Thursday 20 June 2019 is designated as Clean Air Day. This is an important event. Air pollution is now increasingly recognised as the invisible killer. It is a primary constraint on the performance of city-region economies, on the life chances of those exposed to polluted air and on social welfare costs. On the 20th June, … Continue reading “Clean Air Day, City-Regions and Responsible Citizenship: The Invisible Killer and Zero Carbon Emissions”
Category: Environment
Fake News, Flooding and the West Midlands: Dave Throup’s Reality versus The Daily Mail
One of the most interesting West Midlands twitter feeds is that of Dave Throup, the Environment Agency Manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Dave provides a moment-by-moment account of the Environment Agency’s activities across these two counties. This covers many important aspects of this Agency’s work including soil erosion, environmental pollution and managing rivers including flooding … Continue reading “Fake News, Flooding and the West Midlands: Dave Throup’s Reality versus The Daily Mail”
The End of the British Automotive Industry as We Know It: The Closure of the Ford Bridgend Factory and the Shift Towards the Electric Revolution
Last week, Ford announced the closure of its Bridgend engine plant with the loss of 1,700 jobs. For some, this was a surprise. Perhaps, the only surprise is that policy-makers and politicians have not been working to overcome the impacts of this closure for the last 12 months. This closure was predictable and it is … Continue reading “The End of the British Automotive Industry as We Know It: The Closure of the Ford Bridgend Factory and the Shift Towards the Electric Revolution”
Knowledge Translation and People-led Approaches to Achieving Urban Sustainable Development Goals: Reflections from the African Perspective 12+ Conference, Delft
Global air pollution is a problem attributed to urbanisation and provides a good reference point for understanding and addressing the gap between scientific knowledge and policy practice in Africa. African development potentials and challenges have been identified and ways forward suggested in many publications and conferences. Yet, the reality of African development challenges is a … Continue reading “Knowledge Translation and People-led Approaches to Achieving Urban Sustainable Development Goals: Reflections from the African Perspective 12+ Conference, Delft”
A Bollywood Solution to Air Pollution: Linking Research and Policy to the Cinema Screen
On the 6-7 March 2019, Professor John Bryson participated in a workshop in New Dehli exploring the challenges of urban air pollution. The workshop was co-organised by the University of Birmingham with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Professor Bryson is part of the team working on the ASAP East Africa Project – which aims to provide … Continue reading “A Bollywood Solution to Air Pollution: Linking Research and Policy to the Cinema Screen”
The Invisible Killer and Responsible Inclusive Prosperity: Tackling the Challenges of Urban Air Pollution – Delhi India, 6-7 March 2019
Air pollution is a major global challenge that is responsible for 1 in 10 deaths and has been estimated to cost US$5.1 trillion. Last week I was in New Delhi participating in a workshop to explore the challenges of urban air pollution co-organised by the University of Birmingham with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. … Continue reading “The Invisible Killer and Responsible Inclusive Prosperity: Tackling the Challenges of Urban Air Pollution – Delhi India, 6-7 March 2019”
What is a “Just City”? A research trip to Zürich
In 2014, the number of people across the globe living in urban areas surpassed those living in the countryside for the first time. Cities are where more highly-skilled and better-paid jobs tend to be clustered. They have a wider range of cultural attractions, restaurants, educational and shopping opportunities than rural places. These features encourage in-migration … Continue reading “What is a “Just City”? A research trip to Zürich”
Value and Valuing Christmas: Towards a non-price-based Theory of Value
In 2016 and again in 2017, I produced a Christmas blog that explored twelve economic impacts of Christmas. More recently, I commented on Small Business Saturday and the importance of responsible consumption during the December shopping Christmas frenzy. This year I am not exploring the economic impacts of Christmas, but I am interested in considering … Continue reading “Value and Valuing Christmas: Towards a non-price-based Theory of Value”
World Cities Day, 31 October 2018, and Reading City-Regions: Responsible Inclusive Prosperity and Environmental Quality
I am not a great fan of designating days of the year to celebrate or reflect on an event or activity. Every morning, I awake to another day that has been given some form of day-related association. The problem is that citizens are swamped with these attempts to brand days to highlight the importance of … Continue reading “World Cities Day, 31 October 2018, and Reading City-Regions: Responsible Inclusive Prosperity and Environmental Quality”
Unravelling the “Dubai Intertwingularity”: Reading City Regions
Professor John Bryson on reading City-Regions during his time in Dubai I am here in Dubai for ten days. I am an academic interested in place and space. As a student of place and space, it is important to experience many different places to try to understand the on-going evolution of the international economy. Most … Continue reading “Unravelling the “Dubai Intertwingularity”: Reading City Regions”