Sport in the “city of culture”

This article examines the emerging intrusion of sport into the realm of cultural policy in tandem with an increased emphasis on culture in civic planning programs. The empirical focus of the article is on the location of sport within recent campaigns by British regional cities to win the title of European City of Culture, to be conferred in 2008. The particular case study considered is the unsuccessful joint bid put forward by Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne and Gateshead. The article looks at how the economic revival of Newcastle has been driven by cultural regeneration, and at how sport has assumed a prominent place within the cultural symbolism and iconography of the city. Consideration is given to the policy background and implications; in particular, the developing links between sport policy and cultural policy and sport considered in relation to the “creative industries” and the arts as more traditionally perceived. The article offers critical reflection upon the role of sport within the desired cultural democracy of the planners and promoters of the “city of culture”.     

The inclusion of sustainable drainage systems in flood management in the post‐industrial city: A case study of Glasgow

The management of urban stormwater and flooding is challenging, particularly within older, post‐industrial urban environments where infrastructure, housing and businesses already operate. The urban environment constrains opportunities for the development and integration of new approaches to drainage management, particularly the use of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS). These issues are investigated through a case study of Glasgow. The northeast of the city suffered significant urban flooding in July 2002 following an intense con‐vective summer storm. This event overloaded the urban drainage system, which was heavily integrated and led to the back flow of foul water into streets and homes. This study examines the response to this event and the construction of an integrated drainage management plan for the city, the Glasgow Strategic Drainage Plan (GSDP), which includes greater use of SuDS in tackling the city's capacity problems. Reflecting on the interdisciplinary nature of urban drainage management, this study adopts a social science method, undertaking semi‐structured interviews with key actors involved in producing the GSDP.     

Egyptian women’s position in the family in the time of the Pharaohs

Although many scholars have assert that the Egyptian women s position in the family was high during the time of the Pharaohs, no research in China has made a comprehensive and systematic discussion over this issue so far. Based on both documents and archaeological materials, this article approaches this question in three aspects: (1) Egyptian women s position in the family economy; (2) the affection between the husband and the wife; (3) the position and role of the mother.     

Feminism,the false consciousness of neoliberal capitalism? Informalization,fundamentalism, and women in an Indian city

Neoliberal globalization produces complex terrains of gender exploitation, with – some feminists argue – contradictory impacts on women. On the one hand, it subjects more women to increasing domination and devalorization by capital; on the other hand, women often ‘work’ globalization in ‘enabling’ ways. Informal jobs are often preferred sites for crafting economic emancipation and breaking away from patriarchy at home. Another body of literature argues that the feminization of informalization does not dismantle androcentric, neoliberal capitalism; moreover, reading these moments as women ‘working’ globalization represents a co-optation of women. Using examples of the feminization of informalization and ethno-religious gender violence in Ahmedabad city, India, this article critiques the concept of co-optation and argues that ‘actually existing women’ forge complex negotiations in the context of diverse exploitation, which can be conceptualized better with Marxian and Gramscian notions of false consciousness. The article also contends that understanding false consciousness as an assemblage where gender, class, caste, and ethnicity intersect in myriad ways will create possibilities for resistance.     

Lands of women? Writing the history of early medieval women in Ireland and Europe

Lisa M. Bitel Land of Women: Tales of Sex and Gender from Early Ireland. Edited by Christine Meek and Katharine Simms ‘The Fragility of Her Sex’? Medieval Irish Women in their European Context.     

Imagining the ideal city,planning the gender-equal city in Umeå, Sweden

Focusing on imaginaries of the ideal city is an important method to illustrate the power of ideas, imagination, representations and even visions, and how these dimensions influence the way in which cities are organized and lived. In this article, we argue that one current and important city imaginary in a Swedish context is the gender-equal city. In this imaginary, the gender-equal city becomes a symbol for the open, tolerant, bustling, safe city, a city aiming to attract the middle and creative classes. However, at the same time, the imaginary of the ideal, gender-equal city is highly ambiguous. This ambiguity will be discussed throughout the article. Based on present planning projects in the city of Umeå in Sweden, we will discuss how the imaginary of the gender-equal city is presented, filled with meaning and used in place marketing, with the overall ambition of discussing the possibilities and pitfalls of what we call the gender-equality planning strategy. The aim of the article is to study how the city of Umeå is acting to create a gender-equal city and what kind of imaginaries these practices build on. The material consists primarily of a case study focusing on projects that aim to create an equal city, and also includes analyses of policy documents and media reports. This study illustrates how imaginaries are produced through local projects and different imaginaries provide different spaces for politicizing gendered power relations.     

At the Intersection of Invisibilities: Canadian women,homelessness and health outside the ‘big city’

This article explores the concept of ‘invisibility’ in relation to women, homelessness and health in Ontario, Canada. While popular images of homelessness continue to focus on older men with mental illness and/or addictions issues, the proportion of women without secure, affordable shelter continues to rise. The stereotypes of homelessness also have a spatial component, with the incorrect assumption that housing affordability crises are concentrated in the centres of large cities. There is a third aspect to ‘invisibility’: the tendency of the traditional medical model of health care to ignore the interrelated physical and emotional impacts of stress among women who make up the majority of the ‘hidden homeless’. While an increasing number of women are facing loss of their accommodation in suburban, small city and rural settings, this social policy issue remains largely invisible outside the realm of local services struggling to meet women's needs. Interviews with women facing homelessness in Haliburton, Kingston and Oshawa, a rural area, small town and outer suburb, illustrate both experiences of invisibility and possibilities of integrated health services combating this personal and societal invisibility.

En la intersección de invisibilidades: mujeres canadienses, la falta de vivienda, y salud afuera de la «ciudad grande»

Éste artículo explora el concepto de «invisibilidad» en relación a mujeres, la falta de vivienda y salud en Ontario, Canadá. Mientras que representaciones común de la falta de vivienda continúan enfocar a hombres con enfermos mentales y/o problemas de adicción, las cifras de mujeres sin viviendas seguras y asequibles se acentúan. Los estereotipos de gente sin hogares también tienen un componente espacial, con la suposición equivocado que la crisis de la falta de viviendas asequibles es concentrado en los centros de ciudades grandes. Hay un tercer aspecto de la «invisibilidad»: la tendencia del modelo medico tradicional de la asistencia sanitaria a no tomar en cuenta los entrelazados impactos físicos y emocionales de estrés entre mujeres que constituyen la mayoría de «la gente escondida sin vivienda». Mientras que mujeres, en cifras cada vez mayor, se enfrentan a la perdida de vivienda en los suburbios, ciudades pequeñas, y áreas rurales, la cuestión política social queda principalmente invisible afuera del terreno de servicios locales que luchan para cumplir las necesidades de mujeres. Las entrevistas con mujeres que faltan viviendas en Haliburton (un área rural), Kingston (un pueblito), y Oshawa (un suburbio), demuestran no solo las experiencias de invisibilidad sino las posibilidades de integrar la asistencia de salud para combatir ésta invisibilidad personal y social.     

An Analysis of “Economic Relief” in the Study of Industrial Nodes

The demographic potential and the demographic energy concepts developed by John Q. Stewart, the astronomer, are applied to an analysis of urban interaction in two industrial nodes in the oil-rich Tatar ASSR—the Bugul'ma-Al'met'yevsk node and the Nizhnekamsk node. The isolines of the demographic potential are mapped and compared with other isoline maps of the area showing the density of industrial enterprises (numbers per unit area), population density of urbanized areas, and the density of industrial fixed assets (value per unit area).