38 research outputs found
La città verde
No full textIl tema della “città verde” è oggi indissolubilmente legato all’idea di bioarchitettura, da un lato, e di città sostenibile, dall’altro. “Città verde” è il titolo di un concorso di architettura del 1929 per la costruzione di una città del riposo nei pressi di Mosca che produsse quattro progetti di maestri dell’avanguardia russa che fecero del tema il pretesto per la proposta di nuove tipologie insediative. In questo libro, il termine “città verde” riunisce una serie di esperienze che, come quei quattro progetti, hanno cercato di delineare una nuova tipologia insediativa strutturalmente fondata nella campagna e nel territorio e alternativa alla grande città come forma di habitat per lo sviluppo della società moderna.
Il libro è diviso in due parti. La prima parte, "La città verde", scritta dall'autore - è composta da sei saggi in cui attraverso il confronto tra quattro esperienze di progettazione di insediamenti fondati sul territorio e complementari alla città negli anni '30 e '40 del Novecento: tra Russia (Il concorso per la "Città verde di Mosca" e il disurbanesimo), Italia (La campagna padana di Gaetano Ciocca) e Stati Uniti (I progetti per gli insediamenti TVA). Nei casi di studio vengono delineati gli elementi tipici di una forma insediativa complementare alla grande città, con le sue tipologie architettoniche distintive. La rassegna si conclude con un capitolo finale sulle caratteristiche del progetto di "città verde" desumibili dal confronto tra casi di studio che apre la seconda parte del libro. La seconda parte, “Per un atlante delle città verdi”, redatta da autori invitati e specialisti - è composta da sei saggi che propongono una rilettura di noti casi di architettura moderna in chiave di progetto di “città verde”: dalla visione fisiocratica negli Stati Uniti (Thomas Jefferson, M. C. Loi) e in Francia (Claude N. Ledoux, D. Chizzoniti); alle cittadelle industriali modello negli Stati Uniti (Henry Ford, F. Bucci) e in Italia a Ivrea (Olivetti, F. Bonfante); alle visioni del secondo Novecento di nuove forme insediative fondate sul territorio in Italia (“ruralistica” di Amos Edallo, G. Frassine; “l’eco-città” di Marcello D’Olivo, G. L. Ferreri).
Il volume si apre con una prefazione di Guido Canella e si chiude con una postfazione di Jurij P. Volchok. Nel dare il profilo di ciascuna delle esperienze citate, tutti gli autori dei diversi contributi hanno di volta in volta teso a evidenziarne soprattutto la proattività in termini di discorso architettonico e di progettazione insediativa. Le “città verdi” che compongono il libro sono frutto di ricerche svolte dagli autori nell’ambito di dottorati di ricerca e per progetti europei (COST C 11) e MIUR presso il Dipartimento di Progettazione Architettonica del Politecnico.The theme of the “green city” is today inextricably linked to the idea of bio architecture, on the one hand, and of a sustainable city, on the other. “Green City” is the title of a 1929 architectural competition for constructing a city of rest near Moscow that produced four projects by masters of the Russian avant-garde who made the theme the pretext for the proposition of new settlement typologies. In this book, the term “green city” brings together a series of experiences that, like those four projects, have sought to outline a new settlement typology structurally founded in the countryside and in the territory and alternative to the big city as a form of habitat for the development of modern society.
The book is divided into two parts.
