The Twin Cities is home to one of the largest and most vital GLBT populations in the nation-and one of the highest percentages of gay residents in the country. Drawn from the pioneering work of the Twin Cities GLBT Oral History Project-a collective organization of students, scholars, and activists devoted to documenting and interpreting the lives of GLBT people in Minneapolis and St. Paul- Queer Twin Cities is a uniquely critical collection of essays on Minnesota's vibrant queer communities, past and present. A rich blend of oral history, archival research, and ethnography, Queer Twin Cities u.
A review essay on books by (1) Jeffrey Cole, The New Racism in Europe: A Sicilian Ethnography (Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1997); (2) Juan Jose Lahuerta, Le Corbusier y Espana ([Le Corbusier and Spain] Barcelona: Centre Cultura Contemporania Barcelona, 1997); (3) Donald McNeill, Urban Change and the European Left: Tales from the New Barcelona (London & New York, Routledge, 1999); (4) Jean-Luc Pinol, Atlas historico de ciudades europeas: Francia ([Historical Atlas of European Cities: France] Barcelona: Centre Cultura Contemporania Barcelona/Salvat, 1999); (5) Joan Pujola, De que vas, tio? ([What's Happening, Dude?] Barcelona: Empuries, 1997); & (6) Rosemary Wakeman, Modernizing the Provincial City, Toulouse 1945-47 (Cambridge: Harvard U Press, 1997). These works address the status of European Mediterranean cities as new types of global cities, highlighting their potential as models of sustainable development & environmental planning. They cover a broad base of perspectives from architects, historians, anthropologists, & linguists on issues of urban planning, policy, & social change. Cole offers ethnographic evidence collected 1988-1990 to document the persistence of classist & racist stereotypes regarding immigrants among the working & middle classes of Palermo, Italy, centered around new immigrants arriving in Sicily from the South. The politicization of immigration issues is noted. Lahuerta's edited collection of essays chronicles the contributions of urban architect Le Corbusier to the development of Barcelona, Spain, in the early 20th century, bringing to light new political influences on his work. McNeill moves ahead to the period following Francisco Franco's dictatorship to examine political factors in the urban discourses of Barcelona. He critiques the New Left & its urban reforms under socialist mayor Pasqual Maragall, extending the analysis to other socialist urban discourses throughout Europe. In another analysis of Barcelona, Pujolar examines language use & identity among working-class adolescents, focusing on changes to the Catalan language & its conflicts with Castilian as examples of the politics of language & national identity. Pinol's collection provides a comprehensive, illustrated guide to France & makes an excellent reference atlas that also manages to link various urban architectures to political & economic factors. Wakeman focuses on the city of Toulouse & its development as both an aerospace & cultural center in Europe in the immediate post-WWII era, placing this path of urban modernization within the context of political & economic changes across different decades in the city & in France as a whole. 21 References. K. Hyatt Stewart
Many non-scholarly and scholarly accounts on the societies, culture, and political economy of the Middle East post-"Arab Uprisings/Spring" still deal with cities and regions as mere repositories of social, cultural, political, and economic action—despite the spatial turn that has informed social sciences and humanities for more than three decades.[1] Indeed, they often overlook the shaping roles of the built and natural environments in the production of events unraveling in cities and regions of the Middle East. We thus need to understand cities and regions not only as backgrounds and contexts for processes and practices, but rather as environments that have determining impacts on these, and that human interactions also shape. Since its launch in September 2013, Jadaliyya's Cities Page has been committed to producing such informed, empirical, and integrated knowledge, where the spatial engages and intersects with historical, political, economic, technological, legal, social, and cultural analysis. These are some of the questions we committed to address five years ago: How and why does urban space contribute to public action and social movements? What is the relationship between power, space, and resistance? How do different groups utilize space to mobilize and facilitate collective action? Which forces that shape space (physical and technological, as well as social, historical, political, and economic) are combined to guide this action? More broadly, how do specific historical, national policies, and global forces shape cities? How are different inequalities constituted by urban life and how do they reconstitute the city? How do the ordinary practitioners of the city negotiate, navigate, appropriate, resist, and transform urban forms?
Many non-scholarly and scholarly accounts on the societies, culture, and political economy of the Middle East post-"Arab Uprisings/Spring" still deal with cities and regions as mere repositories of social, cultural, political, and economic action—despite the spatial turn that has informed social sciences and humanities for more than three decades.[1] Indeed, they often overlook the shaping roles of the built and natural environments in the production of events unraveling in cities and regions of the Middle East. We thus need to understand cities and regions not only as backgrounds and contexts for processes and practices, but rather as environments that have determining impacts on these, and that human interactions also shape. Since its launch in September 2013, Jadaliyya's Cities Page has been committed to producing such informed, empirical, and integrated knowledge, where the spatial engages and intersects with historical, political, economic, technological, legal, social, and cultural analysis. These are some of the questions we committed to address five years ago: How and why does urban space contribute to public action and social movements? What is the relationship between power, space, and resistance? How do different groups utilize space to mobilize and facilitate collective action? Which forces that shape space (physical and technological, as well as social, historical, political, and economic) are combined to guide this action? More broadly, how do specific historical, national policies, and global forces shape cities? How are different inequalities constituted by urban life and how do they reconstitute the city? How do the ordinary practitioners of the city negotiate, navigate, appropriate, resist, and transform urban forms?
