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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > General
This third book from editors Rick Best and Jim Meikle brings together and presents insights into a number of key concepts in the study of construction firms, projects and the group of activities that loosely define the construction industry. The value for readers comes from the collection of a variety of topics in a single volume, which provide a basic understanding of the complexities of construction as more than a set of practical concerns such as labour management and materials handling. Instead, the focus is on analysis of the industry and its component parts from the viewpoints of construction economists and others seeking to understand the drivers and challenges that shape an area of economic activity that is a major contributor in all economies. The aim of this book is to provide an overview and discussion of several aspects of what makes construction tick. It is unlike other industry sectors in many ways, being project-based with often intense competition for work. Where the first book, Measuring Construction, focused on particular areas associated with quantifying various aspects of construction activity and the second, Accounting for Construction, looked more at how we record and report on construction activity, Describing Construction gives readers the views of experts in the field of how the construction industry is described, what its make-up is, it even asks the question: is construction a single industry? This book will change the way most readers understand the 'construction industry', whatever that may be, not from the point of view of visible on-site activities, but through a scientific approach to analysis and understanding of how projects, firms and various sectors of the industry work and how things are changing and may continue to change in future. It is essential reading for students and researchers in construction management, quantity surveying, architecture and engineering.
An ideal reference book for students (undergraduates and postgraduates) studying Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying, or Architecture, etc. Of use to the Construction-related legal profession, Property Managers and Letting Agents. Builders (and homeowners, interested in identifying faults in their property), should also benefit from this book. Covers a wide range of new and old building terms, techniques, technologies, and materials, but much more extensively than the average dictionary. The alphabetical format makes it easy to check up on terms and subject-areas quickly -- and the detailed coverage (including helpful drawings/illustrated figures) provides clear guidance to the reader.
Black Families and the Recession in the United States goes beyond the massive loss of property among African Americans during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. It connects the housing experience to broader systems of inequality in America. Following the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the US elections of 2008, the impact of COVID-19, and widespread demonstrations resulting from the murder of George Floyd by police, the sociopolitical and economic status of Blacks in the United States is at a critical point in history, with demand for major transformation. The authors reveal a history of racist practices against Blacks in many systems, including education, policing, incarceration, wealth transmission, voting restrictions, and housing segregation. The social costs of the recession are manifested in the daily lives of African American families. In addition to financial losses, African Americans are more likely to be plagued with issues related to poverty, chronic illnesses, and lack of trust of social and economic institutions. Research, policy, and practical implications of this research include identifying social and economic supports unique to African Americans and determining strategies to strengthen families; paramount to addressing racial disparities. The interdisciplinary focus of this book appeals to a wide audience and areas of study.
The Earth has entered a new age-the Anthropocene-in which humans are the most powerful influence on global ecology. Since the mid-twentieth century, the accelerating pace of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and population growth has thrust the planet into a massive uncontrolled experiment. The Great Acceleration explains its causes and consequences, highlighting the role of energy systems, as well as trends in climate change, urbanization, and environmentalism. More than any other factor, human dependence on fossil fuels inaugurated the Anthropocene. Before 1700, people used little in the way of fossil fuels, but over the next two hundred years coal became the most important energy source. When oil entered the picture, coal and oil soon accounted for seventy-five percent of human energy use. This allowed far more economic activity and produced a higher standard of living than people had ever known-but it created far more ecological disruption. We are now living in the Anthropocene. The period from 1945 to the present represents the most anomalous period in the history of humanity's relationship with the biosphere. Three-quarters of the carbon dioxide humans have contributed to the atmosphere has accumulated since World War II ended, and the number of people on Earth has nearly tripled. So far, humans have dramatically altered the planet's biogeochemical systems without consciously managing them. If we try to control these systems through geoengineering, we will inaugurate another stage of the Anthropocene. Where it might lead, no one can say for sure.
