This book explores the planning knowledge that can be gleaned from the experiences of the urban poor, a group frequently affected by floods. Further, it examines the relationship between lifeworld analysis and adaptation planning through the sociology of knowledge, which plays a significant part in determining the adaptation pathway of the urban poor. The book brings together empirical data to translate self-reflective planning theory into the practical context, examines community planning, and enriches the discourse on urban adaptation. Lastly, it provides an adaptation-planning model that can benefit academics, practitioners and policymakers who wish to provide more socially accepted plans.

The idea of community involvement and empowerment has become central to politics in recent years. Governments, keen to reduce public spending and increase civic involvement, believe active communities are essential for tackling a range of social, economic and political challenges, such as crime, sustainable development and the provision of care. Public Policy in the Community examines the way that community and the ideas associated with it - civil society, social capital, mutuality, networks - have been understood and applied from the 1960s to the present day. Marilyn Taylor examines the issues involved in putting the community at the heart of policy making, and considers the political and social implications of such a practice. Drawing on a wide range of relevant examples from around the world, the book considers the success of existing approaches and the prospects for further developments. Thoroughly updated to reflect advances in research and practice, the new edition of this important text gives a state-of-the-art assessment of the place of community in public policy.

This book presents a new approach to building renovation, combining aspects of various professional disciplines, integrating green building design, structural stability, and energy efficiency. It draws attention to several often-overlooked qualities of buildings that should be comprehensively integrated into the context of building renovation. The book presents an overview of the most important renovation approaches according to their scope, intensity, and priorities. Combining basic theoretical knowledge and the authors' scientific research it emphasizes the importance of simultaneous consideration of energy efficiency and structural stability in building renovation processes. It simultaneously analyses the effects of various renovation steps related to the required level of energy efficiency, while it also proposes the options of building extension with timber-glass upgrade modules as the solution to a shortage of usable floor areas occurring in large cities. This book offers building designers and decision makers a tool for predicting energy savings in building renovation processes and provides useful guidelines for architects, city developers and students studying architecture and civil engineering. Additionally, it demonstrates how specific innovations, e.g., building extensions with timber-glass modules, can assist building industry companies in the planning and development of their future production. The main aim of the current book is to expose various approaches to the renovation of existing buildings and to combine practical experience with existing research, in order to disseminate knowledge and raise awareness on the importance of integrative and interdisciplinary solutions.

This is the second volume in a two-part series on frontiers in regional research. It identifies methodological advances as well as trends and future developments in regional systems modelling and open science. Building on recent methodological and modelling advances, as well as on extensive policy-analysis experience, top international regional scientists identify and evaluate emerging new conceptual and methodological trends and directions in regional research. Topics such as dynamic interindustry modelling, computable general equilibrium models, exploratory spatial data analysis, geographic information science, spatial econometrics and other advanced methods are the central focus of this book. The volume provides insights into the latest developments in object orientation, open source, and workflow systems, all in support of open science. It will appeal to a wide readership, from regional scientists and economists to geographers, quantitatively oriented regional planners and other related disciplines. It offers a source of relevant information for academic researchers and policy analysts in government, and is also suitable for advanced teaching courses on regional and spatial science, economics and political science.

The book covers the topic of the role of public sector in the economic and territorial development across several dimensions of spatial planning, e.g. theoretical-methodological (planning cultures, leadership), executive (regional policies, services of general interest), sectoral (energy, tourism, air-quality) or social (social innovation, preservation of cultural heritage). The book delivers up-to date knowledge build on interactions between representatives of different stakeholders of economic and territorial development with the research represented by renowned experts and academicians. This is mirrored in the content of the book, delivering in a consistent form the conceptual explanations combined with the examples of the role of the public sector in fostering the local economies within the frame of spatial planning. The book reflects and transfers the expert knowledge which has been generated during more than a decade of scientific and research activities of Spa-ce.net. Presents a comprehensive view on different aspects of the involvement of public sector in the local and regional spatial development; Includes a combination of macro-regionally specific perspectives with the generalized knowledge; Provides knowledge from various researchers from prestigious European scientific and research teams.

