ABSTRACT Drawing on the application of spatial analytical tools (based on floating catchment area (FCA) methods), this commentary highlights some of the challenges faced in promoting the use of geographical techniques to address aspects of government policy/delivery. There is an ever‐expanding academic literature concerned with the application of FCA techniques in a range of thematic areas, the majority of which inevitably conclude with claims for some degree of policy relevance. If geographers are to have a meaningful input, there is a need to demonstrate the impact of applying these types of spatial analytical techniques to address real‐world policy challenges. We draw on our experiences in using these tools in applied studies to firstly highlight an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to advocate for an alternative methodology as part of the construction of a domain of indicators in successive versions of an index of multiple deprivation in Wales. Meanwhile, researchers based within Ofsted, by drawing on the application of multi‐modal FCA approaches to measure localised access to childcare in England, have shown that it is possible to work in collaboration with academics and others to address important government policy initiatives using such techniques. We conclude by briefly summarising the lessons learnt from our experiences of applying these tools in policy contexts with varying degrees of impact.

ABSTRACT This study analyses how four public monuments in the centre of Cluj‐Napoca (the Matthias Corvinus Statuary Ensemble, Avram Iancu, Baba Novac and the Transylvanian School Statuary Ensemble) reflect Romanian‐Hungarian relations, urban governance practices and how collective memory is negotiated in post‐socialist public space. The research combines a qualitative survey of local and regional newspapers (1990–2025), field observation and GIS analysis, with a multi‐stage computational pipeline for event classification and sentiment analysis. The media corpus was coded in the CAMEO ontology and assessed by a multilingual natural language inference model (Zero‐Shot), complemented by an event intensity score (Goldstein) and two sentiment analysis branches: a Hugging Face (HF) and Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner (VADER) transformative model, contextually adapted and lexically extended for the language of heritage‐related news. The results show that the Zero‐Shot scores remain low and relatively uniform, indicating a predominantly descriptive media discourse. The Goldstein scores highlight tense episodes for the statues of Avram Iancu and Baba Novac and high volatility for Matthias Corvinus, while the HF and, to a lesser extent, VADER, indicate a clear intensification of the emotional tone after 2022, especially for the Transylvanian School and Matthias Corvinus. The differences between the monuments are less pronounced than the differences between the analytical tools, but all series converge towards a recent increase in discursive intensity. The qualitative analysis outlines three main registers of contestation: (i) the spatial performance of monuments in central squares as spaces of urban power; (ii) disputes over inscriptions and textual formulations and; (iii) public trust in the administrative management of heritage. The conclusions suggest a shift from a strictly custodial conservation logic to a communicative governance of urban memory, based on procedural transparency, public digital registers, multilingual inscriptions and the systematic use of computational tools in planning and evaluating heritage policies.

ABSTRACT Focused on urban experiments such as electric vehicle deployments and the development of requisite urban technologies and infrastructures, this contribution argues that such developments become sites where place‐based, relationally constructed futures can take shape. We outline a curatorial approach founded in relational geography to inform the construction and navigation of such futures. Drawing parallels with nineteenth‐century curatorial approaches centred on exhibits as instruments of power and seduction, a critical perspective on contemporary technology demonstrators foregrounds how urban experiments promote specific futures and implicitly pare down alternatives. A curatorial lens is applied to urban experiments to reveal the tensions and topologies of power as technology developers, communities and local authorities add new elements to urban constellations and in doing so (re)negotiate the meanings and futures associated with urban technologies such as low‐carbon vehicles.

ABSTRACT Large infrastructure projects are difficult for publics to challenge, scrutinise, or engage with. A well‐researched barrier to public engagement is the technical complexity of large projects, whether it be materially present, or discursively constructed by professional experts. However, the multiple temporalities of large infrastructure projects can also hinder public scrutiny and opposition. In this commentary, I explore the reversibility of large infrastructure projects, using the example of the London Euston station expansion. This large project was launched in 2017 with the aim of preparing the central London railway station for high‐speed services. It has since been repeatedly paused, redesigned, and cancelled. Drawing on the London Euston case and theorisations of reversibility as the political act of extending the duration of the present, I discuss how reversibility was evoked and ‘made real’, and the challenges its ambiguity has presented in terms of public engagement. I end with the possibilities presented by the notion of infrastructural regrets and other emotional engagements with infrastructure in constructing just and inclusive urban futures.

