Science, politics and image in Valencia: a review of urban discourse in the Spanish City

In the urban sphere, discourse is fundamental to the social and political construction of urban reality. The urban landscape is, in part, a result of those discourses. It is, as Richard Schein suggests, a discourse materialized. The production of these discourses throughout urban history both represented and constructed urban reality at any given time. For much of history, the written word was central to such discursive representations, literary formulations and even biological metaphors that sought to interpret the city both for local inhabitants and outsiders. Today, the photographic image has usurped the former dominance of the word. This article uses archival research to trace historical representations of Valencia, Spain, a European Mediterranean city with a strong medieval tradition. Beginning with a focus on the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century, when Valencia was economic ‘head’ of the Kingdom of Aragon, this paper will follow how the city developed in concert with evolving intellectual and political representations of it. In doing so, I highlight the important and enduring role of the organic metaphor as a device which framed intellectual and political discourse, and ultimately planning and governing strategies, into urbanism of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (as reflected in the writings of Patrick Geddes). Throughout Valencia’s history, urban discourse has availed itself of biological and medical metaphors, even metaphors drawn from the field of physics, in order to construct a generally agreed-upon image of the urban society at particular historical moment. Analysing the role of such metaphors in urban discourse is fundamental to any full understanding of development in the Mediterranean city, historical or contemporary.     

Access to discourse,marginalisation and exclusion in conservation-induced resettlement: the case of the displaced Baka of East Cameroon

This paper concerns the links between discourse and the marginalization and exclusion of the Baka people living in the Dja Reserve in East Cameron. The findings reveal how various factors mediate the experience of marginalisation and exclusion after displacement and resettlements. Central to these factors is the concept of ‘access’ – access to the dominant discourse. The paper deconstructs the concept of access into ‘potential’ and ‘realised’ access. It also shows how ‘potential’ access to dominant discourse can influence ‘realised’ access to resources in newly resettled communities.     

新加坡大学校园建筑绿化空间设计策略研究

随着城市土地紧缺和大学校园扩建产生的矛盾日益凸显,如何科学合理地处理这一冲突成为越来越重要的研究方向。新加坡有完善的城市绿化规划体系和成熟的绿色建筑实践,在其大学绿色校园设计中体现得尤为突出,可以提供值得参考的应对方式。因此通过对新加坡城市绿化空间发展历程的梳理和思考、以及对新加坡主要大学的建筑绿化空间设计实践的分析,总结出新加坡大学建筑绿化空间中庭院、平台、屋顶、垂直绿化这四种主要模式和与之对应的设计策略,以期对气候条件相似的我国粤港澳大湾区的大学校园建筑绿化空间设计提供一定的借鉴意义。     

热带.共生.永续 新加坡滨海南花园的技术策略简

聚焦新加坡中央区核心新落成的滨海南花园,剖析其整合环境设计和建设服务的技术优化策略：精确控制光照,既满足冷室内植物生长需求,同时限制热负荷;选用氯化锂干燥剂除湿系统,使制冷负荷降至最低：利用全岛修剪树木的园艺垃圾作为生物质燃料,以其燃烧的废热供给空调需求。滨海南花园在技术层面实践了“热带”、“共生”、“永续”等理念,示范了新加坡近50年来花园城市建设的新方向。     

Housing Policy,Wealth Formation and the Singapore Economy

This paper evaluates the contribution of housing policy in Singapore to financial sector development, housing wealth formation and macro-economic performance, both retrospectively and prospectively. It provides an overview of past housing policies and traces the linkages to the financial sector. Housing policy as effected through the Housing and Development Board and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) hampered the development of the commercial housing loans sector and domestic financial markets, but contributed to the overall growth and stability of the housing loans market and associated financial institutions. Housing policy and the trend of housing asset inflation contributed significantly to the formation of both gross and net housing wealth. Economic growth has not suffered from the heavy emphasis on housing investment although various policies that resulted in exogenous shifts in housing demand contributed to increased housing price volatility in the short term. The structure of the housing loans market has also allowed the CPF contribution rate to be more effectively used as an instrument for macro-economic stabilisation.     

Colonial Settlers and the Metropole: racial discourse in the early 19th-century Cape Colony, Australia and New Zealand

The ways that British settlers in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, particularly those engaged in the extension of commercial sheep farming, constructed a certain discourse of colonialism during the first half of the 19th century are discussed. It is argued that this discourse was formulated, at least in part, in opposition to that of humanitarians within each colony and in Britain, who challenged settler capitalist practices on the fringes of Britain's expanding empire. Representations of a civilizing impact on the landscape were one component of the new racialized understandings and identities that settlers at each site constructed in their defence. Through attention to three colonial sites and their relations with each other and with the metropole, it is aimed to highlight the ways in which discourses of colonial landscapes and their inhabitants travelled across an imperial terrain.     