The first part, "The Green City", written by the author - consists of six essays in which through a comparison between four experiences of planning settlements founded in the territory and complementary to the city in the 30s and 40s of the twentieth century: between Russia (The competition for the "Green City of Moscow" and disurbanism), Italy (the Po Valley countryside of Gaetano Ciocca) and the United States (the projects for the TVA settlements). In the case-studies, the typical elements of a form of settlement complementary to the large city are outlined, with its distinctive architectural types. The review ends with a final chapter on the characteristics of the "green city" project deducible from the comparison between case studies that opens the second part of the book. The second part, “For an atlas of Green Cities”, written by invited authors and specialists - consists of six essays that propose a rereading of well-known cases of modern architecture in the key of the “green city” project: from the physiocratic vision in the United States (Thomas Jefferson, M. C. Loi) and in France (Claude N. Ledoux, D. Chizzoniti); to the model industrial citadels in the United States (Henry Ford, F. Bucci) and in Italy in Ivrea (Olivetti, F. Bonfante); to the visions of the second half of the twentieth century of new forms of settlement founded in the territory in Italy (“ruralistica” by Amos Edallo, G. Frassine; “the eco-town” by Marcello D’Olivo, G. L. Ferreri).
The volume opens with a preface by Guido Canella and closes with an afterword by Jurij P. Volchok.
In giving the profile of each of the experiences cited, all the authors of the different contributions have from time to time tended to highlight above all the proactivity in terms of architectural discourse and settlement design. The "green cities" that make up the book are the result of research carried out by the authors in the context of research doctorates and for European projects (COST C 11) and MIUR at the Department of Architectural Design of the Polytechnic
Subsidies for technology adoption : Experimental evidence from rural Cameroon
No full textWe use a two-stage experiment to study how a short-term subsidy for a new product affects uptake, usage, and future demand for the same product (a new solar lamp). We use an auction design to gauge willingness-to-pay, and randomly vary the strike price across villages to create random variation in purchase prices and uptake across villages. Our main results are that subsidies do not adversely affect subsequent product use, but stimulate uptake. If subsidies depress future willingness-to-pay, then this effect is outweighed by additional learning about the benefits of the new product. The net effect is that short-term subsidies increase future willingness-to-pay. However; prices play an important allocative role, and lowering prices via subsidies encourages uptake by households with low use intensity. We do not find any evidence supporting social learning and anchoring beyond the initial sample of beneficiaries
Participation, Legitimacy and Fiscal Capacity in Weak States: Evidence from Participatory Budgeting
No full textThis paper is jointly published by the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at the University of Oxford and the Local Government Revenue Initiative (LoGRI) at the University of Toronto. Identical versions appear in both institutions’ working paper series.Building durable fiscal capacity requires that states obtain compliance with their taxes—a persistent challenge for states with low enforcement capacity. One promising option for governments in weak states is to raise voluntary compliance by enhancing governmental legitimacy. This study reports results from a participatory budgeting policy experiment in Sierra Leone designed to increase legitimacy and tax compliance by inviting public participation in local policy decision-making. In phone-based town halls, participants shared policy preferences with neighbors and local politicians and then voted for public services that were subsequently implemented. We find that the intervention durably increased participants’ perceptions of government legitimacy. However, contrary to influential models of tax compliance, we report a robust null effect on tax compliance behavior. Participants’ partisan affiliation strongly conditions the treatments’ effects on tax compliance and attitudes toward paying taxes: We find large, positive impacts among copartisans of the incumbent government but significant negative impacts among non-copartisans. Our results highlight that the legitimacy gains of participatory interventions may not increase voluntary tax compliance when participation politicizes compliance.International Growth Centre, International Centre for Tax and Development, Local Government Revenue Initiativ
Altered feeding behavior and immune competence in paper wasps: A case of parasite manipulation?
