Tokyo, Japan – urbanistic hybridity in a networked metropolis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
João Rafael Santos
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Space Structure ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Urban Management ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Urban Networks ◽  
Urban Transition

Purpose This paper aims to identify relevant innovations in Tokyo’s spatial articulation of infrastructure, building and public space, intertwining large-scale networks with local scale urban fabrics, to inform urban management towards sustainable urban transitions. Design/methodology/approach The research used a methodological combination of literature review, relevant case identification and analysis, on-site survey and photography, morphological interpretation through cartographic analysis and urban space and architectural redrawing and discussion under the conceptual framework. Findings Under Japan’s cultural construct, public/private thresholds are blurred and layered, defining a public space network which includes not only large-scale urban objects, such as railroad and commercial hubs but also small scale, hybrid and rather aweless forms of urban space, which can be of interest to the challenges of sustainable urban transition. Research limitations/implications Adaptations in urban management and design need to consider the multi-scalar embeddedness of urban networks in local fabrics, considering public space structure and socio-cultural specificities. Limitations to growth-oriented rationale require increasingly decentralized networks and more hybrid spatial configurations in buildings, infrastructures and public space. Originality/value Tokyo represents an example of how a network-dependent metropolis, accommodates highly adaptive, inconspicuous and decentralized forms of basic service provision with an impact on the perception, use and management of public space. The main argument lies in the potential that these spatial arrangements hold as references for contemporary urban management and design in what pertains to societal challenges, low-carbon transition and network optimization.

Societal discontent will increase in Bahrain

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Base Level

Significance Although large-scale social protest in Bahrain has been cowed over the ten years since the ‘Arab uprisings’, small-scale demonstrations recur, reflecting a base level of discontent. Mobilising issues include economic pressures, limited political representation (especially of the Shia majority) and, most recently, ties with Israel. Impacts Despite protests, Israel’s and Bahrain’s respective ambassadors will keep up high-profile activity and statements. The authorities are likely to exaggerate the role of Iranian interference in order to deepen the Sunni-Shia divide. If Riyadh manages to extricate itself from the Yemen war, that could partly reduce the pressure on Manama.

scholarly journals Supply chain resilience in a developing country context: a case study on the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 486-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Tukamuhabwa ◽  
Mark Stevenson ◽  
Jerry Busby
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Resilience

Purpose In few prior empirical studies on supply chain resilience (SCRES), the focus has been on the developed world. Yet, organisations in developing countries constitute a significant part of global supply chains and have also experienced the disastrous effects of supply chain failures. The purpose of this paper is therefore to empirically investigate SCRES in a developing country context and to show that this also provides theoretical insights into the nature of what is meant by resilience. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, a supply network of 20 manufacturing firms in Uganda is analysed based on a total of 45 interviews. Findings The perceived threats to SCRES in this context are mainly small-scale, chronic disruptive events rather than discrete, large-scale catastrophic events typically emphasised in the literature. The data reveal how threats of disruption, resilience strategies and outcomes are inter-related in complex, coupled and non-linear ways. These interrelationships are explained by the political, cultural and territorial embeddedness of the supply network in a developing country. Further, this embeddedness contributes to the phenomenon of supply chain risk migration, whereby an attempt to mitigate one threat produces another threat and/or shifts the threat to another point in the supply network. Practical implications Managers should be aware, for example, of potential risk migration from one threat to another when crafting strategies to build SCRES. Equally, the potential for risk migration across the supply network means managers should look at the supply chain holistically because actors along the chain are so interconnected. Originality/value The paper goes beyond the extant literature by highlighting how SCRES is not only about responding to specific, isolated threats but about the continuous management of risk migration. It demonstrates that resilience requires both an understanding of the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes and an understanding of the embeddedness of the supply network. Finally, this study’s focus on the context of a developing country reveals that resilience should be equally concerned both with smaller in scale, chronic disruptions and with occasional, large-scale catastrophic events.

scholarly journals Cambridge Servicemen’s Memorial (Breuer, 1945): espacio público para el recuerdo

