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Books > Earth & environment > Regional & area planning
Addresses a variety of challenges and solutions within the transportation security sphere in order to protect our transportation systems Provides innovative solutions to improved communication and creating joint operations centers to manage response to threats Details technological measures to protect our transportation infrastructure, and explains their feasibility and economic costs Discusses changes in travel behavior as a response to terrorism and natural disaster Explains the role of transportation systems in supporting response operations in large disasters Written with a worldwide scope
"Everything should be made as simple as possible-but not simpler" Albert Einstein Traffic Theory, like all other sciences, aims at understanding and improving a physical phenomenon. The phenomenon addressed by Traffic Theory is, of course, automobile traffic, and the problems associated with it such as traffic congestion. But what causes congestion? Some time in the 1970s, Doxiades coined the term "oikomenopolis" (and "oikistics") to describe the world as man's living space. In Doxiades' terms, persons are associated with a living space around them, which describes the range that they can cover through personal presence. In the days of old, when the movement of people was limited to walking, an individual oikomenopolis did not intersect many others. The automobile changed all that. The term "range of good" was also coined to describe the maximal distance a person can and is willing to go in order to do something useful or buy something. Traffic congestion is caused by the intersection of a multitude of such "ranges of good" of many people exercising their range utilisation at the same time. Urban structures containing desirable structures contribute to this intersection of "ranges of good." xii Preface In a biblical mood, I opened a 1970 paper entitled "Traffic Control -- From Hand Signals to Computers" with the sentence: "In the beginning there was the Ford."
This unique text has as its main themes the development of Greek regions and the impact of the structural policies of the European Union on their progress and prosperity. By analyzing the regional policy of the country during the last decades and presenting the current trends, the book provides evidence on the gradual reduction in regional disparities in Greece. Emphasis is given to the geographic and socio-economic characteristics of the 13 regions of Greece and the objectives of the Community Support Framework for the period 2000 - 2006. Separate chapters are devoted to the development prospects of the Greek islands, the big cities and the mountainous areas. Original maps, tables and graphs together with a comprehensive text make this book a valuable reading for administrators, diplomats, regional scientists, geographers, planners, economists, sociologists, as well as for students of social sciences.
This book is about African and Asian cities. Illustrated through selected case cities, the book brings together a rich collection of papers by leading scholars and practitioners in Africa and Asia to offer empirical analysis and up-to-date discussions and assessments of the urban challenges and solutions for their cities. A number of key topics concerning housing, sustainable urban development and climate change in Africa and Asia are explored along with how policy interventions and partnerships deliver specific forms of urban development. It is intended for all who are interested in the state of the cities and urban development in Africa and Asia. Africa and Asia present, in many ways, useful lessons in dealing with the burgeoning urban population, and the problems surrounding this influx of people and climate change in the developing word.
Placing the practice of urban design in its political, economic and cultural context, this book sets out a clear and positive vision of the potential of urban design, and in particular its capacity to bring imagined futures into being for the benefit of the many. Urban Design, Space and Society shows how urban design is concerned not only with the aesthetics and practicalities of designing urban spaces, but also with the pursuit of social inclusiveness, participatory democracy, cultural meaning and ecological sustainability. It covers a broad range of interrelated themes and demostrates how social and political theories shed light on an understanding of urban design. Drawing on these theories, as well as the author's own research, the book guides the reader through the complex challenges that design practitioners must navigate in meeting the diverse needs of urban society in the twenty-first century. Providing a clear guide to the role and potential of urban design, this is an invaluable text for students and professionals for urban design as well as those from related disciplines such as planning, architecture and geography.