No full textPaper wasps (Polistes dominula), parasitized by the strepsipteran Xenos vesparum, are castrated and desert the colony to gather on plants where the parasite mates and releases primary larvae, thus completing its lifecycle. One of these plants is the trumpet creeper Campsis radicans: in a previous study the majority of all wasps collected from this plant were parasitized and focused their foraging activity on C. radicans buds. The unexpected prevalence and unusual feeding strategy prompted us to investigate the influence of this plant on wasp behavior and physiology through a multidisciplinary approach. First, in a series of laboratory bioassays, we observed that parasitized wasps spent more time than non-parasitized ones on fresh C. radicans buds, rich of extra-floral nectaries (EFNs), while the same wasps ignored treated buds that lacked nectar drops. Then, we described the structure and ultra-structure of EFNs secreting cells, compatible with the synthesis of phenolic compounds. Subsequently, we analysed extracts from different bud tissues by HPLC-DAD-MS and found that verbascoside was the most abundant bioactive molecule in those tissues rich in EFNs. Finally, we tested the immune-stimulant properties of verbascoside, as the biochemical nature of this compound indicates it might function as an antibacterial and antioxidant. We measured bacterial clearance in wasps, as a proxy for overall immune competence, and observed that it was enhanced after administration of verbascoside-even more so if the wasp was parasitized. We hypothesize that the parasite manipulates wasp behavior to preferentially feed on C. radicans EFNs, since the bioactive properties of verbascoside likely increase host survival and thus the parasite own fitness
COVID-19 and mental health in 8 low- and middle-income countries: A prospective cohort study
No full textBACKGROUND: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated mitigation policies created a global economic and health crisis of unprecedented depth and scale, raising the estimated prevalence of depression by more than a quarter in high-income countries. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) suffered the negative effects on living standards the most severely. However, the consequences of the pandemic for mental health in LMICs have received less attention. Therefore, this study assesses the association between the COVID-19 crisis and mental health in 8 LMICs. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in 10 populations from 8 LMICs in Asia, Africa, and South America. The analysis included 21,162 individuals (mean age 38.01 years, 64% female) who were interviewed at least once pre- as well as post-pandemic. The total number of survey waves ranged from 2 to 17 (mean 7.1). Our individual-level primary outcome measure was based on validated screening tools for depression and a weighted index of depression questions, dependent on the sample. Sample-specific estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between COVID-19 periods and mental health were estimated using linear regressions with individual fixed effects, controlling for independent time trends and seasonal variation in mental health where possible. In addition, a regression discontinuity design was used for the samples with multiple surveys conducted just before and after the onset of the pandemic. We aggregated sample-specific coefficients using a random-effects model, distinguishing between estimates for the short (0 to 4 months) and longer term (4+ months). The random-effects aggregation showed that depression symptoms are associated with a increase by 0.29 standard deviations (SDs) (95% CI [-.47, -.11], p-value = 0.002) in the 4 months following the onset of the pandemic. This change was equivalent to moving from the 50th to the 63rd percentile in our median sample. Although aggregate depression is correlated with a decline to 0.21 SD (95% CI [-0.07, -.34], p-value = 0.003) in the period thereafter, the average recovery of 0.07 SD (95% CI [-0.09, .22], p-value = 0.41) was not statistically significant. The observed trends were consistent across countries and robust to alternative specifications. Two limitations of our study are that not all samples are representative of the national population, and the mental health measures differ across samples. CONCLUSIONS: Controlling for seasonality, we documented a large, significant, negative association of the pandemic on mental health, especially during the early months of lockdown. The magnitude is comparable (but opposite) to the effects of cash transfers and multifaceted antipoverty programs on mental health in LMICs. Absent policy interventions, the pandemic could be associated with a lasting legacy of depression, particularly in settings with limited mental health support services, such as in many LMICs. We also demonstrated that mental health fluctuates with agricultural crop cycles, deteriorating during "lean", pre-harvest periods and recovering thereafter. Ignoring such seasonal variations in mental health may lead to unreliable inferences about the association between the pandemic and mental health
Last-mile delivery increases vaccine uptake in Sierra Leone
