Financing Rail Rapid Transit System: A Comparison Between Chicago and Shanghai

Detailed financial information of a rail rapid line project is often unavailable to the general public until a project has been completed for a couple of years and even for decades. This is especially true in the Chinese context. Based on available information, this paper compares four aspects of the financing of two rail rapid lines that were built almost simultaneously in Shanghai of China and Chicago of the US. The author finds: first, the central governments had the greatest impact on the capital investment in both lines; second, the formation of transit and financial plans in two cities both involved complicated political processes which were shaped by certain political figures and unforeseeable events; third, in the longer term, it was more expensive to maintain a rail rapid line than to build a new line in both countries; and finally, mainly depending on foreign loans and bonds, Shanghai faced greater challenge in offsetting the financial deficit. But this situation was improved as the Shanghai rail rapid system expanded and matured.     

Cornerstone by the Founder——Commending Academician WANG Ju-yuan for His Posthumous Work The History of Ancient Chinese Gardens

Landscape architecture was not a subject at college in China until 1951,though it has a history of 2000 years in this country according to historical documents.The subject was originally titled Gardening,and then gradually being developed into a comprehensive subject of Landscape Planning and Design.Mr.Wang Juyuan was one of the main founders.At that time,he and Mr.Wu Liangyong schemed the subject and submitted a formal proposal.When the application was authorized,the Department of Architecture at Tsinghua University and the Department of Horticulture at Beijing Agriculture University co-operated this subject.The first graduates were selected by BAU and finished the last two-year study at Tsinghua,so their degree was co-conferred by these two universities.Later,freshmen since 1952 studied at BAU,where teachers from Tsinghua taught some courses.In 1956,the Ministry of Education adjusted school subjects,reallocating Gardening subject to Beijing Forestry College and re-titling it Urban and Residential Greening.During that period,Mr.Wang founded the rudiment of this subject and gradually developed it for times' needs.     

The Comprehensive Efficiency and Diverse Models of a Traditional Street

This article discusses its cultural background, its comprehen-sive efficiency and diverse models and problems noteworthy in de-sign. In recent years, the traditional-styled street (hereinafter re-ferred to as traditional street) of has emerged in China. Some wererenovated, some newly built, some imitated ancient styles andothers were restored to what they were before (restored to whatthey were in the initial period of or before liberation), the construc-tion techniques were different, but their aims were similar.However, different people have expressed different opinions aboutthis, some praised it, others censured it, so the public opinions arenot uniform. For example, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held inTianjin for the renovation of the Ancient Cultural Street near theTianhou Palace in Tianjin, the news was played up by local news-papers, it was really a scene of bustle and excitement, people in theconstruction circle, however, made no reaction to it....This culturalstreet on which the construction circle made no comments is to theliking of ordinary local people. This street is seething with activitywith people bustling about all the year round. As reactions to thematter are so sharply contrast, how can the matter be regarded asunimportant. It's better for the construction circle to probe, from va-rious angles, into the mechanism for the emergence of the tradition-al street and ways for its development than to evade the matter.     

Experimental Analysis of Mechanical Behavior of Lintels with Murfor Reinforcement in Structural Masonry

The main goal of this study is analysis the mechanical behavior, failure mode and deflections of masonry beams lintels when subjected to concentrated loading. Walls were built using hollow clay blocks, using horizontal reinforcement on bed joint, and using of Murfor steel reinforcement. The conclusions of this work was： at middle of span, the load and displacement results present a linear behavior until failure; there two regions of failure, the region ＂A＂ presents the association of crushing and the region ＂B＂ shows the shear stress between block and mortar; the visual analysis of experimental tests shows the lost of adhesion between the mortar joint and blocks. It was not observed cracks on the mid-span produced by bending; it is possible to detach that the use of plane truss in Brazil as technological alternative is feasible and makes the masonry walls execution more rational, increasing the velocity of production.     

The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers

Congratulations to the HKIA and all thirty entrants for the 1994/95 HKIA Annual Awards.The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers is pleased to support its sister institution in its efforts to further improve the high standards of the architectural profession in Hong Kong.We wish it every success in the years to come.     

