Telephone calls and communication barriers

This paper examines barriers to communication in telephone traffic. It is found that telephone communication between The Netherlands and most other European countries is about 30% of the level it would achieve if these countries happened to be regions in the same nation. For communication with Eastern Europe, the even smaller figure of about 4% resulted. It is also shown that telephone calls are closely related to other kinds of spatial interaction, especially trade flows.     

Locating a Surveillance Infrastructure in and Near Ports or on Other Planar Surfaces to Monitor Flows

Abstract: A safety and security issue of concern for traffic managers and homeland security is the monitoring of flows on “planar surfaces,” such as ports and border areas. This article addresses the problem of locating surveillance radars to cover a given target surface that may have barriers through which radar signals cannot penetrate. The area of coverage of a radar is assumed to be a disc, or a partial disc when there are barriers, with a known radius. The article shows that the corresponding location problems relate to two well studied problems: the set‐covering model and the maximal covering problem. In the first problem, the minimum number of radars is to be located to completely cover the target area; in the second problem a given number M of radars are to be located to cover the target area as much as possible. Based on a discrete representation of the target area, a Lagrangian heuristic and a two‐stage procedure with a conquer‐and‐divide scaling are developed to solve the above two models. The computational experiences reported demonstrate that the developed method solves well the radar location problems formulated here.     

Fires Involving Appliance Housings— Is There a Clear and Present Danger?

In the past couple years, worldwide attention has been focused on the fire hazard potentially posed by the housings or casings of several types of equipment. This paper addresses the narrow question of whether there is a clear and present danger in the US with regard to the fire hazard posed by the appliance housings of certain types of equipment, based on the fire loss record relevant to these issues. The best available fire loss statistics indicate that the appliance housing fire problem in the USA may be large enough to justify some attention but would not normally be regarded as large enough to justify urgent or priority attention. The paper also asks whether there are other reasons that would justify urgent action and discusses several candidate reasons.     

The management of urban surface water drainage in England and Wales

Partly in response to the UK flooding events of 2007, a number of reports have recently been produced addressing the legislative, administrative, institutional and structural practices that are required to improve urban surface water management and hence reduce future flooding incidents and associated pollution impacts. This paper addresses the principal barriers to progress that have been identified and how these are likely to be overcome. Improved and integrated organisational structures, process and procedures are required and relationships between flood risk management and water quality need to be addressed at regional, area and local levels as well as legislative clarification on surface water discharges. Nontechnical aspects will need to be supported by new modelling approaches for flood risk prediction at both local and catchment scale with effective communication systems and tools being developed and implemented for full and effective stakeholder participation.     

Multilevel network barriers

This paper introduces the notion ofnetwork barriers and discusses some methodologies that might be applicable in the context of multilevel networks. The Öresund Region in Scandinavia provides an illustrative study area for examining contact behaviour in a network context under the combined influence of geographical and political barriers. Resulting contact patterns suggest that the classic methods of spatial interaction analysis (such as the gravity model) may have rather limited relevance if we wish to measure network accessibility on a multilevel or hierarchical basis. To facilitate this type of analysis, a multidimensional measure of contact frequency calledinteractivity is defined and its analytical potential is assessed. Some ideas for future research are also mentioned in order to test the proposed hypotheses and methodologies in a more rigorous manner.     

Transportation and telecommunications costs

The decreasing costs of telecommunications and the often increasing costs of transportation have given rise to claims that information-intensive activities are becoming footloose. One of the assumptions underlying these claims is that the cost of distance in telecommunications is negligible or very low. This paper examines the relationship between distance and interaction (telecommunications and transportation) costs and rates, with particular emphasis on the effects of geographical scale. Focusing on data from Israel, it demonstrates that the costs of distance are persistent even in telecommunications systems; that for short distances or small regions, transportation costs are not necessarily higher than telecommunications costs; and that pricing of telecommunications services by governments (or PTT's) often does not reflect the costs of providing the services. This creates a cost distribution which differs from Euclidean geographical distances: discontinuities in the rate structure of telecommunications distort the distance-cost schedules and, by creating barriers, may affect location decisions.The paper also demonstrates that actual interaction costs are context specific and therefore no general model has been formulated. Instead, an accounting procedure, which can be used by decision-makers considering (re)location in specific contexts, is suggested.     