With the use of ecological models, managers and decision makers can make sure that the ecological systems affected by their decisions are accurately represented. Unfortunately, the most relevant ecological science and modeling techniques are often not used because managers are not familiar with them or find them inappropriate for their circumstances. The authors of this volume hope to close the gap between the state of the art in ecological modeling and the state of the practice in the use of models as decision-making tools. It will serve as a readable introduction to modeling for people involved in resource management and will also review specific applications of interest to more experienced modelers. The first chapters detail several successful uses of ecological models in resource management. There are then five pairs of chapters addressing important issues in ecological modeling, including barriers to the use of modeling in decision making, evolving approaches in the field, effective use of data, the toolkit approach to management, and the various scientific and technological investments required for productive modeling. Ecologists and other scientists will learn how best to focus their research for practical, real-world applications, and resource managers and other practitioners will learn the most appropriate methods of understanding dynamic processes and making projections about the implications of their decisions.
This volume is a cogent empirical analysis of the interplay between a region's natural amenities and its socioeconomic evolution. It focuses on the rural sectors of America's Intermountain West region, which lies between the Cascades and Sierra Nevada mountains to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the east. Coherently structured and meticulously detailed, it adds much to our understanding of the ways an area's forests, lakes, mountains, parkland and historic attractions affect residents' sense of well-being as well as the sociodemographic and economic changes they experience. The book examines patterns of growth and change linked to the emergence of 'New West' conditions, assessing their implications for the wider community as well as discussing the impact these trends could have on the consumption of natural resources. It also points to ways in which communities and their development can be managed sustainably. The tight geographical focus of this valuable resource ensures a depth of analysis which can be applied to similar regions worldwide. Based on a large-scale, random-sample survey of both full-time and seasonal residents, it provides a much-needed overview of the macro-level economic, demographic, and social transformations affecting rural communities in America. As such, the book has relevance for all researchers concerned with rural development, the changes impacting rural landscapes, and natural resource management.
Schedule-Based Dynamic Transit Modeling: Theory and Applications outlines the new schedule-based dynamic approach to mass transit modeling. In the last ten years the schedule-based dynamic approach has been developed and applied especially for operational planning. It allows time evolution of on-board loads and travel times for each run of each line to be obtained, and uses behavioral hypotheses strictly related to transit systems and user characteristics. It allows us to open new frontiers in transit modelling to support network design, timetable setting, investigation of congestion effects, as well as the assessment of new technologies introduction, such as information to users (ITS technologies). The contributors and editors of the book are leading researchers in the field of transportation, and in this volume they build a solid foundation for developing still more sophisticated models. These future models of mass transit systems will continue to add higher levels of accuracy and sensitivity desired in forecasting the performance of public transport systems.
In a knowledge economy urban form and functions are primarily shaped by global market forces rather than urban planning. As the role of knowledge in wealth creation becomes a critical issue in cities, urban administrations and planners need to discover new approaches to harness the considerable opportunities of abstract production for a global order. ""Creative Urban Regions"" explores the utilization of urban technology to support knowledge city initiatives, providing scholars and practitioners with essential fundamental techniques and processes for the successful integration of information technologies and urban production. Converging timely research on a multitude of cutting-edge urban information communication technology issues, this ""Premier Reference Source"" will make a valuable addition to every reference library.
These days human beings have a profound influence on aspects of the planetary ecosystem, e.g. on climate change and biodiversity, to name only two. This manual is intended to help practitioners, who are dealing with human-based rural and urban settlement-ecosystems, in the key steps towards their realization (design, implementation, and operation) and helpful for all, who are concerned about ensuring their practical sustainability. The ecosystem-approach is holistic and integrative, encompassing various disciplines like architecture, landscape architecture, environmental engineering, social sciences, life sciences, ecology, and management. It also considers issues such as energy-savings, ecological cycles, reuse, natural resources, socio-cultural background, real participation, and holistic quality management. Thus it not only explains the general concept, the steps of realization and the respective involved stakeholders, but also gives hints and tools for practitioners. The information, recommendations and tools are directed to the following target groups, among others: * Local planning authorities (giving hints for the procedure and the involved stakeholders) * Designers (holistic approach, procedures, tools) * Regulatory bodies, licensing and financing authorities (requirements for approach and procedures) * Construction and implementing firms and institutions (recommendations, tools) * Operating bodies (hints for operation, tools) The experiences are based on a joint German-Ghanaian program at Valley View University, the biggest private university in Ghana, intended to help realize the vision of a truly holistic ecological university. It was financed originally by the German Ministry of Education and Research and recently by the German Ministry for the Environment in the frame of the Climate Change Initiative of the Federal Government of Germany.