Environmental Chemistry in the Lab presents a comprehensive approach to modern environmental chemistry laboratory instruction, together with a complete experimental experience. The laboratory experiments have an introduction for the students to read, a pre-lab for them to complete before coming to the lab, a data sheet to complete during the lab, and a post-lab which would give them an opportunity to reinforce their understanding of the experiment completed. Instructor resources include a list of all equipment and supplies needed for 24 students, a lab preparation guide, an answer key to all pre-lab and post-lab questions, sample data for remote learners, and a suggested rubric for grading the labs. Additional features include: * Tested laboratory exercises with instructor resources for environmental science students * Environmental calculations, industrial regulation, and environmental stewardship * Classroom and remote exercises * An excellent, user-friendly, and thought-provoking presentation which will appeal to students with little or no science background * A qualitative approach to the chemistry behind many of our environmental issues today
Temporary and Tactical Urbanism examines a key set of urban design strategies that have emerged in the twenty-first century. Such projects range from guerrilla gardens and bike lanes to more formalised temporary beaches and swimming pools, parklets, pop-up plazas and buildings and container towns. These practices enable diverse forms of economic, social and artistic life that are usually repressed by the fixities of urban form and its management. This book takes a thematic approach to explore what the scope of this practice is, and understand why it has risen to prominence, how it works, who is involved, and what its implications are for the future of city design and planning. It critically examines the material, social, economic and political complexities that surround and enable these small, ephemeral urban interventions. It identifies their short-term and long-term implications for urban intensity, diversity, creativity and adaptability. The book's insights into temporary and tactical urbanism have particular relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted both the need and the possibility of quickly transforming urban spaces worldwide. They also reveal significant lessons for the long-term planning and design of buildings, landscapes and cities.
Introduction to the concept of territory as it applies to law. Accessible to students. Of interest to those working in the areas of sociolegal studies, geography, urban studies and politics.
This book tracks the development of Marcel Breuer's aesthetic clash between uniformity and singularity through the detailed examination of his seminal buildings. Each chapter examines a specific building and puts into context Breuer's other work and the contemporary movements/architects of the post-war era such as Surrealism, Brutalism and structural expressionism. The buildings examined include the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, of 1958; the IBM Research Center in Le Gaude, France, of 1962; the Annunciation Priory in Bismark, North Dakota, of 1963; and the Atlanta Central Library of 1980. Marcel Breuer's approach to design was inspired by the Spanish phrase, sol y sombra (sun and shadow). Sun and shadow meant for Breuer that a juxtaposition of contrasts was necessary; light glass walls and heavy concrete, masses lifted over voids, and serial precast construction resting on sculptural columns became hallmarks of Breuer's buildings. By creating an architecture of juxtaposition, Breuer's work can be interpreted as a surrealist recontre, as fueling a new architectural condition. A critical evaluation of Marcel Breuer's work, this book is written for graduate students, researchers, and academics interested in his work and how it shaped the architecture of the post-war era.
New edition of UK's market leading Real Estate Investment textbook, reorganised with renewed focus on hot topic of PropTech and innovations in the global market, including Brexit, Covid-19, and Crypto Currencies Every chapter begins with and is built around a real-world case study from: Japan, UK, US, Kuwait Packed with professional and technical approaches to building a global real estate portfolio from internationally renowned Professor of Practice at Said Business School, University of Oxford
This book explores the complex relationship between societies, architecture, and urbanism of market halls, traditional souqs, bazaars, and speciality street markets in the Middle East and North Africa. It addresses how these trading environments influence perceptions of place and play an extended social, political, and religious role while adapting to their local climates. Through Archival research and social science methodologies, this book records and maps markets in urban fabrics, expanding on practices underlying the push towards historical listings and the development of markets as landmarks in the urban fabric. The role of markets in delivering sustainable place-making strategies and influencing the development of cities' socio-economic and historical strength is addressed as key to their survival in the urban fabric and as place-making landmarks for preserving tangible and intangible heritage. Going beyond heritage and conservation studies, this book discusses how positioning and restoring markets challenges urban renewal policies, access to public space planning, environmental sustainability, security of food supply, cultural heritage, and tourism. This is an ideal read for those interested in the history of urban development, architecture and urban planning, and architectural heritage.
