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The present paper explores psychological processes that underpin the success of community change in the context of urban regeneration schemes. We adopt a social identity approach to develop an understanding of the ways in which social identity dynamics may impact upon peoples' experiences of regeneration, and what influence these identity processes have on the creation of new communities. Qualitative interviews, using thematic analysis as an analytic technique, were conducted with community members (n = 14) in a recently (2001–2011) regenerated area in the South‐West of England. Three overarching themes were identified: Patterns of identification, willingness to engage, and the notion of regeneration as an event. The research overall highlights the central role of group‐based identity in understanding the processes of regeneration and how this is experienced by different community members. Findings are discussed in relation to the impact regeneration schemes have on community members' sense of collective self, unity, and engagement. The research highlights the pivotal role of social identity processes in delivering successful and sustainable strategies of urban regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many reasons why cities with diverse populations may grow faster. Ethnic diversity might attract human capital, tourists or firms, increase productivity through diverse approaches to problem-solving or ethnic minority entrepreneurship. Yet there are also reasons to believe that diversity could be harmful, by leading to sub-optimal provision of public goods or reducing trust or social capital. Or it may be irrelevant, being merely a proxy for class. A number of studies have shown both positive and negative relationships between diversity and growth, using a range of different measures for ‘diversity’. This paper asks two questions: have more diverse English cities grown faster? And does measurement matter: is it important to have a multinational population or an ethnically diverse one? To answer these questions, in this paper a range of models are estimated for employment growth for 53 English cities between 1981 and 2001. The evidence suggests that cities with a high proportion of their populations born abroad in 1981 grew faster in the subsequent 10 years. Neither diversity by country of birth nor ethnic diversity is significant in the period 1991—2001. However, when variables accounting for both are included together, it appears that cities with a large number of migrants saw higher employment growth in the 1990s, but that ethnically diverse cities were less successful. The results presented here suggest that considerable attention needs to be paid to the variable used to indicate ‘diversity’ in these studies and that the impact of diversity varies according to nature of the groups any indicator for ‘diversity’ is representing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose - This paper identifies ways in which community action can enhance the quality of life of older residents and reports specifically on four community gardening initiatives developed with older people living in disadvantaged communities in Manchester.Design/methodology/approach - The Community Action in Later Life - Manchester Engagement (CALL_ME) project used an action research approach to engage older people. Older people and other stakeholders were actively involved in designing, planning and implementing the projects.Findings - Drawing on a range of qualitative data, the paper provides evidence of how older people can be actively engaged in community projects, and explores the benefits of involvement including: enhanced well-being, and increased socialisation, learning and empowerment. The challenges faced by the older people are also reported which include maintaining interest, recruiting new members and needing external support.Research limitations/implications - The paper also reports the implications for practice, discussing how gardening initiatives can involve and benefit older people and the wider community and the value of an action oriented approach in disadvantaged communities. Recommendations are made regarding ensuring sustainability of such projects by providing education and training to enhance participants' skills and build their confidence.Originality/value - Whilst recognising the problems associated with living in disadvantaged communities, the CALL-ME project takes a new approach and moves the focus to ways in which older people can become engaged in and benefit from community action, and empowered to sustain the projects they develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores notions of cosmopolitanism and the ‘cosmopolitan city’ to interrogate how difference is constructed and treated in the contemporary entrepreneurial city. This is achieved through a grounded case study of the operationalising of notions of cosmopolitanism in Manchester, UK. This is examined in two ways. First, the construction of notions of the cosmopolitan city in the private-sector place marketing of a new ‘cosmopolitan city-centre lifestyle’ are analysed to reveal how urban reimaging creates a geography of difference in which certain forms of difference are valued or pathologised and fixed in space. Secondly, the analysis explores the contested ways in which the new city-centre ‘cosmopolitan’ residents understand and reproduce notions of cosmopolitanism and how this links to the treatment of difference in the city. The paper concludes by evaluating how interrogating notions of cosmopolitanism through a grounded urban case study, linking the textual analysis of urban imagery produced by the private sector to the political economy of the city, and investigating what actually happens in these new cosmopolitan city spaces contribute to the understanding of difference in the contemporary city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to certain scholars, the multicultural (global) city may constitute the ultimate site for the development of cosmopolitan sensibilities. Taken to the extreme, the assumed