Socio-Spatial Strategies of Worker Centres: An Ethnography of Alt-Labour in NYC

This article examines the typology of worker centres from a socio-spatial perspective. Drawing on ethnographic and qualitative fieldwork and applying the multidimensional TPSN (Territory, Place, Scale and Network) framework, it analyses three worker centres: Make the Road New York (MRNY), Retail Action Project (RAP) and Laundry Workers Center (LWC). Each model is the result of the predominance of certain logics of action, political strategies, and spatialities. The multidimensional socio-spatial approach allows us to identify the advantages and problems of each strategy. MRNY shows a territory-based strategy that combines membership participation with effective advocacy on different scales. RAP, despite focusing on services, has been able to overcome the fragmentation of the retail industry and escalate to regulating labour relations at the industry level. LWC prioritises workplace organising and shows a high level of experimentalism and grassroots base, although the results of their irradiation strategy are very modest.     

Spatial and Socio-environmental Dynamics of Catalan Regional Planning from a Multivariate Statistical Analysis Using 1980s and 2000s Data

This article summarizes the protocol applied to analyse the spatial consequences of diverse regional plans included in the General Spatial Planning of Catalonia (GSPC) municipalities since 1985. The main aims of the GSPC were to achieve a more balanced distribution of population, avoiding Barcelona metropolitan region congestion, coastal overcrowding and mountain areas depopulation, and to improve mobility infrastructures and social welfare. The methodology used was based on factor analysis that reduced 30 socioeconomic and geographic variables provided by different sources into a smaller number of common factors. Afterwards a non-hierarchical clustering was employed to simplify the analysis of dynamics. The six first common factors retained in the model explained the 82.6% of total variance. After labelling them, six clusters were mapped to describe the most important dynamics: urban sprawl, urbanalization, depopulation, reterritorialization and coastalization. Finally, some socio-environmental consequences of such dynamics are discussed.     

Analysis of the Effect of Provisional Ties on the Construction and Current Deformation of Mallorca Cathedral

This article presents the analysis of the structure of Mallorca Cathedral taking into account the influence on the structural behavior of auxiliary iron ties used during the construction process. Recent studies (Roca et al. 2012, 2013) presented some hypotheses about the construction process of the cathedral. This article complements the previous results by considering the use of auxiliary ties as temporary stabilizing device during the construction. Evidence of the use of ties during the construction has been recognized after a comprehensive survey. The study of the role of such ties and the effect of their later removal are studied by a FE analysis carried out on a representative bay of the structure. The study includes a time-dependent FE analysis after the removal of the ties to assess the long-term structural behavior. The results of the numerical analysis are compared with the deformation trends identified by means of a recent monitoring campaign.     

Seismic Risk Assessment and Mitigation at Emergency Limit Condition of Historical Buildings along Strategic Urban Roadways. Application to the “Antiga Esquerra de L’Eixample” Neighborhood of Barcelona

ABSTRACT

This article presents a management tool for the large-scale assessment and mitigation of the seismic risk of urban systems. The research introduces a new perspective for a scientifically tackled holistic approach. The proposed methodology considers multiple objectives, from the identification of the most vulnerable buildings whose collapse may hinder the operationality of strategic urban roadways after the occurrence of an earthquake, up to the proposal of proper interventions to improve their functionality. The approach uses a performance-based approach founded on the concept of urban Emergency Limit Condition. Plotting maps of geo-referenced scenarios by means of GIS software have revealed to be extremely useful to detect the weak points of the urban network and to plan suitable strategies of seismic risk mitigation and appropriate enhancement of reliability. The proposed methodology is applied to the “Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample” neighborhood of Barcelona that hosts the strategic route to the hospital and is characterized by high levels of seismic vulnerability of existing buildings and exposition of its high-density population.     

Combined In-Situ and Laboratory Minor Destructive Testing of Historical Mortars

ABSTRACT

Mortar is of all masonry components the most difficult to be experimentally characterized in heritage buildings. This article investigates the possibility of combining different in-situ and laboratory minor destructive testing (MDT) techniques to assess the strength of mortar in historical brickwork. Lime mortar and clay brick walls were built in the laboratory and then tested in order to derive empirical correlation rules among three different MDT techniques: double punch test (DPT), helix pull-out test (HPT), and pin penetration test (PPT). The outcomes of this activity were used eventually to assess the mortar properties of an important historical heritage structure, Casa Puig i Cadafalch, located near Barcelona. The research is intended to promote the use of MDT in studies and conservation works on built cultural heritage by providing criteria for the evaluation of the strength of existing mortar with respectful sampling and testing techniques.     