Climb a mountain and experience the landscape. Try to grasp its holistic nature. Do not climb alone, but with others and share your experience. Be sure the ways of seeing the landscape will be very different. We experience the landscape with all senses as a complex, dynamic and hierarchically structured whole. The landscape is tangible out there and simultaneously a mental reality. Several perspectives are obvious because of language, culture and background. Many disciplines developed to study the landscape focussing on specific interest groups and applications. Gradually the holistic way of seeing became lost. This book explores the different perspectives on the landscape in relation to its holistic nature. We start from its multiple linguistic meanings and a comprehensive overview of the development of landscape research from its geographical origins to the wide variety of today's specialised disciplines and interest groups. Understanding the different perspectives on the landscapes and bringing them together is essential in transdisciplinary approaches where the landscape is the integrating concept.

In many international settings, regional economies are declining resulting in lowered opportunities for these communities. This result attacks the very fabric of cohesion and purpose for these regional societies, and increases social, health, economic and sustainability problems. Community Informatics research, education and practice is an emerging area in many countries, which seeks to address these issues. Encyclopedia of Developing Regional Communities with Information and Communication Technology provides leaders, policy developers, researchers, students and community workers with successful strategies and principles of Community Informatics to transform regions. This encyclopedia develops an integrative cross-sectoral approach in the use of Community Informatics to increase both social and cultural capital as a means to increased sustainability for regional communities.

This book focuses on small flying drones and their applications in conducting geographic surveys. Scholars and professionals will discover the potential of this tool, and hopefully develop a conceptual and methodological framework for doing the following things: a) Translate their data acquisition needs into specifications. (b) Use the developed specifications to choose the best accessible configuration for their drones, and (c) Design and organize effective and low-cost field deployment and flight operations by integrating technical aspects with regulatory and research requirements. Readers can apply this knowledge to work in cartography, environmental monitoring and analysis, land-use studies and landscape archaeology. Particular attention is also given to the reasons why a drone can dramatically boost a geographer's capability to understand geographic phenomena both from hard-science and humanities-oriented approach.

This book contributes to making urban rail transport fast, punctual and energy-efficient -significant factors in the importance of public transportation systems to economic, environmental and social requirements at both municipal and national levels. It proposes new methods for shortening passenger travel times and for reducing energy consumption, addressing two major topics: (1) train trajectory planning: the authors derive a nonlinear model for the operation of trains and present several approaches for calculating optimal and energy-efficient trajectories within a given schedule; and (2) train scheduling: the authors develop a train scheduling model for urban rail systems and optimization approaches with which to balance total passenger travel time with energy efficiency and other costs to the operator. Mixed-integer linear programming and pseudospectral methods are among the new methods proposed for single- and multi-train systems for the solution of the nonlinear trajectory planning problem which involves constraints such as varying speed restrictions and maximum traction/braking force. Signaling systems and their effects are also accounted for in the trajectory planning model.Origin-destination passenger demand is included in the model formulation for train scheduling. Iterative convex programming and efficient bi-level approaches are utilized in the solution of the train-scheduling problem. In addition, the splitting rates and route choices of passengers are also optimized from the system point of view. The problems and solutions described in Optimal Trajectory Planning and Train Scheduling for Urban Rail Transit Systems will interest researchers studying public transport systems and logistics whether from an academic or practitioner background as well as providing a real application for anybody studying optimization theory and predictive control.

This is a study of TVA management of Tellico Dam. Part of the ambitious New Deal project to bring modernity to Appalachia, TVA planning was far-reaching, often far-sighted, but also controversial, involving mass migration of people from their ancestral homes and threats to species, like the snail darter.

As a legacy of the socialist state with central planning, Five-Year Planning (FYP) is very important in regulating socio-economic and spatial development even in post-reform China. This book tries to fill the research gap between examining the role of FYP and how spatial elements in the FYP mechanism have operated and transformed in spatial regulatory practices in transitional China. By building a conceptual framework and studying two empirical cases at different spatial scales, with the help of both qualitative and quantitative methods, it helps to understand various stakeholders, institutions and planning administrations, mechanisms of articulating spatial planning into the FYP system and the effectiveness of spatial planning in solving place-specific governance issues in urban and regional China.

