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Top stories
Note from Dale
Aldo van Eyck was a man who knew what makes children tick. The Dutch architect also knew that for any city – and the spaces it comprises – to stay truly alive, it is crucial to give children space in which to play and build and swing and be.
Van Eyck was appointed to Amsterdam’s Department of Public Works in 1946, as the city was emerging from the embers of war. Cultural historian Ben Highmore shows how van Eyck’s ideas went on to be built into the cityscape in quite marvellous ways.
His 700 playgrounds, though long forgotten and mostly destroyed, continue to arrest architecture and urbanism students alike for their visionary, human-centric focus.
A clinician scientist, meanwhile, details how a personalised mRNA vaccine may benefit those suffering from pancreatic cancer. And a marine biologist cautions drivers that their tyres could well be adding to the ocean’s microplastic woes.
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Dale Berning Sawa
Commissioning Editor, Cities + Society
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The playground on Zaanhof.
Amsterdam City Archives/010009008690
Ben Highmore, University of Sussex
One visionary modernist architect saw play spaces as crucial to the 20th-century city. But they have to be cared for in order to survive.
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Politics + Society
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Marcin Kaczmarski, University of Glasgow
China’s partnership with Russia has been unbalanced in recent years, as Beijing grew more powerful.
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Paul Whiteley, University of Essex
Ed Davey is haunted by his party’s experiences in government with the Conservatives – but there’s a key difference this time around.
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Arts + Culture
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Tomà Berlanda, University of Cape Town
The Venice Architecture Biennale has an African curator for the first time this year – and a shift in focus.
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Emily Zobel Marshall, Leeds Beckett University
Beatrix Potter’s silence concerning her sources means the Brer Rabbit folktales that helped create her stories are passed over without acknowledgement or celebration.
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Leighan M Renaud, University of Bristol; Berny Sèbe, University of Birmingham; Colin Herd, University of Glasgow; Gemma Ballard, University of Sheffield; Kaye Mitchell, University of Manchester; Sukla Chatterjee, University of Aberdeen
Reflecting on themes as diverse as motherhood, war, religion and memory, our experts were impressed by the 2023 shortlist.
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Business + Economy
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Lisa Jack, University of Portsmouth
Food supply chain discounts are causing issues for UK producers and processors.
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King Omeihe, University of the West of Scotland
Trust between colleagues and with managers can make it easier to work together.
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Environment
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Samantha Garrard, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Inflating your cars’ tyres properly isn’t just good for your bank account - it can minimise your environmental footprint too.
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Maria Olczak, Queen Mary University of London; Andris Piebalgs, European University Institute; Paul Balcombe, Queen Mary University of London
Major sources, like oil and gas ‘super-emitters’, are almost entirely neglected by regulations.
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Health
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Justin Stebbing, Anglia Ruskin University
This study further highlights the potential of mRNA vaccines in cancer treatment.
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Olivia Thomas, Karolinska Institutet
Recent research has shown there’s a link between multiple sclerosis and Epstein-Barr virus. A new study brings us closer to understanding the nature of this connection.
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Science + Technology
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Sophie Lund Rasmussen, University of Oxford; Troels Pank Arbøll, University of Copenhagen
Researchers examined whether kissing is an innate human activity or whether its origins are relatively recent.
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Steve Taylor, Leeds Beckett University
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by horror at terrorist attacks. But the first impulse of people during emergencies is often to help others.
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Clayton Magill, Heriot-Watt University
Signs of controlled fire use from Spain are at least 50,000 years older than previous evidence.
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Yn y Gymraeg
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Steven Wright, University of South Wales; Gwyneth Moore, University of South Wales
Mae dillad sydd ddim yn ffitio'n dda ac yn ‘hyll’ yn ffasiynol bellach, felly gwisgwch sut bynnag y dymunwch.
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