Colonial Settlers and the Metropole: Racial discourse in the early 19th-century Cape Colony,Australia and New Zealand

The ways that British settlers in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, particularly those engaged in the extension of commercial sheep farming, constructed a certain discourse of colonialism during the first half of the 19th century are discussed. It is argued that this discourse was formulated, at least in part, in opposition to that of humanitarians within each colony and in Britain, who challenged settler capitalist practices on the fringes of Britain's expanding empire. Representations of a civilizing impact on the landscape were one component of the new racialized understandings and identities that settlers at each site constructed in their defence. Through attention to three colonial sites and their relations with each other and with the metropole, it is aimed to highlight the ways in which discourses of colonial landscapes and their inhabitants travelled across an imperial terrain.     

In-Between Waters /Intercepting Wetness: Inventing Rain in the Mining Landscape of Shanxi Province,China

Under the background of imposing engineered structures, including reservoirs and inter-basin water transfer infrastructures, being applied to solve drought caused by coal mining in Shanxi Province of China and floods caused by mineral mining in Western Ghats of India, the author reviews the intrinsic reason of water problems and recommends a water management solution that is design on “rain before floods” and “fields of wetness before flows of water.” Most magnificent engineered infrastructures are designed upon an idea of separating water from its milieu, thus becoming contained flows in pipes, channels, and reservoirs to solve water problems. To compensate for the shortage of existing water infrastructures, the author suggests gathering a regional-level landscape capacity for building “wetness” of resilience when facing problems of “water” in extremities. This is a radical shift compared with a problem-solving approach, as engineering does, to one that is grounded in landscape and uncovers opportunities. The landscape research and design project introduced in this article aims to provide an alternative future for Shanxi Province, China, which seems arid and is challenged by monodevelopment mode. The research and design within the project are across four nested scales. A landscape infrastructure of intercepting wetness is taken as an underlying thread which initiates intertwined ecological, programmatic, temporal and material trajectories. On the other hand, the project demonstrates research, representation, design, and planning can actually inform one another, and the design remains open and adaptive to its changing environments.     

新加坡土木工程高等教育国际化的主要做法及启示

新加坡土木工程高等教育所取得的显著成绩已经得到世界广泛认同。新加坡以华人为主体,文化传统与中国相似,与其他发达国家相比,新加坡土木工程高等教育对中国土木工程高等教育的国际化更具借鉴意义。笔者以新加坡土木工程高等教育为例,分析了其先进之处及其国际化所采用的策略,并从土木工程学科、教学体系,基础设施和科研环境、师资力量,以及生源等方面为中国土木工程高等教育的发展和国际化提出了若干建议,以期对中国土木工程高等教育的国际化发展有所裨益。     

我国特大城市边缘区绿色开敞空间游憩项目发展演变的若干规律探究 以郊野公园、观光农业、高尔夫球场为例

以郊野公园、观光农业、高尔夫球场为例,从产生发展、空间布局等方面入手,探究了特大城市边缘区绿色开敞空间游憩项目发展的规律。并以北京为例,研究了三者实际的空间分布和变迁情况,并分析其原因。从加强游憩项目的发展引导、逐步优化游憩项目空间布局、优化交通基础设施配置三方面,提出了优化城市边缘区绿色开敞空间游憩利用的建议。     

新加坡上世纪90年代住宅特点分析

从住宅公共空间、小区公共设施、建筑设计特色、绿化规划等几方面分析了新加坡20世纪90年代组屋的几个特点。     

物流服务、全球化制造业及城市结构的变化——新加坡案例

制造业生产过程的日益全球化 ,要求更高度的协作和更周密的物流服务。物流业应运而生 ,成为全球化经济活动中的一个重要环节。在新加坡 ,为制造业提供全套物流服务的物流园区已经出现 ,它们可按照各个客户的不同要求来组织货运 ,管理库存。新加坡向来是传统的国际贸易货物集散中心 ,现在 ,当跨国企业纷纷选择新加坡作为其区域中心 ,本地公司也积极向区域投资创业之际 ,这个城市国家成功地改造了它的制造业 ,使其在全球化经济活动中获得了新的生命力。而物流园区的出现 ,改变了企业的空间利用 ,促进了企业内部结构的变化 ,为新加坡制造业的成功改造创造了条件。同时 ,物流园区的存在也有助于工业用地的密集使用和制造业的集团化 ,从而决定性地改变了新加坡的工业地景     