The challenges lying ahead of the urban areas, specifically cities are formidable. These include growing population, air pollution, congestion, energy efficiency and demand for high quality of living. Although they are varied and can appear as seemingly unrelated, they more often appear on international agendas of the United Nations, European Union and various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under umbrella of sustainability or more often as green agenda. This book is an introduction to the dynamically developing and evolving area of green innovations taking place in contemporary cities, with a specific focus on the European and North American examples. It is divided into three interconnected parts, each prepared by a separate author specialising in the areas like communal services, real estate and information technologies. First, authored by doctor Dominika P. Brodowicz focuses on green urban models and challenges facing 21st century cities. Second, developed by IT specialist and doctoral researcher Przemysław Pospieszny presents green transportation and smart technological innovations. Third, compiled by Professor Zbigniew Grzymała relates to European and American legal requirements and strategies towards eco-cities development. ; This publication was supported by grant funds from the European Union's European Social Fund. The project "Eco-innovations in cities", performed at the Warsaw School of Economics, was commissioned by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development (POKL.04.03.00-00-249/12). ; Przemysław Pospieszny
Most cities enjoy some autonomy over how they tax their residents, and that autonomy is typically exercised by multiple municipal governments within a given city. In this chapter, we document patterns of city-level taxation across countries, and we review the literature on a number of salient features affecting local tax setting in an urban context. Urban local governments on average raise some ten percent of total tax revenue in OECD countries and around half that share in non-OECD countries. We show that most cities are highly fragmented: urban areas with more than 500,000 inhabitants are divided into 74 local jurisdictions on average. The vast majority of these cities are characterized by a central municipality that strongly dominates the remaining jurisdictions in terms of population. These empirical regularities imply that an analysis of urban taxation needs to take account of three particular features: interdependence among tax-setting authorities (horizontally and vertically), jurisdictional size asymmetries, and the potential for agglomeration economies. We survey the relevant theoretical and empirical literatures, focusing in particular on models of asymmetric tax competition, of taxation and income sorting and of taxation in the presence of agglomeration rents.
AbstractIn April, 1929, the charter commission of New Rochelle, New York, reported a city manager charter which was accepted by the voter in November. This charter was the result of more than a year's study o the workings ofthe plan in both large adn small cities throughout the United States. During the drafting of the charter Dr. Bradford, who will be remembered as the author of "Commission Government in American Cities," visitd thirty cities and observed their managers and councils in action. At our request he is preparing a series of articles, of collected last year is being supplemented by current information in ordeer that his findings may be up to hte minute in every respect. The subject of next month's installment of this continued story of civic progress will be "Two New York Cities"
The local industry mix provides the conventional framework within which a city's economic position & prospects are evaluated & its redevelopment is planned. The industrial approach has been complemented here with an occupational-functional approach that measures the comparative advantage -- competitive position -- of a given Ur area along five broad paths of economic development: entrepreneurship, central management, research & development, precision operations, & routine operations. Looking beyond the products a city makes to the roles it plays & the skills it performs shifts emphasis from the immediate fortunes of a given industry & the direct flow of current income to the long-run power & potential of local resources, especially human resources. This new perspective is also more sensitive to state & local public policy. Illustrations are provided of ways in which educational & other strategies have been used implicitly & could be planned more explicitly to guide cities through the difficult years of industrial transition. In Questions and Answers, Thompson responds to several comments made by: Jean Marie Enrecq (Regional & Ur Planning, Nord-Pas-de Calais Regional Council, France), Yale Rabin (U of Virginia, Charlottesville), & Barbara A. Coscarello. Modified HA
One aspect of race relations in New Zealand (NZ), the effect of Ur'ization on Maoris, is explored. Data are collected to provide a test of the NZ gov's policy of encouraging Ur'ization of the Maori people to further 'integration'-which the gov of NZ has defined as a combination of the white & Maori peoples in one nation 'wherein Maori culture remains distinct.' The alternate hyp, one suggested by critics of Ur'ization, is that cities act to erode the formal & informal bases of Maori culture & civilization. A Test of Maori Knowledge (TMK), a simple 10-item multiple-choice questionaire was designed with the aid of R's. 3 samples were tested: (1) Ur whites, (2) Ur Maoris, & (3) Ru Maoris. The respective X's of the 3 samples were 2.24, 3.43, & 7.15; all diff's were highly signif. The data are interpreted as a refutation of the NZ gov's belief that Ur'ization furthers, or at least does not retard, the distinctive qualities of Maori culture. Some analysis of the process of Ur'izing Maoris is given. AA.