properties of urban life amount to a veritable ‘urban alchemy’: the belief that diverse and divided populations of urban dwellers may potentially be transformed into one harmonious community of cosmopolitan citizens. This paper presents an analysis of the meaning of urban cosmopolitanism to urban dwellers themselves. Heeding the calls for a more grounded, empirical approach to the phenomenon of ‘ordinary’ cosmopolitanisms, urban cosmopolitanism is defined as those discursive social practices in which people manage to supersede the parochialisms of their own national, ethnic and religious identities through an identification with the city. Data from 16 focus groups in London and Amsterdam demonstrate that the performance of urban cosmopolitanism was unequally accessible to people positioned differently in terms of race, class and residential status, suggesting that conceptualising cosmopolitanism as either a set of skills and attitudes or an abstract philosophy of world citizenship potentially ignores the exigencies of actual, extant cosmopolitan social practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper critically explores consumer perceptions and trends regarding purchasing locally produced food. Until recently, much of the research in this area largely focused on regional consumers where rural consumers had reasonable access to locally produced food and were usually in close proximity to the producers within, or close to, their immediate community. Here, the objectives of the primary research focused instead on urban attitudes and perceptions of local food within the Greater Birmingham conurbation in the West Midlands region of the UK. Birmingham is by far the most highly populated urban area of the region, and with ample opportunities to promote local food. Consumers, based mainly in Birmingham and Wolverhampton, were questioned on their locally produced food-buying habits and attitudes in order to determine any differences in urban perceptions and buying attitudes compared with rural counterparts, and also to identify any new and potential opportunities for local food producers. Originally, 1000 questionnaires were obtained from across Greater Birmingham and Wolverhampton. However, for the purposes of this paper, it was decided to focus on two urban city centres – Birmingham and Wolverhampton, with 148 questionnaires. The results indicate that urban consumers are generally confused about what the term ‘local’ food means. The reasons for purchasing local food, while generally consistent with national patterns, differed in that supporting the local producers was not regarded as important. Barriers to purchase were largely unsurprising for an urban area, as the top choices were ‘too expensive’ followed by ‘not readily available’ and ‘no time to find it’. Understanding, information, availability and access to local food emerge as the biggest challenges to urban consumers in buying local food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a discussion of recent policies for the city centre in Britain, the paper explores the contribution of residential development to aspects of sustainability, drawing on a range of survey evidence in Bristol and Swansea. The residents are frequent shoppers, helping to sustain the local daytime economy. Sustainability goals are also supported because large proportions of residents walk to city centre attractions, and many also to their places of work, showing reduced reliance on the private car. Support for the expanding nighttime economy reflects the age, gender and social class composition of the resident population, with different attractions receiving different levels of support from different social groups, but with younger adults as the mainstay. Sustainability in the city centre context appears best served by a majority of young adult residents, ameliorated by a sizeable proportion of older adults, and an absence of households with children. Grandiose government sustainability aims of creating the truly balanced community which includes many children, should be modified in this local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rurality is rarely integrated into analyses of educational inequalities and this article presents an alternative perspective on rural–urban attainment and highlights the impact of rurality on educational outcomes. The traditional narrative of urban–rural educational disadvantage is that urban pupils do less well in the English exam system. Decontextualised data across different English exam performance measures demonstrate how rural pupils outperform their urban counterparts. Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has the most significant impact on attainment and this analysis explores the rural–urban attainment gap through this SED lens. An analysis of the Department for Education (DfE) data explores possible factors that might explain the emerging rural educational gap and presents an argument that rurality is another limiting factor that intersects with SED. This article demonstrates how rural underachievement in England has been hidden by the relative sizes and SED distribution of rural and urban populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negative consequences of living in deprived neighbourhoods for residents' quality of life are well documented. Area-based regeneration initiatives are invariably concerned with improving local quality of life over the long term. The process of regeneration, however, can itself directly result in immediate and potentially lasting negative effects for local communities. This paper discusses some of the ways in which living in an area undergoing regeneration can adversely affect inhabitants' quality of life, including problems associated with voids, relocation, demolitions, environmental quality, complexity, funding issues, uncertainty, frustration, fear for the future and consultation fatigue. A case study approach draws examples from a deprived neighbourhood in the north-east of England. The conclusion discusses some of the possible implications for future regeneration policy, including: the importance of ongoing