The current trends in mosque architecture in the northern cities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihad Awad
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Major Elements ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Minor Elements ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Northern Cities ◽  
Strong Attachment ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Key Indicators

PurposeThe main aim of this study is to identify the prevailing design trends in contemporary mosques in northern cities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It highlights the key elements and features to categorize mosques.Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature review, four major stylistic expressions were identified, which formed the theoretical basis for a survey conducted to study 50 mosques in each of the four northern cities: Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. The 200 visited mosques were investigated and analyzed based on the four categories. The comparison between these mosques enabled the author to identify the key elements and features that can be adopted in classifying mosques in relation to the four main trends.FindingsThe study reveals that there is a strong attachment with local historic styles. In total, 86% of the mosques follow traditional and historic styles. While 74% of Sharjah mosques follow historicism, 64–72% in the other cities adopt local traditional. Almost all investigated mosques follow one layout, but with diverse stylistic expressions. Some major elements are common among all mosques, while other minor elements are found in all congregational mosques. The study identified key indicators that can be used to help classifying mosques in other cities and countries.Originality/valueThis is the first study to categorize mosques in the UAE. There are few studies on mosques in Sharjah and Ajman, focusing on typology and sustainability, with less emphasis on styles. The results of this study can be considered by architects as well as by authorities. It can also be used as a reference for other studies.

Gated communities in Ankara: are they a tool of social segregation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-702
Author(s):  
Leyla Alkan-Gökler
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Gated Communities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive View ◽  
Social Segregation ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Gated communities, surrounded by walls or fences, have emerged as a new trend in almost all cities in Turkey, and are homogenous in terms of the socioeconomic status of their occupants. Within these communities, several facilities and services are provided that are available only to the residents, with restrictions on access from the outside, and this has led to criticisms of social segregation. This study aims to analyze the impact of these communities on social segregation in Ankara, through two different surveys aimed at investigating the attitudes of the residents of local neighborhoods and gated communities toward each other. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyzes how the process of gating has affected social segregation in Ankara through two separate surveys: with the residents of gated communities and with the residents of local neighborhoods around these gated communities. Findings The study revealed that the residents of gated communities tended to have a positive view of the residents of local neighborhoods. In contrast, the responses of the local residents show evidence of feelings of social segregation, based on the presence of the high walls, fences and guards that are in place to keep them out of the community. Originality/value This study shows that, although segregation from the rest of the society is not the main reason for gating, the emergence of gated communities in Ankara leads inevitably to a socially and economically segregated city in which local residents feel excluded from these gated areas.

A bibliographic study on big data: concepts, trends and challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepa Mishra ◽  
Zongwei Luo ◽  
Shan Jiang ◽  
Thanos Papadopoulos ◽  
Rameshwar Dubey
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Citation Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Bibliographic Study

Purpose The purpose of paper is twofold. First, it provides a consolidated overview of the existing literature on “big data” and second, it presents the current trends and opens up various future directions for researchers who wish to explore and contribute in this rapidly evolving field. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the objective of this study, the bibliographic and network techniques of citation and co-citation analysis was adopted. This analysis involved an assessment of 57 articles published over a period of five years (2011-2015) in ten selected journals. Findings The findings reveal that the number of articles devoted to the study of “big data” has increased rapidly in recent years. Moreover, the study identifies some of the most influential articles of this area. Finally, the paper highlights the new trends and discusses the challenges associated with big data. Research limitations/implications This study focusses only on big data concepts, trends, and challenges and excludes research on its analytics. Thus, researchers may explore and extend this area of research. Originality/value To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study to review the literature on big data by using citation and co-citation analysis.

A benchmarking approach to the progress of green materials and systems’ use in the UAE construction industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aly Elgayar ◽  
Salwa Mamoun Beheiry ◽  
Alaa Jabbar ◽  
Hamad Al Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Green Materials ◽  
Importance Index ◽  
Regulatory Guidelines

Purpose Over the past decade, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced several green regulatory guidelines, federal decrees, and a considerable number of environmentally friendly initiatives. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the top green materials and systems used currently in the UAE construction industry as per the new laws dictate as well as see if professionals are switching over to incorporate more green materials, systems, and/or designs. Design/methodology/approach The work involved reviewing internationally popular green materials and systems for construction, developing a questionnaire based on the literature review, surveying professionals in the seven UAE emirates, and ranking the findings based on the relative importance index. Findings Findings found the top used green materials and system in the UAE’s construction industry. As well as identified that there is a communication gap between the design and implementation phases that is possibly hindering the use of more green materials and systems. Originality/value This study sets a baseline to measure the UAE’s progress over the coming years in terms of integrating more green construction materials, systems, methodologies, and trends.

