scholarly journals Engineering modernity: Water, electricity and the infrastructure landscapes of Bangalore, India

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 2261-2279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanesa Castán Broto ◽  
HS Sudhira

The concept of ‘nexus’ has gained popularity in urban studies to examine the interconnections between the management of resources and the provision of urban services. This article proposes a conceptualisation of the urban nexus as the contingent product of the operation of physical, ecological and social processes around urban technologies in a specific location. The article focuses on the configuration of the nexus within particular trajectories of urban development, and the wider consequences of these trajectories for urban life. The strategy of the article is to examine the water-energy nexus within a particular infrastructure landscape, that is, as it emerges from the historical co-evolution of social practices and the built environment. Such co-evolution can be described as an urban trajectory that reveals the consolidation of different aspects of the nexus at varying levels from the household to the extra-urban connections that shape the city. This perspective is applied to analyse processes of infrastructure development in the city of Bangalore, India, since the completion of the first works to establish a water network and the electrification of the city at the beginning of the 20th century. The analysis reveals a historically built and context-dependent nexus that reflects the interconnectedness of the mechanisms of infrastructure governance and urban inequality.

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-97
Author(s):  
Saba Sami Al Ali

Mesopotamian cities were formed sometime during the fourth millennium BCE, and many of them continued to be inhabited as much as 3000 years. While urban characteristics of these cities has been extensively studied, the current article is concerned with exploring the inhabitants' daily experience in the city; a subject that has not been sufficiently explored despite its importance in urban studies. The objective is to expand the understanding of the relation between the ancient city and its occupants. The paper adopts the concept of the City Image as introduced in the seminal work of Kevin Lunch "Image of The City" in investigating aspects of the Mesopotamian city that qualifies it to form a strong mental Image for her citizens, derived from the legibility of its elements and the structure they form. Using a descriptive analytical method in reviewing previous literature, the research first clarifies the shared characters of Mesopotamian cities, and addresses the stature of the city in Mesopotamians' culture. I then specify the five urban elements of the city image as categorised by Lynch; paths, nodes, edges, districts and landmarks, in addition to addressing manifestations of the citizens' urban life in the Mesopotamian city. Afterward, visualization of the citizen's daily experience through the urban fabric of the city is provided, to arrive at a conclusion of the Legibility of the mental image of the Mesopotamian city in the perception of its citizens.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0094582X2110246
Author(s):  
Vitor Hugo Tonin

At their peak, theories of underdevelopment and dependency guided social research in the most varied dimensions of life. The rapid increase in urban inequality was one of the main drivers of criticism of capitalist development in peripheral countries and gave rise to analyses of dependent urbanization. This interpretation was interrupted in the late 1970s with the crisis of dependency theory, the main reason for which was the political defeat of the continent’s new left. This rescue of this analytical matrix and its combination with current Marxist studies of the capitalist production of the city offer a more precise categorization of underdevelopment and greater refinement in dealing with levels of abstraction. It is now feasible to better situate existing links between dependency and urban development and thus to establish a dialogue with recent analytical contributions on urban development. This dialogue opens a path for the theoretical and methodological evolution of urban studies in peripheral countries. Em seu auge as teorias do subdesenvolvimento e dependência orientaram as investigações sociais nas mais variadas dimensões da vida. O acelerado aumento da desigualdade urbana foi um dos principais impulsionadores da crítica ao desenvolvimento capitalista nos países periféricos e deu origem às análises da urbanização dependente. Essa construção foi interrompida no final da década de 1970 com a crise da teoria da dependência cuja principal razão identificamos na derrota política da nova esquerda no continente. O resgate dessa matriz analítica e seu encontro com os atuais estudos marxistas da produção capitalista da cidade oferece atualmente uma categorização mais precisa do subdesenvolvimento e maior refinamento no trato dos níveis de abstração. Torna-se possível localizar melhor as mediações existentes entre a dependência e o urbano e, com isso, estabelecer um diálogo com as recentes contribuições analíticas sobre o urbano. Deste diálogo abre-se uma alameda para a evolução teórica-metodológica dos estudos urbanos nos países periféricos.


