Atkinson Housing Co-operative: A Leading Edge Conversion from Public Housing

In 2003 the Atkinson community became the first public housing project to convert into a non-equity co-operative. After providing a brief introduction to the development of non-market housing policy in Canada, this paper discusses the process of creating the Atkinson co-operative. The conversion of Atkinson has produced a new model of social housing, in that Atkinson operates neither as a pure housing co-operative nor as a public housing project, but rather as a synthesis of the two models, referred to as a hybrid, or an incorporated co-operative within the public sector. The features of the hybrid arrangement are grouped within the following categories: land/property; finances; property management and administration; governance and decision-making practices; education and community programs; housing charges/rents; and living in public housing. The final section of this paper locates the Atkinson experiment within the tenant-management literature in public housing and also discusses the conversion as a process in community development. Although it is premature to determine the efficacy of this model, the results are likely to influence the movement for increasing tenant involvement in the management of public housing.     

Converting a public housing project into a tenant-managed housing co-operative: A Canadian case study

The conversion of the Alexandra Park public housing project into the Atkinson Housing Co-operative took place from 1992 to 2003. The new co-operative represents an attempt to increase resident participation in the management of their housing community. Although there have been other efforts to increase resident participation, this is the first conversion of its kind in Canada, and as a result a new housing model has been created. This paper discusses this new model, referred to as a hybrid structure that contains elements of the co-operative and public housing models.     

Community attachment among residents living in public and commodity housing in China

Abstract

Since China’s housing reform, increasing attention has been paid to public housing. While the quantity of public housing units is increasing, residents’ attachment to the community remains underexplored. This study evaluates the social dimension of public housing from the perspective of community attachment in Guangzhou, China. We use a mixed methods approach to examine what factors influence community attachment in both public and commodity housing communities. We first analyse quantitative data (N?=?344) collected from four public housing and commodity housing communities in Guangzhou using confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression, and moderation analysis. Results show that housing type has no significant effect on community attachment. Housing type moderates the relationship between community ties, perceived public services, and community attachment, whereas community ties and perceived public services are positively associated with community attachment only for commodity housing residents. Qualitative data from 21 semi-structured interviews are then used to explain the quantitative results. Our findings support the rationality of the public housing strategy in China from the perspective of community attachment. We also argue that community attachment must be analysed in a contextualized approach.     

Is Public Participation Making Urban Planning More Democratic? The Israeli Experience

The article examines the alleged connection between the goal of democratization of the Israeli planning system and 'public participation in planning'. It begins by claiming that the planning system in Israel is a non-democratic environment within the democratic state. This situation has stimulated the enormous development of theoretical and practical work relating to 'public participation'. Yet, statutory and voluntary participation mechanisms in Israel have not been able to influence the decision-making structure in planning. Moreover, most public organizations and NGOs that are supposed to represent the voice of the public are far from being genuine public delegates. The article also relates to the power/knowledge problem, stating that participation processes cannot escape it. The article highlights the widely experienced tensions between the democratization of planning through more consultative and participative processes, the role of elected representatives and of civil society movements which choose co-operative rather than oppositional strategies.     

Strength and failure characteristics of jointed marble under true triaxial compression

The rock structure and three-dimensional stress state play a vital role in the mechanical behaviour of rock masses. Here, a series of true triaxial compression tests (σ₁ > σ₂ > σ₃) are conducted on jointed marble (50 × 50 × 100 mm³) containing a natural stiff joint, taken from the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL-II) project. The purposes of this study are to investigate the joint effect and estimate the stress dependency of jointed marble. The test results show that jointed marble can fail in four distinct forms, namely, splitting or shearing of intact marble, opening of the joint or sliding along the joint, and these failure modes are influenced by the joint configuration and the minimum and intermediate principal stresses. Generally, jointed marble has more brittle post-peak behaviour than intact marble. The linear Mogi-Coulomb failure criterion can be modified to describe the strength of the jointed marble under true triaxial compression. The jointed marble strength is more sensitive to the minimum principal stress than to the intermediate principal stress. A maximum decline of 25% in strength is observed, which corresponds to a joint dip angle of 60° at σ₂ = 60 MPa and σ₃ = 30 MPa. The link between the experimental results and in situ fracturing at CJPL-II is also demonstrated.

