Urban policy-making: shortcomings in political technology

Abstract. The urban crisis has typically been explained as a conjuncture of severe problems in large urban areas. As such, these problems ought to be amenable to solutions by public authorities, yet the record has been unimpressive. If part of the reason is the intrinsic complexity of the issues, another factor appears to be the available political technology. This paper suggests that there are two types of shortcoming in that technology which play key roles. The first is the direction-setting mechanisms of government, which are essentially partial, static, and reactive, whereas the policy requirements of an urban society are holistic, dynamic and innovative. The former views efficiency as the objective of policy, yet the pursuit of efficiency within such a framework can lead to growing ineffectiveness or irrelevance. The second type of shortcoming is found in the evolving structure of the public sector. The growing importance of senior level governments, in part a logical consequence of the efficiency bias, has led to yet greater irrelevance. This is due to the growing distance from local preferences, and to the introverted process of goal setting within senior levels of government. Institutional reform is thus an essential precondition for the development of relevant urban policy. Sommaire. De façon typique, la crise urbaine a été expliquée comme étant la convergence de problèmes graves, dans les grandes régions urbaines. Si tel est le cas, les autorités publiques devraient pouvoir leur apporter des solutions et pourtant les résultats obtenus n'ont rien de spectaculaires. Cela est dû en partie à la complexité intrinsèque des problèmes, mais il semble que l'autre raison responsable de cet échec soit la technologie politique actuelle. L'auteur de cette communication pense qu'il y a deux types de faiblesses dus à cette technologie. Le premier concerne les mécanismes d'orientation gouvernementaux, qui sont essentiellement limités, statiques et réactifs alors que les impératifs des politiques gouvernant les sociétés urbaines sont globaux, dynamitiques et innovateurs. Avec le premier système, l'efficacité est l'objectif des politiques, mais la poursuite de l'efficacité dans un tel contexte peut entraîner une inefficacité croissante ou un manque de pertinence. Le second type de faiblesse se trouve dans l'évolution de la structure du secteur public. L'importance croissante des niveaux supérieurs du gouverne-ment, en partie conséquence logique de l'importance accordée à l'efficacité, a fait perdre encore de la pertinence. Cela vient de la manifestation de plus en plus lointaine des préférences locales et du processus inversé pour fixation des objectifs am niveaux supérieurs du gouvemement.     

Modern Ethiopia

This address by the chairman of the Anglo-Ethiopian Societywas given at a joint meeting of the Royal African Society, theRoyal Commonwealth Society and the Anglo-Ethiopian Society onMay 3, 1962. Lt.-Col. Neil McLean, D.S.O., M.P., took the chair     

The Early Introduction of Cocoa to West Africa

While going through old records at Kew, Dr. Howes discoveredsome papers which shed and interesting light on the earliestdays of attempts to establish cacao on the West Coast. He haswritten this note at our invitation.     

Toward a comprehensive homelessness‐prevention strategy

Abstract

Because of the misery and deprivation suffered by homeless persons, the initial response to homelessness in the United States focused first on quickly addressing the dire need for emergency food and shelter, and then on providing additional assistance to already homeless persons—ideally to help them move out of homelessness. New preventive measures to help people avoid becoming homeless were largely ignored or put off.¹ But now that efforts to provide emergency food and shelter are well under way throughout the country, many more experts, policymakers, and service organizations have begun focusing on homelessness prevention.² Nevertheless, actual prevention efforts are still tentative and somewhat haphazard. In support of a more rapid expansion of effective homelessness‐prevention activities, this paper discusses the benefits of prevention, develops an initial framework for a comprehensive homelessness‐prevention strategy, and, using this framework, evaluates existing prevention efforts and suggests new initiatives.     

Portable high‐resolution automated 3D imaging for footwear and tire impression capture

The forensic science community raised the need for improved evidence recognition, collection, and visualization analytical instrumentation for field and laboratory use. While the 3D optical techniques for imaging static objects have been extensively studied, there is still a major gap between current knowledge and collecting high‐quality footwear and tire impression evidence. Among optical means for 3D imaging, digital fringe projection (DFP) techniques reconstruct 3D shape from phase information, achieving camera‐pixel spatial resolution. This paper presents a high‐resolution 3D imaging technology using DFP techniques dedicated to footwear and tire impression capture. We developed fully automated software algorithms and a graphical user interface (GUI) that allow anyone without training to operate for high‐quality 3D data capture. We performed accuracy evaluations and comparisons comparing with the commercial high‐end 3D scanner and carried out qualitative tests for various impressions comparing with the current practices. Overall, our technology achieves similar levels of accuracy and resolution with a high‐end commercially available 3D scanner, while having the merits of being (1) more affordable; (2) much easier to operate; and (3) more robust. Compared with the current practice of casting, our technology demonstrates its superiority because it (1) is non‐destructive; (2) collects more evidence detail than casts, especially when an impression is fragile; (3) requires less time and money to collect each piece of evidence; and (4) results in a digital file that can easily be shared with other examiners.     

Dermestes maculatus (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) development under fluoxetine effect using two drug administration models

Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, commonly used for the treatment of a variety of psychopathological conditions. As such, fluoxetine may be expected to appear in clinical and forensic cases. Dermestes maculatus De Geer (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) has been recognized as a relevant component of the insect fauna associated with decomposing human and animal remains. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of fluoxetine on developing D. maculatus using two‐drug administration models: a non‐living animal model (pork muscle) and a living one (Sus scrofa L. pigs). We assessed the duration of immature stages and total life cycle, as well as morphological parameters (body length, cephalic width, and weight). The effect of fluoxetine was studied at an overdose concentration: In the non‐living animal model the drug was mixed with macerated pork muscle (2000 mg/kg) and in the living animal model, pigs were given the drug orally (833 mg/kg). A control was used for each model. Daily observations were performed from the beginning to the end of the experiments. GC‐MS was used for drug detection and quantification. There were no statistically significant differences in the duration of immature stages, life cycle, larval mortality, morphological parameters, or sex ratio, between treatment and control, regardless of the drug administration model. Given that fluoxetine had no detectable effect on the development of D. maculatus, detection of this drug in forensic situations would not compromise the accuracy of PMI estimations.