Keeping it simple? A case study into the advantages and disadvantages of reducing complexity in mega project planning

There are many articles discussing time and cost overruns in mega projects. This research, however, looks at a case that was successful in managing these aspects: a metro extension in the Rotterdam Region in the Netherlands. The literature identifies several causes for overruns and the question thus becomes what prevented these causes from occurring? The answer in Rotterdam's case seems to be a strict focus on reducing complexity, or in other words to keep it simple. Therefore, the main focus in this article is on the reduction of complexity and its effects on the planning of mega infrastructure projects. Are there only advantages to this approach or do certain facets of this approach have negative consequences? Using a case study method with interviews, this article shows the conditions under which the reduction of complexity is beneficial or detrimental.     

The real estate ‘tsunami’ in Spain: the administration of urban growth in the case of Arroyo de la Encomienda and Valladolid,Spain

The ‘Bilbao effect’ was a key argument in the debate over Oslo's new opera house, set to open this spring. Geographer Marius Hofseth presents Norway's largest urban development project in light of political debates on the role of culture in urban development.     

Residents’ relationship with green infrastructure in Cosmo City,Johannesburg

Scholars have expressed concerns about environmental sustainability in low-income housing development in South Africa in terms of the poor households’ relationship with, access to and benefit from natural ecosystems and green spaces. Using a qualitative research approach – discourse-based methods (semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and transect walks), this paper shows how low-income households in Cosmo City, Johannesburg (South Africa) benefit from green infrastructure at the domestic, neighbourhood and riparian scales. The central lesson from this case is that landscape/urban design, planning and management must recognise and respond to socio-economic and socio-ecological realities and dynamics inherent in the ways low-income households relate with green infrastructure.     

Greening the post crisis. Collectivity in private and public community gardens in València (Spain)

Unlike other Western European countries, community gardens have appeared very recently in Spain, and they have rapidly increased during the last decade. Community gardens have adopted different forms –rental, municipal and associative– with contrasted managerial practices. This paper analyzes collectivity of community gardens in València (Spain), including private initiatives, through semi-structured interviews conducted in different gardens of the València Metropolitan Area. Results show how the financial crisis has acted as a catalyst for urban greening latent demands, causing the expansion of community gardens. Despite the different structure, practices and rules of private and public gardens, all of them share aims and actions related to urban greening, food sovereignty, organic farming and community building, and show similar benefits to those observed in other countries. Moreover, the rental gardens allow farmers to expand their services and to engage directly with consumers.     

Community’s evaluation of organizational legitimacy: Formation and reconsideration

With the aim of delving into the legitimacy formation mechanisms used by communities to make judgements about project organizations, this research studied the local community and surrounding environment of four oil extraction projects located in three developing countries. The results of the cross-case analysis suggest that communities' negative perceptions from government and media can influence their judgement of organizational behaviour. Additionally, this research proposes that local communities' anticipation of the consequences of protesting against the organization can make them decide not to take any action. According to institutional theory, when community individuals arrive at a legitimacy verdict about an organization, their future perceptions will mainly be influenced by this decision rather than conscious consideration of the conditions. Accordingly, this research recommends that organizations aiming to recover their reputation need to adopt compensation activities with a substantial influence on the improvement of conditions. It is only in such conditions that communities will consciously evaluate organizational legitimacy. Trivial changes in organizational behaviour will only result in adding new evidences in support of the illegitimacy of organizations.     

‘Sicherheit’: examining residents’ perceptions of community safety in working-class residential areas undergoing regeneration in Limerick City,Ireland

This paper examines the perceptions of residents’ in two housing estates in Limerick, a peripheral Irish city, on how (un)safety effects their day-to-day lives and is an intrinsic element in the production and reproduction of their urban territories. In focusing on these areas which are currently ‘undergoing’ the largest urban regeneration project in the history of the Irish State, our analysis provides new insights into the intersections between regeneration processes and (un)sicherheit. Significantly, our findings demonstrate that regeneration processes, often billed as enhancing community safety, can in fact contribute to destabilising the triumvirate of safety, certainty and security.     

Tissue, age, and sex distribution of thallium in shrews from Doñana, a protected area in SW Spain

In 1998, the protected area of Do?ana, an important natural region in SW Europe, was affected with great amount of acidic waters and sludge from a pyrite mine loaded with toxic metals such as thallium (Tl). Since this ecological catastrophe, several studies have addressed the effects of this pollution on the flora and fauna in this protected area. However, in contrast to other non-essential metals, scarce information on Tl was available after this disaster, especially in terrestrial environments. This study reported a 3- and 10-fold increase in Tl in liver and kidneys, respectively, of the greater white-toothed shrew, Crocidura russula, in the polluted site in comparison with reference animals. Kidneys showed the highest concentrations of this metal in the polluted site, whereas both organs analysed have similar concentrations in the reference site. Although no significant age-dependent variation was found, adults had higher concentrations than juveniles. Moreover, females showed higher concentrations than males. These results demonstrate the high entrance and transfer of Tl in terrestrial food-chains. To the best of my knowledge, these data constitute the first measurements of Tl in mammals from the protected area of Do?ana and are among the few available for insectivorous mammals.     

