due to higher incidence of early BC in affluent and urban areas. Future research should confirm these results in other French areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article situates psychoanalysis, urbanity, and precarity apropos of the material, affective, and memory economy of the mutable metropolis marked by visuality, velocity, and violence. Responding to Ankhi Mukherjee's Unseen City: The Psychic Lives of the Urban Poor, the article examines the interplay of visibility and invisibility in a metropolis and how that is in close and complex correspondence to the politics of precarity and privilege. Drawing on historical as well as recent research in psychology, psychoanalysis, cognitive theory, and cultural studies across various geopolitical settings, this article, through a response to and reading of Mukherjee's book, aims to articulate and illustrate the unique relevance of literature and aesthetic education in a study of mental health conditions in the (un)seen city. It argues that such psychic and social situations may be uniquely encoded and addressed with ethics and empathy through the cognitive interiority and symbolic instrumentality afforded by the affective and liminal framework of aesthetic activity and fiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, we explore the concept of urbanity in approaching three texts in the Architecture and Urbanism field, collating them with three works on this theme in Urban Anthropology. We verify in these articles the attempts to operationalize this concept for using it in the design process. Next, we visit three works in Urban Anthropology, in search of its views on urbanity. We argue that urbanity is an essential dimension of citizenship, to be considered in the design process, as well as other measurableparameters.

One effort to enhance seafarer skills is by improving knowledge. Increasing knowledge can be achieved through the implementation of training for ship crews. Through training implementation, it is expected to minimize ship accidents caused by human error, thereby improving maritime safety. This research aims to understand the regulations regarding navigation in the Tanjung Perak harbor area and analyze the role of seafarer skills training in enhancing maritime safety. The method used in this research is qualitative. The data used in this study are primary data obtained directly from respondents through questionnaires and secondary data collected from other sources. The research results show that in the event of an accident within the jurisdiction of the Tanjung Perak Port Master, based on the Minister of Transportation's Decree No. 55 of 2006 concerning Procedures for Ship Accident Inspections, if a ship accident occurs, such as sinking, burning, collision, or grounding, the ship's Master or leader who experiences the accident must report it to the Port Master at the nearest or first port visited. The research also indicates that the implementation of seafarer skills training has an impact on maritime safety. Improving maritime safety can be achieved by participating in self-development activities to enhance the quality of ship personnel (seafarers) for better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion remains a recurring problem that various governments need to address. Despite digitalization, financial institutions struggle to make their products and services available to the public. The Philippines has among the weakest financial inclusion coverages, as shown by the minimal account penetration of the population. This study used the 2019 Financial Inclusion Survey (FIS), specifically mobile phone usage in financial transactions and other socioeconomic characteristics as determinants of financial inclusion measured by bank account ownership. The findings show that mobile phones, financial literacy, and urbanity remain as significant players in accessing financial products and services, but in varying degrees of importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introductory article to the special issue 'Classical Sociology from the Metropolis' provides a comprehensive exploration of the profound influence of metropolises, particularly Berlin, on the development and discourse of classical sociology. Emphasizing the metropolis as a social space and promoter of sociological thought, it delves into the lives and works of key figures such as Georg Simmel, Robert E. Park, W.E.B. Du Bois, Frieda Wunderlich and Rose Laub Coser. Their interactions, perspectives and transnational exchanges, particularly between Berlin and other urban centres such as Chicago and New York, are highlighted, illustrating the global interconnectedness of sociological discourse. While acknowledging established sociological icons, the article also highlights the often overlooked contributions of women and scholars of colour, challenging and expanding the traditional understanding of the 'classical' in sociological thought. The narrative travels from the early urban sociological and feminist theories that emerged in the metropolis of the 1920s to the complexities of Marxist sociology in a divided Berlin after the Second World War. Through a curated selection of articles in the special issue, the work underlines the central role of the metropolis in shaping foundational sociological concepts and the thinkers who championed them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While