This book is about the role that ideas, institutions, and actors play in structuring how we govern cities and, more specifically, what projects or paths are taken. Global changes require that we rethink governance and urban policy, and that we do so through the dual lens of theory and practice.
This yearbook of urban and regional studies provides English language papers on spatial development research on Germany and Central and Eastern Europe for researchers and practitioners outside Germany. Its state-of-the-art research reports spatial development, spatial planning, spatial research, regional policy and sectoral spatial policies these regions. The book will interest those involved with research or teaching in geography, those in regional science and planning, regional economics, political science, and urban and regional sociology.
This book addresses the future of urbanisation on the Galapagos Islands from a systems, governance and design perspective with the competing parameters of liveability, economic and ecological, using the Galapagos as a laboratory for the theoretical and postulative understanding of evolving settlement and habitation. The Galapagos islands are one of the world's most examined and reported examples of a series of naturally evolving ecosystems. The biodiversity of these island ecosystems are the focus of tourism and the image across the world yet human settlement are part of the local ecology. While human intervention is limited, the islands are a distinctive context in which to consider the impact of human habitation as a part of our ecosystems. In this book, authors take the framework of complex adaptive systems (CAS) in which to model systems that grow and evolve, the relations between these various sectors change; systems that get more complex as they evolve. Tested and applied discretely in the two realms of natural and urban, for the first time this text will bring the two together in understanding options for the future of urban settlements on the Galapagos Islands and, by extension, consider how the approach can be used globally in other contexts.
This informed and lively book offers a timely analysis of the UK government's sustainable - or subsequently 'integrated' - transport policy 10 years after the publication of "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone". Written by prominent transport experts and with a foreword by Christian Wolmar, the book identifies the modest successes and, sadly, the far more significant failures in government policy over the last decade. The authors also uncover why it has proved so difficult to adopt a more sustainable approach to transport and break Britain's love-affair with the car. The book reviews the links between the idea of sustainability and transport policy, and provides an up-to-the-minute analysis of the political realities surrounding the delivery of a sustainable transport agenda in the UK. It picks up on the principal components of "A New Deal for Transport" and evaluates to what extent these have, or haven't, been delivered in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The contributors analyse why delivering sustainable transport policies seems to present particular difficulties to ministers across the UK, and considers the UK's experience in an international perspective. The book draws lessons from the last 10 years in order to better inform future policy development. "Traffic Jam" is an indispensable analysis of the difficulties involved in turning policy ideals into practical reality, and as such will be of interest to scholars, students, planners, policy analysts and policy makers.
Among the many ways the world has changed in recent decades, using technology for city planning has become one of the most innovative. Using new, pioneering methods that are reshaping the world into a more efficient and effective society has become the new reality. Citizen-Responsive Urban E-Planning: Recent Developments and Critical Perspectives is a collection of innovative research that presents and discusses various perspectives on facets of citizen engagement in open urban policy processes, all of them based on the widespread use of information and communication technologies in the field of urban/spatial planning. The book offers an updated outline of recent advances in this field as well as a critical perspective of the challenges with which citizen e-participation in urban e-planning is confronted. While highlighting topics including smart ecosystems, urban development, and global intelligence, this book is ideally designed for urban planners, IT consultants, government officials, policymakers, academicians, researchers, students, and industry professionals.