Planning is central to economic, social and environmental life but its practice is frequently criticised by all who engage in it. Seen as too restrictive by those who promote development and too weak by those opposing it, planners who advise on proposals cannot sit on the fence. Is it the planning system that is problematic or is it the planners who work within it? This valuable book examines these issues at the continuing professional development level and discusses the ways in which management theories, tools and techniques can be applied to planning practice and used by all who engage in it. Written by an experienced author and widely respected academic, the book includes case studies and question and answer sections, and will be valuable through both initial and continuous professional education, helping candidates prepare for examinations and subsequent management.

This book provides a systematic analysis, modeling and evaluation of the performance of advanced transport systems. It offers an innovative approach by presenting a multidimensional examination of the performance of advanced transport systems and transport modes, useful for both theoretical and practical purposes. Advanced transport systems for the twenty-first century are characterized by the superiority of one or several of their infrastructural, technical/technological, operational, economic, environmental, social and policy performances as compared to their conventional counterparts. The advanced transport systems considered include: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems in urban area(s), electric and fuel cell passenger cars, high speed tilting trains, High Speed Rail (HSR), Trans Rapid Maglev (TRM), Evacuated Tube Transport system (ETT), advanced commercial subsonic and Supersonic Transport Aircraft (STA), conventionally- and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2)-fuelled commercial air transportation, advanced Air Traffic Control (ATC) technologies and procedures for increasing the airport runway capacity, Underground Freight Transport (UFT) systems in urban area(s), Long Intermodal Freight Train(s) (LIFTs), road mega trucks, large advanced container ships and freight/cargo aircraft and advanced freight/goods collection distribution networks. This book is intended for postgraduates, researchers, professionals and policy makers working in the transport industry.

With the major growth of the world's population over the past century, as well as rapid urbanisation, people increasingly live in crowded cities. This trend is often accompanied by proliferation of poorly built housing, uncontrolled use of land, occupation of unsafe environments and overstretched services. When a natural hazard strikes such a city many people are vulnerable to loss of life and property. This book explores what these people think and feel about the threats that they face. How do they live with perils ranging from earthquakes to monsoons, from floods to hurricanes, in the 21st century? The authors are drawn from a large range of disciplines: Psychology, Engineering, Geography, Anthropology and Urban Planning. They also reflect on how perils are represented in multiple cultures: the United States, Japan, Turkey, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The book therefore not only brings to light the ways that different cultures represent natural hazards but also the different ways in which various disciplines write about living with perils in the 21st century. The book is addressed both to researchers and to organizations involved with risk management and risk mitigation.

This book sheds new light on the current and future challenges faced by cities, and presents approaches, options and solutions enabled by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the smart city context. By focusing on sustainability objectives within a rapidly changing social, economic, environmental and technological setting, it explores a variety of planning challenges faced by contemporary cities and the power of smart city developments in terms of providing innovative tools, approaches, methodologies and technologies to help cities cope with these challenges. Key issues addressed include smart city (e-) planning and (e-)participation; smart data management to facilitate decision-making processes in cities and insular communities on a variety of topics; smart and sustainable management aspects of climate change, water scarcity, mobility, energy, infrastructure, tourism, blue growth, risk assessment; etc. The book presents current and potential pathways and applications for the evolution of smart cities and communities, taking into consideration the unique problems and opportunities emanating from their specific geographical location. The case study examples mainly concern small and medium-sized cities and communities as well as insular areas in the Mediterranean region, while also incorporating lessons learned from other parts of the world. Their focus is on the specific opportunities and threats emerging in these urban and insular environments, which are characterized by their role as globally known tourist destinations, their coastal or port character, and unique cultural resources, as well as the high rated vulnerability in very many sustainability respects (social, economic, biodiversity, urbanization, migration, poverty, etc.) to be found in the Mediterranean region at large

