The growth of metropolitan areas is reshaping the urban landscape and governance around the world, producing new challenges but also opportunities for sustainable development and the management of territories. The 'metropolitan scale' is now internationally recognised as a key concept and perspective through which we should consider various socio-economic, spatial and political dimensions. However, our understanding of metropolitan dynamics is curtailed by a substantial lack of information at this scale. Global databases on metropolitan areas are very limited. To tackle the void, this paper employs simple definitions and heuristics to collect and present comparable data for 58 metropolises from five continents. There is a clear trade-off between the accuracy of the data and the comprehensiveness of datasets. We reflect on the experience to emphasise the obstacles that lie ahead of both scholars and policy-makers at all levels of government. A strong system of cities and metropolitan areas and the appropriate governance of these scales may provide the basis for a balanced socio-economic development -but first we will need to know more about these territories and communities.
Abstract. This study investigated the feasibility of the Infrared (IR) sensor-based walking aids for detecting the gait intention. To compensate for the defects of Force Sensing Resistors (FSRs) or force sensors, such as the velocity control problem on gait slopes, we used IR sensors to investigate knee joint anterior displacement in order to recognize the gait intention. We also measure leg muscle activities and foot pressure, in order to verify our investigation. We placed two IR sensors on the rollator center to sense left and right leg walking intentions. We took EMG signals of four leg muscles, and analyzed them. Foot pressure analysis parameters were the measured force and mean pressure. We conducted experiments on twenty young healthy adults. The results show that knee joint anterior displacement increases according to gait slope and velocity. We confirm similar results of knee joint anterior displacement through the IR sensors.
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