Should we care about neutrality in the city?

Neutrality in political philosophy is a contested idea. The paper argues that there are valid moral reasons to incorporate neutrality in spatial organization considerations, by appealing to universal reasons rather than sectarian reasons. This is a view that defends ‘justificatory neutrality’. The paper responds to previous concerns regarding the applicability of neutrality in the spatial sphere, arguing that the conception of justificatory neutrality successfully addresses these concerns. Yet, the paper raises doubts whether the arguments that persist in the current political philosophy literature can or should, at the end of the day, be applied to the spatial sphere.     

COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS' PERCEPTIONS OF CITIZENSHIP ROLES IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY: A CASE STUDY OF ATTITUDES THAT AFFECT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

ABSTRACT: This article addresses the linkages and barriers between civic participation and political participation in urban communities, through a qualitative case study of the attitudes of community activists in a small urban community. Robert Putnam's theoretical model of civic and political involvement suggests a strong linkage between civic engagement and political engagement, while Nina Eliasoph's model suggests substantial barriers between participation in the local civic realm and participation in the local political realm. These competing models are given a preliminary test utilizing in depth interviews with a cross section of persons who are actively involved in the civic and/or the political realms. The data confirm Putnam's assertion of the strong linkage between the two, but they suggest that the two arenas are viewed as distinct by activists and that the rewards derived from civic engagement are quite different from those of political engagement. The analysis also suggests that community activists have strongly negative views of those who do not participate and that their suggestions for involving others have limited utility. This barrier may be the strongest of all in preventing both civic and political engagement in the urban community.     

Stormwater control measure (SCM) maintenance considerations to ensure designed functionality

Great investment is made in the design and installation of stormwater control measures (SCMs). Substantial research investment, too, is made to optimise the performance of SCMs. However, once installed, SCMs often suffer from lack of maintenance or even outright neglect. Key maintenance needs for wet ponds, constructed stormwater wetlands, bioretention, infiltration practices, permeable pavement, swales, and rainwater harvesting systems are reviewed with many tasks, such as the cleaning of pre-treatment areas and the preservation of infiltration surfaces, being common maintenance themes among SCMs. Consequences of lacking maintenance are illustrated (mainly insufficient function or failure). Probable reasons for neglect include insufficient communication, unclear responsibilities, lack of knowledge, financial barriers, and decentralised measures. In future designs and research, maintenance (and lack thereof) should be considered. Assessing the performance of SCMs conservatively and including safety factors may prevent consequences of under-maintenance; and requiring regular inspection may help to enforce sufficient maintenance.     

上海美住项目规划

总设计原则是．在考虑到生态及经济的前提下．打造出优美实用的城市设计方案。以营造高品质的标志性的空间为目标．一个由多样的空间、场地、功能、绿和水所组成的体系得以建立。家的感受通过可标识性得以确立。只有这样的国际水准的别墅区设计,才能满足高标准的客户群需要。住宅,人的第二皮肤,居住的环境对居住质量至关重要。所以在设计中重点考虑住宅环境的塑造。     

媒体技能研讨会:打破科学家和记者之间的壁垒

科学家与记者之间存在着文化和行业方面的壁垒。这些壁垒阻碍了科学通过媒体得到有效的传播。克服这一困难的方法是对科学家进行媒体技能的培训。文章介绍了一种在澳大利亚进行了12年之久的行之有效的培训方法,论证的是这些研讨会是如何打破在科学家和记者之间的壁垒,并能确保科学信息通过媒体有效地传播到普通大众。该方法在包括南非、新西兰和菲律宾等其他国家都得到成功的应用。     

