Tim Freytag

The use of advanced tracking technologies for the analysis of mobility in Alzheimer's disease and related cognitive diseases

BackgroundOne of the more common behavioral manifestations of dementia-related disorders is severe problems with out-of-home mobility. Various efforts have been attempted to attain a better understanding of mobility behavior, but most studies are based on institutionalized patients and the assessment usually relies on reports of caregivers and institutional staff, using observational approaches, activity monitoring, or behavioral checklists. The current manuscript describes the research protocol of a project that measures mobility in Alzheimers disease and related cognitive disorders in an innovative way, by taking advantage of advanced tracking technologies.Methods/designParticipants are 360 demented persons, mildly cognitively impaired persons, and unimpaired controls aged ≥ 65 in Israel and Germany. Data regarding space-time activities will be collected via a GPS tracking kit for a period of 4 weeks in 3 waves (one year apart) with the same participants (using a repeated measures design). Participants will be interviewed by use of a battery of instruments prior to and following GPS data collection. Further, a family member will complete a questionnaire both before and after data tracking.Statistical analyses will strive to explain differences in mobility based on a wide range of socio-structural, clinical, affect-related and environmental variables. We will also assess the impact of the use of advanced tracking technology on the quality of life of dementia patients and care givers, as well as its potential as a diagnostic tool. Systematic assessment of ethical issues involved in the use of tracking technology will be an integral component of the project.DiscussionThis project will be able to make a substantial contribution to basic as well as applied and clinical aspects in the area of mobility and cognitive impairment research. The innovative technologies applied in this study will allow for assessing a range of dimensions of out-of-home mobility, and provide better quality data.

Living the green city: Freiburg’s Solarsiedlung between narratives and practices of urban sustainable development.

The solar settlement (Solarsiedlung) in Freiburg, Germany, has been widely hailed as an eco-city or green city neighbourhood and a blueprint for sustainable urban development. However, as there is a noticeable lack of critical analysis of what constitutes Solarsiedlung as an “eco-city”, this paper studies narratives and practices of sustainable urban development. First, we look at Solarsiedlung as a best-practice model – a narrative that was produced and perpetuated by architects, urban planners, investors and academics celebrating this neighbourhood as a technologically leapfrogging, economically sound and socially integrated project. Second, we explore the everyday practices and lived experience of the residents in Solarsiedlung. Bringing together these two perspectives, we contribute to a more comprehensive understanding and critical reading of the interplay between the ecological, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development as seen from different viewpoints. Findings indicate that Solarsiedlung as a best-practice model is embedded in growth-oriented neoliberal strategies that are in conflict with the everyday practices and lived experience of the residents. Our findings put into question the widely assumed transferability of best-practice models in sustainable urban development.

The Use of Tracking Technologies for the Analysis of Outdoor Mobility in the Face of Dementia: First Steps into a Project and Some Illustrative Findings From Germany

As people age in place, cognitive impairment is a major threat to maintaining out-of-home mobility. The SenTra project measures outdoor mobility by taking advantage of tracking technology in an interdisciplinary project involving researchers from geography, social work, gerontology, psychology, and medicine disciplines. The project assesses mobility patterns of urban-dwelling demented and mildly cognitively impaired elders and cognitively intact persons over a period of 3 years in Israel and Germany. The main objectives are to learn more about out-of-home mobility by means of global positioning system/geographical information system technology, to analyze the relationships between cognitive functioning, mobility behavior, and well-being, to examine the ethical implications of the use of advanced tracking technologies in this population, and to assess the potential of tracking technologies in the diagnosis of various types of cognitive impairment. The article presents preliminary findings to illustrate the potential of interdisciplinary data analyses to be performed later in the project. Pilot data were drawn from a combined psychiatric, psycho-social, and tracking data assessment of a group of 19 men and women between 63 and 80 years of age (7 who were healthy, 6 who were mildly cognitive impaired, 6 who were demented) living in Germany. The findings revealed that healthy participants have better health and higher levels of well-being and smaller networks compared to elders who are cognitively impaired. Examples of daily outdoor trips indicate meaningful mobility patterns and the need to combine psycho-social and geographical data to understand the relationships between outdoor mobility, socio-structural dimensions, behavior patterns, and well-being. By achieving its aims, the project will be able to make a substantial contribution to basic, applied, and clinical knowledge gaps in the area of mobility and cognitive impairment research.

Boundary spanning in social and cultural geography

This article situates interactions between German- and English-language social and cultural geographies since the mid-twentieth century within their wider intellectual, political and socio-economic contexts. Based on case study examples, we outline main challenges of international knowledge transfer due to nationally and linguistically structured publication cultures, differing academic paradigms and varying promotion criteria. We argue that such transfer requires formal and informal platforms for academic debate, the commitment of boundary spanners and supportive peer groups. In German-language social and cultural geography, these three aspects induced a shift from a prevalent applied research tradition in the context of the modern welfare state towards a deeper engagement with Anglophone debates about critical and post-structuralist approaches that have helped to critique the rise of neoliberal governance since the 1990s. Anglophone and especially British social and cultural geography, firmly grounded in critical and post-structuralist thought since the 1980s, are increasingly pressurized through the neoliberal corporatization of the university to develop more applied features such as research impact and students’ employability.

