Rereading urban regime theory: a sympathetic critique

This paper examines recent theoretical exchanges around urban politics that have taken place between U.S. and U.K. academics and policy makers. Urban regime theory is outlined, its development in the U.S. traced and its initial application in the U.K. considered. Using urban regime theory two problems are isolated and interrogated: first the difficulty in theoretical transfer, in this case from the U.S. to the U.K. and, second, the problems of empiricism and localism embedded in the way urban regime theory has been constructed. The realist work of Kevin Cox is incorporated into a critique of the current formulation of regime theory. In conclusion, the paper notes the benefits of constructing idealized typologies but advocates the further theorizing of regime theory, not around concrete examples but through those socially embedded processes that result in the observable typological outcomes.     

The O(1S) dayglow emission as observed by the WIND imaging interferometer on the UARS

Volume emission rate profiles of the O(¹D-¹S) 5577 Å dayglow measured by the WIND imaging interferometer on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite are analyzed to examine the O(¹S) excitation mechanisms in the sunlit lower thermosphere and upper mesosphere. The observed emission profiles are compared with theoretical profiles calculated using a model which takes into account all of the known daytime sources of O(¹S). These include photoelectron impact on atomic oxygen, dissociative recombination of O⁺₂, photodissociation of molecular oxygen, energy transfer from metastable N₂(A³⁺_u) and three body recombination of atomic oxygen. Throughout most of the thermosphere the measured and modelled emission rates are in reasonably good agreement, given the limitations of the model, but in the region below 100 km, where the oxygen atom recombination source is likely to dominate, the measured emission rates are considerably larger than those modelled using the MSIS-90 oxygen atom densities. This discrepancy is discussed in terms of possible inadequacies in the MSIS-90 model atmosphere and/or additional sources of O(¹S) at low altitude.     

Representing rurality? New Labour and the electoral geography of rural Britain

The first Blair administration faced clamorous criticism from some lobby groups for its handling of rural issues. Yet Labour has presented itself as a 'one–nation' party representing both urban and rural areas. This paper examines the basis of recent claims about the parliamentary representation of rural Britain, and analyzes the results of the last two General Elections. It illustrates how the malleability of the category of 'rural' allows for contrasting claims about rural representation, and highlights the continuity of party representation among those constituencies located outside the main urban areas in the 1997 and 2001 parliaments, despite regular rural protest.     

A summary of volcanic and seismic activity in Katmai National Monument,Alaska

A compilation of observations of volcanic eruptions since 1870 and ash stratigraphy shows that Katmai National Monument on the Alaska Peninsula has had a long history of volcanic activity. Six of the recently active vents lie in a gently curved arc, but two lie to the north of this arc and show no obvious structural relationship to it. Recent volcanic events have consisted of fumarolic activity, steaming from main vents, ash eruptions, extrusion of viscous lava flows, and pyroclastic eruptions. The observed activity shows no obvious correlation with a compilation of seismic events recorded teleseismically since 1912 and relocated by the authors using a digital computer. The eruption attributed to Mt. Katmai in 1912 has left many unanswered questions including the thickness of the ash flow tuff in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Seismic refraction results show that this tuff has a compressional velocity of about 0.6 km/sec and that considerable morainal debris may underlie it at the northern end of the Valley.     

A prototype global volcano surveillance system monitoring seismic activity and tilt

The Earth Resources Technology Satellite makes it feasible for the first time to monitor the level of activity at widely separated volcanoes and to relay these data almost instantancously to one central office. This capability opens a new era in volcanology where the hundreds of normally quiescent but potentially dangerous volcanoes near populated regions around the world can be economically and reliably monitored. A prototype global volcano surveillance system has been established beginning in the fall of 1972 with the help of local scientists on 15 volcanoes in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, California, Iceland. Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Data on earthquake activity and ground tilt are received 6 to 10 times daily in Menlo Park, California, within 90 minutes of transmission from the sites. Seismic event counters were installed at 19 locations with biaxial borehole tiltineters with 1 microradian sensitivity installed at seven sites. Direct comparison of seismic events that are counted with records from nearby seismic stations show the event counters work quite reliably. An order of magnitude increase in seismic events was observed prior to the eruption of Volcán Fuego in Guatemala in February, 1973. Significant changes in tilt were observed on volcanoes Kilauea. Fuego, and Pacava. This study demonstrates the technological and economic feasibility of utilizing such a volcano surveillance system throughout the world.     

Making Manchester `flexible': competition and change in the temporary staffing industry

According to local economic and political commentators, Manchester's economy is booming. Employment is growing, investment is on the up, people are moving back into the city centre, and in 2002 the city hosted the largest multi-sporting event to be held in England since the 1948 Olympics. Local economic and political actors point to the wave of economic optimism that has accompanied the `entrepreneurial turn' performed in the late 1980s by the city's political institutions. As part of this, emphasis switched away from Manchester's industrial past and to its possible post-industrial futures. The city council stopped talking defensively--about `defending jobs'--and begun to talk about `making things happen'. New-style political strategies focused on raising the profile of the city, through sustained marketing strategies aimed at selling Manchester as a flexible, twenty-first century consumer-orientated city, despite the loss of 90,000 jobs between 1991 and 1997 and the profound restructuring of the city's economic base. As part of this contradictory process of politically talking up the economy while it has struggled to perform, this paper argues that the conditions have been created in which Manchester's temporary staffing industry has been able to thrive. The first English city to regulate the earliest incarnation of temporary staffing agencies, employment bureaux, and hence with a long established `industry' as such, this paper exams the newly re-energised Manchester temporary staffing industry, and sets out some of the ways in which it is restructuring.