Dynamic knowledge nets in a changing building process

Hypotheses and explanation models are put forward about the future global structure, manipulation and transfer of knowledge. The so called Dynamic Knowledge Nets, DKN, are defined and used to explain changes for the next generation of computerized communication and knowledge handling systems. More and more powerful tools become available to model and visualize different parts of our reality. These tools will influence our possibilities to create useful models and will also have a great impact on how these models are integrated and accessed. Behind the interfaces dwell more and more capable integrated knowledge representations which are closely related to pertinent search strategies. It is now possible in a changing building process to create models which bring about a clearer and more obvious connection between the applications, our intentions and the computer stored models. The systems we are formulating today may thus provide us with dramatically better communication tools as communication rooms, personal “telescreens”, and virtual realities. We must formulate and try out new concepts. New tools for building, using and maintaining the next generation systems have been and are continuously created and tested at the KBS-MEDIA LAB (knowledge based systems-media) at Lund University. Examples are given outgoing from ongoing research mainly the Material and Vendor Information and Building Maintenance Systems as well as Decision Support at the Building Site. These systems can shortly be described as multi agent environments with multimedia context dependent user interfaces to underlying facts bases.     

Women in the UK construction industry

This paper considers the opportunities for, and barriers against, women within the UK construction industry. Women form the greater proportion of the economically active UK population and yet within construction, and other industries, they are under represented. Data available clearly indicates that women are more than capable of performing the tasks undertaken by many professional male counter-parts. Many of the professional bodies within the industry have a women's cohort, which may be perceived as a useful starting point, but does not fully reflect the potential available. It is suggested that women should be better represented and consideration is given to methods suitable for increasing the representation and reducing or eliminating some of the barriers to entry and eventual retention.     

System interactions of stormwater management using sustainable urban drainage systems and green infrastructure

This study explores system interactions of stormwater management solutions using Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SuDS) and Green Infrastructure (GI) within the wider urban landscape. A series of interdependencies between urban components relating to stormwater management are identified. These include physical interdependency, geographical interdependency, cyber interdependency and logical interdependency, as defined by Peerenboom (2001). Stormwater management using SuDS/GI are viewed according to their Hydrological, Ecological and the Built Environment functions during events up to the design rain (non-flood condition) and during controlled exceedance and uncontrolled inundation (flood condition). The inclusion of SuDS/GI into the urban fabric is shown to modify urban functional and relational interdependencies under both these conditions. Within the context of the UK, there are fragmented responsibilities across planning scales created by SuDS/GI solutions which have not addressed the relational complexities that exist between agencies and competent authorities. The paper identifies the key barriers towards effective adoption of SuDS/GI within the context of the UK as physical barriers, perception/information barriers and organisational barriers.     

项目成本管理控制在工程中的应用

为了遏止因各种原因形成的工程成本亏损，在施工中通过加强材料控制、加强对劳务、分包施工的成本控制、加强技术部门与商务部门的密切沟通、加强大型机械租费的管理、为合同中潜在亏损点索赔，处理好公共关系，为项日部争取利润。     

The politics of preservation: Creating national parks in Canada,and in the United States,England and Wales

The national parks now in existence all over the world have supposedly been created for purposes of preservation. However, those who would create national park programmes must also contend with political and economic realities. The national park programmes of the United States, of England and Wales and (in more detail) of Canada are reviewed. In each instance the national parks reflect the dominant political ideology, and have come into being through political processes typical of that country. In the United States the dominant liberal ideology has led to neglect of the collective interest on which parks creation depends. Many competing interests are involved in the creation of a national park, making it difficult to set aside a piece of land for park purposes. In England and Wales the collective interest is given more recognition, and has resulted in general legislation to protect the countryside, and to guarantee people access to it. However, there is little additional protection for areas known as national parks. In Canada, which is the primary focus of this paper, the national parks were created not for preservation, but for economic and political reasons. An activist government, in a country with much Crown land and sparse population, used national parks as part of a policy of economic development and to reward those who supported them at the ballot box. Only a few national parks have been created for preservation rather than for more pragmatic reasons of politics or economics.     

