Stunting is a global burden affecting nearly 160 million children younger than five years of age. Whilst the linkages between nutrition and stunting are well recognized, there is a need to explore environmental factors such as water and sanitation, which may influence feeding practices and result in potential infection pathways. This paper explores the linkages between stunting and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) factors in Ethiopia, which is a relatively understudied context. The research draws upon baseline data for children under the age of five from 3200 households across four regions in Ethiopia as part of a wider study and integrated program led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Using World Health Organization (WHO) z-scoring, the average stunting rate in the sample is 47.5%. This paper also takes into account demographic and social behavioural factors such as the age, gender of children, and gender of the primary caregiver, in addition to handwashing behaviour and drinking water facilities. The evidence recommends efforts to improve handwashing behaviour for mothers and children with a focus on access to clean water. Higher stunting rates with an increase in the age of children highlight the need for continued interventions, as efforts to improve nutrition and WASH behaviours are most effective early on in promoting long-term health outcomes for children.

A recently empirically isolated latent variable in transport choice is symbolism, which examines what people believe their transport choices say to others about them and how they are judged in a social context. Whilst it is well established that symbolism differs vertically across different socioeconomic groups within a country, very little work has been done on how symbolism in transport may differ between similar individuals across nations as a function of national cultural values, and how this may manifest itself in transport choices. If significant differences were to be found then this could have impacts for transport policy formulation and transfer. This paper explores and discusses these issues and concludes that the initial goal of any research into symbolic transport choices across cultures is theoretical fertility, and this is best achieved by adopting the research philosophy of Imre Lakatos, using theory-driven thematic analysis to develop theoretical models for testing. Keywords: latent choice motivation, transport symbolism, national culture, Lakatosian research programmes, mixed methods research, thematic analysis many months first brought the possibility of symbolic transport choices differing across national culture to light. Secondly Dr Alvin Lee at Deakin University for introducing the principal author to the cultural models quoted in this paper. Thirdly Professor David Hensher, Professor Kay Axhausen, and Dr Luis Willumsen, for their insights into latent variables and social segmentation. Finally it would be remiss not to thank the staff of the Centre for Transport studies for their support and feedback during the earlier phases of this work. However, views expressed in this paper belong only to the authors. Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Funding bodies There are no funding bodies for this research.

Abstract:Recently, much of the literature on sharing in cities has focused on the sharing economy, in which people use online platforms to share underutilized assets in the marketplace. This view of sharing is too narrow for cities, as it neglects the myriad of ways, reasons, and scales in which citizens share in urban environments. Research presented here by the Liveable Cities team in the form of participant workshops in Lancaster and Birmingham, UK, suggests that a broader approach to Sustainability 2017, 9, 701; doi:10.3390/su9050701 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2017, 9, 701 2 of 16 understanding sharing in cities is essential. The research also highlighted tools and methods that may be used to help to identify sharing in communities. The paper ends with advice to city stakeholders, such as policymakers, urban planners, and urban designers, who are considering how to enhance sustainability in cities through sharing.

This data article presents the UK City LIFE1 data set for the city of Birmingham, UK. UK City LIFE1 is a new, comprehensive and holistic method for measuring the livable sustainability performance of UK cities. The Birmingham data set comprises 346 indicators structured simultaneously (1) within a four-tier, outcome-based framework in order to aid in their interpretation (e.g., promote healthy living and healthy long lives, minimize energy use, uncouple economic vitality from CO2 emissions) and (2) thematically in order to complement government and disciplinary siloes (e.g., health, energy, economy, climate change). Birmingham data for the indicators are presented within an Excel spreadsheet with their type, units, geographic area, year, source, link to secondary data files, data collection method, data availability and any relevant calculations and notes. This paper provides a detailed description of UK city LIFE1 in order to enable comparable data sets to be produced for other UK cities. The Birmingham data set is made publically available at http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/3040/ to facilitate this and to enable further analyses. The UK City LIFE1 Birmingham data set has been used to understand what is known and what is not known about the livable sustainability performance of the city and to inform how Birmingham City Council can take action now to improve its understanding and its performance into the future (see “Improving city-scale measures of livable sustainability: A study of urban measurement and assessment through application to the city of Birmingham, UK” Leach et al. [2]).