No full textAbstractLess than 30% of people in Africa received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine even 18 months after vaccine development1. Here, motivated by the observation that residents of remote, rural areas of Sierra Leone faced severe access difficulties2, we conducted an intervention with last-mile delivery of doses and health professionals to the most inaccessible areas, along with community mobilization. A cluster randomized controlled trial in 150 communities showed that this intervention with mobile vaccination teams increased the immunization rate by about 26 percentage points within 48–72 h. Moreover, auxiliary populations visited our community vaccination points, which more than doubled the number of inoculations administered. The additional people vaccinated per intervention site translated to an implementation cost of US $33 per person vaccinated. Transportation to reach remote villages accounted for a large share of total intervention costs. Therefore, bundling multiple maternal and child health interventions in the same visit would further reduce costs per person treated. Current research on vaccine delivery maintains a large focus on individual behavioural issues such as hesitancy. Our study demonstrates that prioritizing mobile services to overcome access difficulties faced by remote populations in developing countries can generate increased returns in terms of uptake of health services3
Essays on Technology, Decision-Making, and Economic Development
No full textUnderstanding how individuals make decisions under constraints is central to the study of economic development. Technological, financial, and social constraints shape economic behavior in ways that influence access to opportunities, policy effectiveness, and long-run welfare. This dissertation explores these constraints in Sub-Saharan Africa through three essays. The first examines technological constraints by developing a generalized framework for evaluating the causal impact of mobile network access, addressing measurement challenges in geospatial data and providing a method for studying steady-state impacts of mobile connectivity. The second examines financial constraints to clean energy adoption, using a randomized experiment in Cameroon to assess the effectiveness of subsidies in promoting biogas technology uptake and highlighting a disconnect between stated intent and actual adoption. The third analyzes social constraints by investigating how shifts in national over ethnic identity influence labor market outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging national football team victories as an exogenous shock to identity. Together, these essays contribute to our understanding of how constraints shape economic behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa and provide evidence to inform the design of policies that promote economic development.
Chapter 1 addresses a critical gap in the literature on mobile connectivity by developing a broadly applicable method to estimate its causal effects. While prior studies have largely focused on the rollout of telecom networks or relied on unusually high-quality data, this chapter introduces an approach that enables evaluation in steady-state conditions where network access has stabilized, using widely available data sources. I employ a Longley-Rice Irregular Terrain Model to predict mobile signal strength and implement a regression discontinuity design at the threshold for basic mobile access. A key challenge in geospatial analyses using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data is coordinate displacement, which protects respondent privacy but introduces measurement error that can bias estimates. To address this, I construct a machine learning-based proxy that significantly improves signal strength estimation, reducing the root mean squared error by 25.56% to 52.31% at the margin. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that this correction improves classification around the treatment threshold and reduces bias in treatment effect estimates, particularly in noisy environments. Applying this framework to DHS data, I validate the approach using women's phone ownership rates and estimate the impact of network access on infant mortality. The results support the framework’s reliability and highlight its potential for future research on mobile network connectivity.
Chapter 2 (co-authored with Anna L. Berka, Cornelis Gardebroek, and Niccolò F. Meriggi), examines financial constraints in the adoption of complex energy technologies. While subsidies have been shown to facilitate the adoption of low-cost, intuitive technologies, their effectiveness in promoting more complex, capital-intensive innovations remains less understood. In this chapter, I present evidence from a clustered randomized controlled trial in rural Cameroon, where households were offered varying levels of subsidies for biodigester construction, a technology that enables biogas production. The results indicate that 25% and 45% subsidies increased contract signing by 15 and 20 percentage points, respectively, yet few of these agreements resulted in actual biodigester construction. The 45% subsidy increased completed constructions by 3 percentage points, while the 25% subsidy had no significant effect. The findings reveal a disconnect between initial adoption intent and actual follow-through, suggesting that financial incentives alone may be insufficient for promoting complex technology adoption. We identify household characteristics associated with successful adoption and argue that hyper-targeting of subsidies could enhance policy effectiveness in promoting capital-intensive technologies.