ABSTRACT Mountains are increasingly drawn into the circuits of global art, branding and tourism, yet their fragile ecologies and cultural meanings raise pressing ethical questions. This commentary engages with debates at the intersection of mountain geographies, environmental ethics and posthumanist thought. It speaks to scholars of geography, tourism and conservation who are concerned with how fragile ecosystems are represented and mobilised in contemporary cultural and commercial practices. The key issue addressed is the tendency to treat mountain landscapes and other environments as empty canvases for personal representation, art spectacle and branding—a framing that risks erasing ecological fragility, cultural meaning and local voices. The paper uses the 2025 Rising Dragon fireworks performance in Gyangze County, staged by Arc'teryx and Cai Guo‐Qiang, as a case study through which to explore these tensions. Promoted as a tribute to ‘mountain culture’, the event provoked controversy for reducing the Tibetan Plateau to a backdrop for art and corporate promotion while exposing its fragile ecology to potential harm. We argue that posthumanist geographies and holistic approaches to nature ethics provide valuable frameworks for understanding human–non‐human relations. They foreground the agency of mountains, atmospheres, soils and wildlife in co‐producing cultural performances, while also revealing the politics of representation that exclude community voices and local traditions. The commentary concludes by calling for ethical, inclusive and posthuman approaches to represent and engage with mountains and other environments.

ABSTRACT Urban parks in rapidly growing cities serve multiple functions. However, the interplay between natural aesthetics, recreation and commercialisation remains underexplored, especially in the Global South. This study analysed 3179 user‐generated Google Reviews images from 17 public parks in Cairo. We applied topic modelling, K‐means clustering and associative word analysis to examine visitor perceptions. Three main themes emerged: Family & Recreation, Natural Scenery & Greenery, and Crowds & Urban Activity. The analysis revealed both distinctive park identities and common commercial features, such as restaurants and ticketed facilities. Clustering highlighted a spectrum of park experiences, from natural, low‐commercial spaces to highly commercialised, family‐focused destinations. Findings show that commercialisation not only enhances attractiveness and recreational opportunities but also affects accessibility and place identity. This research provides a framework for understanding visitor perceptions and supports sustainable and inclusive park management in urban contexts of the Global South.

ABSTRACT Rising pet ownership in advanced economies such as the United Kingdom has coincided with growing demand for pet‐friendly environments, reflecting the deepening significance of human and companion animal relationships. Universities have increasingly acknowledged the therapeutic potential of domesticated animals for student well‐being, yet institutional recognition of pet‐friendly policies remains limited and often anthropocentric. This paper explores attitudes towards the potential introduction of pet‐friendly policies in a UK campus university, comparing the views of both staff and students. Our analytical framework draws on two key strands of scholarship: animal geographies, which decentre human agency by foregrounding the co‐constitutive nature of human–animal relations, and political animal studies, which recognises companion animals as co‐citizens entitled to participation and care. From this foundation, we investigate how university community members experience and interpret interactions with pets on campus, how they articulate support or opposition to policy changes and what narratives emerge that may shape institutional decision‐making. Using data from an online survey of staff and students ( n = 424), we find widespread support for creating a more pet‐inclusive campus. However, this support is largely justified through a human‐centric rationale, with emphasis placed on the emotional benefits for people. Little recognition is given to the agency of companion animals or their capacity to shape and co‐produce university spaces. We argue that any meaningful shift towards pet‐friendly campus policies must move beyond utilitarian perspectives and instead engage with more‐than‐human frameworks that recognise companion animals as active participants in university life. Such an approach invites a broader ethical and spatial rethinking of institutional environments in ways that challenge anthropocentric assumptions and align with emerging geographies of human–animal interactions.

ABSTRACT Artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) has gained prominence in the development discourse mainly due to its contribution to national economies; but also, the occupational and environmental challenges associated with the sector. This paper concentrates on the use of mercury at ASM sites, as one of the major concerns associated with a growing sector in Ghana. The paper reveals that youth miners have limited knowledge of the grave health effects of mercury because such knowledge is based on what is transmitted by their older counterparts. Some miners have devised crude ways of protecting themselves against the effects of mercury. The paper proposes that an improved education on the effects of mercury on the health of youth miners could be an essential component of formalising the sector, which will also prove to be a key strategy to achieving the goal of reducing and eliminating mercury from ASM.