Passport to the future: Boosting academic outcomes and citizenship through urban debate

This study examines the impact of a university-high school debate mentoring program on educational outcomes of high school graduates attending a racially segregated school in New Jersey, USA. Evidence shows that from 2011 to 2018, participants had stronger grade point average growth, higher cumulative grade point averages, and higher SAT scores relative to non-debating graduates. The sample ( N = 275) consists of 55 high school graduates who competed on the debate team and a control group of 220 non-debating graduates. Findings indicate debate graduates experienced a 0.81 GPA growth (2.5–3.31) from 9th grade to 12th grade while non-debate graduates exhibited a markedly lower 0.10 GPA growth (2.2–2.3). Debaters scored higher on particular sections of the SAT exam and overall SAT scores. The study provides evidence of the potential efficacy of debate team membership on student outcomes.

Wilson Cano, interpreter of regional and urban issues in Brazil

This article is a tribute by representatives from four generations of researchers, who were taught and supervised by Professor Wilson Cano (1937-2020). The text follows an academic trajectory that bequeathed a fundamental contribution towards the understanding of regional and urban issues in Brazil. The aim is to highlight the most distinctive aspects of his studies, based on a dynamic-historical and contradictory conception of capitalist development and the regional and urban repercussions that have resulted from such a process. Under the aegis of the historical-structural method, we identify, within his analyses, a rigorous investigation into the formation of regional complexes, of the movements of spatial concentration and deconcentration driven by industrialization, and of the determinations of the land issue for urbanization. He sought to situate the regional and urban debate within the context of the need to push forward a national development project, without which, the regions and cities of Brazil would become subjugated to the determinants of neoliberalism and to the loss of the nation’s sovereignty.

Behavioural Contagion in Hong Kong Urban Space under Mass Psychological Distress.

Psychological factors affecting human behaviour ‘a priori’ are largely underestimated in the contemporary urban debate. Mass psychological distress is not considered as a factor affecting urban dynamics within city-spaces. This study compares activities, preferences, and psychological dynamics related to behavioural contagion theory towards urban spaces in Hong Kong before and after COVID-19. Results showed significant transitions in preferences among shopping malls and urban green spaces for stationary uses, paired with substantial changes at the destination decision-making process. Other than behavioural tendencies, these results provide directions for discussing the integration of mass psychological distress into future urban scenarios design. Keywords: behavioural contagion, mass psychological distress, urban space, Hong Kong. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: