A systematic review of the relationship between urban agriculture and biodiversity

Urban agriculture is a unique form of agriculture that can provide fresh, local produce for urban residents, and may benefit biodiversity by decreasing the need to expand agriculture into natural areas as well as enhancing biodiversity in urban areas. However, although urban agriculture is also often cited as promoting biodiversity in urban areas, the extent of empirical evidence for such claims has not been studied. Here we systematically review the relationship between urban agriculture and biodiversity in the scientific literature. We strictly define urban agriculture as areas in cities that grow produce specifically for human consumption. We examined 148 papers from 2000 to 2017, of which only 24 studies fit our definition of urban agriculture, and of those, only 18 both involved urban agriculture and measured biodiversity. Of the studies that did measure biodiversity, some showed increases in diversity compared to urban vacant lots, but other showed no difference. Moreover, these studies were mostly focused on plants and invertebrates and were conducted almost exclusively in North America. In order to use the generalization that urban agriculture will have a positive influence on urban biodiversity, more studies will need to be conducted across a wider geographic range worldwide (particularly in developing countries in the tropics) and on a greater diversity of species and taxa (e.g., herpetiles, birds and small mammals). Such studies will likely increase in conservation importance as urban expansion and agricultural demands increase globally.     

Disentangling an avian assemblages’ evolutionary and functional history in a Chihuahuan desert city

Urban Ecosystems - Urban green spaces have been shown to be important hotspots of biodiversity in cities of temperate and humid/semihumid tropical ecoregions. Nonetheless, whether this pattern...     

Environmental Vulnerability in Public Perceptions and Attitudes: The Case of Israel's Urban Centers

Objective. This article investigates how urban environmental vulnerability to hazards reflects in the perceptions and attitudes of the public in three major cities in Israel: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. Our central argument is that the differences between the residents' perceptions and attitudes toward environmental issues are related mostly to the actual hazard levels of their communities, whereas individual differences in socioeconomic characteristics are of lesser importance in this regard. Methods. The research was based on survey data of representative samples of the adult residents in the three cities. The differences in attitudes and perceptions among the three samples were statistically assessed by means of analysis of variance. Results. We found relatively strong and consistent relationships between actual environmental vulnerability to hazards in the three cities and their residents' attitudes toward environmental issues. The relationships with socioeconomic characteristics, such as education and income, were considerably weaker and less consistent. Conclusions. The results of this research indicate that environmental concern is not exclusive to groups and individuals characterized by postmaterialist values. Rather, the urban public in general is responsive to the environmental vulnerability of its community. This conclusion supports the argument that attitudes toward the environment are mainly affected by instrumental considerations of objective environmental problems rather than by subjective values.     

Communicative or strategic action – an examination of fundamental issues in the theory of communicative action

The study focuses on two types of social action – communicative and strategic – and examines whether they have different effects on the competence to act. Competence is understood here as a feeling of being able to handle a situation, which includes the participants' interpretation of the situation at hand, 'concealing of their action' and the intention to perform the act. Communicative action is a consensus–oriented process built upon the parties' mutual definitions of how to reach a goal. Strategic action is a way to more directly reach a goal where influencing and manipulating the other can take place. This thesis was investigated by means of an experimental study. The results indicate that communicative action seems to be connected with openness to diversity and individual experiences. It was also shown how the subtle expression of unaccepted power can disturb feelings of being capable and disturb the balance between one's self–respect and the other person's authority. This disturbance is caused not only by the content of the dialogue but also by the manner in which the encounter takes place. The results give partial confirmation to the thesis underlying the theory of communicative action.     

Times of transition: elder abuse and neglect in Israel

The present paper addresses the advancement of research, policies, legislation, and practice experiences designed to deal with the phenomenon of elder abuse and neglect in Israel in times of transition. The paper presents a short overview of the demographic scene, reflecting population characteristics and needs that impact care giving as well as elder abuse and neglect. The developments of scientific knowledge and its accumulation, especially the empirical data from the first national survey on elder abuse and neglect are discussed. Further, legislative developments relating to four generational laws and the advancement of policies and innovative practice experiences are described and analyzed. Finally, future challenges in the field are identified.     

Generating social identity in times of war and terror

The social-political analysis in this paper addresses many of the ambiguities that a critique of ideology and values, especially in the fields of education, media and morals, tends to evoke. Crises in identity and values accompanying the Jewish State since the beginning of the twentieth century have characterised the modern history of Israel as a continuing conflict between Israeli and Palestinian societies. In the search for a new post-colonial identity, Post-Zionism has emerged as a global ethos that challenges the ethno-religious Zionist ethos. Another aspect of the modern Israeli phenomenon is the Israeli addiction to power making the use of military power unavoidable. This appears on centre stage in terms of both public life and the Israeli psyche and resulted in the rise of the concept of power in the Israeli ethos.     

Evaluating the performance capability of a multi-organization system

A model for evaluating the performance capability of a multi-organization system is introduced. The model is based on hierarchical-modular decomposition of the components which determine system performance up to the level where they can be measured quantitatively, or at least qualitatively, in an objective or subjective manner. Performance measures are obtained by incorporating these components into multi-attribute evaluation functions. The model provides decision makers with a tool for quantitative assessment of performance, identification of bottlenecks, a framework for ‘what-if’ simulation and a mean for conflict resolution during planning. Application of the model to the Israeli Water Resources Development System provides an illustrative example.     

Collective bargaining and the determinants of teachers’ salaries

Using a national sample of public high schools, we find that bargaining spillovers play an important role in teachers’ labor markets. The spillover variable consistently indicates a larger bargaining effect than does the collective bargaining coverage dummy. We estimate that a 10 percent increase in the state density of teachers’ unions increases the highest teacher salaries by 2.6 percent and the lowest by 0.2 percent. Consistent with prior research, teacher union density was most strongly associated with highest salaries and had a nonsignificant positive association with lowest salaries. Teachers’ unions also affect the structural determinants of teachers’ salaries, offering some additional evidence supporting a median voter model. The proportion of unionized teachers with higher levels of education and experience (i.e., the highest paid) is positively related to highest salaries. Finally, our results confirm the importance of demand factors in teacher wage determination. The authors thank Shawn Windsor for his excellent research assistance and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on a previous draft of this paper. The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research provided the primary data set used in this paper. The U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics compiled the original data set. We gratefully acknoledge the assistance of Eric Hanushek and Lori Taylor who also provided data used herein. This research was funded in part by a grant from the McGill Faculty of Management Research Committee.     

Pacification of Rio's Favelas and the “Pacification of the Pacification Police”: The Role of Coordinating Brokerage in Police Reform

Rio de Janeiro's drug dealer–dominated favelas are territories where the state lacks the monopoly of violence. They have historically been sites of sporadic and violent police operations. Rio's favela “pacification” program aimed to consolidate state control via the establishment of a Pacification Police Unit (UPP). This proximity policing program initially experienced mixed results in different “pacified” favelas. I take advantage of this state intervention at the urban margins to ask, what explains the positive reception of this policing initiative in some communities but not others? I concentrate my fieldwork in two communities sharing a UPP that represented extreme cases of success in terms of the program's reception by residents. I find that the coordinating brokerage of respected local organizations helps acculturate police to the community and minimize offensive police behavior, thereby “pacifying the Pacification Police.” Residents are receptive to these resocialized police who comply with local norms of respect. This police‐reforming brokerage is possible due to the high level of closure in the local network and due to a vibrant local community with a strong history of organizing. My findings emphasize the importance of considering the role of local civil society in police reform at the urban margins.