communication between professionals and communities; the need to value local people's experience, judgement and the contribution they can make to local decision-making processes; recognition that successful regeneration can take many years; and the implications of current UK government policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Research on the mental health and service needs of homeless seniors has been scant. This paper reviews the available literature and presents findings of a Toronto survey in an effort to describe the demographics of homeless seniors, their level of impairment, and their mental and physical health needs.Methods: We searched the Medline, AgeLine, and PsycINFO databases, using the following key words: elderly homeless, elderly hostel users, and urban geriatrics. To better describe the service needs of the elderly homeless, we obtained demographic data from the Community and Neighbourhood Services Department and distributed a survey questionnaire to 11 Toronto hostel directors. The questionnaire elicited data relating to reasons for shelter use, problem behaviours, and mental health needs of those over age 65 years.Results: Although seniors represent a small percentage of the homeless population, their numbers are growing. The available literature suggests a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment in this population, with a greater proportion of older women than men having severe mental illness. Further, our survey suggests that the service needs of elderly hostel users in Toronto differ from those of their younger counterparts.Conclusion: The homeless elderly are the most vulnerable of this impoverished population. Although more research is needed to define their mental and physical health needs and ways of meeting them, their characteristics appear to be unique. Geriatric psychiatrists could play a significant role in evaluating and treating this population more comprehensively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We report the main results, among adults, of a cluster-randomised-trial of Well London, a community-engagement programme promoting healthy eating, physical activity and mental well-being in deprived neighbourhoods. The hypothesis was that benefits would be neighbourhood-wide, and not restricted to intervention participants. The trial was part of a multicomponent process/outcome evaluation which included nonexperimental components (self-reported behaviour change amongst participants, case studies and evaluations of individual projects) which suggested health, well-being and social benefits to participants. Methods Twenty matched pairs of neighbourhoods in London were randomised to intervention/control condition. Primary outcomes (five portions fruit/vegetables/day; 5×30 m of moderate intensity physical activity/week, abnormal General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 score and Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) score) were measured by postintervention questionnaire survey, among 3986 adults in a random sample of households across neighbourhoods. Results There was no evidence of impact on primary outcomes: healthy eating (relative risk [RR] 1.04, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.17); physical activity (RR:1.01, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.16); abnormal GHQ12 (RR:1.15, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.61); WEMWBS (mean difference [MD]: −1.52, 95% CI −3.93 to 0.88). There was evidence of impact on some secondary outcomes: reducing unhealthy eating-score (MD: −0.14, 95% CI −0.02 to 0.27) and increased perception that people in the neighbourhood pulled together (RR: 1.92, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.29). Conclusions The trial findings do not provide evidence supporting the conclusion of non-experimental components of the evaluation that intervention improved health behaviours, well-being and social outcomes. Low participation rates and population churn likely compromised any impact of the intervention. Imprecise estimation of outcomes and sampling bias may also have influenced findings. There is a need for greater investment in refining such programmes before implementation; new methods to understand, longitudinally different pathways residents take through such interventions and their outcomes, and new theories of change that apply to each pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of the 24-hour city evokes vibrancy and a dynamic that suggests the harmonious coexistence of mixed land uses which might otherwise be considered improbable neighbors. In reality we see a 24-hour city full of diverse uses, needs and requirements, potentially at odds with one another. This paper addresses a gap in the literature on sensory cities by providing an interpretation of the city with reference to residents’ sensorial experiences of the 24-hour city. Drawing on traditions in sociology, anthropology and acoustic ecology a combination of photo-surveys, soundwalks, sound level recordings and semi-structured interviews were used to engage inhabitants of the city centers of Manchester and Sheffield and the city center area of Clerkenwell in London in a study of their sensorial relationships with their local environment. By focusing on the narratives and practices of these residents we argue that the 24-hour city is a place rich with sensorial encounters and that these are highly significant components of people's everyday urban experience. We use this as a platform for raising some key issues that need to be addressed in the further development of 24-hour city centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some geographers, the world has become imaginatively alive with arrays of new nonhumans. Yet how well these vocabularies actually adhere to personal practice is something which could be better explored. Recent accounts of consumption, meanwhile, are committed to closely observed contextual experience. Yet, physical things can seem somewhat subdued in these accounts. With these ideas in mind, in this paper I align a geographical embrace of material vitality and an