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Salvador José Sanchís Gisbert ◽  
Pedro Ponce Gregorio ◽  
Ignacio Peris Blat
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Residential Land ◽  
The Public ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
The World ◽  
Strong Commitment

Marcel Breuer was in the first year of architectural technicians to graduate from Bauhaus School. The peculiar education he received there allowed him to explore the concept of design in its broadest sense. In his European stage we find, on the most private and small scale, unique solutions for furniture. In his first American stage we see a strong commitment with solutions related to the residential land and, when he earned international recognition, he developed large scale solutions for his public non-residential buildings and urban equipments in locations all over the world. It is strange to see that an architect like him did not have the opportunity to materialize any of his proposals associated with the public space. The 1945 Cambridge Servicemen’s Memorial project, also known as the Memorial War, is the most significant one he developed in his last years in Cambridge. Had it been built, it would have been a valuable example of modernity and contemporary reinterpretation of the monument in the public space.

scholarly journals Narratives of everyday resilience: lessons from an urban kampung community in Surabaya, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirleyana ◽  
Scott Hawken ◽  
Riza Yosia Sunindijo ◽  
David Sanderson
Keyword(s):  
Inner City ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disadvantaged Communities ◽  
Political Network ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Resilience Factors ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose This paper aims to discuss what people perceive as risks and resilience factors, and how they build everyday resilience. Design/methodology/approach The study focuses on Kampung (literally “village”) Plampitan, a neighbourhood in the inner-city part of Surabaya. The research used field observation, in-depth interviews and workshops during community meetings to collect data. Findings The results show how people respond to daily risks and find the support necessary to survive. The problems and risks revealed in the study include crime and economic difficulties, such as unemployment and insufficient income. Coping strategies identified are classified into place-based adaption, people-based network and political network. These strategies can serve as a starting point for local communities to assess their resilience and assist them in enhancing “everyday” resilience. Originality/value The paper argues that the concept of resilience must go beyond top-down approaches to disaster risk management and integrate bottom-up understanding from the perspective of local people, especially among marginal and disadvantaged communities. The paper develops the emerging and overlooked concept of “everyday resilience” and suggests that it is essential in surviving both “everyday” or small-scale chronic risks and large-scale disasters.

scholarly journals The instrumental time of memory: local politics and urban aesthetics in a tourism context

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio-Miguel Nogués-Pedregal
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Expressive Dimension ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Urban Aesthetics

Purpose This paper aims to show that tourism is one of the most perfect creations of the capitalist mode of production insofar as not only does it consume places and territories and perpetuate dependency relations, but in the expressive dimension, it also produces feelings and meanings and generates a new relationship of the past with the present and future (chronotope). Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out using a socio-anthropological approach with participant observation over several decades. Findings The modes of time are described and how the tourism chronotope shapes the historic centre of a consolidated tourist destination. The case study, analysed with the model of the “conversion of place through the mediation of tourism space”, illustrates the prevalence of instrumental and commercial values over one’s own aesthetic-expressive values in tourism contexts. This fact encourages the emergence of local political projects and the incorporation of uniformities outside the local place. These processes end up uprooting the anchors from collective memory. The definition of territories according to visitors’ imaginaries and expectations encourages the abusive occupation of public space and the adoption of new aesthetic attributes of urban space. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen research approach and methodologies, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test both the model and the propositions further. Originality/value This study approaches the relationship of the idea Tourism with the idea Development based on the anchors of memory.

