The youngest record of metriorhynchid crocodylomorphs,with implications for the extinction of Thalattosuchia

Here we describe an isolated tooth of a metriorhynchid crocodylomorph from the Hybla Formation (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) of Rocca Chi Parra quarry (Montagna Grande, Calatafimi, Trapani Province), Sicily, Italy. The specimen shares with the Upper Jurassic taxon Plesiosuchus manselii a mediolaterally compressed conical tooth crown, noticeable lingual curvature, mesial and distal carinae with microscopic, rectangular contiguous denticles, strong distal curvature of the mesial margin, and the presence of weak 'carinal flanges' on the labial and lingual surfaces (which are preeminent at the mid-crown). This suite of morphologies is also present in an unnamed Valanginian (Lower Cretaceous) plesiosuchinan from France. However, the Sicilian tooth differs from these taxa in having more pronounced carinae, and faint apicobasally aligned enamel ridges. It also differs from P. manselii in having more extensive 'carinal flanges' on the labial surface. The specimen extends the known geological range of Metriorhynchidae and Thalattosuchia by approximately 7–8 million years. This overturns previous hypotheses of Metriorhynchidae becoming extinct early in the Early Cretaceous.     

Intervening in the environment of the everyday

This paper seeks to explore the radical democratic potential in urban artistic interventions. It does so through bringing Gramsci’s concept of nature together with his ‘cultural writings’ and broader debates around avant-garde artistic practice. Empirically, I focus on the work of City Mine(d), a Brussels-based interventionist collective, and Siraj Izhar, a London-based artist-activist. Within Gramsci’s writings, I argue, socio-natural relationships emerge through sensuous activity or work. Making a somewhat more ambitious claim, I suggest that Gramsci’s concept of nature rests on what geographers have come to understand as the production of nature. Whilst attention has only recently turned to this implicit political ecology, much greater attention has been focussed on Gramsci’s cultural insights. For Gramsci, cultural struggles are an integral part of the effort to shape a new reality. Whilst he emphasises the ‘bottom up’ nature of such struggles, the intervention of enlightened outsiders is often a necessary and frustrating complement. However, by turning attention to the manner in which hegemony relates to the production of nature, and through bringing this into dialogue with radical artistic practice, such implicit elitism might be challenged. City Mine(d) and Izhar, I argue, develop a non-vanguardist politics that sees the contestation of hegemony as a struggle integral to the day-to-day nature of cities.     

《1972伦敦公约》与中国海洋倾废管理

本文简要介绍了《１９７２伦敦公约》在中国的实施情况、影响因素以及我国海洋倾废管理的法规、政策、技术标准和管理程序。作者认为，我国海洋倾废管理的目标与公约的目标是一致的，但管理范围比公约更为广泛，并具有更大的强制性。文章还指出，我国的海洋倾放心管理已发展一套较为完整的申请、审批和核准程序，执行效果良好。     

Transitional measures to combine two global ocean dumping treaties into a single treaty

The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972 (the London Convention, or LC) established a global regime for the protection of the marine environment from pollution caused by ocean dumping and incineration at sea. In 1996, at the Special Meeting of the LC, the Contracting Parties to the LC adopted the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Waste and Other Matter 1972 (the London Protocol, or LP), which updates and improves the LC and should eventually supersede it. On March 24, 2006, 10 years after its adoption, the LP entered into force. Not all of the LC Parties have ratified the LP; many countries are still working towards accession, and some countries not Party to either regime are still ratifying the Convention instead of the Protocol. The LP Parties have striven to develop a well-functioning compliance mechanism and at the same time address newly emerging issues threatening the marine environment. Conversely, the LC Parties have agreed not to amend the LC further. This tension makes it increasingly uncomfortable to continue to hold the meetings of the two governing bodies concurrently, as is now done to maximize organizational efficiency. This paper attempts to remove some of the confusion caused by the existence of these two seemingly identical but in fact distinct global marine environment treaties. It further proposes some transitional measures to merge the LC into the LP to form a single global dumping treaty to protect the marine environment in the 21st century.     