in-depth approach to practised consumption. I report on a period of ethnographic work with seven garden centres in London to reconsider the ways in which contemporary urbanites encounter the items on sale there. In the London garden centre there are some different ways of approaching life and some changing cultures of control, as the rumbling agencies that certain products purvey are both openly enjoyed and nervously negated. Exploring the unease associated with this situation and its impact upon personal behaviour and physical format, I reflect, in particular, on the current experience of plants. The conclusion that follows is potentially perverse as, although we can benefit from being with life, it seems that, in certain city spaces at least, we now deal better with that which is more dead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raban (1974. Soft City: What Cities Do To Us, and How They Change the Way We Live, Think and Feel. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2) distinguishes between the 'hard' city of statistics and maps, versus the 'soft' city of the 'creative play of urban living', 'an art' which enables urbanites to mould cities in their desired image. This case study reviews approaches to conceptualising urban space, exploring practical tasks through which London students can engage with, and write about, their place-related identities in order to enhance their readings of the rich range of literature set in their city. Developing an unconventional approach to teaching two A-level (16-18 years old) English Literature coursework texts - John Gay's (1716) Trivia and Geoff Nicholson's (1997) Bleeding London - it was hoped that students might be helped to ask whether a comprehensive ('hard') knowledge of London can ever be achieved. This case study is primarily an account of the students' own London maps, a creative task designed to help them engage thematically with the coursework texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socioeconomically disadvantaged populations often have higher exposures to particulate air pollution, which can be expected to contribute to differentials in life expectancy. We examined socioeconomic differentials in exposure and air pollution-related mortality relating to larger scale (5 km resolution) variations in background concentrations of selected pollutants across England.Methods: Ozone and particulate matter (sub-divided into PM10, PM2.5, PM2.5-10, primary, nitrate and sulphate PM2.5) were simulated at 5 km horizontal resolution using an atmospheric chemistry transport model (EMEP4UK). Annual mean concentrations of these pollutants were assigned to all 1,202,578 residential postcodes in England, which were classified by urban-rural status and socioeconomic deprivation based on the income and employment domains of the 2010 English Index of Multiple Deprivation for the Lower-level Super Output Area of residence. We used life table methods to estimate PM2.5-attributable life years (LYs) lost in both relative and absolute terms.Results: Concentrations of the most particulate fractions, but not of nitrate PM2.5 or ozone, were modestly higher in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation. Relationships between pollution level and socioeconomic deprivation were non-linear and varied by urban-rural status. The pattern of PM2.5 concentrations made only a small contribution to the steep socioeconomic gradient in LYs lost due to PM2.5 per 103 population, which primarily was driven by the steep socioeconomic gradient in underlying mortality rates. In rural areas, the absolute burden of air pollution-related LYs lost was lowest in the most deprived deciles.Conclusions: Air pollution shows modest socioeconomic patterning at 5 km resolution in England, but absolute attributable mortality burdens are strongly related to area-level deprivation because of underlying mortality rates. Measures that cause a general reduction in background concentrations of air pollution may modestly help narrow socioeconomic differences in health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Few studies have characterized the epidemiology of first-episode psychoses in rural or urban settings since the introduction of early intervention psychosis services. To address this, the authors conducted a naturalistic cohort study in England, where such services are well established.Method: All new first-episode psychosis cases, 16-35 years old, presenting to early intervention psychosis services in the East of England were identified during 2 million person-years follow-up. Presence of ICD-10 F10-33 psychotic disorder was confirmed using OPCRIT [operational criteria for psychotic illness]. Incidence rate ratios were estimated following multivariable Poisson regression, adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, neighborhood-level deprivation, and population density.Results: Of 1,005 referrals, 687 participants (68.4%) fulfilled epidemiological and diagnostic criteria for first-episode psychosis (34.0 new cases per 100,000 person-years; 95% CI=31.5-36.6). Median age at referral was similar for men (22.5 years; interquartile range: 19.5-26.7) and women (23.4 years; interquartile range: 19.5-29.1); incidence rates were highest for men and women before 20 years of age. Rates increased for ethnic minority groups (incidence rate ratio: 1.4; 95% CI=1.1-1.6), as well as with lower socioeconomic status (incidence rate ratio: 1.3; 95% CI=1.2-1.4) and in more urban (incidence rate ratio: 1.4;95%CI=1.0-1.8) and deprived (incidence rate ratio: 2.1; 95% CI=1.3-3.3) neighborhoods, after adjustment for confounders.Conclusions: Pronounced variation in psychosis incidence, peaking before 20 years old, exists in populations served by early intervention psychosis services. Excess rates were restricted to urban and deprived communities, suggesting that a threshold of socioenvironmental adversity may be necessary to increase incidence. This robust epidemiology can inform service development in various settings about likely population-level need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Of 780 000 births annually