新加坡保障性住房政策研究及借鉴

"十二五"是我国保障性住房建设的"加速跑"时期,国家与各省政府签订了保障房建设的协议,各城市政府也提出了保障性住房的建设目标与落实方案。为了更好地推进我国保障房建设,本文介绍了新加坡保障性住房政策,讨论了新加坡保障性住房体系的政策内容和特色,并以乌兰新镇的开发管理为例总结新加坡社区建设和管理经验,对我国保障性住房建设提出了参考建议。     

Relationship marketing: a survey of QS firms in Singapore

In spite of the misperceptions of marketing in some quantity surveying (QS) firms, QS firms have generally embraced the general concepts of relationship marketing (RM) as part of their business strategy because relationships are considered to be important to a service-oriented business. However, this practice could be improved by adopting a more comprehensive approach to RM, such as the adoption of total relationship marketing (TRM) principles in their organizations. The focus of this study is to examine the perceptions and practices of RM of QS firms in the Singapore construction industry. Survey findings from 22 QS firms were examined in this study. The findings suggest that QS firms can focus on RM and TRM, with traditional marketing principles forming the basis of their marketing efforts.     

协作与包容——新加坡锦簇社区计划解析

社区花园是公众共建、共享城市绿化的重要实践。当前中国社区花园建设正迅速开展,责权明晰的管理日益重要。选取新加坡锦簇社区计划为案例,基于文献分析与实地调研,探析新加坡社区花园建设的管理机制。研究发现位于公共组屋的社区花园采用"政府—社区"协作式管理机制,国家公园局、市镇理事会、居民委员会与居民等多元主体协作承担在园艺计划审批、花园选址、花园规划和建设过程中的系列职责,遵循机会平等、参与治理、共享成果的基本原则,促进了包容性社区的建设。其经验主要包括:政府积极引导,中间层级有效衔接;建立弹性的管理规则;以民为主,公平共享。     

新加坡组屋的规划建设及其启示

自1960年代以来,新加坡就实施了"居者有其屋"的住房政策,组屋规划建设成就斐然。文章介绍了新加坡有关住房的政策和组屋类型,论述了新加坡组屋的规划、建筑设计以及更新、改造等特点,由此得出新加坡组屋规划建设经验对我国未来住宅建设的启示。     

Construction project change management in Singapore: Status,importance and impact

Changes in construction projects are inevitable. In order to minimize the impact of changes on a project, it is imperative to implement change management. This study aims to assess the status, importance and impact of change management implementation in the Singapore construction industry. To achieve the objective, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of change management, and a questionnaire survey was conducted. Analyzing the data collected from 384 projects submitted by 32 companies, the implementation status was investigated at both company and project levels, followed by identification of key factors that encourage and discourage companies to practice change management. Furthermore, the importance and impact of change management in terms of project performances such as cost, time, and quality were also examined. The analysis results establish that the implementation status in the Singapore construction industry is relatively low while improvement in project cost, time and quality performances achieved by the companies that implement change management tends to be greater than the companies that do not. Recognizing the implementation status, importance and impacts of change management will be a starting point to reduce changes that negatively affect project performances, ultimately allowing the Singapore construction industry to increase opportunities for project success.     

新加坡社区中心的设计与规划

自上世纪50年代以来,新加坡在社区中心建筑的规划、设计领域做出了许多重要的探索。本文从新加坡社区中心建筑的发展历史、规划理念、设计原则等方面进行了分析与研究,探索了其对我国社区中心建设的借鉴意义。     

Influence of management and labour on construction productivity in Singapore

The survey returns indicate that top management rely heavily on the support given by managers and supervisors to enhance productivity on site. It is unlikely that present levels of productivity can be improved unless the transient pool of guest workers is trained and assimilated into the local workforce.     

控制性详细规划 灵活性策略研究——新加坡“白地”经验及启示

控规在我国开展有30余年的历史。随着我国由计划经济向市场经济转变以及近年来市场化的不断深入,诞生于计划经济体制下的控规在实践中经常面临诸多的问题,使其控制作用大打折扣。学术界已经就控规灵活性问题进行了诸多讨论,但由于传统编制方法和体制的原因,这一问题并没有得到很好的解决。现详细介绍新加坡的白地规划,包括其产生的原因、主要内容,以及对我国控规编制的有用借鉴。最后,以武汉市汉正街中央商业区规划为例,参考白地的经验,重新设定了控规的指标体系,以期能对我国目前控规编制中的灵活性,以及控规调整问题提供有益的启示。