FINANCING COMMUNITY: Methods for Assessing Residential Credit Disparities,Market Barriers,and Institutional Reinvestment Performance in the Metropolis

ABSTRACT: Many urban areas in the 1980s have witnessed the revitalization of a community reinvestment movement, one directed at encouraging private financial institutions to make loans in low and moderate income communities and particularly in minority communities. Research has played a strong role in promoting reinvestment efforts by documenting metropolitan housing finance patterns. Accompanying the growth of community reinvestment activity will be expanded research opportunities to investigate how credit patterns underlie metropolitan development trends and to help promote more responsibile community reinvestment activity. To aid the continuation of research efforts, this paper addresses a series of methods used to assess housing credit disparities and market barriers to finance. It discusses data availability and the strengths and limitations of these data, methods for measuring credit disparities, techniques for assessing racial bias and market barriers in lending patterns, and methods for assessing the community reinvestment performance of individual financial institutions. The final part addresses a more comprehensive research agenda that focuses on investigating the housing market institutional sources of residential investment disparities, particularly by race. Knowledge of metropolitan credit patterns and market barriers to credit can be enriched by studies of the housing market processes that lead to uneven credit flows and, thus, to metropolitan-wide inequality.     

Context specific media choice and barriers to communication in universities

Despite the research conducted in recent years in the field of information and communication economics, there is relatively little understanding of the impact of new electronic media on communication behaviour. The paper presents a methodology and empirical results on communication behaviour in a university setting. A general framework for communication behaviour is developed where (tele)communication media choice plays an important role. The media choice component of the conceptual framework is analysed in more detail. Special attention is given to the possible existence of barriers to communication. Testing of the media choice segment of the conceptual framework is being achieved by means of the stated preference approach using experimental design theory. The target population is composed of all academics associated with an Austrian university. The survey population is restricted to the academics associated with the University of Vienna, the Technical University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. The sample design used relies on exogenous stratification. Empirical results are presented using multinomial logit models for a series of communication contexts.     

Environmental risk mapping of pollutants: State of the art and communication aspects

Risk maps help risk analysts and scientists to explore the spatial nature of the effects of environmental stressors such as pollutants. The development of Geographic Information Systems over the past few decades has greatly improved spatial representation and analysis of environmental information and data. Maps also constitute a powerful tool to communicate the outcome of complex environmental risk assessment to stakeholders such as the general public and policy makers. With appropriate cartography one can improve communication and thus bridge the gap between experts and users. Appropriate risk communication is pivotal to risk management, decision making and implementation and may prevent unnecessary concern about environmental pollutants. However, at present few risk maps are specifically tailored to meet the demands of such defined uses.This paper presents an overview of the most important types of risk maps that can be distinguished using examples from the scientific literature: contamination maps, exposure maps, hazard maps, vulnerability maps and ‘true’ risk maps. It also discusses, in a general way, the most important issues that need to be addressed when making risk maps for communication purposes: risk perception, target audience, scale and spatial aggregation and visualisation such as use of colours and symbols. Finally, some general rules of thumb are given for making environmental risk maps for communication purposes.     

Maintaining style of garden designs by using graph-based constraints

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for a computer aided garden design tool. The presented system supports the conceptual stage of the design process during which gardens in a given style should be created. First, a conceptualization of the design domain is defined. On this basis a visual language composed of design drawings and the internal graph-based structures representing the drawings are specified. Operations on graph structures, which reflect design actions performed on design drawings, are proposed. Sets of requirements which determine object styles are defined in terms of logic formulas which are mapped into graph-based constraints. Styles of the generated solutions are accessed by the system using the graph-based reasoning mechanism, where the satisfaction of constraints by internal representations of design drawings is checked. The approach is illustrated on examples of designing gardens in different styles.