Astronomy in the City

1991 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-177
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Perwick ◽  
Glenn K. Urquhart ◽  
William S. G. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Public Access ◽  
Research Interest ◽  
The City

AbstractAuckland Observatory is a public observatory with a strong research interest. Its activities are reviewed and described. The important role which public access to current astronomy plays is mentioned.

scholarly journals Investigation of geochemical quality of water from public fountains of Salvador

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carina Matos Silva ◽  
Manoel Jerônimo Moreira Cruz ◽  
Isabel Honorata Souza de Azevedo ◽  
Alexandre Dacorso Daltro Milazzo
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
The Public ◽  
Quality Of Water ◽  
Thermotolerant Coliforms ◽  
The City ◽  
Support Decision Making

This study aims to characterize, in terms of physicochemical, bacteriological and metal concentration parameters, the water quality of public fountains in the city of Salvador (Bahia, Brazil), in order to identify its potential for current uses, contributing to the diagnosis of water quality on the public access. Therefore, campaigns were conducted in July and November of 2017 and 2018 in four fountains (Fonte Nova, Estica, Pedrinhas/Pedreiras and Express way), which were geo-referenced and analyzed physical-chemical parameters (pH, conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and total dissolved solids, salinity, sulfate, nitrate, chloride and alkalinity), bacteriological (thermotolerant coliforms) and metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Co, Cr, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn). The fountains showed values in disagreement with the CONAMA Ordinances 396/2008, 357/2005, and 274/2000 mainly about the pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate and Thermotolerant Coliforms parameters, indicating inadequacy for their intended uses. This information should support decision making and mitigation measures that minimize the environmental degradation of urban fountains in the city of Salvador (BA), from the adoption of recovery, revitalization and monitoring measures that enable the effective management of these water resources.

scholarly journals Strategic Mapping and Optimised Allocation of Automated External Defibrillators in Urban Areas

2020 ◽  
pp. 138-145
Author(s):  
Kanteler Despoina ◽  
Katsaros Evangelos ◽  
Bakouros Yiannis
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Public Access Defibrillation ◽  
Full Coverage ◽  
The City

<p><strong>Background</strong>: Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death and is regarded as a significant public health issue. Immediate treatment with an automated external defibrillator (AED) increases OHCA patient survival potential. For AEDs to be used and fulfil their lifesaving potential, they need to be in close proximity to the victim and accessible at the time of a cardiac arrest. The current paper sheds light upon an optimized location-allocation method achieving full coverage with immediate accessibility in an urban context given a limited number of available AEDs for deployment using GIS. The case study is the Region of Western Macedonia (RWM) in Greece for a pilot AED placement program for the Governance of RWM. The focus of the current study is the capital city of RWM, Kozani. The initial number of the defibrillators (120) that are needed to be distributed is very small and cannot cover the needs for every major city or rural area in the region. Out of the 120 AEDs, the challenge is to find the minimum required number of AEDs to allocate in the city providing full coverage and accessibility. This paper focuses only on one city, however, the same methodology was applied to allocate AEDs in the other selected cities of the region. The rural dimension and methodology are not in the scope of this paper. <br> <strong>Methods</strong>: Road network data, spatio-temporal analysis of accessibility network, digital elevation model, land uses, population density, seasonal fluctuations and socio-demographic variables were used. GIS algorithms such as spatial analysis, kernel density, hot spot analysis, maximal covering location problem (MCLP) tests, proximity algorithms, buffer zoning, were a few of the tests made in order to find the most efficient positions and maximize coverage keeping in mind that access to an AED until defibrillation time must not exceed the time range of five minutes. <br> <strong>Results</strong>: optimised sites and allocated AEDs in urban areas we managed to achieve full city coverage with 17 AEDs. In every part of the city, people can have access to a nearby AED with its critical radius of less than or equal to 250m achieving defibrillation in the critical period of 5 minutes. The results are promising for the establishment and expansion of optimised AED deployment in cities. <br> <strong>Conclusions</strong>: The progress of the project must be monitored and there are still unresolved problems that need to be tackled to provide a robust allocation of future defibrillators. Further research to enhance our understanding on public access defibrillation and optimize the accessibility and functionality of the medical health care services is needed. A network of engaged and informed citizens ready to act is required for a successful public access defibrillation program.</p>

scholarly journals Nature in cities. Renaturalization of riverbanks in urban areas

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Marta Wlodarczyk ◽  
Jorge Morarji R. Dias Mascarenhas
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Public Access ◽  
The Other ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
River Ecosystem ◽  
Natural Materials ◽  
The City