     

基于GIS的园林规划设计方法的革新

地理信息系统(GIS)具有强大的空间数据处理和辅助决策能力，通过它的数据采集、分析评价、实时可视性以及便于公众参与等功能，必将在园林规划设计革新中发挥越来越重要的作用。     

The learning organisation: toward a paradigm for mutually beneficial strategic construction alliances

Strategic alliances are becoming an important means of survival for managing construction organisations. Such alliances are a compromise between organisations doing business in isolation and in mutual partnership with another organisation(s). The key to competitive advantage and improving customer satisfaction lies in the ability of organisations to form learning alliances; these being strategic partnerships based on a business environment that encourages mutual (and reflective) learning between partners. Well-designed, successful alliances enhance co-operation and a high level of trust and commitment. A learning framework is presented to foster successful co-operative strategic alliances between construction organisations. A case study is highlighted based on Rameses Associates and Lloyds TSB Insurance of the UK, to illustrate the advantages of the thesis proffered.     

The joint intersection probability

In this paper a practical method to apply block theory is presented. Block theory provides the removable joint pyramids from a given free surface regardless of the number of joints in any joint intersection. While robust, the application of the theory in real practice is hampered by the large outcome space of possibly removable joint pyramids consisting of k mutually exclusive joints in a rock mass consisting of m joint sets. In this paper, we prove that the probability that k is greater than three in a three-dimensional space is zero. Consequently, only tetrahedral blocks need to be considered in the stability analysis for the analyzed free surface. The outcome space of theoretically removable joint pyramids can be further reduced by considering “safe” joint intersections, which consist of at least one line of intersection which is sub-parallel to the free surface. The block failure likelihood of the remaining joint intersections is proportional to two independent parameters: (1) the joint intersection probability and (2) the block instability parameter. We develop here a rigorous joint intersection probability expression based on simple frequency probability considerations which predicts that the probability for x in the rock mass to fall in joint intersection L_i,j,k is inversely proportional to the volume of the parallelepiped formed by joints i,j,k with mean spacing values x_i, x_j, x_k:Using the joint intersection probability and the instability parameter associated with each removable JP the critical key blocks of the excavation can be determined. In a brittle rock mass only the critical key blocks will require reinforcement. The paper concludes with a practical example which demonstrates the application of the concepts.     

温州个人集资建房模式及其法律困惑

温州“个人集资建房”项目的启动,引发了社会很大的关注和争议。本文在阐述温州个人集资建房运作模式的基础上,指出该运作模式与传统的住宅合作社制存在许多不同的地方,同时也存在许多法律上的困惑,引发了许多争议。在目前相关法律及政策仍不很明朗的情况下,有关部门不妨先做一个试点,并加以规范,摸索一条能切实解决中低人群住房问题、抑制房价的举措。     

Quantitative effects of drivers and barriers on networking strategies in public construction projects

Past studies have found that network strategies can contribute to better company and project performance. The adoption of network strategies is motivated by a set of factors (i.e., drivers), but also faces numerous challenges (i.e., barriers). The appreciation of the factors motivating and deterring networking strategies is beneficial to the successful implementation of network strategies. In the context of public construction projects, this study aims to examine the quantitative effect of drivers and barriers on three network strategies (i.e., trust, information sharing and joint problem solving). The results of a questionnaire-survey of 104 public projects show that the adoption of network strategies in public construction is mainly cost-driven. The results indicate that four barriers impede network strategies in public projects: (i) a lack of continuity and (ii) ethos of public services are harmful to trust; (iii) institutional constraints hinder information sharing; and (iv) a lack of capability is a hurdle to information sharing and trust. It is also found that one barrier (i.e., ethos of public services) has a positive influence on trust between clients and consultants. Recommendations on enhancing network strategies through the appreciation of drivers and barriers are provided.     

Co-operative design of children'sinteraction in museums: a case studyin the Hunt Museum

This paper reports research conducted in collaboration with the Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland, which examined how children's interaction in museums could be augmented through co-operative design. The paper describes the participatory design process that was undertaken over a two-year period, involving key informants and stakeholders, including teachers, docents (specialist museum guides) and curators. The designers also explored the potential of ubiquitous computing to enhance children's interpretive experience in museums, and this is also described. The research reported in this paper was supported within the EU disappearing computer (DC) initiative, specifically the SHAPE project. The goal of SHAPE, Situating Hybrid Assemblies in Public Environments, was to explore how emerging, novel computer technologies could be deployed in public spaces to enhance interaction and learning. The project culminated in the deployment of an innovative, large-scale computer-augmented exhibition, Re-Tracing the Past, in the Hunt Museum. This novel exhibition was open to the public from 9 to 19 June 2003. This paper documents the design process from initial scenario elaboration through to final deployment of novel technology in the museum. Evaluation data are also discussed, and the paper concludes with some insights for participatory design of technology to enhance children's interaction in museums. Furthermore, the review of evaluation data illustrates how the design themes that informed the extensive design process were successfully embodied in the final exhibition in the museum.     