in the UK, around 3300 are stillborn, a rate of approximately 4 per 1000 births. Traditional epidemiological associations are based on historic data. The aim of this study was to document contemporary demographic findings in a large series of > 1000 deaths in utero in London and compare these with national datasets.Methods: From a dedicated database, including > 400 data fields per case, of fetal, infant and pediatric autopsies performed at Great Ormond Street Hospital and St George's Hospital, London, we extracted information on all intrauterine deaths, excluding terminations of pregnancy, from 2005 to 2013, inclusive. Demographic data were analyzed according to the gestational age at which fetal death occurred (second-trimester intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), subdivided into early (< 20 weeks) and late (20-23 weeks) IUFD, and third-trimester stillbirth (≥ 24 weeks)) and compared with national datasets when available, using Mann-Whitney U-test and comparison of proportions testing as appropriate.Results: Data were available from 1064 individual postmortem reports examining intrauterine deaths delivered between 12 and 43 weeks' gestation, including 425 IUFDs (246 early and 179 late) and 639 stillbirths. Compared with the overall UK pregnant population, women in whom an intrauterine death occurred were significantly older and more obese. White mothers had a higher proportion of stillbirths (as opposed to IUFDs) than did non-white mothers, whereas black mothers had a higher proportion of IUFDs relative to stillbirths. Increased body mass index was associated with increased risk across all groups. Women who had uterine fibroids, those who had a history of vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy and those who had undergone assisted conception had a relatively higher proportion of IUFDs than stillbirths.Conclusions: Based on a large series of >1000 autopsies in cases of intrauterine death, these data highlight the increased risk for fetal loss associated with maternal demographic factors in contemporary clinical practice, particularly associations with increased maternal age and body mass index. Among women in whom an intrauterine death occurs, maternal ethnicity, mode of conception and gynecological history are associated with differing timing of fetal loss. Further research is required to understand the mechanisms involved in such maternal factors in order to develop preventative strategies. Copyright © 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is proposed that our understanding of medieval town foundation is limited by a failure to appreciate that 'town' is a relational category. It is argued that urban character emerges from social relations, with some sets of social relationship revealing urbanity and others not, as places develop along distinctive, but related, trajectories. This argument is developed through the application of assemblage theory to the development of towns in thirteenth-century southern England. The outcome is a proposal that, by focusing on the social relations through which towns are revealed as a distinctive category of place, we can better comprehend why and how towns mattered in medieval society and develop a greater understanding of the relationship of urbanization to other social processes such as commercialization and associated changes in the countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individual variables and area-level variables have been identified as explaining much of the variance in rates of compulsory in-patient treatment.Aims: To describe rates of voluntary and compulsory psychiatric in-patient treatment in rural and urban settings in England, and to explore the associations with age, ethnicity and deprivation.Method: Secondary analysis of 2010/11 data from the Mental Health Minimum Dataset.Results: Areas with higher levels of deprivation had increased rates of in-patient treatment. Areas with high proportions of adults aged 20-39 years had the highest rates of compulsory in-patient treatment as well as the lowest rates of voluntary in-patient treatment. Urban settings had higher rates of compulsory in-patient treatment and ethnic density was associated with compulsory treatment in these areas. After adjusting for age, deprivation and urban/rural setting, the association between ethnicity and compulsory treatment was not statistically significant.Conclusions: Age structure of the adult population and ethnic density along with higher levels of deprivation can account for the markedly higher rates of compulsory in-patient treatment in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundBlack and minority ethnic (BME) groups are particularly susceptible to diabetes and its vascular complications in the United Kingdom and most western societies. To understand potential predisposition and tailor treatments accordingly, there is a real need to engage these groups in diabetes research. Despite this, BME participation in research studies continues to remain low in most countries and this may be a contributory factor to reduced health outcomes and poorer quality of life in these groups. This study explores the barriers BME groups may have towards participation in diabetes research in one area of East London, and includes local recommendations on how to improve this for the future.MethodsA questionnaire designed from previously reported exploratory work and piloted in several BME localities was distributed at the East London Bangladeshi Mela and similar cultural and religious events in London, UK. People were asked opportunistically to complete the survey themselves if they understood English, or discuss their responses with an advocate. The purpose of the questionnaire was to understand current local awareness with regards to diabetes, identify specific BME barriers and attitudes towards diabetes research by ethnicity, gender and age, and gain insight into how these barriers may be addressed.ResultsOf 1682 people surveyed (16–90 years; median age 40 years), 36.4% were South Asian, 25.9% White, and 11.1% Black and other ethnicities; 26.6% withheld their ethnicity. Over