Abstract Most of the rehabilitations of river sections with their banks in cities has often been inappropriate. The reason for this is that designers do not understand the natural functioning of a river and they are synthesizing and sterilizing these urban spaces, distorting its natural functioning. Besides, there are clear proofs that these rehabilitations are useless, contributing to the devaluation of the river ecosystem without improving its relationships with the city. The other effect of the water lines destructions are the educational terms, broadcasting a wrong idea of the functioning of the river. This article tries to show briefly, how a river works, what arethe natural characteristicswhich should be valued by a rehabilitation and what has gone wrong in recent rehabilitation works. Using the theoretical drawings, based on examples from real life, and supported by photographs, the authors present also the possible negative consequences of the urban mistakes for the sake of operating of cities. The paper shows some techniques of natural engineering, using natural materials and vegetation that may be employed. This may become a green intervention, making these techniques much more economic and educational, improving life quality thanks to public access to attractive parks and squares by rivers.

scholarly journals Greening and opening the public space of the Nile banks. A demonstration case study in Maadi, Cairo

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
Amir Gohar
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Phoenix Dactylifera ◽  
Public Access ◽  
City Center ◽  
The Public ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Military Facilities ◽  
Or Organization ◽  
The City

The Nile, in general, and particularly in Cairo, is an ecological, cultural and social corridor that is not yet fully utilized. The 2011 Cairo workshop “Connecting Cairo to the Nile” identified the potential to increase accessibility to the river, suggested longitude trail system, proposed connecting the waterfront with adjacent neighborhoods and proposed expanding the ferry system. I studied a 2-km reach of the east bank in Maadi, a wealthy suburb about 10 km upstream of the city center, with relatively greener banks, availability of resources at the district level, higher awareness of local residents, physical setting allow for banks re-use, existence of community organizations (i.e. Tree Lovers and Midan).  Findings of fieldwork and interviews show that: (i) species of native vegetation found are Phoenix Dactylifera, Jacaranda, Cortedarea and Papyrus alba; these are concentrated along 115 meter in southern part of the study area. (ii) Public access was categorized into: public space (accessible), private or semi-public space (accessible with conditions), and prohibited (inaccessible). Along this representative stretch of the Nile, the public access was limited to 16%, the private or semi-public makes 29% and the prohibited zones are 55%. (iii) Boating operations found to be in three categories, floating hotels (Nile cruises), motor boats (including ferries) and sailing boats, all are scattered along the banks without an overall plan or organization, which affects water flow and block public access to the banks. To better develop the banks, I recommend (i) maintaining existing riparian vegetation and expand it to other areas with healthy banks or planted nurseries, (ii) connecting open public spaces to create a pleasant walking trail along the banks in addition to improving public access by relocating government buildings (such as the police or military facilities) and facilitate access to the river for general public, (iii) reducing the anchoring points to two locations and redistribute boating operations to group all motor boats to use the ferry anchoring points and all the sailing boats to use Al-Yacht club marina.

scholarly journals New Data-driven Analysis and Policies to Regulate Commerce and Tourism: The Examples of Barcelona and Madrid

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mar Santamaria-Varas ◽  
◽  
Pablo Martinez-Diez ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
Food Retailers ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
Land Use Plan ◽  
The City

The regulation of economic activity is a question of the utmost relevance in urban planning as urbanism meant to support coexistence of citizens necessities while preserving the health of the commercial economic fabric. In this context, the model of diversity embodied by the city of Barcelona (paradigm of other European cities where commercial and leisure activities play a fundamental role in constructing the social, civic and economic values) is under discussion from the urban and political perspective. The saturation of public access activities, food retailers and tourist services -consequence of previous boosting liberal policies- is affecting the habitability and the quality of life of the residents. Using the new land-use plan of Ciutat Vella (Barcelona, Spain, 2018) as a case study, we intend to frame the regulation of public access and commercial activities in an international context, explain how this particular type of plan works and discuss the circumstances of its implementation.

scholarly journals Suburban / urban grafting: towards an architectural and urban hybrid

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kotsampouikidis
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Low Density ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Finite Resource ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Leisure Facilities ◽  
Design Proposal ◽  
The City

Land is a finite resource which does not support the low density suburban model on a large scale. The alternative, the urban condition, does not satisfy the needs of families. The goal is to define a middle ground, to create a hybrid, by taking the best qualities of the suburbs and urb to develop a new vision for the city. Is it possible to combine the typological characteristics and spatial qualities of the suburbs in an urban format where the disadvantages of the suburbs are mitigated by the multiplicity of urbanity? For the purpose of this thesis the design proposal is tested on Ijburg, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The resultant hybrid is manifested through the mixing of different housing typologies both suburban and urban in conjunction with and elevated street which provides private access to individual units and public access to recreational and leisure facilities.

