Strengths and weaknesses of accessibility instruments in planning practice: technological rules based on experiential workshops

Accessibility instruments can play a valuable role in urban planning practice by providing a practical framework for exploring and testing relationships between land use and transport infrastructure. Despite many available accessibility instruments, they are still not widely used in planning practice. This paper explores the background of this problem by examining the findings of a EU-funded study on the usability and usefulness of existing accessibility instruments. The study applied 16 instruments in local planning contexts according to a standardized process protocol. The outcomes of these so-called experiential workshops were analysed through a standardized measurement protocol, which included participant observation along with pre- and post-workshop practitioner questionnaires. This broad investigation presents a rich analytical tool for understanding how different types of accessibility measures, spatial resolutions of output and levels of comprehensiveness affect usability and usefulness. Based on this we propose 10 technological rules that (a) can be used directly in practice to improve usability of accessibility instruments and (b) can provide hypotheses to be examined in further academic studies. Our results suggest that instead of striving for the ultimate accessibility measure, it would be more effective to identify which measures could successfully serve different user needs in accessibility planning.     

Protecting the Jewish throat: Hebrew accent and hygiene in the Yishuv

In 1913 the Hebrew Language Council (Va’ad ha-lashon ha-ivrit) instituted guidelines for the pronunciation of Hebrew, based on the Sephardic accent. Immigrants struggled to master the new sounds, especially the guttural phonemes, and to repress their native accents. Their pronunciation was frequently criticized as ugly and in need of correction. In the 1930s, Yitzhak Epstein (1862–1943) developed a new approach to the problem of standardizing and beautifying the Hebrew accent that drew on medical evidence to argue that the mispronunciation of various phonemes could damage the vocal cords and cause throat ailments. In the 1940s, Epstein’s “hygienic Hebrew” program was endorsed by a special committee of the Hebrew Language Council, chaired by Shlomo Dov Goitein (1900–1985) and included several of Epstein’s associates, that had been formed to address problems of “speech culture” in the Yishuv. Although the committee enjoyed a successful start, its mission was soon interrupted by the events of 1948–49. By claiming a scientific basis for the preferred Sephardic accent, the language hygienists were able to rationalize their desire to purge Hebrew of unpleasant Yiddish phonemes and to curtail the influence of Arabic on Yishuv speech.     

Italian emigration policy during the Great Migration Age, 1888–1919: the interaction of emigration and foreign policy

This article illustrates the development of Italian politics on emigration up to the end of the First World War (and even later), focusing on the operation and activity of the Commissariato generale dell’emigrazione (Commissioner-General of Emigration, 1901–27), a government agency that enjoyed considerable autonomy. The research is based on archival materials and the study of publications of the time, and proposes an unconventional view on the phenomenon of migration, as seen through the relationship between the evolution of the regulatory system and the political orientations of the ruling classes. Indeed, Italy progressively increased the freedom of expatriation, to the point of creating social legislation for the protection of emigrants, with the ambition of extending Italy’s influence over the countries of destination. This policy of migration interfered with foreign policy, and was at times influenced by the nationalism emerging in Italy at the time, even to the extent of provoking diplomatic disputes. For these reasons, the activity of the Commissariato generale dell’emigrazione created friction with the traditional consular network; these conflicts and the insufficient margin of autonomy given to the Commission in practice prevented the concrete completion of its more advanced projects.     

Cultural Heritage Documentation and Conservation: Three-Dimensional (3D) Laser Scanning and Geographical Information System (GIS) Techniques for Thematic Mapping of Facade Stonework of St. Nicholas Church (Pisa,Italy)

This article reports the mapping of the stones, including marbles and brick masonry, used for building the facade of the medieval Church of St. Nicholas (XI century ad), one of the most interesting churches in Pisa, due also to the nearby famous octagonal bell tower. Mapping of stone materials was performed using a computer-aided design (CAD)/geographical information system (GIS) software package for storing and processing spatial information of the ashlars, obtained using three-dimensional (3D) laser-scanning data, combined with high-resolution images, and stone-to-stone observations. Based on collected data, the facade of the Church of St. Nicholas appeared mostly composed of rocks belonging to the metamorphic Tuscan sequence, quartzites, and marbles from Mt. Pisano area. Other types of rocks were also observed, as black limestones quarried at some kilometers northwest from Pisa in the Monti d’Oltre Serchio area, white Apuan marbles and Macigno sandstones. Conversely, intarsia appeared mainly made up of serpentinite and, subordinately, red limestones laid in white Apuan and Mt. Pisano marbles.     

Diversification,Intensification and Specialization: Changing Land Use in Western Africa from 1800 BC to AD 1500

Journal of World Prehistory - Many societal and environmental changes occurred between the 2nd millennium BC and the middle of the 2nd millennium AD in western Africa. Key amongst these were...     

A fragile political sphere

The Italian political sphere is characterized by an endemic fragility whose origins can be traced back to the post-unification practice of trasformismo and the ensuing system originally summarized by Paolo Farneti as ‘monopolist coalition’. Here, through shifts in alliances and personal agreements, a powerful centre coalition permanently holds power and blocks the opposition from becoming a possible alternative government. The ruling class fails to function as a party and uses parliament and the government as organizational tools of its hegemony. As a consequence, the functioning of the democratic system is distorted and the role of the public sphere inhibited. From the Risorgimento, through fascism, to the First and Second Republics and Berlusconism, this article assesses the fragility of Italy's political sphere as a recurrent constant in the history of the nation and the result of ‘tare storiche’ that remain unhealed.     

Post-electoral politics in Italy: institutional problems and political perspectives

A dysfunctional electoral law and an obsolete bicameral Parliament contributed to the surprising results of the 24–25 February 2013 Italian elections, which have solved none of Italy's institutional and political problems. This article briefly analyses the distribution of votes, stressing especially that the success of the Five Stars Movement derives from the dissatisfaction and the protest of a significant sector of the electorate. Beppe Grillo, like Silvio Berlusconi, is a political entrepreneur, who through patience, hard work and commitment has constructed an organization with a wide geographical following. The presence in Parliament of the Five Stars Movement made the election of the President of the Republic very difficult. President Napolitano was obliged to accept an unprecedented second term and then led the Democratic Party, the People of Freedom and Civic Choice to form an unusual government, almost a sort of Grand Coalition. The government is here briefly assessed. The article ends underlining two critical aspects of the situation. Neither the Italian parties nor the party system have succeeded in reaching a satisfactory level of consolidation and stability. This means that the President of the Republic has been obliged to make good the shortcomings of the political parties. Even malgré soi, the President's behaviour has given rise to a situation in which his own position raises the urgent need for institutional reforms along the lines of the semi-presidential mould of the French Fifth Republic to bring to a close Italy's overlong political transition.