Visitor mobility in the city and the effects of travel preparation

The rapid growth of urban tourism over the last decades has led to an increasing demand to develop sustainable strategies and measures that cope better with large numbers of visitors. A good knowledge of visitors’ spatial movement patterns is key to an efficient and successful destination management. Despite a considerable body of research focusing on visitors’ spatial behaviour and practices, the influence of visitors’ travel preparation has been widely neglected in tourism research on spatial behaviour and mobility practices. On the basis of a sample of 330 questionnaires and 162 GPS tracks, we explore mobility paths of same-day visitors in Freiburg, Germany. We show that well-prepared and not well-prepared visitors are two distinct types of tourists with specific mobility patterns. The former tend to carry out a wider range of activities, while the latter stroll through the inner city. Drawing upon the concept of motility, we discuss the implications for addressing information and recommendations to both types of visitors in order to channel their activities and mobility practices during their stay. Knowledge of these specific characteristics and mobility patterns allows tourism professionals to develop and offer target-oriented services which may help to avoid overcrowding effects by fostering a slight spatial deconcentration of visitor activities. In particular, online information services and signage can help to direct visitor activities of less-prepared visitors temporally and spatially.

Urban space distribution and sustainable transport.

ABSTRACT In many cities of the world, road space is increasingly contested. Growing vehicle numbers, traffic calming and the development of new infrastructure for more sustainable transport modes such as bicycles have all contributed to pressure on available space and conflicts over the allocation of space. This paper provides the first assessment of urban transport infrastructure space distribution, distinguishing motorized individual transport, public transport, cycling and walking. To calculate area allocation, an assessment methodology was developed using high-resolution digital satellite images in combination with a geographical information system to derive area measurements. This methodology was applied to four distinctly different city quarters in Freiburg, Germany. Results indicate that space is unevenly distributed, with motorized individual transport being the favoured transport mode. Findings also show that if trip number to space allocation ratios are calculated, one of the most sustainable transport modes, the bicycle, is the most disadvantaged. This suggests that area allocation deserves greater attention in the planning and implementation of more sustainable urban transport designs.

Visitor Activities and Inner-City Tourist Mobility: The Case of Heidelberg

This Chapter has a focus on Heidelberg, a university town that traditionally stands for one of the most popular urban tourism destinations in Germany. The city is marked by a particularly high tourism density that is reflected by a ratio of approximately seven annual bednights per inhabitant, which brings Heidelberg into a leading position among all German cities with a size of at least 100,000 inhabitants. This Chapter will take Heidelberg as a case study to identify current trends in European city tourism. A second aim consists in exploring several methods and techniques to obtain tourism information and comparative data that allows evaluate the general destination performance based on key tourism indicators, get a better understanding of visitor activities and assess inner-city visitor mobility in time and space.

Städtetourismus in europäischen Grossstädten

Abstract European city tourism has increased considerably over the past decade as cities market themselves competitively as attractive tourist destinations. This paper presents, for the first time, a detailed picture of the uneven geographies of European city tourism, covering a total of 473 cities within the borders of 27 EU states, and the EFTA states of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The first part of the paper develops a ranking of European tourist cities, based on documented overnight stays of visitors and on tourist accommodation capacities. The second part analyzes the changing dynamics of tourism growth in different regional and national contexts between 1995 and 2005. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the major driving forces of European city tourism and an evaluation of the potential for future growth.

Bottom-up touristification and urban transformations in Paris

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to explore and reflect on the interrelatedness of tourism growth and urban transformations in Paris. Being a top destination in European city tourism, the French capital provides an excellent opportunity to study the particular role of tourism in urban transformations. Based on substantial exploratory fieldwork that was carried out between 2013 and 2016, we argue that Paris is subject to on-going dynamics of touristification that are particularly intense at the margins of the existing tourist hot spots. First, we identify relevant tourist areas using GPS tracking technology and field observation techniques. Second, we discuss the role of Airbnb in the emerging touristification of widely gentrified residential neighborhoods. Third, we reflect on the urban mobility practices of cyclists and pedestrians which have the potential to foster touristification by interconnecting various tourist hotspots and accommodation locations. We suggest that the current urban transformations should primarily be seen as a bottom-up initiative that involves both tourists and residents in the city. Considering tourism growth and urban transformations as mutually constitutive processes, we conclude with a consideration of potential future developments in Paris.

Ethnic and Cultural Dimensions of Knowledge and Education: An Introduction

The introductory chapter provides theoretical backgrounds and the current state of research on ethnic and cultural dimensions of knowledge and education. The authors describe the dichotomy between so-called universal knowledge and local, place-based, situated, and indigenous knowledge. They then outline the interrelations between knowledge and culture. Given the close connection between culture, education, social status, and power, it is astounding that some representatives of new cultural geography more or less omitted terms such as knowledge, education, school, teacher, and educational system. The first five chapters of the book deal with the role of the educational system in multiethnic states, with the impact of ethnic identity on schooling, with the racialization of schooling, and with the reasons and consequences of ethnic disparities of educational achievement. The subsequent four chapters study the relevance of indigenous, native, traditional, and local knowledge compared to universal, scientific, or so-called objective knowledge. The final four chapters present case studies on the social and cultural function of indigenous knowledge in nonwestern societies and on the influence that culture may have on action.