Material Characterization and Micro-Modeling of a Historic Brick Masonry Pillar

A masonry pillar composed of solid clay bricks, cement mortar and infill is extracted from a historical structure and tested in concentric compression. It is subjected to cyclic and monotonic loads up to compressive failure.

In parallel, samples are extracted from the pillar and are subjected to destructive tests. Non-destructive tests are performed on the pillar, as well. The properties of the constituent materials are critically examined and their role in the maximum load reached and the failure mode obtained are discussed.

Finally, a finite element micro-model of the pillar is used for the simulation of the pillar test. The influence of the existing damage on the pillar is investigated using the model, resulting in a fair approximation of the global Young’s modulus, maximum load and the failure mode.

Highlights

●?A brick masonry pillar extracted from a historical building is tested in compression.

●?Material samples extracted from the pillar are characterized by mechanical tests.

●?A finite element micro-model of the pillar is used for the simulation of the compressive test.

●?The effect of damage on the compressive strength of the pillar is numerically investigated.     

Estimating Rapidity of Change in Complex Urban Systems: A Multidimensional,Local‐Scale Approach

This study illustrates an exploratory approach based on a Multiway Factor Analysis (MFA) to estimate rapidity of change in complex urban systems, based on “fast” and “slow” variables. The proposed methodology was applied to 18 socioeconomic indicators of long‐term (1960–2010) transformations in 115 municipalities of Athens’ metropolitan area (Greece), including demography, land‐use/planning, and urban form and functions. Athens was regarded as a dynamic urban area with diversified structures and functions at the local scale, expanding through a self‐organized pattern rather than a centralized planning strategy. Athens’ urban system was described using nine supplementary (topographic and territorial) variables and 30 independent indicators assessing the local context in recent times. Exploratory data analysis found an increasing connectedness and redundancy among socioeconomic indicators during the phase of largest urban expansion (1960–1990). Only the rate of population growth was classified as a “fast” variable for all five decades investigated. The overall rapidity of change was higher in 1960–1970, 1980–1990, and 2000–2010, decades that coincided with specific phases of urban expansion driven by migration inflow, second‐home suburbanization, and Olympic games, respectively. Rapidity of change was high for functional indicators during all five decades studied, while demography indicators changed more rapidly in the first three decades and land‐use/planning indicators in the last two decades. Rapidity of change was highest in peri‐urban municipalities with a highly diversified economic structure dominated by industry. Our methodology provides a comprehensive overview of the transformations of a complex urban system, quantifying low‐level indicators that are rarely assessed in the mainstream literature on urban studies. These results may contribute to design policies addressing complexity and promoting resilience in expanding metropolitan areas.     

Preventive Intervention for a Group of Buildings in the Historic Centre of Manresa (Barcelona)

The preservation of old downtowns has become a necessity of growing interest. New urban policies have been approved in different countries in order to revive the old city centers and make them economically sustainable. In this global trend, the municipality of Manresa (Barcelona) developed an important urban planning operation in the old district that included the demolition of a group of existing buildings and the construction of a new modern one in close proximity to a group of old residential buildings which are cultural heritage of the city. As a consequence, specific areas of risk were generated which lead to the adoption of precautionary measures to ensure safety. This article presents the preliminary analysis, diagnostics and monitoring carried out on this group of heterogeneous old buildings, as well as the results and precautionary measures taken to ensure their safety. The article also provides a translatable methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative aspects.     

Osteological and paleodietary investigation of burials from Cova de la Pastora,Alicante, Spain

We present results of osteological and isotopic analyses of human remains from Cova de la Pastora (Alcoi, Alicante, Spain) and discuss the implications in light of a new sequence of radiocarbon dates indicating that the cave was used as a burial site in the Late Neolithic (ca. 3800–3000 cal BC), Chalcolithic (ca. 3000–2500 cal BC), Bell Beaker Transition (Horizonte Campaniforme Transicional - HCT; ca. 2500–2200 cal BC) and the Bronze Age (ca. 2200–1500 cal BC). Similarities in stable isotopic values of C and N indicate little variation in subsistence between men and women, and a similar nutritional base from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age. This pattern of stability is augmented by evidence of trauma and disease found on numerous skulls in the collection. Since no clear associations of specific grave goods with certain individuals based on sex or age could be determined, the only suggestion of social inequality lies in the burial practice itself, where certain individuals were interred in caves while others were not.