Chapter 3 explores how social identity influences economic behavior, particularly in ethnically diverse societies. Using national football team victories as an instrument, I examine how shifts in national over ethnic identification affect labor market outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Previous research has documented that national victories increase nationalistic sentiment, but this chapter provides new evidence that these shifts are particularly pronounced in regions where ethnic majorities face higher relative unemployment. In addition, the observed shift persists for at least 45 days, suggesting longer-term effects on identity. Further, I present suggestive evidence that national identity is related to ethnic unemployment disparities, which I interpret through the lens of in-group favoritism in labor markets. These findings illustrate how collective experiences contribute to nation-building, shaping identity, economic behavior, and potentially mitigating labor market inequality in ethnically fractionalized societies.
Together, these essays illustrate how technological, financial, and social constraints shape economic behavior in developing contexts. By advancing empirical methods for assessing the impacts of technological constraints, refining our understanding of financial barriers to technology adoption, and uncovering the economic effects of identity shifts, this dissertation contributes to both economic theory and policy design. The findings enhance our understanding of development challenges and provide insights that can inform more effective interventions and strategies for fostering inclusive economic growth
COVID-19 and mental health in 8 low- and middle-income countries: A prospective cohort study
No full textBackground The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated mitigation policies created a global economic and health crisis of unprecedented depth and scale, raising the estimated prevalence of depression by more than a quarter in high-income countries. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) suffered the negative effects on living standards the most severely. However, the consequences of the pandemic for mental health in LMICs have received less attention. Therefore, this study assesses the association between the COVID-19 crisis and mental health in 8 LMICs. Methods and findings We conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in 10 populations from 8 LMICs in Asia, Africa, and South America. The analysis included 21,162 individuals (mean age 38.01 years, 64% female) who were interviewed at least once pre- as well as post-pandemic. The total number of survey waves ranged from 2 to 17 (mean 7.1). Our individual-level primary outcome measure was based on validated screening tools for depression and a weighted index of depression questions, dependent on the sample. Sample-specific estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between COVID-19 periods and mental health were estimated using linear regressions with individual fixed effects, controlling for independent time trends and seasonal variation in mental health where possible. In addition, a regression discontinuity design was used for the samples with multiple surveys conducted just before and after the onset of the pandemic. We aggregated sample-specific coefficients using a random-effects model, distinguishing between estimates for the short (0 to 4 months) and longer term (4+ months). The random-effects aggregation showed that depression symptoms are associated with a increase by 0.29 standard deviations (SDs) (95% CI [−.47, −.11], p-value = 0.002) in the 4 months following the onset of the pandemic. This change was equivalent to moving from the 50th to the 63rd percentile in our median sample. Although aggregate depression is correlated with a decline to 0.21 SD (95% CI [−0.07, −.34], p-value = 0.003) in the period thereafter, the average recovery of 0.07 SD (95% CI [−0.09, .22], p-value = 0.41) was not statistically significant. The observed trends were consistent across countries and robust to alternative specifications. Two limitations of our study are that not all samples are representative of the national population, and the mental health measures differ across samples. Conclusions Controlling for seasonality, we documented a large, significant, negative association of the pandemic on mental health, especially during the early months of lockdown. The magnitude is comparable (but opposite) to the effects of cash transfers and multifaceted antipoverty programs on mental health in LMICs. Absent policy interventions, the pandemic could be associated with a lasting legacy of depression, particularly in settings with limited mental health support services, such as in many LMICs. We also demonstrated that mental health fluctuates with agricultural crop cycles, deteriorating during “lean”, pre-harvest periods and recovering thereafter. Ignoring such seasonal variations in mental health may lead to unreliable inferences about the association between the pandemic and mental health. Nursena Aksunger and colleagues investigate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in eight low- and middle-income countries. Author summary Why was this study done? The worldwide economic and health crises triggered by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have had a significant influence on mental health, with the estimated prevalence of depression having increased by