Reclaiming respectability? The class-cultural dynamics of crime, community and governance in inner-city Dublin

This paper critically examines developments in Irish urban governance through an ethnographic account of one community's historical memory and contemporary structure. During an era of rapid economic growth, the Irish state has courted previously excluded communities, offering them greater "inclusion" as "partners" in responding to urban decay and crime. The micro-governance structures this creates, however, become sites of contest between competing community factions and class-cultural imperatives. Tensions emerge between aspirational community leaders championing the aesthetics (if not the values) of "respectability" and residual residents who are presented as "rough". The paper demonstrates that nuances of class-cultural identity dictate the character of partnership governance at the community level with particular implications for local regeneration and crime control agendas.     

Organisation, ‘anchoring’ of knowledge,and innovative activity in construction

The construction industry is characterised by the widespread use of project organisation. It has been suggested that the relatively low level of innovative activity in the industry can be explained by the temporary nature of firm boundary‐crossing projects. Survey data from the Danish construction industry is used to investigate the importance of learning and ‘anchoring’ of project‐specific knowledge at the firm level for participation in innovative activities. The data cover both the overall Danish construction industry and a specific region, North Jutland, which has a relatively high specialisation of construction workers. Latent class and regression analyses reveal that firms that make extensive use of partnering, together with internal product and process evaluation and knowledge diffusion (labelled ‘knowledge‐anchoring mechanisms’), are more likely to participate in innovative activities than firms which make less use of these mechanisms. This indicates that construction firms are able to compensate for the problems that temporary interorganisational projects may cause in relation to continuous learning at the firm level.     

Relationship between cleavage orientation,uniaxial compressive strength and Young’s modulus for slates in NW Spain

Slates from North Western Spain have been studied to establish the influence of the cleavage orientation on the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and Young’s modulus (E). Slate, sandstone and intercalated slate/sandstone lithologies were tested and the higher strengths were always obtained when the load was applied parallel, or close to parallel, to the slaty cleavage. This study suggests the following empirical relationships for unweathered slates in saturated conditions UCS = 0.037β ² − 7.622(β + 200.6, E × 10⁴ = 0.002β ² − 0.134β + 3.453. E can be estimated from UCS values using E × 10⁴ = 429,56 (UCS)^0.9122. These empirical equations will assist in geotechnical studies in this area of NW Spain where slate quarrying is an important industry.      

The ‘tyranny of discounting’ in economic efficiency evaluation of capital investment projects susceptible to ecological and climatic changes

In this article, we consider the question of barriers to increasing investment activity in the Boreal and Arctic regions of Siberia, taking into account the factors of ecological and climatic changes. We investigate the current tendencies of large Russian companies in financing environmental policy measures. This is studied mainly in the dynamic of the ratio of ‘current expenditures to investments’ for environmental protection. It is essential to change the financial preference of remedying environmental damage to one of preventing environmental damage by improving warning technology and conducting research and development. Solving this problem is only possible by dictating a standard discounting procedure based on correcting discount rates, periods of cash flow analysis and regulations of Russian accounting standards regarding expenditures on natural resource development.     

Cross-Border Migration of Hong Kong Residents Under the ‘One Country,Two Systems’ Policy

In market economies the built environment is largely the product of private sector property development. Property development is a high-risk entrepreneurial activity executing expensive projects with long gestation periods in an uncertain environment and into an uncertain future. Risk lies at the core of development: the developer manages the multiple risks of development and it is the capital injection and financing that is placed at risk. From the developer's perspective the search for development capital is a quest: to access more finance, over a longer term, with fewer conditions and at lower rates. From the supply angle, capital of various sources—banks, insurance companies, superannuation funds, accumulated firm profits, retail investors and private equity—is always seeking above market returns for limited risk. Property development presents one potentially lucrative, but risky, investment opportunity. Competition for returns on capital produces a continual dynamic evolution of methods for funding property developments. Thus, the relationship between capital and development and the outcomes for the built environment are in a restless continual evolution. Little is documented about the ways development is financed in Australia and even less of the consequences for cities. Using publicly available data sources and examples of different development financing from Australian practice, this article argues that different methods of financing development have different outcomes and consequences for the built environment. This article also presents an agenda for further research into these themes.     