FRAC Centre Collection

The FRAC Centre at Orleans, under the dual aegis of the Centre RegionalCouncil and the French Ministry of Culture and Communications, in theform of its regional bureau (Direction Regionale des Affaires Culturellesdu Centre) has been building up a contemporary architectural collection,focusing on its experimental dimension, for the past eight years. Thiscollection, which was started and has been developed by philosopher andarchitectural critic Frederic Migayrou, has shifted towards utopia andresearch, both being open to the aesthetic concerns common to otherartistic and philosophical disciplines alike. It is not the purpose of theFRAC Centre collection to accumulate "objects" of architecture, which areakin to "reified" instances of research. Rather, it is organized around the"project" concept, whereby it is possible to retrace all the phases involvedin architectural formulations, executed and otherwise. The "process"concept thus lies at the core of this collection.     

Analysis of Urban Morphology in Core Towns＇ Neighborhoods of Mexico： Santa Barbara＇s Neighborhood as a Case Study

Cities＇ urban morphology is the result of historic, cultural, political and social processes. The historical cores in Mexican cities have high cultural diversity, which also intermingle pre-Hispanic cultures with colonial forms, as well with modernity and post-modernity irruption. The case study is Santa Barbara＇s neighborhood in Toluca City, which was founded in 1524, and the case study was the first neighborhood in Toluca＇s historical core. At present time, this neighborhood is considered as one of the most dangerous places in the city＇s historical core, therefore, it has been abandoned. This paper will display the changes in urban morphology of the neighborhood through the years from 1877 to 2010. For site evaluation, the methodologies of Ashihara （1982） and Lynch＇s （1961） were used in order to analyze positive and negative spaces, as well as main street visual features, street and avenue directions, street circulation and street circulation path configuration. The results show that the focal nodes are a key factor for economic and social reactivation, with which, through urban activation of vacant lots and the traditional use of the streets as public space, is possible to generate centripetal development to restructure the neighborhood.     

The Review and Prospect of Chinese Urban Planning from 1980s to 1990s

Ⅰ.Chinese Cities and Towns in1980sThe development and changes ofChinese cities and towns over the last dec-ade had been most extraordinary,which at-tributed both to its thousand-year-civiliza-tion-history and development process sincethe founding of the P.R.China.The devel-opment changes are in both “quantity” and“quality”.Although it is a bit difficult tosummarize all the changes,at least,it is pos-sible to sum up the following subjects fordiscussion.     

Use of ANSYS for Thermal Analysis in Mass Concrete

With the increasing development of Brazil in recent years, major engineering construction works have been designed and built, partieutarly those involving large volumes of mass concrete, such as in the case of dams. Mass concrete, due to its large size and volume, presents a considerable temperature rise caused by cement grain hydration. This temperature rise can be sufficient to cause concrete crack and/or cracking, which may lead to serious problems. In this paper, we sought to study heat generation and temperature field in mass concrete through ANSYS software, which uses finite element method to analyze the problem. This program allows temperatures to be checked for different concrete ages. With that, it is possible to evaluate the temperatures obtained and the factors influencing the results in a short period of time at a low cost. With the help of the software, it is possible to check the temperatures for different concrete properties by analyzing them on different concreting days. Therefore, it was possible to establish that the properties of the concrete directly influence the temperature evolution phenomenon.     

Urban Utopia and Building Experimentations： The Rural Villages of the Sicilian Latifundium

The colonization of Sicilian latifundium was an attempt of regeneration of the rural areas. It was carried out by Benito Mussolini, called II Duce, who governed Italy by a regime with an absolute and conservative approach for 20 years since 1922. According to this plan, there were some rural villages （with a school, a church, a police station and a doctor＇s surgery） and a number of rural homes, spread in the landscape, that formed one of the most important achievements of the agrarian reform in Italy. The author has been conducting scientific research on this topic for several years. He started with the archive ＂Ente per la Colonizzazione del Latifondo Siciliano＂ （now called Ente Sviluppo Agricolo） to review the original designs and contracts with companies, ledgers and other administrative documents. Lately, he has been reviewing the personal archives of designers involved in the building program, where he has found original drawings, letters, sketches, etc.. He has also conducted some architectonic and technical surveys of the sites. We have to consider that nowadays the mentioned rural villages are a strategic resource for the development of the neighboring areas, as it may become a network for the sustainable tourism and the promotion of the local agro food specialties. On this purpose, the local authority is going to promote some plans for the requalification of these sites. The particular achievement of this article is to show a number of possibilities for the reuse of these places.     