“Lose Your Time in a Useful Way”

2014 ◽  
pp. 173-189
Author(s):  
James M. Nyce ◽  
Gail E. Bader ◽  
Cheryl Klimaszewski
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Train The Trainer ◽  
Older Users ◽  
Computer Centers ◽  
The City

This chapter looks at the experiences older adults have using computers and the Internet in the context of one e-inclusion effort in Romania. Biblionet – Global Libraries Romania is a project that provides computers to public libraries throughout that country. One of Biblionet’s first public access computer centers located outside of a public library opened at a pensioners’ club in the city of Zalau. Local librarians who have taken Biblionet-sponsored “train the trainer” courses have adapted instructional methods for older users. Ethnographic research at the pensioners’ club has uncovered a variety of experiences around new technology, especially in how computer use is both informed by and extended kin or family work. The project is discussed in the context of NGO-led development initiatives to illustrate the importance of including the wider ICT development landscape (and methods) when studying users, ICTs, and information use.

scholarly journals Development of a Novel Framework to Propose New Strategies for Automated External Defibrillators Deployment Targeting Residential Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests: Application to the City of Milan

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 491
Author(s):  
Gianquintieri Lorenzo ◽  
Brovelli Maria Antonia ◽  
Brambilla Piero Maria ◽  
Pagliosa Andrea ◽  
Villa Guido Francesco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Efficient Solutions ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Comprehensive Planning ◽  
Automated External Defibrillators ◽  
Optimization Framework ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Cost Efficient ◽  
The City ◽  
Hospital Cardiac Arrest ◽  
New Strategies

Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) is the leading strategy in reducing time to first defibrillation in cases of Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA), but PAD programs are underperforming considering their potentiality. Our aim was to develop an analysis and optimization framework, exploiting georeferenced information processed with Geographic Information Systems (GISs), specifically targeting residential OHCAs. The framework, based on an historical database of OHCAs, location of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), topographic and demographic information, proposes new strategies for AED deployment focusing on residential OHCAs, where performance assessment was evaluated using AEDs “catchment area” (area that can be reached within 6 min walk along streets). The proposed framework was applied to the city of Milan, Lombardy (Italy), considering the OHCA database of four years (2015–2018), including 8152 OHCA, of which 7179 (88.06%) occurred in residential locations. The proposed strategy for AEDs deployment resulted more effective compared to the existing distribution, with a significant improvement (from 41.77% to 73.33%) in OHCAs’ spatial coverage. Further improvements were simulated with different cost scenarios, resulting in more cost-efficient solutions. Results suggest that PAD programs, either in brand-new territories or in further improvements, could significantly benefit from a comprehensive planning, based on mathematical models for risk mapping and on geographical tools.

scholarly journals Narratives of historial urban lakefront regenerations

2020 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 06007
Author(s):  
Pallavi Dalal ◽  
Sunita Kothari
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Populated Area ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
Access To Water ◽  
The City

Lakefront in the densely populated area is a place of relish, where people can enjoy and relax. As these kinds of areas are famous in urban context to provide ample visual and physical public access to water and land. The immediate alliance between settlement and water is inherent since decades, as many urban areas in the world located near to the waterfront. All these areas are directly or indirectly dependent on water for their day to day survival. Since last two decades development strategies are shifting from agriculture to industrial, these bring extensive changes in lakefront development. In precise, lakefront has become less significant for human life. This paper discusses the extensive phenomenon of lakefront development in Thane city, which is known as the “City of Lakes”, because of manifold lakes found over there. At present most of the lakes present in city are at the verge of disappearance due to reckless development. Therefore it is necessary to emphasize at historical and social aspect of lakes taking into account the overall picture and presenting the opportunities to integrate and emphasize multidisciplinary approach with social and cultural life of people.

Control of odour nuisance in urban areas: the efficiency and social acceptance of the application of masking agents

2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 614-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Lazarova ◽  
Brahim Abed ◽  
Gabriela Markovska ◽  
Thierry Dezenclos ◽  
Aït Amara
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Public Access ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Masking Agents ◽  
Odour Control ◽  
The City

This paper presents and discusses the results of the project named ‘Jasmin’ implemented in Algiers to control the strong odours of the river named Oued El Harrach, one of the largest rivers in the centre of the city. Pending the achievement of curative solutions, a temporary option for mitigation of nuisance odour by masking agents was implemented in the vicinity of the main bridges. The efficiency of this technology has been followed by means of an odour panel with the participation of representatives of all stakeholders. A sociological study by means of 1,000 questionnaires and face-to-face interviews of the local population demonstrated the benefits and the positive outcomes of the attenuation of odour nuisance: 70% of the surveyed population is satisfied or very satisfied with the application of masking agents and 96% of respondents support the continuation of the project. In terms of size and public access, the project Jasmin is a world-first demonstration of odour control in urban areas in developing countries.

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