Improving unsustainable livelihood through marketing interventions

2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Subhojit Banerjee ◽  
Anuj Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Secondary Survey ◽  
Initial Survey

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an initiative to improve the daily earnings of a rickshaw puller by training them to retail branded FMCG products based on a “bulk buying retail selling” model. The paper is based on the findings of a survey conducted 112 rickshaw pullers in a semi-urban district of eastern India. It also dwells on the business of rickshaw pulling and the socio-economic status of the rickshaw puller. Critical issues related to the sustainability and the future of such interventions on a large scale has also been discussed. Design/methodology/approach – An initial survey of 112 rickshaw pullers was done using a structured schedule that captured data related to age, literacy level, earnings per day, ownership and working hours. Some additional aspects related to socio-cultural aspects were also collected as an unstructured interview. A secondary survey from 107 respondents representing different sections of the society who frequently use rickshaw as a means for transport was also done to take an opinion on intervention issues. Findings – Findings of the paper suggest that rickshaw pullers have three distinct strategic advantages of literacy, access and mobility, which makes them a potent resource for marketing intervention. Research limitations/implications – The paper reflects on a systematic intervention plan that can change the socio-economic pattern of rickshaw pulling. A possibility of contributory roles from garage owners and wholesellers is also explored. The proposed scheme may also bail-out the small-scale industries and handicraft businesses in villages. Major limitations of the research are long-term sustainability and large-scale implementation of the proposed model. Practical implications – The paper can act as a manual for small entrepreneurs and NGOs working in the social-development area for implementing schemes targeted at rickshaw pullers. The paper also has valuable points for the consideration of policy makers. Originality/value – The research has given insights in to the livelihood aspect of one of the most essential but neglected modes of transport, i.e. rickshaw pulling. The paper has also identified key strengths that rickshaw pulling has, which otherwise is considered purely physical and low-skilled job.

Freedom and control: a state of balance in public space

Facilities ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 606-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianjiao Zhao ◽  
Kin Wai Michael Siu
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
And Control

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine how to achieve a balance between freedom and control in public space. It analyses the relationship between freedom and control to identify phenomena and offer users and policymakers instructions for achieving that balance. Public space, including privately owned public space, is important to urban living. People have both the right to use public space and the responsibility to protect it. Both freedom and control should exist in public space in an appropriate combination. It is impossible and inappropriate for us to ask for absolute freedom or endure unreasonable control. Design/methodology/approach – A case study of Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) reveals typical freedom/control relationships. Quantitative descriptions are given based on field observations. Findings – Freedom and control are primary factors affecting the quality of urban life and management of city space. They depend on and conflict with each other. The balance between freedom and control is a balance between diverse spaces. The “freedom space” belonging to both citizens and authorities determines whether freedom and control are balanced. Ethics and strategies constitute control. Only when each authority and user obtains a proper freedom space can freedom and control achieve balance in public space. Research limitations/implications – Freedom and control differ across cities because they are both affected by culture, history and tradition. As each city has its own characteristics, the freedom and control in each open space are distinctive. Balancing freedom and control requires an understanding of a city’s background and the era. While this paper does not attempt to achieve this understanding, further studies could devote more attention to dimensions of time and location. Practical implications – The findings provide recommendations for users, policymakers and construction and management companies that will allow the management of harmonious and high-quality open spaces. Social implications – Freedom and control are two main factors affecting quality of life. The balance between freedom and control may bring a harmony and stable society environment. It would benefit both the authority and the people a lot. Originality/value – This study provides a systematic analysis of freedom and control in public space and makes a valuable contribution to quality urban space policy, design and management.

Creation of cultural heritage inventories: case of the historic city of Ahmadabad