literature produced by Arab women has received sustained academic attention, little commentary exists on the way fiction writing is interspersed with their ordinary lives defined by domesticity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2020 in Cairo, this article explores fiction writing as a powerful means of midlife self-reinvention among Cairene women. It considers their pursuit of literary careers in light of the recent opening of Egyptian literary markets to new writing publics and as part of women's midlife transition, defined by their emancipation from outdated versions of their gendered selves. Viewing writing as an embodied practice of self-care, the article argues that fiction provides individuals with an "elsewhere" in which they can escape their rigid selves and reimagine their existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose – Large cities are and will continue to become important tourism destinations in foreseeable future. Tourists' motives of the present is the prognosis for their future tourists' behavior. In respond to the longstanding critics in city tourism study, the present research aims to examine the underlying motives of tourists visiting large cities and offer insights into fashioning tourism future for visiting large cities. The identified motives inform three distinct implications fashioning tourism future of large cities. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative investigation was performed by surveying city tourists. Measurements on the survey form were derived from both scholarly and grey literature in relation to tourists' motivations. 326 valid questionnaires were netted to attain the study aim. Three-quarters of respondents were from Europe, Australia and Pacific. Descriptive analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted to achieve the research aims. Findings – Five underlying motives of tourists visiting large cities were revealed: shopping indulgence, urban commons, city icons, cultural and lifestyle and personal advancement. Mapping the findings with a conceptual scheme depicting tourism product in destination, the author revealed a new dimension, urbanity and offered critical reflection on three implications for the tourism future of large cities. Originality/value – Literature examining city tourists' motives neglect the context-specific measurements while administering the investigation. The research design embraces the urban-specific measurements in the data collection tool, contributing to deeper understanding on how tourism functions in cities. A new dimension, urbanity, which illustrates tourists' motives exclusive in large cities, was identified. Furthermore, three implications fashioning tourism future of large cities are revealed with the support of empirical evidence.

In this article, we wish to examine the place of sustainability, urbanity and diversity in major French urban projects labeled operations of national interest (OIN). Thanks to a certain number of field studies and surveys carried out in Marseille and Nice, within the OIN Euroméditerranée and Écovallée Plaine du Var, we will question their reality and their different territorial impacts.

The Portuguese archipelago of the Azores is a kind of urban form museum. It’s the result of a rich history and strong competition between the nine islands. By the end of the 20th century, the rise of the archipelago scale and modern communication networks change the balance. The break point is taking place at the time when the Azores are struggling to maintain its local population. At the same moment, the archipelago is experienced a significant tourist development. The urban fact is becoming diluted, and new partners are emerging.

In this paper, I rethink thuggery, an overt form of dissent, as a spatial structural frame. Through a close reading of everyday forms of thuggery in Nigeria, exemplified in literary, musical, and photographic forms, I argue that not only is thuggery ubiquitous in the African postcolony but also that it is the means by which the citizenry assert their citizenship, structure their space, and perform democracy. I use the phrase "proximate thuggery" in two ways: first, to broaden the commonplace definition of thuggery as violent antisocial behavior which does not hold up in many postcolonial states where there seems no line separating the violent from the non-violent, where the insidiously violent masquerades as non-violent; and second, to signal the quotidian nature of dissent and therefore refocus attention on those manifestations of thuggery even in corridors of power. If the purpose of critical cultural studies is to understand a problem from its roots in order to suggest useful solutions, it seems fitting to pay attention to everyday, non-spectacular forms of dissent—for, among other reasons, attention to overt forms of dissent isolates them as anomalies and leads to inadequate solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights Men’s solitary ICT use during travel is driven by their economic situation and preference for ICT use. Women’s socializing during travel is primarily influenced by their children and preference for ICT use. Driving and travel duration positively impact individuals’ solitary time use during travel. Non-work trips and family attributes positively influence individuals’ socializing during travel.