- Bridges history, theory, design, construction, technology, and sensory experience by means of digital simulations that enhance the assessment and values of our material choices - Uses the work of Aalto and selected contemporary architects, along with computer modeling software, to showcase the importance of comprehensive design - Offers an expanded reading of Aalto's approach towards building technology and how these impacted choices in choosing material and form for culture and environment - Includes 80 black and white illustrations
* Centers the experiences of designers at every stage of their careers and development. * Defines and explains the idea of professional identity for designers across contexts. * Concludes segments with specific takeaways, reflection activities, and quotes from real-world designers.
This book examines the cinematic representation of New York from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s It places the dominant discourse of urban decline in dialogue with marginal perspectives that reimagine the city along alternative paths as a resilient, adaptive, and endlessly inspiring place The book draws on mainstream, independent, documentary, and experimental films It offers a multifaceted account of the power of film to imagine the city's decline and reimagine its potential The book analyzes how filmmakers mobilized derelict space and various articulations of "nature" as settings and signifiers that decenter traditional understandings of the city to represent New York alternately as a wasteland, a wilderness, a playground, a home, an art space, and an ecosystem This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of film studies, media studies, urban cinema, eco-cinema, and architectural theory
Community Real Estate Development: A History and How-To for Practitioners, Academics, and Students introduces the fundamentals of affordable housing to aspiring development professionals. From understanding the history informing today's affordable housing programs to securing financing and partnering with public and private stakeholders, this primer equips students and emerging professionals for success in a unique area of the real estate industry. Topical chapters written by nationally recognized leaders in community real estate development (CRED) take a didactic approach, using real-life examples and case studies to provide context for reflection. Drawing on the authors' experience as private sector developers, state and municipal housing officials, and not-for-profit executives, this versatile resource offers an insider's perspective on creating and maintaining affordable housing in any real estate market. Features: Covers topics including community design, development policy, tax credits, land use planning, development rights, historic buildings, adaptive reuse, tax increment financing, and gentrification Presents interviews with development professionals in asset and property management, commercial real estate brokerage, and local housing authorities and government agencies Highlights winning case studies from a student competition to inspire similar classroom activities Includes a glossary of CRED-specific terminology to help readers master the language of affordable housing Contains diverse examples, planning tools, and "programs to make numbers work," with a companion website available Blending the latest academic research with hard-won insights from the field, Community Real Estate Development prepares the next generation of affordable housing professionals to continue the work of its pioneering authors and editors.
Community Real Estate Development: A History and How-To for Practitioners, Academics, and Students introduces the fundamentals of affordable housing to aspiring development professionals. From understanding the history informing today's affordable housing programs to securing financing and partnering with public and private stakeholders, this primer equips students and emerging professionals for success in a unique area of the real estate industry. Topical chapters written by nationally recognized leaders in community real estate development (CRED) take a didactic approach, using real-life examples and case studies to provide context for reflection. Drawing on the authors' experience as private sector developers, state and municipal housing officials, and not-for-profit executives, this versatile resource offers an insider's perspective on creating and maintaining affordable housing in any real estate market. Features: Covers topics including community design, development policy, tax credits, land use planning, development rights, historic buildings, adaptive reuse, tax increment financing, and gentrification Presents interviews with development professionals in asset and property management, commercial real estate brokerage, and local housing authorities and government agencies Highlights winning case studies from a student competition to inspire similar classroom activities Includes a glossary of CRED-specific terminology to help readers master the language of affordable housing Contains diverse examples, planning tools, and "programs to make numbers work," with a companion website available Blending the latest academic research with hard-won insights from the field, Community Real Estate Development prepares the next generation of affordable housing professionals to continue the work of its pioneering authors and editors.