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushi Shah
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Urban Management ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Historic City ◽  
Historic Cities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the relevance of cultural heritage inventories and documentation as critical tools for heritage conservation and management in historic cities, through the case study of the historic city of Ahmadabad, India. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the creation of inventories as part of the comprehensive documentation undertaken for preparation of the World Heritage nomination dossier. In this context, the goal of preserving the outstanding universal value of the historic city formed the basis for selection and assessment of the assets to be included in the inventory. Standard processes and methodology employed for creation of the database involved archival research and planning; field surveys for mapping, photo documentation and data collection; data registration and processing using CAD, Ms Office and geographic information system (GIS)-based digital platform. Optimal data acquisition while maintaining cost and time efficiency was an important consideration for the fieldwork. Findings – While an inventory remains a critical conservation tool, the heritage assets are integrally linked to and influenced by their surroundings in an urban context. A comprehensive documentation approach that provides a broader understanding of the city’s natural features, built environment, heritage resources, cultural practices and socio-economic networks is therefore necessary for creation of a suitable management plan for historic cities. Traditional field surveys based on external visual observation are time and cost effective, and can generate adequate information on identification and assessment of built heritage assets for creation of inventory along with documentation of their context. However, the scale of investigation and the intended role of an inventory as an urban management tool calls for creation of integrated, accessible and updatable data management systems. Research limitations/implications – At the moment, the database created is only used for the limited purpose of monitoring and managing the conservation of listed properties. The importance of the inventory as a critical conservation and urban management tool can be further validated once the GIS database of the historic city is integrated within the urban management and planning system for the city. Originality/value – The inventory created for the historic city of Ahmadabad offers one of the few examples of heritage documentation at such a large scale. It covers an area of 543 ha with a detailed inventory of more than 6,000 properties. The description of, and the reflections on the process employed provide an overview of usual challenges encountered in creation, presentation and management of heritage inventories for historic cities which may offer useful guidelines to practitioners planning similar exercises and help them establish efficient work processes.

Of time and the city: curating urban fragments for the purposes of place marketing

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Warnaby
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Corporate Identity ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Place Marketing ◽  
Urban Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Theoretical Context ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The City

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the place marketing potential of historic urban “fragments”, with particular reference to old corporate identity symbols still extant in urban space. Design/methodology/approach Following a discussion of theoretical context, specifically incorporating spatial semiotics and psychogeography, the paper constitutes an interpretive account of a “tour” around the city of Manchester, UK, apprehending and discussing various historic corporate identity fragments still visible in the city. Findings Historic corporate identity fragments are identified and outlined, and issues arising from their continued existence, in terms of, for example, what constitutes heritage, and how this heritage can be used for the creation of urban distinctiveness (or genius loci) for the purposes of place marketing/branding are discussed. Originality/value The potential of heritage to be incorporated into the “representation work” of those responsible for urban management/marketing is highlighted, along with the need for such heritage fragments to be “curated”, if their full potential in this regard is to be realised.

Reckoning with the barriers to Lean implementation in Northern Indian SMEs using the AHP-TOPSIS approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin Saini ◽  
Doordarshi Singh
Keyword(s):  
Lean Manufacturing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Topsis Method ◽  
Lean Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People

Purpose The purpose of this study is to recognize critical barriers for Lean manufacturing practices implementation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) focusing in the context of a developing economy. The advancement of SMEs is of utmost important for a surge in exports while competing with other countries and these barriers have to be given due importance as they play a major role in stalling the overall development of SMEs. Design/methodology/approach In this present investigation, 26 barriers to Lean implementation in SMEs have been identified after an extensive study of the literature available on the subject. After that, the influential barriers were investigated through the Analytical hierarchy process-Technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution (AHP-TOPSIS) method using priority weightage given to them by different experts in their industries. The ranking given to the barriers is based on the AHP-TOPSIS method and has been validated by the sensitivity analysis. Findings The investigation reveals that for the successful implementation of Lean manufacturing practices, the will of the management, individual will power and contribution of the people matter a lot apart from other barriers such as flexibility, expertise of the people, resources and resistance offered by the people to new programs. The solutions for overcoming these barriers are also provided in this study and a model has been suggested for the same. Research limitations/implications This work was devoted to the evaluation of obstacles in the introduction of Lean practices and prioritizing them. But it was limited to the medium- and small-scale organizations located in Northern India. Further studies can expand the scope to the large-scale units in the field. Moreover, the scope of this study was confined to the manufacturing sector. Future studies can extend it to the non-manufacturing environments such as the service sector, health care, etc. This investigation was based on the judgments of industry experts and academicians. Another approach such as Viekriterijumsko kompromisno rangiranje can be used for future investigations. Originality/value This study is significant when keeping in mind the contribution of SMEs to a country’s economy, especially in the Indian context.

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