Mapping the London 2012 Olympics

Abstract

The London 2012 Olympic Games was a true spectacle of sporting achievement. It also provided the impetus for official organisations, news media and individuals to turn the vast amount of data into map form. This paper provides an outline of some of the cartographic highlights (and one or two lowlights) that the Olympics inspired. There were some great maps on view and also some interesting trends emerging, particularly in terms of web maps and web maps used as infographics. In particular, the Dorling cartogram saw widespread use, particularly to map medal tallies by online news media.     

The Politics of Eminent Domain: From False Choices to Community Benefits

Large-scale urban redevelopment projects catalyze moments of peril and opportunity. In the wake of the United States Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision affirming economic development as a public use under the takings clause of the Constitution, these perils and opportunities have again become a site of major contestation. An unusual alliance of libertarian property-rights ideologues and civil-rights organizations has joined forces to challenge the use of eminent domain in urban economic development. In this article, I analyze the history of these alliances and their implicit reinforcement of deeply reactionary constructions of property. I conclude with an evaluation of two emergent models—community benefit agreements and community equity shares—that provide promising community tools for alternatives to homeowner rule and neoliberal urban renewal.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Hall, Peter. Cities in civilization. Culture, innovation, and urban order
Gottdiener, M., Collins, Claudia C. and Dickens, David R. Las Vegas: the social production of an all-American city
Duncan, James and Gregory Derek (eds) Writes of passage: reading travel writing     

THE WOLVES AND LAMBS OF THE CREATIVE CITY: THE SUSTAINABILITY OF FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCERS IN LONDON

ABSTRACT. The sustainability of creative producers‐businesses and individuals‐depends in part on the state of the urban environment, especially the one of the street. Relationships with the street differ among creative producers with different power positions and levels of embeddedness in street life. Thus an approach to the sustainability of the creative city needs to move beyond the simplistic ideals of “mixed use” and “vitality” to an understanding of the complexity and continuity inherent in the production of creative spaces with respect to the multiple transactions of both the strong and weak stakeholders involved‐the “wolves” and “lambs.” The example used in this article, which draws on evidence from interviews with producers, is the film and television industry in Camden Town, London, in relation to the “experience” economy.     

Capital and Empire: Geographies of Imperial London

The notion of empire has often been regarded in Europe as a matter of diffusion and expansion; something which happened over there rather than close to home. Yet the form, use and representation of modern European cities have been shaped by the global history of imperialism in ways that continue to matter even in an apparently post-imperial age. The signs of empire were prominently displayed within the built environments of all the major cities of late-nineteenth century Europe, as they came (in different ways) to play the role of regional, national and imperial capitals. In what was evidently a pan-European discourse on the imperial city between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth, national models were defined in relation to other national models, in a spirit of competition as much as emulation. This paper examines the case of London. British architects and planners frequently complained that London lagged behind its rivals in the struggle for imperial primacy, given the absence of state-sponsored projects to parallel Haussmann's rebuilding of Paris or Leopold's grand plans for Brussels. At the intra-urban scale, the imperial city had a geography which mattered: in the case of London, different parts of the city were associated with different aspects of empire. More generally, it is clear that national debates over imperial urbanism were conditioned not simply by understandings of the global reach of European empires, but also by attitudes towards social, cultural and political change within Europe itself.     

Skilled migration in global cities from `Other' perspectives: British Arabs, identity politics, and local embededdness

Migration scholars increasingly have turned their attention to skilled migration, focusing, in particular, on the transfer of professionals within and between transnational corporations. Recent efforts have been made to bring a `cultural' analysis to this phenomenon, including greater scrutiny of the corporate cultures and social networks in which skilled migrants are embedded. This research has emphasised the importance of locality even among these most footloose and transnational of migrants. But despite these complex views of skilled migration, analyses have generated a somewhat limited conception of `skilled migrants' as managerial elites disengaged from local life. This paper examines skilled migration from a different perspective. First, using the case of Arab immigrants in London, this paper highlights the complicated nature of migration trajectories and reveals the diversity of patterns and experiences within the category of skilled migrant. Second, focusing on responses from female study participants, this paper examines the ways in which skilled migrants, rather than disengaging themselves from the host society context, may participate in the local politics of multiculturalism and integration.