The spatial turn in humanities and social sciences has contributed towards a significant discourse on the city and urban spaces, and street art is widely accepted to be one of the ways in which one can analyse and unravel the cityscape. The utilization of the public domain of the city, its entanglements with urban authorities and its diverse potential has sparked several debates, and I seek to engage in the same, and interrogate the role of street art in modifying the cityscape. Through the course of my paper, I seek to interrogate the changing cityscape of Delhi and the role that street art has played in the same, post the events of 13th and 15th December 2019. The walls of Jamia Millia Islamia serve as a canvas for the articulation of resistance against the State and its excesses, its personal testimony of the same, and the graffiti on the same covers a plethora of topics, ranging from assertions of revolution, encouraging slogans and ominous warnings by literary figures, and is a dynamic form of subversion of State Power, unlike the street art projects at Lodhi Art Districts that are aimed at gentrification. The murals have been painted by students but the anonymity of the artists is retained, and thus belongs to no one but the multiplicity. I seek to study the reorientation of the cityscape of Delhi by the protest sites of Jamia and Shaheen Bagh that is not just limited to street art but the rerouting and diversion of traffic, creation of temporary structures like classrooms and libraries outside the institution and on the roads through the works of Henri Lefebvre, and weigh the significance of this protest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article maps out the largely unknown history of poor women's dealings with coffee in Stockholm during the coffee prohibitions of 1794–1796 and 1799–1802 drawing on the city's extensive police records. A total of 536 cases have been identified that involved the illegal selling, preparation, and consumption of coffee. These cases are analysed in the context of the separate but intertwined research fields of the global underground, household work, and the consumption of new exotic goods in the early modern period. The results from the study reveal the complex networks that facilitated the trade in coffee beans and coffee beverages during the prohibition, and the multifaceted processes which promoted the status of coffee to a common consumer good. It also reveals the extent to which coffee brought labour opportunities and income to poor women, but also how, by the end of the eighteenth century, the consumption of coffee had gained new connotations associated with work and leisure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sozial Extra is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In January 1991, some Palestinian citizens of Israel (formerly Israeli Arabs), mostly young women who came to the city of Haifa from different villages together with some Haifa residents, met to discuss feminism, the status of Palestinian women in Israel, and the need for a feminist organization. Following this meeting, al-Fanar was born as the Palestinian Feminist Organization. During the eight years of its existence, 1991–8, al-Fanar had a dual mission to oppose all the laws and traditions that oppress women and to fight laws discriminating against the Palestinian people. Its ability to act stemmed from its foundation as an urban movement outside the control of the patriarchal familial system. In its activities, al-Fanar exposed the connection between state control, patriarchy, and the reactionary leadership of Arab society in Israel. The climax of this control is the "murder of women in the name of family honor," against which the al-Fanar 's members fought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of urban religion demands us to start operationally with analyzing characteristics of urban environments and their impact on religious forms of communication. Yet this notion was not necessarily designed to apply only to the city and related phenomena exclusively observed in city spaces. Practices, beliefs, even institutions developing as urban religion spread out beyond the city. Thus, the geography of lived urban religion and of agents of urbanity is different from what the same people imagine and geographically locate as city space. This article intends to develop the conceptual tools for analyzing this blurring of boundaries produced by religious semantics, discourses and practices interacting with implicit and explicit border-constructions linked to practices of 'urbanity'. The highly debated 'urban' or 'anti-urban' character of ancient Christianities serves as our point of departure for developing comparative tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article approaches complex relationships between disturbance-based ecologies and processes of urbanisation by focusing on urban fringes and valuation of life-forms within landscapes. The thematic discussion is inspired by changes of the Paljassaare Peninsula in Tallinn, which motivated the author to analytically assemble historical layers, ecological imaginations, and stories of planetary affects. The fieldwork related to the article’s argumentation is mainly based on the ethnographic method bringing together observations, interviews, and thematic narratives. The study indicates that disturbances and non-humans/birds become part of the landscape as intertwined materiality and perceiving-with, which involve tensions between presence and absence, and also tensions between past and future. The environment is not a passive “stage” in the process, but appears through emotional landscapes by creating relations between humans and non-humans. Transboundary flight trajectories of birds widen the perspective on earth-bound connections in urban space and make to rethink ways of co-existing. Urban landscapes linked to the sea accumulate diverse disturbances and ruptures, and their effects can be conflicting and interpretations change in time. The current study reveals tension fields and partial continuity of processes in which the Soviet-era legacy forms just one part in the complex assemblage. The border zone and the closed military-industrial complex in Tallinn coastal terrain generated conditions for disturbance-based ecologies, which have significantly influenced urban landscapes. Interim usages and valued ecologies slowed down effects of urbanisation and gave “voice” to particular characteristics of urban nature through which the Paljassaare Peninsula and migratory corridors of birds became part of a wider urban change. The desired (urban) nature appears as an expression of good and bad ecologies influenced by imaginations about landscapes and infrastructure. The evolvement of green areas and waterfront spaces in post-socialist cities is approached as part of Europeanisation, in which practices of European Union states are smoothly and uncritically adapted. The example of Paljassaare reveals entangled multi-dimensional connections between history, civil-society initiatives, and ideas of spatial planning, which were based on care and enabled the bordering of Natura 2000 bird protection area despite urbanisation pressure. Therefore, urban nature and urban landscapes as contested links between the (post)Soviet heritage and Europeanisation require in-depth analysis for revealing a more complex process than linear transformation. The following of disturbance-based ecologies and longer durations make it possible to problematise the Soviet-era homogenous legacy. Anthropocene traces, as a dominant force of humankind, have materialised in Paljassaare through industry, mining, building of a military complex and infrastructure of urbanisation, which, step-by-step, firmly linked the former islands to the city. Urban spatial futures lean on environmental legacy and simultaneously try to distance from the dark side of legacies. The paradox is that the terrains extensively disturbed by human activities can become meaningful within landscapes in problematising the forces of humankind and the position of humans in the context of the Anthropocene.