half cited language problems generally (54%) and lack of research awareness (56%) as main barriers to engaging in research. South Asian groups were more likely to cite research as too time consuming (42%) whereas Black groups were more concerned with potential drug side effects in research (39%). Participants expressed a general mistrust of research, and the need for researchers to be honest in their approach. Recommendations for increased participation in South Asian groups centred round both helping the community (61%) and improving health (55%). With regards to gender influences, females (34.6%) were significantly more likely to fear drug side effects than males (23.8%), P<0.001. Females were also significantly more likely not to participate in research due to fear of experimentation (25.8%) compared with males (18.9%) P=<0.001.ConclusionInitial findings from the study demonstrate that in East London research barriers are focused on time, drug side effects, lack of awareness and language. There is a perception that research is time consuming even though the majority of those surveyed had not taken part in a research study. Further potential solutions from the survey have suggested that researchers also need to involve BME community leaders in their study strategy and indicate any individual health benefits to participation in research. Accessible studies with regards to time and advocacy provision need to be included in the design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the trial of "Well London" programme which focuses on increasing physical activity, healthy eating and mental health in 20 most deprived neighborhoods in London, England. It mentions that the London Health Commission helped in delivering the14 interlinked projects of the programme which focused not only on the health issues of people but also in improving the local environment, providing cultural activities and employment and training opportunities to the residents.

Aim: To describe patterns of ‘online’ and ‘offline’ health information seeking in families with children under five years of age and living in five socially, economically and culturally disparate local authority (LA) wards in one inner-city area. Background: Earlier work analysed data from the five LA wards merged as one data set. A ‘digital divide’ in health information seeking was identified between parents who actively sought information from both internet websites and from 14 other health information sources (online health information seekers), and those who acquired information from a more limited range of sources excluding the internet. Of the two groups, the online health information seekers had higher levels of computer ownership and, therefore, internet access within the home. Method: Re-analysis of data (questionnaires n = 224; five focus groups; two interviews with service providers; two opportunistic conversations with service providers). Additional data were retrieved after the original data analysis and between 2005 and 2007. These data were from service user-led discussions (n = 30) held with parents in child health clinics, informal interviews (n = 11) with health visitors and semi-structured interviews (n = 2) with health visitors. Information was also retrieved from the Office for National Statistics data set. In the re-analysis, data were disaggregated at LA ward level in order to explore local influences on patterns of health information seeking. Results: Multiple layers of influence upon parental health information seeking emerged and revealed a non-digital second divide, which was independent of computer ownership and home internet access. This divide was based on preference for use of certain health information sources, which might be either ‘online’ or ‘offline’. A spatial patterning of both digital and preferential divides was identified with an association between each of these and features of the physical, social, cultural and psychosocial environment, one of which was perceived access to primary health care. Conclusion: Complex patterns of health information seeking relate to each of the ‘divides’ – digital and preferential. Patterns of health information seeking reflect differing perceptions of information availability and usefulness as experienced by parents within their local physical, social, cultural and psychosocial worlds. Access to primary care services is a key component of this local environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background South Asians in the UK experience high rates of coronary heart disease compared with other ethnic groups. Behavioural risk factors such as physical inactivity have been explored as possible explanations for this trend. However, there have been few comprehensive accounts describing physical activity levels of this ethnic group. Methods Data from the Health Survey for England (1999-2004) on 5421 South Asians and 8974 white participants aged 18-55 years were used to compare physical activity levels. Analyses of covariance tested the association between ethnicity and self-reported total physical activity metabolic equivalents of task (MET) scores, adjusting for age, sex, self-reported health, adiposity and socioeconomic status. Results Total MET-min/week were consistently lower in UK South Asians than in white participants (973 vs 1465 MET-min, p<0.001). This ethnic group difference was consistent across sexes, age groups and subgroups and was independent of covariates. South Asians born in the UK reported higher levels of physical activity than those born elsewhere (p<0.001). Variables such as urbanisation and psychological distress were associated with physical activity; however, despite their inclusion in the models, ethnic group differences remained, indicating that physical inactivity in South Asians was not attributable to area or individual sociodemographic factors. Conclusions Physical activity levels are very low in UK South Asians; this is consistent across all examined population subsets. Physical inactivity is likely to contribute to their high risk of coronary heart disease. Increasing physical activity in all UK