Review and Exploration of the Development of Planning for the Conservation of the Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in China

To comprehend the development of the famous histori-cal and cultural cities in China and their conservation plan-ning, it is necessary to understand, first of all, the back-ground of their history and present condition. This back-ground has taken shape in the historic development of thecities and is influenced by many complicated factors of thepresent time. To discuss these factors in simple way, theycan be summarized as follows:The impact of the historical and cultural ideas;The impact of the physical and environmental condi-tion;The impact of the present socialand economicsituation.The impact of the historical and cultural ideasChina is a country with ancient civilization. TheChinese cultural has been shaped through development, in-heritance and harmony in a history of 5000 years on the ba-sis of the ancient Huaxia Culture with the Yellow River andthe Yangtse River as the main arteries.The rising of ancient cities in China can be traced backto over 3500 years ago. China is a multinational country. Int     

Challenges of Structure in Today＇s Architectural,Economic and Social Context

The recent establishment of a digital culture and society, together with current financial crisis and urgent energetic and climatic needs, has radically changed the architectural scene from the optimism of some years ago to a situation of uncertainty and huge social demands and challenges. In this context, it is suggested to rethink the role of structure in architecture, such as an enabler, a guide and a catalyst. The purpose of this paper is to present the economic, cultural and social context in which architecture develops nowadays. The method, to suggest a discussion on which role the structure may adopt in the architecture to come. The achievement, to highlight its potential to face current requirements and challenges.     

Mining seismicity in the Witwatersrand Basin:monitoring, mechanisms and mitigation strategies in perspective

The Kaapvaal Craton in South Africa hosts one of the largest gold placer deposits in the world. Mining in the Witwatersrand Basin here has been the source of about one third to one half of the gold ever produced in the world. Gold was discovered in the Johannesburg area in 1886 and after 120 years of continuous operation, mining is currently approaching depths of 4 000 m. In spite of the challenges and risks that the industry has had to deal with including rock temperature, ventilation and water, one of the most feared hazards in the basin has been the threat from the ongoing occurrence of seismicity and rockbursts. The problem first manifested itself by way of the occurrence of tremors roughly twenty years after the commencement of mining operations. This paper traces the history of the approach to rockbursts and seismicity during the 120 year history of mining in the basin. It portrays a picture of the mining seismicity in terms of monitoring phases, mechanisms and mitigation strategies. The work of research organizations over the years is highlighted with a brief mention of current regulation strategies on the part of the mining inspectorate.     

Mechanical behavior of sandy facies of Opalinus Clay under different loadconditions

The mechanical behavior of sandy facies of Opalinus Clay at the Mont Terri underground rock laboratory(URL)in Switzerland was investigated with drained and undrained triaxial compression and extension,cyclic compression,and creep tests.Samples were taken from boreholes drilled parallel to bedding.Most of the samples were reconditioned to minimize sampling effects of desaturation and micro-cracking.The compression was accomplished by increasing axial stress at constant radial stress.The extension was carried out by increasing radial stress at constant axial stress.Moreover,extension was also achieved by simultaneously increasing radial stress and decreasing axial stress under constant mean stress.The test results showed elastoplastic stress-strain behavior with volumetric compaction until onset of dilatancy at high deviatoric stresses above 80%-90%of the peak failure strength.The strength is dependent upon load path and mean stress.The strength under triaxial compression is higher than that under extension.The respective strength increases with increasing mean stress.Desaturation enhances the stiffness and strength of the claystone.The deformation and strength of the elaystone are time-dependent.Under constant deviatoric stress,the claystone crept continuously with time,which can be characterized by a transient phase and a following stationary phase,and even a tertiary phase at high deviatoric stresses to rupture.     

The Rise of the Nantong Harbour and the Development Strategy of Nantong City

Nantong in Jiangsu Province is one ofthe 14 coastal port cities designated to opento the outside world. Recent years saw theincreasing importance of the Nantong Har-bour, with its cargo handling capacitymiraculously shooting up from 2.96 milliontonnes in 1980 to 10.19 million tonnes in1985. Nantong has grown from a lack-lus-ter inland river harbour into an importantsea port of China and the hub of theriver-sea coordinated transport system inthe Yangtze River Valley. Although it is     

Bending Stresses of Steel Web Tapered Tee Section Cantilevers

Although commonly used, no design method is available for steel web tapered tee section cantilevers. This paper investigates the bending stresses of such beams. Relationships between the maximum compressive stress and the degree of taper were investigated. An analytical model is presented to determine the location of the maximum stress when subjected to a uniformly distributed load or a point load at the free end and was validated using finite element analysis and physical tests. It was found that the maximum stress always occurs at the support when subjected to a uniformly distributed load. When subjected to a point load at the free end and the degree of taper is up to seven, it was found that Miller＇s equation could be used to determine the location of the maximum stress. However, it is shown that when the degree of taper is greater than seven, Miller＇s equation does not accurately predict the location and the analytical model should be used. It was also found that the location of the maximum stress was solely dependent on the degree of taper, while a geometric ratio, fl was required to determine the magnitude of the maximum stress. A simple method that predicts the magnitude of the maximum stress is proposed. The average error in the prediction of the magnitude of the maximum stress is found to be less than 1.0%.     