Land use decisions in karst terrains can have immediate and serious impacts on the local landscape and groundwater resources. The existing literature on karst and land use can be very difficult to locate in the journals of any of a half-dozen different disciplines. This book brings the interdisciplinary knowledge together in one place, in a format that academics and professionals alike will find accessible, informative and useful. Based on an examination of existing regulations, the experiences and opinions of planners and land use professionals, and quantitative analysis of publicly-available data, the book explores how human settlement patterns and urban systems in karst terrains are affected by land use regulations intended to protect karst resources. The book pays particular attention to the questions of whether these regulations will have a noticeable impact on density and on opportunities for economic growth and development in communities that choose to implement them. This analysis serves as the basis for a regulatory framework that may be used to understand the workings of land use regulations in karst terrains, and to aid in the development of such regulations in the future.
This book examines the practice of urban resilience past and present, drawing on deeper global historical sources and detailed case-studies of contemporary Britain. It argues that resilience is neither new nor necessarily about protecting ordinary people, but part of a long struggle over the control of cities.
Bad architecture. Soulless. Destructive of communities. The suburbs are much-maligned places. We see this time and again in films like American Beauty and novels like The Ice Storm. But are they really as homogenous and conservative as we think they are? In this wide-ranging comparative study of England and the United States, Mark Clapson offers new interpretations on suburbia. The majority of people in both countries now live in suburbs, largely as a result of the rising affluence of the postwar period. Millions of Americans pursued an aspiration to settle away from the poorer town and city centres in new subdivisions, while in England people were keen to leave terraced streets and poorer suburban housing areas. Examining housing policies, the politics of affluence and social class, Clapson challenges deeply held myths by demonstrating the complexity of suburban life. He shows how suburbs are becoming increasingly multicultural and compares the minority experience in both countries. He analyzes voting patterns to reveal some surprising political trends. In addition, he discusses gender and the experience of community life. Throughout, he uncovers the similarities and differences in the English and American experience of suburbanization in the twentieth century. This is a timely and original account that looks beyond the stereotypes of life in the 'burbs.
"The Forest and the Marine Stewardship Councils constitute new global governance institutions using voluntary certification and labelling as market incentives to encourage sustainable management. Utilizing a comparative political economic framework, the authors analyze shifting British, Canadian and Australian responses to the stewardship councils"--
This book shows that the problem of climate adaptation, which is described in social planning terms as 'wicked,' is at odds with the contemporary practice of spatial planning. The author proposes a new adjusted framework which is more adaptable to unpredictable, wicked, dynamic and non-linear processes. The inspiration for this new method is the behaviour of swarms: bees, ants, birds and fish are capable of self-organization, which enables the system to become less vulnerable to sudden environmental changes. The framework proposed in Swarm Planning consists of these four elements: Two levels of complexity, the first being the whole system and the second its individual components. Each of these has different attributes for adapting to change. Five layers, consisting of networks, focal points, unplanned space, natural resources and emerging occupation patterns. Each layer has its own spatial dynamic, and each is connected to a spatial scale. Non-linear processes, which emerge in different parts of the framework and include emerging patterns, connectedness and tipping points among others. Two planning processes; the first, 'from small to large' works upward from the slowest changing elements to more rapidly-changing ones. The second, 'on the list of partners' addresses each layer from networks through emerging occupation patterns. Swarm Planning applies this framework to a series of pilot studies, and appraises its performance using criteria for an adaptive landscape. The results show that the use of the Swarm Planning Framework reduces the vulnerability of landscapes as well as the impact of climate hazards and disasters, improves response to unexpected hazards and contains adaptation strategies. "This book is a must for planners in government and the private sector as it outlines the concept, strategies and techniques for swarm planning. It is also an important guide for policymakers looking to engage communities in a dialogue about the adaptation planning process." Professor John Martin, La Trobe University "The ultimate value of the book lies in encouraging the planning community to consider options that go far beyond those offered by business-as-usual planning methodologies developed for a set of operating conditions that are fast becoming obsolete. As such it makes an important and much needed contribution to the field." Assistant Professor Dr. Chrisna du Plessis, University of Pretoria
This book presents a novel approach in the field of global change
by presenting a comprehensive analysis of interhemispheric linkages
of climate, present and past, and their effects on human societies.
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