Urban Change in Moscow

Stephanie Denning writes about the rapid gentrification of Russian cities and towns, specifically Ostozhenka, Central Moscow. She gives a clear explanation to the dramatic switch Russia faced from communism to capitalism, due to it's independence in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR.
Gentrification is defined as "a shift in an urban community toward wealthier residents or businesses and increasing property values".Ostozhenka is a brilliant example of gentrification, where the former underdeveloped area, to one of the most expensive areas to live in the world, at the cheapest one-bedroom apartment being around US$6 million in value. This gentrification all started from Russian independence, and the political and economical idea to establish the 'new' Moscow as a 'global city', like London and New York, meaning that many areas were majorly regenerated, where many of these apartments and homes obtained double-glazing windows and many other modern luxuries.
This new capitalist Russia also gave the chance for some residents of these apartments in Ostozhenka to keep their homes after the fall of communism there. This benefited many residents, as those who could stay, gained an improved standard of living. However, this was not completely 'happy families', as many of the original residents were forced to move to a different area of Moscow, usually to an area of "lower social status" , with very little or no compensation, with many of these resettled residents finding themselves in an unstable building with poor quality foundations.
From this example alone, the process of gentrification seems to bring many improvements for land use; but, on the other hand, does have a few potential side-effects.

Philip Barnes


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Making Cooking Sustainable

Simon Collins tells us about how a third of the world's population cook their food by burning biomass. He writes about why this is such a bad thing, due to its health and environmental affects, and the solutions.
Firstly, cooking with these fires affects human health, especially when it is wet or cold, where these people from poorer areas, such as sub-Saharan Africa, cook inside, where there is usually no chimney. This is due to the 'particulates' released from the smoke which may enter the lungs, causing lung cancer, chronic emphysema, and other lung related problems. Also, if the toxic carbon monoxide gas builds up, this could cause brain damage, through atherosclerosis (which is effectively blood clotting), especially to vulnerable young children.
The environmental effects are mostly global warming-based. This is due to the carbon dioxide released from burning wood or charcoal, and deforestation from the chopping down of forests for the firewood. Also; however, this deforestation removes carbon sink, which leads to flooding and mudslides.
Luckily, there's good news! There are current solutions in place to reduce the number of people cooking using biomass. For example, efficient cookstoves are being sold at low cost to many of these people, with millions sold already. These stoves are better in almost every way than the traditional open fires, as they emit less fumes, reduce deforestation and also save millions of people multiple ours a week searching for firewood.
To me, this just proves that small, simple products, like these cookstoves, can be very useful in increasing the quality of life for many, by reducing health risks and the effects of global warming, giving an optimistic future for us all.


Philip Barnes


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Making Cooking more Sustainable

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This message has been sent through the Bedford School email Server, and is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender, or administrator@bedfordschool.org.uk, and delete the email. The views expressed are the views of the sender, and not necessarily the views of the School. The information in this message may be confidential and should not be read, copied, or otherwise distributed unless permission is given. Bedford School is part of The Harpur Trust: a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: Company No. 3475202. Registered Office: Pilgrim Centre, Brickhill Drive, Bedford, MK41 7PZ. Registered Charity No. 1066861