Professional authority,power and emerging forms of ‘profession’ in quantity surveying

This paper presents an exploratory and theoretical analysis of professional authority and power and its impact on the future of quantity surveying as a profession. The paper argues that the professional knowledge base of quantity surveying and its relationship to the skills used by quantity surveyors in providing a service to clients forms one of the basic building blocks of professional power and authority. An analysis of the client practitioner relationship in quantity surveying is undertaken using two models of ‘profession’, one concerned with client evaluation and the second with the development of mystique, cruciality and consequently professional authority. The paper concludes that quantity surveying does not currently have a broad base for the continued development of professional authority and power. However, the potential is there and could stem from the expansion of the resource controller or resource gatekeeper roles. Finally, the paper discusses emerging forms of ‘profession’, in quantity surveying and highlights that this could be affected by; the changing nature of employment in different organizations, the distinction between the professional and technician function, the issue of sub-contracting in private practice and the development of large professional bureaucracies, through merger activity, that could offer multiple surveying services and exercise considerable influence over the future direction of the profession.     

Dynamic and real-time simulation of BMS and air-conditioning system as a ‘living’ environment for learning/training

Dynamic and real-time simulation models are developed to simulate the thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, environmental and energy performance of building a variable air volume (VAV) air-conditioning system and its building management system (BMS). On-line direct digital control (DDC) and supervisory strategies of the BMS controlling the dynamic air-conditioning system are simulated. A window-based users interface is developed to simulate the man–machine interface of a BMS, through which users can monitor the on-line operation, tune the local control loops, and reset the supervisory control strategies. This paper presents models, simulation software, and examples that users practice on the simulated on-line BMS and air-conditioning system using the software.     

“We’re just existing,not living!” Mortgage stress and the concealed costs of coping with crisis

Following the financial crisis, an extensive literature has examined the vulnerabilities facing mortgagors in default and foreclosure. However, in addition to these “overt casualties” of the crash, many households are struggling to meet their mortgage payments by enduring severe cutbacks to their quality of life. The experiences of these “unrevealed casualties” of the financial crisis and the coping strategies they employ to respond to mortgage stress remain under-explored. Drawing on survey data of Irish mortgagors (n = 433), this paper examines the impacts of mortgage stress upon quality of life and mortgagors’ coping strategies to respond to their financial difficulties. The findings suggest that mortgage stress affects a broader range of households than previously considered; mortgage stressed households adopt a range of expenditure, employment, finance and housing-related responses; and more punitive responses correlate with greater mortgage stress levels, thereby providing a fuller account of the real cost of coping with the crisis impacts.     

“It’s Just a Matter of Adjustment”: Residents’ Perceptions and the Potential for Low-impact Home Practices

In addition to material, spatial and thermal standards and norms that influence the resource intensity of home environments, a key indicator of the environmental impact related to housing is found in residents’ ways of life. Of interest to the study presented in this paper is how residents’ perceptions of home and living standards relate to opinions on environmental issues and the reduction of resource use, exploring the potential and willingness to engage in low-impact ways of living. Empirical material from a questionnaire (n = 156) and interview study (n = 22) with residents in a tenant-owned housing association in Sweden provides insights into conventions and perceptions surrounding practices primarily linked to voluntary simplicity, living smaller as well as sharing spaces and resources. The study emphasizes the need for understanding residents’ perspectives and the implications this might have for targeting the resource intensity of homes in future development and policy.     

Social and spatial differentiation of high and low income groups’ out-of-home activities in Guangzhou,China

With China’s rapid urbanisation driving its growing economy, the enlarging socio-spatial inequalities in the cities have received wide attention. Rather than following the largely studied residential spaces, this paper focuses on socio-spatial differentiation based on the spaces of one’s out-of-home activities. Using data of 1006 individuals collected by door to door questionnaires, this paper sets up the spatial and temporal autocorrelation GT coefficient to examine the spatial heterogeneity characteristics of high- and low income groups’ out-of-home activities in a continuous spatiotemporal framework. The factors and different mechanisms influencing the clustering of the activities are discussed to better understand social diversity in post-reform urban China. The results suggest that there is obvious spatial and temporal variation in high- and low income groups’ out-of-home activities, indicating that differing social spaces are not just limited to the macro-static residence-based living space, but also exist in the individual’s daily-activities space. Both high- and low income people have drastically different activity spaces and they may not interact much with each other. This is socially very significant because it means that there is considerable social isolation or segregation for both groups. The results also show that within the same income group there exists a divisive cluster with different formation mechanisms, including the job–housing relationship, the correlation of activity opportunities with those surrounding residential areas and the individual’s ability to access activities (that is, space–time accessibility). Structural transition can also impact on activities choices of various social groups.