2019 ◽  
pp. 134-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Borshchevskiy

The article examines the institutional process in a regional economy connected with the infrastructure development. We use the neoinstitutional approach to study factors that influence the behavior of government and business in their interaction in the economy. We also use statistical methods to analyze the dynamics of socio-economic development indicators of the subjects of the Russian Federation as well as the results of measures to attract private investment into infrastructure, including the PPP. We chose the city of Moscow and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District as two empirical case studies which differ in economic and geographic conditions, but both demonstrate success in attracting private investment and implementing infrastructure projects. Our conclusions are consistent with a theory that asserts the primacy of institutional environment in relation to project implementation. We make also some practical recommendations for the development of the institutional environment which are acceptable for all regions solving similar problems of infrastructure development.


The main principle of the strategy for the complex improvement of the functioning of northern cities in winter, including their infrastructure development, is a comprehensive solution of the problem of industrial-scale snow-mass collection, removal and utilization at different areas of urban roadway networks. For its implementation in the capital of Russia, “MosvodokanalNIIproject” JSC developed in 2002 the Snow Removal Master Plan for the city of Moscow. The meteorological conditions in the city, which have changed considerably in the recent years, including the changes in the snow-cover depth and in the road-surface areas to be cleaned, as well as emerging of new technologies for the cleaning of urban streets, yards and sidewalks and some new types of deicing agents, resulted in the necessity to update the above-mentioned Snow Removal Master Plan developed for the city of Moscow. Efficient application of deicing agents is of special importance for its updating in the context of the environmental safety of the city in a winter period. The article considers the results of the implementation of the updated Snow Removal Master Plan and contains some proposals concerning snow removal under the conditions of extreme snowfalls.


Author(s):  
Michael Koortbojian

The ancient Romans famously distinguished between civic life in Rome and military matters outside the city—a division marked by the pomerium, an abstract religious and legal boundary that was central to the myth of the city's foundation. This book explores, by means of images and texts, how the Romans used social practices and public monuments to assert their capital's distinction from its growing empire, to delimit the proper realms of religion and law from those of war and conquest, and to establish and disseminate so many fundamental Roman institutions across three centuries of imperial rule. The book probes such topics as the appearance in the city of Romans in armor, whether in representation or in life, the role of religious rites on the battlefield, and the military image of Constantine on the arch built in his name. Throughout, the book reveals how, in these instances and others, the ancient ideology of crossing the pomerium reflects the efforts of Romans not only to live up to the ideals they had inherited, but also to reconceive their past and to validate contemporary practices during a time when Rome enjoyed growing dominance in the Mediterranean world. The book explores a problem faced by generations of Romans—how to leave and return to hallowed city ground in the course of building an empire.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Muhamad Alfian ◽  
Nandang Saefudin Zenju ◽  
Irma Purnamasari

Infrastructure development is an integral part of national development and the driving wheel of economic growth. Infrastructure also has an important role in strengthening national unity and unity (Bappenas: 2009). The banjarwaru, banjarwangi, and telukpinang highways are the access roads traversed by 8 villages including alternative routes for the cicurug-sukabumi area. This road is always passed by the people who headed to the city. Therefore, the benefits of this road is very important because it is often passed from the cicurug-sukabumi area due to the diversion of traffic flow so that the intensity of high road users.In this study the author uses the theory of Ridwan and Sudrajat. Quality of service is the level of incompatibility between expectations with customer desires and also the perceptions of these customers. Quality of service here can be assessed by looking at the dimensions. These dimensions include the quality of service, the ability of officials, and service convenience. During the observation to the community through the survey to direct approach with the community, most people complained that the development service to build the kecamatan should be further improved and the results of this study showed that the Quality Assessment of Service in Road Infrastructure Development in Ciawi Sub-district Bogor Regency is categorized Fair Good this is because the assessment of the quality of development services by the Subdistrict Apparatus itself and from the community assess the ability of District Officers still have to be improved in conducting the service and its implementation.Keywords: Service Quality, Infrastructure Development.