"Applications, 2nd Edition" focuses on moving object management, from the location management perspective to determining how constantly changing locations affect the traditional database and data mining technology. The book specifically describes the topics of moving objects modeling and location tracking, indexing and querying, clustering, location uncertainty, traffic-aware navigation and privacy issues, as well as the application to intelligent transportation systems. Through the book, the readers will be made familiar with the cutting-edge technologies in moving object management that can be effectively applied in LBS and transportation contexts. The second edition of this book significantly expands the coverage of the latest research on location privacy, traffic-aware navigation and uncertainty. The book has also been reorganized, with nearly all chapters rewritten, and several new chapters have been added to address the latest topics on moving objects management.

Xiaofeng Meng is a professor at the School of Information, Renmin University of China; Zhiming Ding is a professor at the Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS); Jiajie Xu is an assistant professor at the ISCAS.

"New Issues in Polar Tourism" traces and analyzes a decade of growing interest in the polar regions, and the consequent challenges and opportunities of increasing tourist traffic in formerly remote and seldom-visited places. The book arises from the recently-formed International Polar Tourism Research Network(IPTRN), and documents the outcomes of its 2010 conference, held at Sweden s Abisko Scientific Research Station."

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is penetrating in all sciences as a multidisciplinary approach. However, adopting the theory of AI including computer vision and computer audition to urban intellectual space, is always difficult for architecture and urban planners. This book overcomes this challenge through a conceptual framework by merging computer vision and audition to urban studies based on a series of workshops called Remorph, conducted by Tehran Urban Innovation Center (TUIC).

This book advocates a fresh approach to planning that anticipates, rather than reacts to, the changes in climate currently in process. Today's spatial planning procedures rely on historical evidence instead of preparing for factors that by definition lie in the future, yet which are relatively uncontroversial: shortages of water, sea level rise and rises in average temperatures being but three examples. Arguing for more flexibility, the contributors view 'complexity' as the key to transforming the way we plan in order to better equip us to face uncertainties about our future environment.

Urban subsurface resources and particularly urban groundwater are vulnerable to environmental impacts, and their rational management is of major importance. In this book a multidisciplinary team of specialists and scientists presents innovative process-oriented approaches to the sustainable use of these resources. The included case studies from northwestern Switzerland describe representative environments and are relevant for urban areas in general. They illustrate the protection of groundwater; river restoration; engineering and hydrogeological questions related to urban infrastructure and management concepts; as well as monitoring, modeling and remediation strategies for contaminated sites; problems caused by karst in urban environments; the use of shallow geothermal energy; and natural hazards such as flood events and earthquakes.

It is demonstrated that modern quantitative earth sciences can contribute significantly in finding solutions concerning the sustainable use of subsurface resources in urban environments.

The book is an invaluable source of information for hydrogeologists, geologists, urban planners, water supply engineers, and environmental agencies.

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This book addresses the issue of smart and sustainable development in the Mediterranean (MED) region, a distinct part of the world, full of challenges and risks but also opportunities. Above all, the book focuses on smartening up small and medium-sized cities and insular communities, taking into account their geographical peculiarities, the pattern of MED urban settlements and the abundance of island complexes in the MED Basin. Taking for granted that sustainability in the MED is the overarching policy goal that needs to be served, the book explores different aspects of smartness in support of this goal's achievement. In this respect, evidence from concrete smart developments adopted by forerunners in the MED region is collected and analyzed; coupled with experiences gathered from successful, non-MED, examples of smart efforts in European countries. More specifically, current research and empirical results from MED urban environments are discussed, as well as findings from or concerning other parts of the world, which are of relevance to the MED region. The book's primary goal is to enable policymakers, planners and decision-making bodies to recognize the challenges and options available; and make to more informed policy decisions towards smart, sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban and regional futures in the MED.

Flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards in the world. Available records suggest that both flood frequency and severity are on the rise and this is likely to worsen in the context of climate change. As population, infrastructure and poverty grow rapidly in developing countries, particularly in urban agglomerations of 10 million people or more, floods could cause widespread devastation, economic damage and loss of life. Assessment of vulnerability and risk from naturally occurring phenomena is therefore imperative in order to achieve urban sustainability. This book uses geospatial techniques to evaluate hazards, risk and vulnerability at a metropolitan scale in a data-scarce country. An empirical study was performed using remote sensing, GIS and census data. This research offers a new approach to mapping population, infrastructures and communities at risk which can greatly contribute to the deeper understanding of flood disasters in a rapidly expanding megacity. Examples shown in this book are from Dhaka Megacity, however, the techniques and methods can easily be implemented in medium to large cities of similar characteristics. The book is essential reading for hazard researchers, geospatial scientists, disaster management professionals, geographers, urban planners, and social scientists. Ashraf M. Dewan is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Spatial Sciences at Curtin University, Western Australia (on leave from his substantive position as Associate Professor in the Geography & Environment Department at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh).

This book represents part of the result of a project undertaken by the C- ter for Sustainable Urban Regeneration (cSUR). The center was est- lished in 2003 by a research fund titled the 21st Century Center of Exc- lence (COE) Program provided by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. The project leader was Shi- chiro Ohgaki, a professor in the Department of Urban Engineering of the University of Tokyo. cSUR integrates the four specific fields of urban planning, architecture, civil engineering, and environmental engineering with the participation of over a hundred researchers of the university. The objective of the center is to create an integrated approach to, and knowledge for, sustainable urban regeneration based on a global network of researchers and professionals; and to coordinate an international research alliance that consists of leading academic institutions worldwide. The project was carried out by four research units: A. Environment Management B. Urban Stock Management C. Social Information Management D. Action Studies Each unit consisted of smaller subunits. The third unit, which includes the contributors to this book, consisted of three smaller groups: C-1) The Next Generation Geographic Information System Integrating Human and Social Information C-2) Decoding and Analysis of Historical and Cultural Information Concerning Urban Space C-3) Participatory Planning and Urban Space Management Support Systems

The concept for the Water Environment of Cities arose from a workshop "Green 1 Cities, Blue Waters" workshop held in 2006. The workshop assembled experts from engineering, planning, economics, law, hydrology, aquatic ecology, geom- phology, and other disciplines to present research ?ndings and identify key new ideas on the urban water environment. At a lunch discussion near the end of the workshop, several of us came to the recognition that despite having considerable expertise in a narrow discipline, none of us had a vision of the "urban water en- ronment" as a whole. We were, as in the parable, blind men at opposite ends of the elephant, knowinga great deal about the parts, but notunderstandingthe whole. We quickly recognized the need to develop a book that would integrate this knowledge to create this vision. The goal was to develop a book that could be used to teach a complete, multidisciplinary course, "The Urban Water Environment," but could also be used as a supplemental text for courses on urban ecosystems, urban design, landscapearchitecture, water policy, waterqualitymanagement andwatershed m- agement. The book is also valuable as a reference source for water professionals stepping outside their arena of disciplinary expertise. The Water Environment of Cities is the ?rst book to use a holistic, interdis- plinary approach to examine the urban water environment. We have attempted to portrayaholisticvisionbuiltaround theconcept of water as a coreelement ofcities. Water has multipleroles: municipalwatersupply, aquatichabitat, landscapeaesth- ics, and recreation. Increasingly, urban water is reused, serving multiple purposes.

Resilience is increasingly becoming a catchword in current discussions about urban and regional development. While there has been a strong research focus on sustainability, there is a lack of understanding of the processes and factors that make cities and regions more vulnerable and others more resilient, for example, when dealing with climate change, demographic decline and ageing, as well as economic crises. The German Annual of Spatial Research and Policy 2010 sheds some light on this by discussing examples of how actors deal with change. On the one hand, concepts are described and analysed which are oriented towards increasing urban regional resilience, for example regarding energy consumption, climate change, and urban decline. Moreover, institutional aspects are discussed. On the other hand, barriers for using the concept of resilience in planning are described and suggestions are made about how to deal with these barriers in strategic planning.