In the aftermath of the truck attacks in Berlin, Nice, Paris, and Stockholm, new counter-terrorism measures are being installed in European city centers. Through an ethnographic approach, this article explores the socio-material effects triggered by the most conspicuous material responses to hostile vehicle treats: concrete barriers. We draw on the recent turn towards mobilities design thinking to address the béton barriers as more-than physical obstructions, but designed artefacts negotiated and re-appropriated in unexpected ways. Set in the context of Copenhagen, we explore how the concrete barriers reveal the social, cultural, and practical conditions of the city. By establishing a critical mobilities design-oriented understanding of counter-terrorism "in situ," we seek to broaden out what the process of "designing out terrorism" entails and to discuss new participatory design processes for future transformations of the city in light of terrorism threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first quarter of the twenty-first century, much future-making in Kenya is taking place in ruins of unfinished promising projects, failed capitalist enterprises, and decades of colonial and postcolonial exclusion and marginalization. When discussing future-making in Kenya specifically and Africa more generally, especially in the context of vision-driven developmentalist narratives that rely on visions of linear progress and growth, analysts and social scientists need to account for ways that futures emerge from ruins and rubble of undelivered and uncertain promises, collapsed industries, and colonial and postcolonial dispossession of land and rights. This article establishes the overarching argumentation and framing of the "Living with Ruins" special collection, outlines key theoretical concepts like ruination, infrastructuring, and future-making, and examines ruins and ruination in key economic and political domains that make claims to Kenya's future: capitalist boom-and-bust economies, mega-scale infrastructure projects, and urban development. In all these domains, futures are emerging through assemblages of people's everyday practices of maintenance and the ruins that surround them, complicating facile proclamations of Africa's rising or abjection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time use during travel has been the subject of considerable research in recent years thanks to its crucial role in determining the utility of travel time. While most of these studies have documented the effects of demographics and trip characteristics on travel time use, the effect of gender is still ambiguous. To understand the role of gender in travel time use, we explore the effect of gender interaction with non-travel time use behavior (daily habits, multitasking and preferences), joint travel (travel companion), and economic situation (income and working hours) on various time use activities (reading, ICT use and talking) during travel. Moreover, we address the mixed and scant evidence from prior studies regarding the effect of sociodemographic, residential and trip characteristics on travel time use. The study used the cross-sectional German Time Use Survey 2012/13 data and employed multi-level binary logistic regression for analysis. The results indicate four important findings: (1) women's socializing during travel is principally influenced by primary time spent on interaction with children and ICT usage, while men's socializing during travel is positively influenced by traveling with their partners and socializing habits; (2) both women's and men's solitary activities during travel (e.g. reading/ICT use) are influenced by their economic situation (e.g. income, working hours) and daily non-travel time use habits (reading habits/ICT use habits); (3) individuals' solitary time use during travel is positively influenced by other potential determinants such as living in semi-urban areas/East Germany, driving or traveling by public transport; and (4) socializing during travel is positively influenced by living with partners, having young children, evening/night/weekend trips, maintenance/leisure trips, traveling by public transport and walking. Highlights: Men's solitary ICT use during travel is driven by their economic situation and preference for ICT use. Women's socializing during travel is primarily influenced by their children and preference for ICT use. Driving and travel duration positively impact individuals' solitary time use during travel. Non-work trips and family attributes positively influence individuals' socializing during travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine social distancing, the main preventive action in the Covid-19 pandemic, as a phenomenon that goes beyond its demarcation as a health measure, revealing itself as a human experience unfolded in various psychological sufferings, challenging the field of Mental Health in many ways. The analysis places this subject in the Brazilian scenario, peripheral in globalized capitalism, contextualized in hypermodernity, in which the urban way of life, stands out, marked by inequalities and vulnerabilities that