Bread and circuses (c. AD 70–80)

Roman London was enlarged and enhanced in the years immediately following Vespasian’s accession in ways that corresponded with the known ideological goals of the new Flavian regime. As a consequence the city came to be characterized by an imperial architecture of ‘bread and circuses’. This involved the construction of a new amphitheatre for the conduct of games associated with the imperial cult and as the likely site of public executions. Watermills drawing on the latest engineering technology were installed to allow the large-scale preparation of flour to supply local bakeries. Early Flavian investment also involved the creation of new administrative facilities, perhaps including a mansio in Southwark, and new urban districts allowing military and veteran settlement. Cycles of subsequent investment hint at a correlation between building programmes in London and preparations for new campaigns of advance launched on the arrival of new provincial governors.

Green infrastructure-based hydrological modelling, a comparison between different urban districts, through the case of Szeged, Hungary

Because of the climate uncertainties caused by climate change and the growing urban areas, today’s cities face new environmental challenges. The impervious artificial elements change the urban water cycle. Urban districts with inadequate water infrastructure and treatment can be a major source of environmental risks, like urban flash floods. Modern cities need to be prepared for the changing environment in a sustainable way, which can be realised with the help of green infrastructure. The primary role of the green infrastructure is mitigation, such as surface runoff reduction and retainment. The aim of our research is to examine urban district scale data about the role of green infrastructure in urban water management. Hydrological models can provide adequate data about the surface runoff, infiltration and the mitigating effect of vegetation (interception and evaporation). We compared two significantly different urban districts (downtown and housing estate area), based on land cover and vegetation data. The analysis of the districts of Szeged (Hungary) suggests that the vegetation can significantly contribute to the reduction of surface runoff. Differences between these urban districts can be quantified, thus, these data can serve as a basis for urban water management planning processes.

Under the law: The rights of rural students

The difficulties rural school face are well known, and some have turned to the courts for help, joining with urban districts in lawsuits that seek to force states to change how education funds are distributed. Robert Kim reviews litigation in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania that illustrate the challenges these schools face.

Mapping and Spatial Pattern Analysis of COVID-19 in Central Iran Using the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA)

Background Using geographical analysis to identify geographical factors related to the prevalence of COVID-19 infection can affect public health policies aiming at controlling the virus. This study aimed to determine the spatial analysis of COVID-19 in Qom Province, using the local indicators of spatial association (LISA). Methods In a primary descriptive-analytical study, all individuals infected with COVID-19 in Qom Province from February 19th, 2020 to September 30th, 2020 were identified and included in the study. The spatial distribution in urban areas was determined using the Moran coefficient in geographic information systems (GIS); in addition, the spatial autocorrelation of the coronavirus in different urban districts of the province was calculated using the LISA method. Results The prevalence of COVID-19 in Qom Province was estimated to be 356.75 per 100,000 populations. The pattern of spatial distribution of the prevalence of COVID-19 in Qom was clustered. District 3 (Imam Khomeini St.) and District 6 (Imamzadeh Ebrahim St.) were set in the High-High category of LISA: a high-value area surrounded by high-value areas as the two foci of COVID-19 in Qom Province. District 1 (Bajak) of urban districts was set in the Low-High category: a low-value area surrounded by high values. This district is located in a low-value area surrounded by high values. Conclusions According to the results, district 3 (Imam Khomeini St.) and district 6 (Imamzadeh Ebrahim St.) areas are key areas for preventing and controlling interventional measures. In addition, considering the location of District 1 (Bajak) as an urban district in the Low-High category surrounded by high values, it seems that distance and spatial proximity play a major role in the spread of the disease.

Multiplicity of encounters. Zur Begegnungskapazität des öffentlichen Raums am Beispiel der HafenCity Hamburg

The planning of urban districts involves ideas of how people in cities would like to and should best encounter each other. The term “encounter capacity”, which denotes social as well as material dimensions of enabling “social mix”, has emerged in the reflexive planning practice of Hamburg’s HafenCity to increase the realisation of encounters through planned public space. This article explores the conception and reality of encounter capacity. It is based on commissioned research in the districts of the urban development area which were completed in 2015. The term “multiplicity of encounters”, developed from ethnographic observation and borrowed from the work of Doreen Massey, refers to the multiplication of encounters within specific horizons of meaning: neighbourliness, eventfulness and trendiness. The high-priced housing and consumption possibilities, the image of an exclusive district and the group-specific rhythms of everyday life are selectively but never completely cancelled out by these factors.

