Suchergebnisse

In the 1970s, Italy experienced a difficult crisis that marked the end of the economic model carried out after world war two. The resulting changes in production relations led to the disappearance of traditional public spaces and meeting places such as open squares, workplaces, party offices or the premises of left extra-parliamentary groups. Within this context, in the 1980s and 1990s, these groups managed to create new social and political spaces by setting up Self-Managed Social Centers, ie squatted properties which became the venue of social, political and cultural events. In Italy, over 300 Social Centers have been active over the past 25 years, especially in urban areas. Their organizational modes indicate examples of successful direct democracy in non-hierarchical structures and may provide alternative options to the bureaucratic organization of so many aspects of social and political life. Social Centers have turned abandoned places into public spaces relying mostly on collective action, that is cooperative working modes which do not come under the provisions governing regular employment contracts. Their actions explicitly contest marginalization and exclusion processes which are becoming more and more fierce in our cities. An analysis of the evolution of this original Italian movement provides the opportunity to address a number of issues associated with alternative practices to neoliberal globalization.

Negli ultimi venti anni, la situazione abitativa in Italia ha subito un evidente peggioramento, accentuato dal perdurare della crisi economica. Questo peggioramento è stato provocato dalle conseguenze di scelte politiche precise nel progettare e attuare la dismissione del patrimonio pubblico a favore degli interessi di pochi speculatori. Lo spreco edilizio che ha orientato nel passato le scelte politiche è stato rideclinato per permettere vie di fuga alla speculazione finanziaria, strettamente legata a quella edilizia. L'abbondanza di edifici abbandonati è un indice minore dello "spreco edilizio", ovvero del meccanismo di produzione delle città, sia per la parte "ereditata" sia per quella in costruzione. Le cifre che riguardano il consumo di territorio, gli alloggi sfitti, gli sfratti, o il numero delle persone in graduatoria in attesa di alloggio popolare, sono altri indicatori, sia pure macroscopici, del dramma che si è prodotto nelle maggiori città italiane. Ma, non tutta la popolazione degli sfrattati e dei potenziali senza casa ha però accettato lo stato di fatto. Dall'intersezione tra i bisogni di chi ha da soddisfare la necessità di avere un tetto senza averne i mezzi e delle lotte sociali dei movimenti antagonisti, in particolare di quelli per la casa, si è generato un non trascurabile movimento per il diritto all'abitare. Le occupazioni di edifici abbandonati configurano una nuova declinazione dei diritti, non legati al rispetto delle leggi in vigore. Proprio il carattere illegale delle occupazioni, se indagato più in profondità, chiarisce un processo di creazione di diritti molto particolari. I movimenti per il diritto all'abitare mettono in comune spazi abbandonati definendo spazi abitativi di tipo innovativo, sia per l'uso degli spazi, sia per la composizione sociale e sia per le implicazioni che hanno di messa in discussione di vari pilastri dei sistemi neoliberisti.

Background: Urban outdoor air pollution, especially particulate matter, remains a major environmental health problem in Skopje, the capital of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Despite the documented high levels of pollution in the city, the published evidence on its health impacts is as yet scarce. Methods: we obtained, cleaned, and validated Particulate Matter (PM) concentration data from five air quality monitoring stations in the Skopje metropolitan area, applied relevant concentration-response functions, and evaluated health impacts against two theoretical policy scenarios. We then calculated the burden of disease attributable to PM and calculated the societal cost due to attributable mortality. Results: In 2012, long-term exposure to PM2.5 (49.2 μg/m3) caused an estimated 1199 premature deaths (CI95% 821–1519). The social cost of the predicted premature mortality in 2012 due to air pollution was estimated at between 570 and 1470 million euros. Moreover, PM2.5 was also estimated to be responsible for 547 hospital admissions (CI95% 104–977) from cardiovascular diseases, and 937 admissions (CI95% 937–1869) for respiratory disease that year. Reducing PM2.5 levels to the EU limit (25 μg/m3) could have averted an estimated 45% of PM-attributable mortality, while achieving the WHO Air Quality Guidelines (10 μg/m3) could have averted an estimated 77% of PM-attributable mortality. Both scenarios would also attain significant reductions in attributable respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions. Conclusions: Besides its health impacts in terms of increased premature mortality and hospitalizations, air pollution entails significant economic costs to the population of Skopje. Reductions in PM2.5 concentrations could provide substantial health and economic gains to the city.

Urban outdoor air pollution, especially particulate matter, remains a major environmental health problem in Skopje, the capital of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Despite the documented high levels of pollution in the city, the published evidence on its health impacts is as yet scarce. we obtained, cleaned, and validated Particulate Matter (PM) concentration data from five air quality monitoring stations in the Skopje metropolitan area, applied relevant concentration-response functions, and evaluated health impacts against two theoretical policy scenarios. We then calculated the burden of disease attributable to PM and calculated the societal cost due to attributable mortality. In 2012, long-term exposure to PM2.5 (49.2 μg/m³) caused an estimated 1199 premature deaths (CI95% 821-1519). The social cost of the predicted premature mortality in 2012 due to air pollution was estimated at between 570 and 1470 million euros. Moreover, PM2.5 was also estimated to be responsible for 547 hospital admissions (CI95% 104-977) from cardiovascular diseases, and 937 admissions (CI95% 937-1869) for respiratory disease that year. Reducing PM2.5 levels to the EU limit (25 μg/m³) could have averted an estimated 45% of PM-attributable mortality, while achieving the WHO Air Quality Guidelines (10 μg/m³) could have averted an estimated 77% of PM-attributable mortality. Both scenarios would also attain significant reductions in attributable respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions. Besides its health impacts in terms of increased premature mortality and hospitalizations, air pollution entails significant economic costs to the population of Skopje. Reductions in PM2.5 concentrations could provide substantial health and economic gains to the city.