South Asians should be a public health priority for health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During most of the seventeenth century, London's population steadily increased. Historians believe that London's population experienced an anomalous steep dip and subsequent steeper rise during and after the English Civil War. However, no severe plague was recorded, and the best estimate's methodology changed from calculating christenings to tabulating burials during the decade in question, thereby raising questions about its accuracy. The author uses an alternative method based on the implied changes in the housing stock to determine if the population estimates are accurate and links these changes to what is known about London's economy during this period. The result suggests (but cannot prove) that the dip was less steep than originally estimated and the rise likely occurred during a longer period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on critiques of ‘global cities’ to conceptualize Birmingham, the UK's second largest metropole, as a ‘global’ city by highlighting forms of economic globalization that draw on the city's residents, their histories and their social and cultural networks. The article illustrates some of the diversity and significance of minority ethnic economic activity within Birmingham and the potential this holds for its future economic development, focusing on examples from three transnational networks (Chinese business networks, ethnic food manufacturing and the Bhangra music industry). The article signals a rather different understanding of ‘global’ as it relates to economic advantage, transnationalism and ethnic diversity within cities in general, and Birmingham in particular. We suggest that this different understanding of the global has important policy implications, not simply in terms of economic representations of the city, but also in terms of developing the possibilities of such transnational networks and engaging with the constraints facing them. We argue that encouraging a more relational way of thinking about cities like Birmingham has the potential for advancing social wellbeing by influencing socio-economic policy and practice. We use the example of Birmingham, therefore, to engage broader debates about alternative paths of ‘global’ economic, social and cultural investment for UK (and other) cities. A partir de critiques des ‘villes planétaires’, cet article conceptualise Birmingham (deuxième métropole britannique) en tant que ville ‘planétaire’ en soulignant les formes de mondialisation économique qui s’appuient sur les citadins, leurs histoires et leurs réseaux sociaux et culturels. Pour illustrer en partie la diversité et la place de l’activitééconomique ethnique des minorités à Birmingham, ainsi que le potentiel afférent pour son essor économique futur, ce travail s’intéresse à des exemples issus de trois réseaux transnationaux (réseaux d’affaires chinois, fabrication d’alimentation ethnique et secteur de la musique indienne Bhangra). Il repère une compréhension assez différente de ‘planétaire’, selon que le terme est liéà un avantage économique, au transnationalisme et à la diversité ethnique au sein des grandes villes, et de Birmingham en particulier. Cette perception multiple a d’importantes implications politiques, à la fois au plan des représentations économiques de la ville et en termes de création de possibilités pour ces réseaux transnationaux et de prise en compte des contraintes à affronter. Encourager un mode de réflexion plus relationnelà l’égard de villes comme Birmingham permettrait de promouvoir le bien-être social en influant sur la pratique et la politique socio-économique. Le cas de Birmingham sert donc à lancer des débats plus larges sur les options d’acheminement de l’investissement économique, social et culturel ‘planétaire’ pour les grandes villes britanniques (et étrangères). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To review the incidence and characteristics of preventable childhood deaths in an urban population in the UK and to determine whether the excess of preventable deaths seen previously in Asian girls still exists. Design: A retrospective survey of childhood deaths from 1996-2002 classified in terms of preventability and compared with a previous study conducted 20 years earlier from 1976-82. Setting: The city of Wolverhampton in the UK. Main outcome measures: Deaths from all causes in children under the age of 5 years. Results: There has been a reduction in the number of deaths in all age groups and from all causes. The postneonatal mortality rate fell from 6.5/1000 in 1976 to 3.1/1000 live births in 2002 largely because of the fall in the numbers of deaths caused by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Preventable deaths are still associated with low birth weight (p<0.001) and poverty (unemployment and overcrowding in the earlier study (p<0.05) and with the Townsend score in this study (p<0.02)). There were fewer deaths among Asians and no female excess. There was a new category not seen in the previous study, deaths caused by homicide. The death rate for homicide in the first year of life was much higher in Wolverhampton (18.7/100 000) than in England and Wales (4.6/100 000). Conclusions: Low birth weight and adverse socioeconomic conditions remain important factors associated with preventable deaths. There is no longer an increased risk of preventable death in Asian girls. The number of non-accidental deaths is a major cause for concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emergency detentions under section 4 of the Mental Health Act 1983 are more frequent in socially deprived areas of England and Wales. However, it is not clear whether individual socio-economic disadvantage increases likelihood of emergency detention. Therefore, this study tests the hypothesis that a higher proportion of people who are socially excluded will be admitted to hospital under section 4 than those who are not.Methods: A total of 300 mental health act assessments in two London boroughs with different rates of section 4 admissions were studied by retrospective