Although much has been written about the challenges of big data, there has been little reflection on the historicity of such debates and what we can learn from it. With this in mind, the aim of this ...article is to situate the epistemological debates over big data in geography historically. We focus on the three most relevant topics in current discussions around big data that have significant historical resonance, namely its methodological challenges, its scientific value, and its positionality. We conclude by arguing that understanding the historical resonance of current big data debates is helpful to find new ways to question its epistemological consequences.
Macroporous and hierarchically macro/mesoporous materials (mostly monoliths and microspheres) have attracted much attention for a variety of applications, such as supporting or enabling materials in ...chromatography, energy storage and conversion, catalysis, biomedical devices, drug delivery systems, and environmental remediation. A well-succeeded method to obtain these tailored porous materials relies on the sol-gel technique, combined with phase separation by spinodal decomposition, and involves as well emulsification as a soft template, in the case of the synthesis of porous microspheres. Significant advancements have been witnessed, in terms of synthesis methodologies optimized either for the use of alkoxides or metal-salts and material design, including the grafting or immobilization of a specific species (or nanoparticles) to enable the most recent trends in technological applications, such as photocatalysis. In this context, the evolution, in terms of material composition and synthesis strategies, is discussed in a concerted fashion in this review, with the goal of inspiring new improvements and breakthroughs in the framework of porous materials.
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This article develops a framework to understand new industrial path development in peripheral regions based on notions of 'bricolage' and 'institutional relatedness'. While the first ...stresses the agency of (heterogeneous) actors' resourcefulness and strategic improvisation co-shaping new industrial paths, the latter highlights the transposition of related institutional settings within regions to amplify (or to limit) the search space for new industries. These arguments are used in conjunction to explain the development of an unlikely biotechnology path in the Portuguese Centro region, analysed since its emergence and over a period of more than 10 years.
This paper is a short reflection on the evolution of the meaning of the term cyberspace for geographers. We argue that the concept of cyberspace has become a rhizomatic one as spatial thinkers have ...unveiled its complex inner and outer networkings. While cyberspace was initially understood as a new open space ripe for exploration, its intricate connections with real space through the technological infrastructures that make cyberspace possible have led geographers to consider the multiple points of access and types of cyberspace. More recently, there has been renewed attention to the inner geographies of cyberspace and its cyberdivides have been exposed. We briefly retrace this evolution to argue that the way forward is to shift from an idea of cyberspace as a predefined space to a notion of cyberspatialities as ongoing spatial digital formations.
ABSTRACTIn the period after the 2008 financial crisis, the European Union and Brazil experienced, respectively, periods of regional divergence and convergence. The research developed in these two ...territories brings new evidence on the importance of non-territorial policies, that worked as indirect regional policy, for these trajectories. In the case of the EU, (direct) regional policy was not strong enough to counteract more non-territorial policies that acted in favour of divergence. In the case of Brazil, the absence of a relevant direct regional policy did not prevent convergence, since the government adopted a set of non-territorial sectoral policies that functioned as indirect regional policy. This is particularly relevant in the current European context, where prolonged social and economic stagnation or decline in many regions has been the source of discontent that is expressed electorally.
This article aims to provide a more detailed conception of the production of urban digital divides by VGI platforms in the context of the platform economy, through the articulation of the first ...(access and coverage), second (usage and skills) and third (outcomes) level of the digital divide. Our conceptual approach departs from a discussion of the geographical consequences of the different levels of the digital divide, focusing on their application to the study of VGI platforms, especially those working under the logic of the platform economy. We draw on a multi-level case study of the geographies of TripAdvisor and the geographies of restaurants or similar establishments in Lisbon, which comprised data analysis and interviews with restaurant owners, to argue that VGI platforms are producing urban digital divides that can only be fully detected through the triangulation of the different levels of the digital divide. They are not only producing different levels of territorial coverage in cities, but also different levels of usage intensity which have caused negative and positive outcomes for the firms associated. All these levels are spatially distributed, and such distribution is even more pronounced at a finer scale. We conclude that VGI platforms are producing a myriad of new forms of spatial divides that need more attention, given that the digital divide is present within the mechanisms designed by digital platforms. The vast and complex effects of such data engineering is best captured when all three levels of the digital divide are taken into account.
Multicomponent oxide microspheres with interconnected macroporosity (MICROSCAFS®) are new materials with great potential as support materials for photocatalysis, optimized for real life applications ...and for other uses that are still being explored. They are obtained from an adapted sol–gel process combined with phase separation phenomena that occur within the water droplets of an emulsion. We present here a methodology based on cryogenic scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) that allows, with minimal specimen preparation, the direct and in situ visualization of ‘wet’ alkoxide-derived microstructures, for the mechanistic study of the complex process of MICROSCAFS® generation. It is simultaneously combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to visualize phase separation phenomena and study the chemical elemental composition at specific regions of the sample and reaction times.
While the role of cities and regions is increasingly acknowledged for climate action and discussed in the literature on sustainability transitions, the specific condition of peripheral regions has ...received less attention. This article develops a bibliometric review to shed light and discuss how the (multi-dimensional) notion of periphery has been conceived and implicitly declinate in different literature streams studying low-carbon sustainability transitions at the sub-national level. While the studies explicitly addressing the issues of peripherality are still scarce, the article identifies four critical dimensions that contribute to frame structural bottlenecks and opportunities: socio-spatial unevenness, asset fragility, network positionality and agency and the multi-scalar embeddedness of transition policies. At the interface of urban and regional studies and sustainability transitions’ research, these dimensions open up new research challenges and trading zones ahead for peripheral regions on navigating troubled waters of sustainability transitions.
This paper provides an analytical framework capable of critically analysing the currently hegemonic phenomenon of smart cities in the contemporary metropolis, particularly concerning their ...assumptions and potential effects. Using a critical perspective through the scope of governmentality studies and autonomist literature, an analytical framework is presented that allows for the comprehension and critical analysis of the phenomenon in question. Both this theoretical review and the analytical framework will form the basis for a critical analysis of a case study in Dublin, Ireland, taken as an example of the diversity of phenomena and issues to be addressed in this paper. The case study concerns a project by See.Sense, a company located in Dublin, which involved the introduction of 500 bike lights with Internet of Things (IoT) and digital technology in its urban space, this being an example of urban experimentation within smart cities. The paper concludes by defending that the phenomenon in question constitutes not only a form of technological mediation and economic production but also a transformation of urban space and its subjects and population, implying a structuring of social practices and relationships.
This paper shows that, while the pandemic lockdown decelerated everyday life, it has also potentiated further acceleration of the platformisation of urban economic sectors. We show this through an ...empirical qualitative study of the restaurant sector in Lisbon, in which we found that: (i) the digitalisation of three management tasks during the COVID‐19 lockdown – namely marketing, customer relationship management, and delivery tasks – was the trigger for the acceleration of the platformisation of the restaurant sector in Lisbon and (ii) restaurant firms had different departure points in terms of the use of digital technologies – which are linked to their location within the city – and these led to different rhythms in the platformisation of restaurants. We conclude that, as the lockdown measures led to a deceleration of social and economic activities, they also promoted further acceleration of economic change, especially under the logic of the platform economy. Additionally, we show that firms unable to engage with digital platforms have been trying to mimic online dynamics through the implementation of non‐platformised digital processes, which leads us to consider that the effects of the process of platformisation extend beyond the platform itself.
This paper shows that, while the pandemic lockdown decelerated everyday life, it has also potentiated further acceleration of the platformisation of urban economic sectors. We show this through an empirical qualitative study of the restaurant sector in Lisbon.
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