more than 25% in high-income countries. Although the adverse consequences of the pandemic on living standards have been most severe in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the consequences of the pandemic for mental health in LMICs have received less attention. What did the researchers do and find? The purpose of this research is to investigate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in 8 LMICs in Asia, Africa, and South America. Before and during the pandemic, the mental health of 21,162 individuals (mean age 38.01 years, 64.0% female) was measured using survey data. Our individual-level primary outcome measure was based on validated depression screening instruments and a sample-specific weighted index of depression questions. We found that depression symptoms were associated with a significant increase in the 4 months following the onset of the pandemic (0.29 standard deviations (SDs), 95% confidence interval (CI) [−.47, −.11], p-value = 0.002) and that the average recovery of 0.07 SD was not statistically significant in the subsequent period (95% CI [−0.09, .22], p-value = 0.41). What do these findings mean? We showed a substantial negative correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health after adjusting for seasonality, suggesting that the pandemic might induce long-term depression, especially in LMICs with poor mental health support facilities. We also provided evidence for seasonal changes in mental health depending on agricultural crop cycle. This seasonality should be considered when examining changes in mental health over time in order to prevent drawing inaccurate conclusions. The observed trends were consistent across countries and robust to alternative analyses, although the study was limited by the fact that not all samples were representative of the national population and the mental health indicators differed among samples
Seasonal food security and pre-trends.
No full textBackgroundThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated mitigation policies created a global economic and health crisis of unprecedented depth and scale, raising the estimated prevalence of depression by more than a quarter in high-income countries. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) suffered the negative effects on living standards the most severely. However, the consequences of the pandemic for mental health in LMICs have received less attention. Therefore, this study assesses the association between the COVID-19 crisis and mental health in 8 LMICs.Methods and findingsWe conducted a prospective cohort study to examine the correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in 10 populations from 8 LMICs in Asia, Africa, and South America. The analysis included 21,162 individuals (mean age 38.01 years, 64% female) who were interviewed at least once pre- as well as post-pandemic. The total number of survey waves ranged from 2 to 17 (mean 7.1). Our individual-level primary outcome measure was based on validated screening tools for depression and a weighted index of depression questions, dependent on the sample. Sample-specific estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between COVID-19 periods and mental health were estimated using linear regressions with individual fixed effects, controlling for independent time trends and seasonal variation in mental health where possible. In addition, a regression discontinuity design was used for the samples with multiple surveys conducted just before and after the onset of the pandemic. We aggregated sample-specific coefficients using a random-effects model, distinguishing between estimates for the short (0 to 4 months) and longer term (4+ months). The random-effects aggregation showed that depression symptoms are associated with a increase by 0.29 standard deviations (SDs) (95% CI [−.47, −.11], p-value = 0.002) in the 4 months following the onset of the pandemic. This change was equivalent to moving from the 50th to the 63rd percentile in our median sample. Although aggregate depression is correlated with a decline to 0.21 SD (95% CI [−0.07, −.34], p-value = 0.003) in the period thereafter, the average recovery of 0.07 SD (95% CI [−0.09, .22], p-value = 0.41) was not statistically significant. The observed trends were consistent across countries and robust to alternative specifications. Two limitations of our study are that not all samples are representative of the national population, and the mental health measures differ across samples.ConclusionsControlling for seasonality, we documented a large, significant, negative association of the pandemic on mental health, especially during the early months of lockdown. The magnitude is comparable (but opposite) to the effects of cash transfers and multifaceted antipoverty programs on mental health in LMICs. Absent policy interventions, the pandemic could be associated with a lasting legacy of depression, particularly in settings with limited mental health support services, such as in many LMICs. We also demonstrated that mental health fluctuates with agricultural crop cycles, deteriorating during “lean”, pre-harvest periods and recovering thereafter. Ignoring such seasonal variations in mental health may lead to unreliable inferences about the association between the pandemic and mental health.</div
Pre-post differences in depression index (Inverse-covariance weights).
No full textPre-post differences in depression index (Inverse-covariance weights).</p