- Provides overview and exploration of ecological design thinking and ethical practices within the built environment - Incorporates some of the best practices and research as conducted and adopted by the professionals toward creating most healthful and least harmful built environments - Includes 79 diverse contributions from expert practitioners, educators, scientists and researchers from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia - Resource for designers and researchers seeking futuristic design ideas derived out of ecological topics
Focusing on the intersection of spatial justice, child rights, and planning policy, this book investigates the challenges of resettlement in East Africa, where half of those displaced are children. The challenges created by displacement and resettlement are often considered from an adult-centric perspective by planners and humanitarian and development experts. The spatial injustice of displacement and resettlement, the agency of children, and the application of tools such as Child Participatory Vulnerability Index (CPVI) is siloed, commonly overlooked, or discounted. This book uses a CPVI and rights-based assessment of land-use policies, to investigate resettlement due to conflict and settlement in northern Uganda, floods due to climate change in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and urban to rural migration of children due to the aids pandemic in Western Kenya. Case studies from over a decade of field research are integrated with examples from applied planning projects and policy development in the East Africa region. This book uses spatial justice theory to show how child-friendly planning approaches can positively promote child rights in the context of resettlement. Providing important insights on how to enact child-friendly planning in informal settlements, refugee camps, and displacement camps, this book will be of interest to planning and development professionals, and researchers across the fields of children's rights, Development Studies, Planning, and African Studies.
The need for a skilled, motivated and effective workforce is fundamental to the creation of the built environment across the world. Known in so many places for a tendency to informal and casual working practices, for the sometimes abusive use of migrant labor, for gendered male employment and for a neglect of the essentials of health and safety, the industry, its managers and its workforce face multiple challenges. This book brings an international lens to address those challenges, looking particularly at the diverse ways in which answers have been found to manage safe and productive employment practices and effective employment relations within the framework of client demands for timely and cost-effective project completions. Whilst context, history and contractual frameworks may all militate against a careful attention to human resource issues this makes them even more deserving of attention. Work and Labor Relations in Construction aims to share understanding of best practice in the industries associated with construction and related activities, recognizing that effective work organization and good standards of employee relations will vary from one location to another. It acknowledges the real difficulties encountered by workers in parts of the developing world and the quest for improvement and awareness of some of the worst hazards and current practices. This book is both critical and analytical in approach and seeks to alert readers to the need for change. Aimed at addressing practical issues within the construction industry from a theoretical and empirical standpoint, it will be of value to those interested in the built environment, employment relations and human resource management.
This book examines condominium, property, governance, and law in international and conceptual perspective and reveals this urban realm as complex and mutating. Condominiums are proliferating the world over and transforming the socio-spatial organization of cities and residential life. The collection assembles arguably the most prominent scholars in the world currently working in this broad area and situated in multiple disciplines, including legal and socio-legal studies, political science, public administration, and sociology. Their analyses span condominium governance and law on five continents and in nine countries: the United States (US), China, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, South Africa, Israel, Denmark, and Spain. Neglected issues and emerging trends related to condominium governance and law in cities from Tel Aviv to Chicago to Melbourne are discerned and analysed. The book pursues fresh empirical inquiries and cogent conceptual engagements regarding how condominiums are governed through law and other means. It includes accounts of a wide range of governance difficulties including chronic anti-social owner behaviour, short-term rentals, and even the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they are being dealt with. By uncovering crucial cross-national commonalities, the book reveals the global urban context of condominium governance and law as empirically rich and conceptually fruitful. The book will appeal to researchers and students in socio-legal studies, law, sociology, political science, urban studies, and public administration as well as journalists, social activists, policymakers, and condo owners/board members.
This book addresses the legal-geographical implications of the fact that landscapes are not static, but dynamic. Within the field of legal geography, the spatial relationship of law to landscape is usually considered to be static. Environments are often considered fixed, and consequently inert, as places that literally don't go anywhere. Typically, then, it is what happens in these places, rather than the place itself, that commands academic attention. In contrast to this static viewpoint, Law and the Kinetic Environment considers how many landscapes are in flux and, as a result, may be seen as dynamic. Natural phenomena, such as oozing lava, moving glaciers, or bubbling geothermal pools, challenge and test the normative conceptualizations of stability of place, property ownership, and legal regulation. Consequently, such dynamic landscapes enliven and transform law, offering new jurisprudential insights into what law is and how it operates in response to the kineticism that, this book argues is, to some degree, inherent in all landscapes. This original engagement with legal geography will appeal to those with general interests in this area, as well as specific concerns with questions of law and place, property and the environment.