Distinct spatial characteristics of industrial and public research collaborations: evidence from the fifth EU Framework Programme

This study compares the spatial characteristics of industrial R&D networks to those of public research R&D networks (i.e. universities and research organisations). The objective is to measure the impact of geographical separation effects on the constitution of cross-region R&D collaborations for both types of collaboration. We use data on joint research projects funded by the fifth European Framework Programme (FP) to proxy cross-region collaborative activities. The study area is composed of 255 NUTS-2 regions that cover the EU-25 member states (excluding Malta and Cyprus) as well as Norway and Switzerland. We adopt spatial interaction models to analyse how the variation of cross-region industry and public research networks is affected by geography. The results of the spatial analysis provide evidence that geographical factors significantly affect patterns of industrial R&D collaboration, while in the public research sector effects of geography are much smaller. However, the results show that technological distance is the most important factor for both industry and public research cooperative activities.     

Requirements for accurate quantification of self-affine roughness using the roughness–length method

Self-affine fractals have the potential to represent rock joint roughness profiles. Fractional Brownian profiles (self-affine profiles) with known values of fractal dimension, D, input standard deviation, σ, and data density, d, were generated. For different values of the input parameter of the roughness–length method (window length, w), D and another associated fractal parameter A were calculated for the aforementioned profiles. The calculated D was compared with the D used for the generation to determine the accuracy of calculated D. Suitable ranges for w were estimated to produce accurate D (within ±10% error) for the generated profiles. The results showed that to obtain reliable estimates for fractal parameters of a natural rock joint profile, it is necessary to choose a unit for the profile length to satisfy a data density (d) greater than or equal to 5.1. For roughness profiles having 5.1≤d≤51.23 and 1.2≤D≤1.7, w values between 2.5% and 10% of the profile length were found to be highly suitable to produce accurate fractal parameter estimates. It is recommended to use at least seven w values between the estimated minimum and maximum suitable w values in estimating fractal parameters of a natural rock joint profile. It was found that σ and a global trend of a roughness profile have no effect on calculated D. The estimated A was found to increase with both D and σ. The parameter D captures the auto-correlation and A captures the amplitude of a roughness profile at different scales. Therefore, the parameters D and A are recommended to use with the roughness–length method in quantifying rock joint roughness. In addition, at least one more parameter is required to quantify the global trend of a roughness profile, if it exist; in many cases just the inclination or declination angle of the roughness profile in the direction considered would be sufficient to estimate the global trend. Calculated cross-over lengths (segment length of a profile at which a self-affine profile becomes self-similar) for the profiles investigated were found to be extremely small (less than 0.6% of the profile length) indicating that laser profilometers are required to make roughness measurements at interval lengths comparable to the cross-over lengths of the natural rock joint profiles. To calculate rock joint roughness parameters accurately using the self-similar techniques, it is necessary to have roughness measurements made at interval lengths comparable to the cross-over length of the profile. This indicate clearly the difficulty of using self-similar techniques such as the divider method in estimating rock joint roughness accurately.     

Trends in Central East European rented sectors

This paper treats developments inCentral East European rented sectors. An effort ismade to relate these to trends in West Europeanrented sectors as well as to the accompanyingdebates. After the introduction of privatisation andrestitution policies, there has been a trend towardthe residualisation of the public rented sector. Theoutcomes show significant variation in the CentralEast European region.Two groups of countries were identified. The firsthas witnessed only a slight decrease in publicrenting and has retained a substantial co-operativerented stock. Together, these tenures compriseapproximately half of the total stock. The secondgroup experienced a very drastic decrease in publicrenting, dropping in most places below 10 percent.These countries also had a marginal or evennon-existent third (co-operative) sector and anundersized private rental sector. These occurrencesdistinguish this Central East European residualmodel from the Western residual model.It is argued that the tenure configuration of theCentral East European residual model is not stable.Because it is not sustained by a correspondingsystem of housing provision, significant changeswill probably occur. The key predictor of futuredevelopments is the ability of the states tointroduce innovative arrangements that wouldencourage diverse non-profit rental solutions. Thismight determine the direction in which privaterenting develops – towards a non-regulated or aregulated, corporatist system.     