are evident in the fight against the pandemic, expressing itself in suffering and disorders that challenge the field collective mental health. We point out reflections and subsidies for the expansion of this field, from a critical and complex perspective, concerning the production of knowledge and care practices, focusing on urbanity as a central analytical dimension in the understanding of social distancing. We illustrate with some challenges and possibilities of reinventing mental health, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing both on actions aimed at the collective sphere, on a macro scale, in the public health network, as well as in the constitutive meetings of the care process, seeking subsidize an expanded clinic in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neurodevelopmental theory of schizophrenia describes multiple risk factors of this serious mental disorder. These include genetic factors that generally have biological roots, as well as factors related to the upbringing in a specific environment during childhood and adolescence of a person who will develop schizophrenia in adulthood. The neurodevelopmental hypothesis also implies the existence of protective factors. The paper discusses selected environmental risk factors and protective factors of schizophrenia in the context of ecopsychiatry. Urbanicity has for decades been a factor indicated as one that increases the risk of schizophrenia. Contemporary research helps understand how growing up in an urban environment affects brain development, with a particular focus on grey matter volume changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. The impact of air pollution as a risk factor for schizophrenia is also the subject of discussions. Exposure to outdoor air pollutants containing particulate matter and ultrafine particulate matter, gases, organic compounds, and metals can lead to neurotoxicity and neuropathology. Air pollution can affect the brain through such mechanisms as inflammation and oxidative stress. On contrary, higher exposure to green spaces has been suggested to reduce the incidence of schizophrenia. Some research indicates a dose-response association between the level of exposure to green space in childhood and a lower risk of developing schizophrenia in the future. The presented review of selected publications indicates that exposure to a certain environment in childhood and adolescence modulates the risk of schizophrenia. Environments heavily transformed by human activity (urbanisation) and characterised by a high level of chemical contamination (toxins, air pollution, smog) are a risk factor for schizophrenia. Protective factors, on the other hand, include direct contact with the natural environment from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article raises the question of how natural conditions and social practices interacted and provided groundbreaking premises for the development of the medieval urban physical environment. The main hypothesis is twofold: (a) that social practices in medieval urban communities are entangled with natural processes, (b) that mentality, knowledge and experience as elements in social practices are fundamental to the comprehension of the development of physical environment in medieval towns. The article introduces elements from social practice theory to outline a theoretical framework. The article also invokes a study of urban ecosystems in which the term 'social-ecological system' (SES) places intentions, meaning and symbolic constructions to the forefront of the study of urban environmental development. By using empirical examples from two medieval Norwegian towns, Trondheim and Bergen, I aim to elucidate how the urban population shared norms and concepts which were key prerequisites for how urban physical environment developed through the Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kadın/Woman 2000 is the property of Kadin/Woman 2000 and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article seeks to define representations of the body in the work of contemporary American writer Paul Auster, based on a sampling of his novels, to see what this image of the body says about the society where the author originates. The categories of analysis used are the ones French anthropologist David Le Breton describes in his works: 1) techniques of the body that are the result of learning centred on specific skills such as walking, writing, sexuality, sports, and arts and crafts; 2) interactive body movements involving encounters with others (such as verbal exchanges), accompanied by multiple physical signs such as facial expressions, laughter, looks, gestures, postures, distance of interaction, etc.; 3) the expressions of emotions that, in a given society, reflect the ways of expressing the set of feelings and emotions such as jealousy, modesty, anger as the body conveys emotional messages; 4) infracorporal sociality, which encompasses the entire field of sensoriality; 5) corporal sociality of misbehaviour that refers to all gestures associated with abnormality, such as madness or illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]