Ten Years'Progress of Administration Work for Registered Urban Planners

The urban planner qualification system of China was established in the year of 2000.After ten years’ progress,a team of 15,000 registered urban planners has been set up,which has become the backbone of China’s urban planning industry and has played an important role.The enhancement of the administration of registered urban planners is needed for standardizing urban planning education,accelerating the fostering of planning professionals,and keeping pace with the market economy system and the urban-rural planning in the new era.Meanwhile,it is also an important task for China’s urban planning industry to open up to the outside world and catch up with international standards.     

A Study on the Distances of Small Mobile Robot Moves towards Infants

In recent years, it is remarkable that various robots are being developed, and the development of robot technology is beginning to be taken into an actual living space. There are still many questions that we will have to answer for the harmonization of living together with a robot. This study is focused on ＂the study of how to plan and design a living space in harmonizing with robots＂, and focused on the effects of infants （subjects） along with the distance between robots and themselves. The study is to seek for the minimum distance for the subjects who felt that ＂I do not want a robot to be any closer being approached to me＂. This experiment was conducted among 30 infants at the kindergarten, utilizing a small experimental robot. A small robot whose dimension is 120 mm （W） ×130 mm （D） × 70 mm （H）, approaching infants as is to see if it would make any differences to the infant＇s reactions.     

The Role of Architectural Considerations in Seismic Performance of Buildings： A Case Study in Iran

Experience from recent earthquakes such as Gilan, Zanjan, Bam and Lorestan earthquakes in Iran indicated that the constructed buildings are vulnerable against earthquake. Vulnerability of these structures is due to various reasons such as designing without considering seismic regulations, problems of regulations （design goals）, implementation problems, changing of the building occupancy class, increasing the weight of building stories, adding new stories to the building and changing in architecture of building without considering structural system. So the main objective of this research is to examine the features of building configuration and their effects as for the damages to buildings in past earthquakes. For this purpose, initially four occurred earthquakes in Iran are selected as case study. Then three types of buildings （steel structure, concrete structure and masonry buildings） are analyzed with details. Results showed that the most of damages are occurred in the old steel structures and masonry buildings which their ages are more than 25 years. The study showed that most of the buildings in the study area are steel structure and masonry buildings while concrete structures are infrequent which most of them had no or slight damages. Therefore, the importance and need to enhance the performance of available buildings against earthquake forces by rehabilitating methods would be more important than before. Also results indicated that the decisions related to architectural plan which have significant effect on seismic performance of buildings, can be divided into three categories： configuration of building, restrictive formal architectural plan and dangerous structural components, as these categories are not obstacle of each other, it is possible that each category has an influential effect on others. So organizing the design decisions in this way is very important so as to manage their effects and interdependencies.     

Validation of a Value Management Approach Developed for the Saudi Public Sector

A VM （value management） approach was developed that better suits the culture and the context of the SPS （Saudi Public Sector）. This approach provided a comprehensive assessment of VM at institutional, organizational and project levels. This paper illustrates the procedures that were used to validate the developed VM approach. For the institutional and organizational levels, the VM approach was validated by conducting telephone interviews with three experts from three organizations that use VM and with two senior managers from the MOF （Ministry of Finance）. Mainly, it was found that the MOF should be supported by experts to set up a centre of excellence that can set VM policy, guidelines and standards for the promotion of VM in the SPS, in order to ensure achieving value for money spent in SPS projects. The developed VM approach, as it would be applied at the project level, was presented to 11 experts, all of whom completed a validation questionnaire and presented their comments. Subsequently, the questionnaires were analyzed and the VM approach was amended to reflect the inputs provided by these experts. It was concluded that VM should be applied at least twice on SPS projects. Firstly, it is to review and structure strategic and project briefs to sort out soft issues, and secondly, it is to optimize project designs and sort out hard issues.