Tolstoy in a recipe

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Tominc
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Food Culture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
New Middle Class ◽  
Cooking Shows ◽  
Local Construction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the impact of global celebrity chefs and their discourse about food on the genre of cookbooks in Slovenia. Design/methodology/approach – Focusing this discourse study on cookbook topics only, the analysis demonstrates the relationship between the aspirations of local celebrity chefs for the food culture represented globally by global celebrity chefs, such as Oliver, and the necessity for a local construction of specific tastes. While the central genre of TV celebrity chefs remains TV cooking shows, their businesses include a number of side products, such as cookbooks, which can be seen as recontexualisations of TV food discourse. Findings – Hence, despite this study being limited to analysis of cookbooks only, it can be claimed that the findings extend to other genres. The analysis shows that local chefs aspire to follow current trends, such as an emphasis on the local and sustainable production of food as well as enjoyment and pleasure in the form of a postmodern hybrid genre, while, on the other hand, they strive to include topics that will resonate locally, as they aim to represent themselves as the “new middle class”. Originality/value – Such an analysis brings new insights into the relationship between discourse and globalisation as well as discourse and food.

scholarly journals Economic fluctuations and crime: temporary and persistent effects

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 609-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Bender ◽  
Ioannis Theodossiou
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Economic Fluctuations ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Persistent Effect ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Unemployment And Crime ◽  
Ambiguous Effect ◽  
Almost All

Purpose Since the literature on the effect of the unemployment rate as reflection of economic fluctuations on crime shows an empirically ambiguous effect, the purpose of this paper is to argue that a new way of modeling the dynamics of unemployment and crime by focussing on the transitory and persistent effect of unemployment on crime helps resolve this ambiguity. Design/methodology/approach Panel data for US states from 1965 to 2006 are examined using the Mundlak (1978) methodology to incorporate the dynamic interactions between crime and unemployment into the estimation. Findings After decomposing the unemployment effect on crime into a transitory and persistent effect, evidence of a strong positive correlation between unemployment and almost all types of crime rates is unearthed. This evidence is robust to endogeneity and the controlling for cross-panel correlation and indicators for state imprisonment. Originality/value The paper is the first to examine the dynamics of the interaction of crime and economic fluctuations using the temporary and persistent effects framework of Mundlak (1978). In one set of estimates, one can evaluation both the short- and long-run effects of changes of unemployment on crime.

scholarly journals Forecasting tomorrow’s tourist

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 643-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sérgio Moro ◽  
Paulo Rita
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Demand Forecasting ◽  
Tourism Demand ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Modeling Techniques ◽  
Excellent Source

Purpose This study aims to present a very recent literature review on tourism demand forecasting based on 50 relevant articles published between 2013 and June 2016. Design/methodology/approach For searching the literature, the 50 most relevant articles according to Google Scholar ranking were selected and collected. Then, each of the articles were scrutinized according to three main dimensions: the method or technique used for analyzing data; the location of the study; and the covered timeframe. Findings The most widely used modeling technique continues to be time series, confirming a trend identified prior to 2011. Nevertheless, artificial intelligence techniques, and most notably neural networks, are clearly becoming more used in recent years for tourism forecasting. This is a relevant subject for journals related to other social sciences, such as Economics, and also tourism data constitute an excellent source for developing novel modeling techniques. Originality/value The present literature review offers recent insights on tourism forecasting scientific literature, providing evidences on current trends and revealing interesting research gaps.

scholarly journals Pungent parks: smell’s growing relevance in park tourism

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-138
Author(s):  
William L. Rice ◽  
Garrett C. Hamilton ◽  
Peter Newman
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Visitor Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Tourism Experience ◽  
The Future ◽  
Parks And Protected Areas

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present the growing relevance of natural smells – both pleasant and unpleasant – to park and protected area tourism and the need for more consideration of their role in the visitor experience. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents four observations – selected via an informal review of the tourism literature – relevant to the future of smellscapes research concerning tourism in parks and protected areas. Findings An emerging body of literature is indicating natural smells are central to the sensory experience of parks and protected areas. The iconic nature of park smellscapes underscores their role in the tourism experience. Originality/value This paper extracts the current trends in smellscapes research relevant to park and protected area tourism. It therefore provides value to both tourism practitioners and researchers, alike, through its attempt to compile significant trends.