case note review in a case-control design. An index of social exclusion was created and piloted for this study.Results: The logistic regression analysis discovered four risk factors for section 4 admissions: presenting with a risk to self or others at the mental health act assessment, bi-polar affective disorder, non-White British ethnicity and low social support. There were no significant differences between the two boroughs on these variables. Risk factors for any compulsory admission were: presenting with a risk, psychosis and non-White British ethnicity.Conclusion: This study found low social support to be the only social exclusion indicator that increases likelihood of admission under section 4. While individual-level variables explain some of the variation in section 4 rates, it is likely that, as indicated by other studies, different configurations of mental health services affect rates to a greater degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Frank Webster sets out to "swim against the current" of some recent thinking on cities. In particular, he takes to task what he calls the "new urbanism" in which cities are seen as the new drivers and switching centres of an emerging economy which is largely deindustrialized, global and places a high premium on knowledge and information professionals. Webster goes on to test these ideas against Birmingham, the UK's second largest city, which has been keen to reap the assumed benefits of this new urban paradigm. Attempts to reinvent Birmingham are discussed such as the revamped historical canal system, the corporate leisure hub of Brindley place and through the city's internal cultural and ethnic diversity. However, Webster is less sanguine about attempts to transform Birmingham into a knowledge city because large swathes of the city's population play little or no role in the emerging new economy. He ends by questioning why there is such an air of inevitability about the new urbanism and why the "dull compulsion" of economics continues to exercise its dominant influence. In particular, he highlights the ways in which the vision from metropolitan elites of a brave new exonomy sidelines the experiences of many urban dwellers, especially the elderly for whom the new urbanism means little apart from a loss of community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The population of medieval England (AD 400–1400) was largely employed in farming-related activities. Cattle were crucial as providers of power as well as milk, meat, and hides and were valued economically and socially. From the mid-seventh century, cattle husbandry increasingly relied on draught cattle for arable production and agricultural tasks such as ploughing, hauling, and carting. Analysis of cattle bones from archaeological sites permits the reconstruction of herd demographics and assessment of the use of cattle for traction through analysis of age and sex profiles, and the presence and severity of pathological and sub-pathological changes to the lower limb bones of cattle. When combined with ethnographic studies and historical documents, it is possible to perceive how attitudes to cattle have changed over time. By integrating multiple lines of evidence (archaeological, ethnographic, and historical), this study reveals how the value of cattle changed over time from a status symbol (representing accumulated wealth) to a commodity. A peak in the use of cattle for traction between the mid-ninth and mid-eleventh centuries may have increased the proximity of human–cattle bonds, which perhaps diminished in subsequent years as the demand for younger cattle increased to feed a growing urban population. Across medieval Europe, cattle commanded a major, if shifting, economic and social value, and their use for meat, milk, and traction is well established. Although the changing roles of cattle throughout this period may have influenced relationships between humans and cattle, this has been largely neglected in historical and zooarchaeological studies. Data from nearly 700 archaeological assemblages of animal remains have been used to provide an overview of the herd structures (age and sex) of cattle populations for England between AD 450 and 1400. These have been analysed alongside pathological and sub-pathological changes in over 2800 lower limb bones of cattle from seventeen archaeological sites to provide a better understanding of the use of cattle for ploughing, hauling, and carting. The findings were considered alongside historical documents and ethnographic evidence to chart changing human–cattle relationships. Results indicate that human–cattle relations varied with changing economic, agricultural, and social practices. From the mid-fifth century, cattle were a form of portable wealth, however, by the mid-ninth century, they were perceived as a commodity with monetary value. From this period, close human–cattle bonds are likely to have been widespread between plough hands and working animals. Such bonds are may have diminished with the increasing number of young beef cattle kept to supply the urban population from the mid-eleventh century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important study by Friedlander investigated some of the effects of different demographic responses on national demographic transitions. England and Sweden were advanced as cases that approximated the suggested hypothetical models of transitions. His argument implied that the rural population of a country (in this case Sweden) experiencing mortality decline but little industrialization would reduce its fertility rates if our-migration from agricultural areas were not possible. This present study, using more complete data and better measures, concludes that this did not occur in Sweden--it did not conform to Friedlander's hypothesized model. Because the potential implications of these findings could be profound and wide-ranging, there is a need for more studies of individual countries using better data and giving more careful attention to Davis's theory on which the Friedlander hypothesis is based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]