This article explores the pedagogical potential of closely reading and writing hardboiled detective fiction in a Canadian secondary English Language Arts classroom. Grounded in narrative theory and co-taught with a local high-school teacher, the unit focused on the cynical narration and stylistic elements of authors like Raymond Chandler and…

Young people's engagement with urban public space has been facing a number of obstacles that reflect a lack of understanding of their needs, values and priorities. The emergence of digital devices and social media as integral elements of youth culture adds further urgency to the need to understand how young people themselves visually articulate…

Drawing on our experience teaching a 2-week field-based geography course on urban environmental issues, we reinforce the value of field-based experiential education (EE) especially as it faces growing threats. We show how such experience can enable students to understand the diversity of urban environmental challenges in situ; grasp cities as…

Presents results of a serologic survey for antibodies to Toxocara canis (the common roundworm of dogs) in a sample of 4,652 New York City children. Discusses findings of a case-control study conducted to identify host and environmental risk factors for T. canis infection and to investigate its consequences. (KH)

Examines public housing as a dynamic communication environment. Explores the role of communication in the construction of public perceptions and community identity as it functions in this highly stigma-laden locale. Examines the process of socially constructed meaning for insiders and outsiders within the context of this unique and problem-ridden…

Presents survey data indicating that residence in urban areas is not correlated with distrust of neighbors but is correlated with distrust of other people in the wider community. (Author/MK)

Sketches the problems of urban "street" children in Mexico City, the emergence of collective child care arrangements, and the failure of the state to provide for child welfare. Describes community-based approaches arising in the absence of government action. (SK)

Recent studies have produced conflicting findings about the impacts of local nonresidential land uses on perceived incivilities. This study advances work in this area by developing a land-use perspective theoretically grounded in Brantingham and Brantingham's geometry of crime model in environmental criminology. That focus directs attention to…

Offers a communicative, dialogic approach to studying urban historic districts. Focuses on several contemporary conflicts concerning the meaning of "community" in Ybor City, a national landmark historic district in Tampa, Florida, to reveal how people actively occupy, struggle over, and use such urban spaces. (SR)

A working coalition between environmentalists and the civil rights movement offers opportunities for cooperation in issues of pollution control, energy conservation, and sound economic development. (RE)

Public art has contributed a great deal to urban environments. Part of the credit for the acceptance of this art by the public must go to art education. However, problems with urban vandalism remain critical. (IS)

This paper explores how the people of Owen Sound, Ontario viewed the various regions of their city. Presents maps showing perceptions of positive and negative regions. Includes examples of citizens' characterizations of these regions, showing social attitudes and values. (JDH)

Describes the main findings of British urban social geographers. Concludes that though social geographers have adequately described residential areas using "objective data," they still have not conveyed much of what it is like for people to live in urban areas. Includes a 68-item bibliography. (JDH)

As communities expand into rural areas, wildlife habitats dwindle, human interactions with wildlife increase, and the need for sound urban wildlife management becomes more critical. Only through improved cooperation and coordination between urban planners and wildlife managers can successful urban wildlife management occur. (Author/MH)

The role of environmental education in helping to understand and solve urban problems is examined. Local issue-centered curriculum and issue-based curriculum are cited as two possible strategies. Examples of each are given. (DC)