Local Sustainable Development: Land-use Planning's Contribution to Modern Local Government

This paper assesses the contribution of land-use planning to the objectives of local sustainable development in some of the UK's most urbanized areas. Sustainable development provides the context within which local planning policies are now being prepared, and can be seen to be a potentially important aspect of central government's proposals for modernizing local government. Using the results from a comprehensive survey of development plans in metropolitan authorities, the paper assesses both the strengths and the weaknesses of land-use planning in terms of sustainable development and speculates upon the lessons they may offer to the government's more recent proposals on modernizing local government.     

Conserved male-specific cuticular hydrocarbon patterns in the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus brunneus

Cuticular hydrocarbons have been identified as the source of sex-recognition signals for many insects, but for social insects, specifically ants, cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of males are often ignored. This study reports male-specific cuticular hydrocarbon patterns for the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus brunneus. Analysis of samples from four Florida populations demonstrated that male-specific overabundance of four hydrocarbons is conserved across populations despite population-level divergence of the remainder of the profile. In addition, hydrocarbon patterns unique to adult males were not present on the cuticle of final instar male larvae, indicating that male-specific profiles arise late in development. The pattern of an abundant subset of conserved cuticular hydrocarbons characteristic of males across divergent populations was compared to earlier findings of the conservation of fertility signals of females across these same populations.     

The Zambian Resource Curse and its influence on Genuine Savings as an indicator for “weak” sustainable development

The empirical evidence that economies predominantly reliant on their natural resources are characterized by slower economic growth—the so-called Resource Curse (RC)—is in many ways confirmed by the case of Zambia. Haber and Menaldo (Am Polit Sci Rev 105(1):1–26, 2011) identify Zambia’s extreme dependence on copper exports as one of the worldwide most striking examples for a country suffering from this “curse.” In topical literature, the RC is traced back to the generation of natural resource rents regardless of economic performance, which among other problems leads to suboptimal reinvestment. The World Banks indicator for the “weak” sustainable development of a country—the so-called Genuine Savings (GS)—considers exactly this reinvestment of rents from the depletion of natural capital rents into physical or human capital. Although it has been shown empirically that countries dependent on primary exports on average feature negative GS rates and that the determinants of the RC influence both present economic growth and future sustainability as measured by GS, no case studies have been conducted to confirm this. Against this background, we qualitatively survey the relationship between the most discussed determinants causing the RC in Zambia and the country’s GS rate. We show that all theoretical relationships between the GS rates of a country and RC determinants such as consumption behavior, volatile world market prices, the so-called Dutch disease as well as political and institutional structures apply to Zambia between 1964 and 2010: an extreme dependency on copper exports and insufficient reinvestments of income from the depletion of Zambia’s natural capital constitutes one of the main reasons for slow growth and negative GS until the copper price booms in the second half of the 2000s.     

Quantified scenarios analysis of drivers and impacts of changing flood risk in England and Wales: 2030–2100

Flood risk to the economy, society and the environment reflects the cumulative effects of environmental and socio-economic change over decades. Long-term scenarios are therefore required in order to develop robust and sustainable flood risk management policies. Quantified national-scale flood risk analysis and expert appraisal of the mechanisms causing change in flood risk have been used to assess flood risk in England and Wales over the period 2030–2100. The assessment involved the use of socio-economic and climate change scenarios. The analysis predicts increasing flood risk unless current flood management policies, practices and investment levels are changed—up to 20-fold increase in economic risk by the 2080s in the scenario with highest economic growth. The increase is attributable to a combination of climate change (in particular increasing precipitation and relative sea level rise in parts of the UK) and increasing socio-economic vulnerability, particularly in terms of household/industrial contents and infrastructure vulnerability. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

Modelling the potential damage-reducing benefits of flood warnings using European cases

In most OECD countries, emergency response to accidents and natural disasters is very dependent on a trained workforce of emergency services volunteers: fire, rescue, medical, care and relief. With its large area, sparsely settled population, and frequent periods of low rainfall, Australia is particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by wildfires. There are an estimated 220,000 rural fire volunteers (in a population of 20 million) in eight state and territory volunteer rural fire services. These fire services have experienced significant decreases in volunteer numbers over the past decade, a trend which is true also of North American volunteer fire services. An investigation suggests that the decrease is driven by two related sets of factors: economic and demographic. Globalisation and deregulation of the economy, and technological innovation, have resulted in structural changes in the nature of work: privatisation, casualisation, self-employment, and demands for increased productivity. These factors make it more difficult for members of communities to volunteer, regardless of their motivation to do so. Further, like many other OECD countries, Australia's birth rate has fallen over the last three decades, resulting in a decline in the proportion of the population aged between 25 and 45 years—a trend that is unlikely to be reversed in the foreseeable future. These economic and demographic changes make it difficult for Australian volunteer rural fire agencies to meet their community protection responsibilities. Responding to these challenges may require radical changes in the way that these fire services are organised and supported.     

Concentrations of brominated flame retardants in dust from United Kingdom cars, homes, and offices: causes of variability and implications for human exposure

Average concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in dust in 30 homes, 18 offices, and 20 cars were 260,000, 31,000, and 340,000 ng SigmaPBDEs g(-1) respectively. Concentrations of BDEs 47, 99, 100, and 154 in cars exceeded significantly (p<0.05) those in homes and offices. Average concentrations of 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (TBE) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) in homes, offices, and cars respectively were lower at 120, 7.2, and 7.7 ng g(-1) (TBE) and 270, 170, and 400 ng g(-1) (DBDPE). BDE-209 concentrations in three samples are the highest to date at 2,600,000 (car), 2,200,000 (home), and 1,400,000 ng g(-1) (home). UK toddlers daily consuming 200 mg dust contaminated at the 95th percentile concentration, ingest 180 ng (Sigma)tri-hexa-BDEs and 310 microg BDE-209 day(-1). For TBE, exposure was lower than for PBDEs and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), while that for DBDPE was similar in magnitude to (Sigma)tri-hexa-BDEs, but less than for BDE-209 and HBCDs. BDE-209 concentrations recorded in ten samples taken at monthly intervals in one room varied 400-fold, implying caution when using single measurements of dust contamination for exposure assessment. Significant negative correlation was observed in one room between concentrations of BDE-47, 99, and 153 and dust loading (g dust m(-2) floor), suggesting "dilution" occurs at higher dust loadings.