Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The urge to turn the teaching of English as a foreign language into an inclusive and diverse space has recently become greater. For a few decades now, it has been highlighted the need for learners to develop not only their communicative competence, but also the intercultural one. However, the gap between these abstract expectations and specific teaching practices shows how much renovation is still a necessity. Understanding interculturality in its broadest sense, the article aims to evidence the little importance masculinities have been given in gender-critical educational research into foreign language teaching. To do so, a theoretical presentation of such concepts is carried out, as they are key to identify the related discourses that can be found in the world of English language teaching. As a conclusion, it suggests the assumption of these analytical categories in order to complement intercultural approaches, thus favouring diversity in English-teaching contexts for speakers of other languages. Finally, a list of possible themes as specific variables of upcoming empirical analysis is also proposed.

This paper, within the field of historical pragmatics, presents a pragmatic-discursive study of the projection of female family social roles (wife, mother) in nineteenth and twentieth century theatre. For this purpose, from the theoretical framework of sociocultural pragmatics, the communicative behaviour of these roles has been analysed in relation to the needs of affiliation and autonomy of each of the roles in a selected corpus of plays. Specifically, the linguistic formulation, (a)polite modulation and social effects of the directive speech acts have been studied and the results of their socio-pragmatic interpretation have been correlated with those reflected in the socio-historical treatises of the time. The results indicate that, despite being established in a priori symmetrical relationships, female roles manifest a communicative behaviour in which a socio-functional inferiority role prevails (except for housework), oriented towards the reinforcement of affiliation with complementary family roles through self-denial and the expression of affectivity.

The dual structure identified in many Latin American cities is characterized by the dichotomy between the formal city and the informal settlement. It is conditioned by the mode of spatial occupation that can vary between the articulation of urban pieces in a planned territory, or the juxtaposition of spontaneous units, which generates a morphological antagonism between these two sectors. In the case of Quito, the analysis of these processes has been carried out so far mainly from a socio-spatial perspective, based on the segregation that manifests itself according to the informal condition of certain peripheral settlements. In this context, it is necessary to delve into the morphological dimension of the new urban landscapes, through a comparative study focused on the city as an integral unit, whose borders between the formal city and the emerging informal city have been transformed. From a morphological and urban perspective, the article focuses on the exploration and categorization of the relationship and contrasts between these two canonical forms of urban development, whose inverse processes and combined strategies from two opposing sectors have given rise to fragments of a ‘mixed’ city. In addition to exploring urban processes and their morphological characteristics, the text tries to analyze the role of planning in the origin and evolution of these fragments within the urban system.

There are many different approaches emerging from urban research which recognize the great potential of social media data for describing, diagnosing, predicting, and prescribing decision-making processes in the field of urban planning and urban regeneration. Numerous methods and sources have been widely explored to enrich our knowledge of cities. However, only few and/or scarcely disseminated urban agendas, planning instruments, projects and interventions have explicitly been based on the findings obtained from the analysis of geolocated social media data. In this sense, this research explores the possibility of integrating this layer of information into urban diagnoses to inform the formulation of urban planning documents and agendas in the Spanish context. A selection of planning instruments and their classification in the context of these two different kinds of intervening in the city are discussed, suggesting the possible inclusion of data from specific social media platforms in the specific areas of these regulations. This paper illustrates the practical application of these data as a main source for the development of diagnoses and intervention proposals by examining the experience of three specific case studies.

The Pascuales and Norte Zones represent the most recent advance of Guayaquil's urban footprint on the northern border of the homonymous canton. There coexist various residential forms that are making the city, at their own pace and with their own logics. This article aims to present a comparative analysis of residential fabrics based on the qualification of their morphology and the use of indicators related to compactness and functionality, one of the basic objectives of sustainable urbanism. The residential tissues were initially classified by their origin, type of promotion and permeability. The analysis, through a homogeneous comparison system and the use of quantitative parameters associated with compactness and functionality, makes it possible to visualize the neighborhood-scale behavior of this Ecuadorian city and establish a methodological scheme that can be integrated into diagnoses for planning purposes. The results point to important shortcomings in these fundamental contexts of local life, regardless of their origins and the actors involved in their production: deficit of public spaces, inadequate densities and insufficient mix of uses and urban functions.

Starting with an analysis of some of the limitations of today’s urban design practice, this article justifies and explores the application of agile methodologies and lean start-up thinking to the discipline. We develop the adequacy of this approach on the grounds of the complex and ecosystemic nature of cities. We also show a practical guide of basic tools to apply these methodologies to public projects: mediation, data-sharing systems, and the so-called civic or urban labs. Within the aforementioned framework, we propose a proto-methodology of agile and lean start-up urban design in 4 stages, which we illustrate with several examples or practical cases of design of public spaces and services. Although each example only partially addresses the use of the tools and the proto-methodology, overall they point to a promising path for further research towards an evolutionary methodology for urban design.

Some recent work by Martin Fleischmann and Dani Arribas-Bel offers a chance to talk with them about data analysis applied to the study of the form and behaviour of our cities. Their reflections, from an academic perspective, suggest some valuable ideas about the opportunities of working with data, about the use of artificial intelligence in the study of urban fabrics and about the sense of responsibility of their work.

To close this thematic exploration of the use of data and methodologies that help us to describe, discover, predict, or simulate our urban environment, we interviewed Laia Grau Balagueró. Her vision, as urban planning manager of the city of Barcelona and with a broad experience linked to public administration and freelance professional activity as an architect, allows us to recognise the challenges and opportunities that the discipline of urban planning has regarding the transfer of this knowledge to the public policies that will define the urban model of our cities.

Pablo Sendra, Richard SennettDiseñar el desorden: Experimentos y disrupciones en la ciudadMadrid: Alianza Editorial, 2021. 232 pp. Softcover. Language: Spanish. 18,50 €ISBN: 978-84-1362-315-3

Christopher AlexanderEl modo atemporal de construirLogroño: Pepitas de calabaza, 2019. 532 pp. Softcover. Language: Spanish. 29,80 €ISBN: 978-84-1362-315-3