This monograph presents a novel typology of relational and territorial perspectives on legitimacy and identity. This typology is then applied to two different political and historical contexts, namely the trajectories of the metropolitan region Amsterdam in the Netherlands and the metropolitan region Ruhr in Germany. The historical discussion spans 500 years, providing valuable depth to the study. Taken as a whole, the book provides a new perspective within the territorial-relational dichotomy and the geographies of discontent debate. Its key insights are that identity and political legitimacy are embedded in history and that both relational and territorial perspectives on these issues are time and place dependent. This book will be stimulating reading for advanced students, researchers, and policymakers working in political geography, human geography, regional studies, and broader social and political sciences.
The past few decades have seen universities take on a leading role in urban development, actively providing public services beyond teaching and research. The relationship between the university and the city has great influence on the space of university, which is vividly reflected in the process of university spatial development. This process has been particularly evident in China as Chinese universities and cities have been undergoing dramatic transformations since reform in the late 1970s. University Spatial Development and Urban Transformation in China explores the changing relationship between the university and the city from a spatial perspective. Based on theories and discourses on the production of space, the book analyzes case studies in university spatial development in China at three scales - global, national and local - covering social and urban contexts, the urban transformation, interactions in the development process and the changing dynamic between university and city to propose mutually beneficial planning strategies. This book is a valuable resource for academics, researchers and urban planners in identifying the key factors and relationships in university spatial development using theoretical and empirical data to guide future urban planning.
This book sheds light on the important and mostly neglected role that gender plays in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, doing so by investigating three key problem areas: empowerment, education, and infrastructure. Starting with a theoretical and methodological framework, this edited collection contains 12 chapters from scholars and researchers from around the world. The book includes numerous case studies discussing the current status of gender equality relating to the SDGs. It reinforces the significance of gender for sustainable and just development, highlighting how women play a major role in work organization, disaster management, income, household maintenance, and mediation of knowledge. "Women" as a classification encompasses much diversity with many intersecting axes of difference; this book focuses on the excluded and disadvantaged majority social group, without imposing homogeneity on that categorization. Many chapters focus on critical situations occurring in the Global South, where these issues are highly prominent, and importantly, these contributions are written by local scholars. Finally, the volume provides pathways for basic and professional gender responsive education and innovation in the field. The book will generate important discussions in interdisciplinary research and higher education settings focusing on sustainable development, gender, equality, human rights, and education.
Environmental Chemistry in the Lab presents a comprehensive approach to modern environmental chemistry laboratory instruction, together with a complete experimental experience. The laboratory experiments have an introduction for the students to read, a pre-lab for them to complete before coming to the lab, a data sheet to complete during the lab, and a post-lab which would give them an opportunity to reinforce their understanding of the experiment completed. Instructor resources include a list of all equipment and supplies needed for 24 students, a lab preparation guide, an answer key to all pre-lab and post-lab questions, sample data for remote learners, and a suggested rubric for grading the labs. Additional features include: * Tested laboratory exercises with instructor resources for environmental science students * Environmental calculations, industrial regulation, and environmental stewardship * Classroom and remote exercises * An excellent, user-friendly, and thought-provoking presentation which will appeal to students with little or no science background * A qualitative approach to the chemistry behind many of our environmental issues today
This book addresses a critical gap in the effective implementation of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in post-apartheid South Africa. This book responds to a critical problem whereby a critical mass of historically disadvantaged persons continues to face exclusion by entrenched systems of professional education and training. Focusing on case studies from higher education and build environment studies, it defines the rationale and fundamental principles of an innovative model for the evaluation of RPL which can be adapted and applied across disciplines and professions while promoting high quality standards. RPL is considered as a transformative strategy to oppose the injustices of pedagogic exclusion and upskill a historically disadvantaged population. The book makes a strong case for an alternate system based on the potentiality of transformed legislation and frameworks in post-apartheid South Africa. The book will be of interest to researchers in alternative pedagogies, scholars engaged with epistemologies of the South and alternative knowledge systems, legislative bodies, policy makers and facilitators of professional education. |
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