Towards Meritocratic Apartheid? Points Systems and Migrant Access to China's Urban Public Schools

This paper analyses rural migrant children's access to public schools in urban China, focusing on the implications of the recent introduction of points systems for apportioning school places. This approach, first piloted by Zhongshan city in Guangdong province from 2009, has steadily been extended nationwide. Here, we analyse the reasons for its spread and for divergence in its implementation in various urban districts. Notwithstanding rhetorical claims that points systems promote “fairness” or “equality” in the treatment of migrants, our analysis suggests that they maintain or even exacerbate the stratification of urban society, lending new legitimation to the hierarchical differentiation of entitlements. This is consistent with the aim of the 2014 “New national urbanization plan” to divert urban growth from megacities towards smaller cities. However, we argue that the use of points systems should also be seen in the context of an evolving bureaucratic-ideological project aimed at more rigorously monitoring and assessing China's entire population, invoking the logic of meritocracy for the purpose of control.

Impact of volume distribution on pedestrian wind environment in high-rise urban districts: a CFD study

Pedestrian wind environment assessment is becoming an essential part of the urban design process especially in dense urban areas due to its ability to address the wind comfort/safety/health concerns in an early phase. In this paper, high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, validated with experimental data, are performed on eight different designs in a generic urban layout to study the impact of volume distribution on pedestrian wind environment in high-rise urban districts. The results show that the blockage effects of the high-rise buildings decelerates the wind in the streets parallel to the flow while accelerating the flow in the streets perpendicular to the flow. This effect is evident up to a two block distance upstream of the high-rises. Furthermore, it is shown that consequent rows of high-rises in the downstream of the first row facing the wind flow have little effect on the upstream pedestrian wind; however, they have a significant role in the extent of affected areas downstream. The findings of this study provide further understanding about the impact of different volume distributions on pedestrian wind environment in high-rise urban districts and clarify their effect on wind safety and comfort.

Antrax in Primorsky Territory (1919–2020). Communication 1. Historical Records and Characteristics of Stationary Potentially Hazardous as Regards Antrax Areas

The aim of the study was to analyze the state of stationary potentially hazardous areas as regards anthrax in the Primorsky Territory and update the Cadastre of stationary potentially hazardous as regards anthrax areas (SPHA) of the Russian Federation (2005).Materials and methods. The collection and survey of accounting and reporting documents, archival and informational materials, records on anthrax from veterinary institutions, Rospotrebnadzor, municipalities by the 72 registered anthrax SPHA of the Primorsky Territory have been carried out. The reference book of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic’s settlements endemic for anthrax (1976), the Cadastre of the stationary potentially hazardous as regards anthrax areas in the Russian Federation (2005) were used.Results and discussion. The description of anthrax cases in the Primorsky Territory goes back to 1894, the official registration of the disease – since 1919. The last cases of the disease in farm animals and population were noted in Kavalerovsky and Oktyabrsky districts in 1979. When updating the SPHA (2005), information on 82 dormant sites of the Territory in 22 municipal and six urban districts was clarified. In six districts of the Territory, anthrax was not officially registered. Most of the SPHAs are centered on the Khanka plain, where the network of transport routes, the largest number of livestock and population are concentrated. The data on the number of sick animals and people over a period of 1919–1929 have not survived, and in the period between 1980 and 2020 anthrax was not reported in the region. 173 animals and 34 humans were diagnosed with anthrax in 1929–1979 in Primorye. High epizootic activity was noted in the period of 1919–1941. In the Asian part of the Russian Federation, Primorsky Territory belongs to the regions under a mild epizootic and epidemiological disadvantage as regards anthrax. Monitoring of anthrax has shown that the persistence of the pathogen in the soils of ten districts of the Territory could be facilitated by the absence of soil toxicity (86,8 %) and an average nutritional value (23,5 %) in relation to the anthrax microbe.