Cities – parsian news

Dutch fightback to save teenagers from ‘narcoterrorism’ and drug gangs

Against a backdrop of surging cocaine imports and drug crime, the Netherlands has new plans to encourage young people to reject criminal careersReports of children as young as 10 or 12 being exploited by drug gangs have sparked Dutch authorities to inv…

Against a backdrop of surging cocaine imports and drug crime, the Netherlands has new plans to encourage young people to reject criminal careers

Reports of children as young as 10 or 12 being exploited by drug gangs have sparked Dutch authorities to investigate new techniques to “recruit them back” before they become hardened criminals.

Ahead of its recent elections, politicians had warned the Netherlands was in a battle against “narcoterrorism” with reports of a wave of cocaine imports from South America.

While the number of minors suspected of a crime in the Netherlands has dropped since 2015, police are seeing more violent crimes committed by younger people, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

In response, Gym owner Danny de Vries, a former “street kid” himself, is one of those involved in a Dutch attempt to try to rescue thousands of teenagers from pursuing a life of crime that is blamed on the record levels of drugs arriving in north-west Europe.

Dutch fightback to save teenagers from ‘narcoterrorism’ and drug gangs

Against a backdrop of surging cocaine imports and drug crime, the Netherlands has new plans to encourage young people to reject criminal careers

Reports of children as young as 10 or 12 being exploited by drug gangs have sparked Dutch authorities to investigate new techniques to “recruit them back” before they become hardened criminals.

How toxic air is affecting mental health in Rome

Study explores link between higher particle pollution and conditions such as anxiety disorders and depressionEach passing week there seems to be a strengthening in the evidence that air pollution harms our health. Now research in Rome has revealed the …

Study explores link between higher particle pollution and conditions such as anxiety disorders and depression

Each passing week there seems to be a strengthening in the evidence that air pollution harms our health. Now research in Rome has revealed the impact of air pollution on our mental health.

Dr Federica Nobile of the department of epidemiology of the Lazio regional health service explained what led to the research. “Recent studies have linked air pollution to the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and psychotic episodes. However, all these associations have been mainly investigated in small groups, making their results challenging to generalise.”

Love them or hate them, a UK government decision on e-scooters is well overdue | Oliver Wainwright

Despite local trials being cut short for safety concerns, regulation has been kicked down the roadLike magic mushroom spores and vials of human growth hormone, e-scooters occupy a mysterious grey area in UK law, being legal to buy but illegal to use – …

Despite local trials being cut short for safety concerns, regulation has been kicked down the road

Like magic mushroom spores and vials of human growth hormone, e-scooters occupy a mysterious grey area in UK law, being legal to buy but illegal to use – in public, at least. So, unless you have an exceptionally long driveway, a home filled with palatial corridors or a private airfield, the chances are that if you own an e-scooter you are a criminal.

Yet sales of these illicit micromobility devices are booming. An estimated 1m private e-scooters are now in use on the country’s roads, zipping along bike lanes, weaving in and out of traffic and sometimes terrorising pedestrians on the pavement.

Clutter-free images to calm the mind – in pictures

For nearly a decade, the photographer Marcus Cederberg has been on the lookout for interesting details in the buildings around him: geometric shapes, striking windows, vibrant colour palettes. ‘Sometimes, it frustrates my family and friends when I suddenly stop the car and run out to take a shot,’ he says. In the editing room, he singles out these details to create dreamlike, minimalist images depicting his native Sweden as well as his travels in places such as Dubai, Spain, the US and the Maldives. ‘Where many photographers hope to cram as much as they can into a frame, my approach is quite the opposite,’ he says.

See more of Cederberg’s work on Instagram

‘People feel scared’: how cars are king on Birmingham’s streets

Ingrained car culture is causing nuisance on city’s roads leaving pedestrians and traffic wardens fearing for their safetyIt was once proudly known as motor city, the UK’s home of postwar construction labeled “carchitecture” for embracing the booming a…

Ingrained car culture is causing nuisance on city’s roads leaving pedestrians and traffic wardens fearing for their safety

It was once proudly known as motor city, the UK’s home of postwar construction labeled “carchitecture” for embracing the booming automobile market that fuelled the city’s economy.

But now Birmingham is waging a battle against an ingrained car culture that is causing a nuisance on the streets and has left pedestrians fearing for their safety.

‘People feel scared’: how cars are king on Birmingham’s streets

Ingrained car culture is causing nuisance on city’s roads leaving pedestrians and traffic wardens fearing for their safety

It was once proudly known as motor city, the UK’s home of postwar construction labeled “carchitecture” for embracing the booming automobile market that fuelled the city’s economy.

But now Birmingham is waging a battle against an ingrained car culture that is causing a nuisance on the streets and has left pedestrians fearing for their safety.

Welcome to Culdesac, America’s groundbreaking ‘car-free neighborhood’

Will people be happier and healthier in a city without cars? A company building a community in the desert of Tempe, Arizona, is betting on itIf you were to imagine the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the modern US, it would be difficu…

Will people be happier and healthier in a city without cars? A company building a community in the desert of Tempe, Arizona, is betting on it

If you were to imagine the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the modern US, it would be difficult to conceive such a thing sprouting from the environs of Phoenix, Arizona – a sprawling, concrete incursion into a brutal desert environment that is sometimes derided as the least sustainable city in the country.

But it is here that such a neighborhood, called Culdesac, has taken root. On a 17-acre site that once contained a car body shop and some largely derelict buildings, an unusual experiment has emerged that invites Americans to live in a way that is rare outside of fleeting experiences of college, Disneyland or trips to Europe: a walkable, human-scale community devoid of cars.

Labour’s plan for ‘the builders not the blockers’ is a capitulation to developers | Simon Jenkins

Of course Britain needs renewable energy infrastructure and more houses. But Rachel Reeves has laid out a ruinous pathA Labour government would be “for the builders not the blockers”. So Rachel Reeves told the Labour conference today. It went down well…

Of course Britain needs renewable energy infrastructure and more houses. But Rachel Reeves has laid out a ruinous path

A Labour government would be “for the builders not the blockers”. So Rachel Reeves told the Labour conference today. It went down well. The shadow chancellor’s attack on the “blockers” was specific. Not only did she give not an inch to the blocking cause, she offered a reward of “something in return” to nimbys who agree to turn builder. In exchange for not objecting to a wind turbine or row of pylons down their village street, they would get hard cash in the form of cheaper energy. It must be the most bizarre planning bribe in history.

Nor is that all. Labour wants to release developers into green belts and revive the Tory policy of forcing new housing estates on local people through central targets. Labour is back to the anti-localist days of David Cameron, when worrying about rural Britain was for wimps. Back then, as Reeves and Keir Starmer are seen doing now, politicians often wore hard hats and hi-vis jackets and hugged concrete mixers on television.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

‘This is political expediency’: how the Tories turned on 15-minute cities

Party appears to have embraced conspiracy theory that the greener, healthier, more sustainable way of life is a ‘sinister’ attack on freedomImagine a city in which you could walk or cycle to almost anywhere you needed to go in the time it takes to drin…

Party appears to have embraced conspiracy theory that the greener, healthier, more sustainable way of life is a ‘sinister’ attack on freedom

Imagine a city in which you could walk or cycle to almost anywhere you needed to go in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee. Shops, medical facilities and artistic sites would be spread throughout neighbourhoods. Remote and home working would be embraced.

Children could easily and safely cycle to school, breathing cleaner air. With less need for commuting, quieter streets could even be turned over to parks. Known as the “15-minute city” after the time it takes to get around, it’s a model that promises a return to local living – and a greener, healthier, more sustainable way of life.