Profile evaluation of rail joint in a 3-m wavelength based on unsupervised learning

Previously, electronic straightedges with a length of 1 m were widely used to measure the longitudinal profiles of rail joints. However, owing to the lack of an efficient measurement device, rail joints with 3-m wavelengths are seldom studied. In this study, a rail measurement trolley based on the chord-reference method was developed with a measurement wavelength of up to 3 m. A field measurement was performed on a 53-km metro line, and the waveforms of 4340 rail joints were obtained. First, to visualize the distribution of the dataset and to find out the common features, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding dimensionality reduction was applied to the rail joint dataset, and each rail joint waveform was mapped to a point in a two-dimensional space. Second, K-means was applied to the rail joint dataset, and six categories of rail joints were obtained. The results indicated that there are two types of rail joints: M-type and W-type, accounting for 18.41% and 76.08% of the total number of joints, respectively, and the remainder are bolted rail joints. Third, to better evaluate rail joint status, the concept of rail joint triangle (RJT) is proposed, and five shape-based features of a rail joint in 3-m wavelength are defined. Finally, using RJT distribution analysis, we observed that the shape-based features provide more essential information about a rail joint, such as symmetry, asymmetry, M-type, or W-type, compared with conventional indexes such as the quality index. Notably, compared with the waveform of a rail joint at 1 m, a 3-m waveform provides significantly more essential information, which can be meaningful for future research on the dynamic impact of rail joints, as well as profile grinding around rail joints. To help other researchers follow our research, our dataset is available on Mendeley Data (RWJ-3 m dataset).     

Government and the Management of an Alien Pest Species: a British perspective

Whilst pest control was deemed the responsibility of individual occupiers of land and buildings, Agriculture Ministers acknowledged an obligation to help secure the co-operative action required to meet that goal. The manner in which such support might be given is illustrated. By way of introduction, the attempts made to regulate rabbit and grey squirrel numbers, and the success of scientists and policy makers in exterminating a further non-native herbivore, the muskrat, in the 1930s, are briefly outlined. Even more remarkably, the Ministry of Agriculture succeeded in eradicating the considerably larger and more widely dispersed coypu population some 50 years later. The paper explores how and why such Government intervention came about, with so little public concern shown for the coypu itself.     

我国新城规划建设中的交通问题思考

目前我国新城发展面临的主要交通问题表现在新城与中心城之间的交通联系多以过境高速公路为主,不收费的快速路连接和大运量快速公共交通方式建设滞后,新城之间、新城与城市其他重要功能区之间的交通连接不足,新城开发缺乏与快速公共交通体系节点的整合等。借鉴巴黎新城和美国华盛顿特区阿灵顿县的经验,在分析新城交通需求特征基础上,研究提出交通问题的4方面建议交通建设与新城开发在时机上要相互呼应;新城与中心城、新城与新城的交通联系方式;新城交通与土地的联合开发;适时建设新城绿色交通。     

Uncertainties in estimating the roughness coefficient of rock fracture surfaces

Joint roughness has a critical role in the deformation behavior of discontinuous rock masses. Several subjective (visual comparison) and quantitative (statistical and fractal) approaches have been proposed for estimating rock joint roughness coefficient (JRC). Using a large collection of 223 published joint profiles, this study investigates variability of the JRC estimates by these approaches. Among the profile parameters, maximum height (R _z), ultimate slope (λ), and fractal dimension (D _h–L, determined using the hypotenuse leg method) show a lower sensitivity to the sampling interval than the root mean square of the first deviation (Z ₂), profile elongation index (δ), fractal dimension (D _c, determined using the compass-walking method), and standard deviation of the angle i (σ _i ). Accordingly, this study proposes two separate sets of equations for quantitatively estimating JRC. The performances of these equations are examined by performing direct shear tests on 23 rock joint samples. The subjective approach is found to underestimate JRC by less than two units because it ignores (1) the main trend of the compared profile and (2) the limited scope of the standard profiles. Following these results, the visual comparison chart is updated by explicitly adding a scale bar for the y-axes of the standard profiles. Several basic rules for visual comparisons are also proposed.

     

How common goldfish could save cities from flooding

Recently, there has been wide national (various British newspapers) and even international (German radio) public interest in Scottish experiments that introduce Carassius auratus (common goldfish) into sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), which have been applied to combat flooding. Moreover, dog faeces were added to these systems to simulate contaminated urban runoff. The purpose of this novel and timely research is to increase public acceptance of zero discharge infiltration ponds, and to control algal growth with C. auratus. Findings show that C. auratus improve most water quality variables after their introduction to planted and unplanted infiltration ponds despite deterioration of virtually all common inflow water quality variables based on an annual comparison. Public interest is high because the study captures the imagination of the urban population facing recurrent flooding problems in autumn in low‐lying areas, and the nuisance of dog excrements despite of new regulations to scoop up droppings.