scholarly journals Online disclosure practices of halal-friendly hotels

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikram Nur Muharam ◽  
Mehmet Asutay
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Online Marketing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Random Samples ◽  
Halal Food ◽  
Islamic Identity ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Fresh Insight ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This research analyses the online disclosure practices of halal-friendly hotels, denoting their service provision within “halal” expectancies. This study aims to discover the halal attributes commonly used in the online marketing practices of halal-friendly hotels. Design/methodology/approach The methods used in this study include a deductive approach through literature, which was then followed by an initial investigation of several random samples that produced 24 points of halal-friendly attributes, and then content analysis to find out the online disclosure practices of 55 halal-friendly hotels. Further insights gathered through analysis of the use of Islamic images and symbols; also, by examining the nexus between the disclosure level and other variables such as halal-friendly certification level, star-level and guest ratings. Findings The results show that most hotels classify themselves as halal-friendly by providing information that articulates Islamic identity or by informing the existence of prayer facilities. Information displayed includes halal food, halal places, alcohol-free policy, prayer facilities and Qibla direction. Furthermore, image analysis shows that almost all hotels use human photographs, and the preferred gender is male; only a few hotels expose Islamic symbols. Most hotels maintain a neutral impression by avoiding “Islamised gender” and not overly emphasising Islamic images. Otherwise, halal-friendly certification level is positively correlated with the disclosure level. Practical implications The results provide a fresh insight regarding the online marketing practices of the halal-friendly hotels and could be used as a benchmark by the practitioners. Originality/value This topic is still unexplored; it shows this research originality.

Social enterprise in Rwanda: an overview

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Remy Rwamigabo
Keyword(s):  
Social Enterprise ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mutual Help ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Current Governance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the context, the concept and the main types of social enterprises in Rwanda, and to present its main institutional and contextual trajectories. Design/methodology/approachThe author carried out a literature review and interviews. Six categories were identified; each one is illustrated by one emblematic case. FindingsThe paper presents the evolution of economically oriented social organizations in Rwanda, mostly under the form of cooperatives and NGOs and with inspiration from traditional forms of mutual help. The context of emergence of social enterprise in Rwanda was shaped, among other factors, by Anglo-Saxon influence. Other factors include notably the aftermath of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi, the current governance prevailing in the country and the current entrepreneurships trends. The paper also underlines the absence of research on the subject in Rwanda. Six categories of social enterprises in Rwanda and their main features have been identified and analyzed, namely, NGOs, cooperatives, informal organizations, social entrepreneurs, public/private partnerships and companies carrying out social activities. Finally, the paper analyzes the institutional and contextual trajectories of social enterprise in Rwanda. Originality/valueThe paper explores and provides insights into the specificities and the current trends of social enterprise in Rwanda with a view to fostering further analysis for several research avenues.

Transnational degree program franchising and the challenge of commercial franchisees

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Juusola ◽  
Lee Rensimer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Degree Program ◽  
Higher Education Research ◽  
Mba Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transnational Higher Education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the interrelationship of branding practices and legitimacy-building of commercial degree program franchising within transnational higher education (TNHE). It aims to understand how commercial franchisees’ branding practices employ discursive and symbolic strategies for building legitimacy, and how these practices impact both organizational development and stakeholder perception. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study uses document and visual content analysis, supported by discourse analysis, as the methods in analyzing commercial franchisees’ branding practices of their franchised programs. The sample of the study consists of five commercial franchisees offering primarily Western MBA programs in the United Arab Emirates. The data were obtained through franchisees’ websites, marketing materials, student prospectuses, visiting campuses and their marketing events, and through interviews with franchise managers. Findings The findings of this study indicate that growing a sustainable brand for a commercial franchisee requires successful building of its legitimacy in the host country. Legitimacy in such arrangement however involves two paradoxes: the “self-promoter’s paradox” where the franchisees often engage in legitimacy-building practices that decrease their legitimacy, and the “legitimacy-borrowing paradox” that happens when the commercial franchisee initially borrows its legitimacy from the franchised program, but simultaneously this borrowing of legitimacy prevents it from becoming a fully legitimate higher education institution. Originality/value This study contributes to the research on management of TNHE by exploring the branding practices of franchised programs, which so far has been a neglected area in research. Furthermore, interconnections of legitimacy-building and branding practices are underrepresented within the broader higher education research.

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