Public values as essential criteria for public entrepreneurship: Water management in France

Historically, major private companies were the dominant players in urban water supply in France. However, a new era of water supply restructuring is underway, whereby formally private water corporations are being made public. Given that many such public water corporations adopt practices associated with private entities, it is essential to identify what is expected of “public” entities by virtue of the fact that they are public. In this article, we examine the foundational ideas behind the raison d'être of public entities, which engender priorities that differ from their private sector counterparts. Using a research-action methodology, water utility management, staff and consumers of Greater Nantes were asked to specify the meaning of “public” and how it should be operationalized in the case of publicly owned utilities. The research shows that the attainment of public values is what lends legitimacy to a public utility charged with the provision of essential services. In this case, even in a context of neoliberal governance, where private values of an economic nature conflict with public goals; public values take precedence in the management and the regulation of the service.     

面向行业实践的风景园林信息模型技术应用体系研究：企业LIM平台构建

风景园林信息模型(LIM)需要面向设计实践的体系化应用研究。在此背景下探索硬件、软件、网络、人员相结合的LIM技术应用体系构建方法,以形成有效地应用于设计实践的企业LIM平台。研究采取基于项目的设计研究方法,历经理论研究阶段、系统规划阶段、分步实施阶段,构建了以LIM工作流为核心的风景园林信息模型技术应用体系原型。该体系的构建方法包括开发Autodesk Civil 3D和Revit等关键软件的企业模板,部署基于雾计算的LIM协同设计平台,编制LIM平台使用管理手册等。12项实践项目的验证结果表明:LIM平台是具有实践意义的行业信息化发展技术路径。     

Fab-Union: A Collective Online to Offline Robotic Design Platform

Official architectural education in China remains very traditional and has yet to engage with the digital age. To counter this, Shanghai-based Fab-Union was set up in 2014 to establish a cross-disciplinary community – now over 10,000 strong – that is driving the emergence of digital crafts in the country. Here, its founder Philip Yuan and lead designer Hao Meng describe Fab-Union's online design platform, its offline collective design space, and its robotic factory that functions as an open research facility and fabrication workshop.