Author(s):  
Azhari Amri

Film Unyil puppet comes not just part of the entertainment world that can be enjoyed by people from the side of the story, music, and dialogue. However, there is more value in it which is a manifestation of the creator that can be absorbed into the charge for the benefit of educating the children of Indonesia to the public at large. The Unyil puppet created by the father of Drs. Suyadi is one of the works that are now widely known by the whole people of Indonesia. The process of creating a puppet Unyil done with simple materials and formation of character especially adapted to the realities of the existing rural region. Through this process, this research leads to the design process is fundamentally educational puppet inspired by the creation of Si Unyil puppet. The difference is the inspiring character created in this study is on the characters that exist in urban life, especially the city of Jakarta. Thus the results of this study are the pattern of how to shape the design of products through the creation of the puppet with the approach of urban culture.


Author(s):  
П. В. Капустин ◽  
А. И. Гаврилов

Состояние проблемы. Проблематика городской среды заявила о себе в 1960-е годы как протест против модернистских методов урбанизма и других видов проектирования. Средовое движение не случайно тогда именовали «антипрофессиональным» - оно было направлено против устоявшихся и недейственных методов работы с городом - от исследования до управления. За прошедшие десятилетия в рамках самого средового движения и его идейных наследников наработано немало методов и приемов работы, однако они до сих не подвергались анализу как пребывающая в исторической динамике целостная совокупность инструментария, альтернативного традиционному градостроительству. Результаты. Рассмотрены особенности и проблемы анализа методологического «арсенала» средового движения и урбанистики. Методы работы с городской средой впервые структурированы по типам знания. Показана близость методов исследовательского и проектного подходов в отношении городской среды. Выводы. В ближайшее время можно ожидать появления новых синтетических знаний и частных методологий, связанных как с обострением средовой проблематики, с расширением круга средовых акторов, так и с процессом профессионализации урбанистики. Statement of the problem. The urban environment paradigm emerged in the 1960s as a protest against the modernist methods of urbanism and other types of design. It was no coincidence that the environmental movement was back then called "anti-professional" as it was directed against the established and ineffective methods of working with the city, i. e., from research to management. Over the past decades, within the framework of the environmental movement and its ideological heirs, a lot of methods and have been developed. However, they have not yet been analyzed as an integral set of tools in the historical dynamics which is an alternative to traditional urban planning. Results. The features and problems of the analysis of the methodological “arsenal” of environmental movement and urban studies are considered. The methods of working with the urban environment are first structured according to the types of knowledge. The proximity of research and design approaches in the case when the urban environment is dealt with is shown. Conclusions. In the nearest future, we can expect new synthetic knowledge and particular methodologies related to both the exacerbation of environmental problems to emerge as well as the expansion of the circle of environmental actors and the process of professionalization of urbanstics.


Author(s):  
Avner de Shalit

Immigration should be discussed within the context of the city rather than the state because cities are now quite autonomous political entities and because nearly all immigrants settle in cities. Hence the meeting between locals and immigrants take place in the context of urban life rather than as citizens of the state. The book’s three questions are presented: should cities be in charge of deciding whether to allow immigrants to settle in the city? If yes, what local political rights should be granted to immigrants? And is there a model of integration which is superior to other models? The latter involved a comparative study of three such models, in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Jerusalem.


Author(s):  
David M Hudson

Abstract Freshwater crustaceans are distributed throughout the montane and lowland areas of Colombia, and are therefore a useful indicator group for how aquatic species will respond to climate change. As such, metabolic determination of physiological performance was evaluated for the Colombian pseudothelphusid crab, Neostrengeria macropa (H. Milne Edwards, 1853), over a temperature range inclusive of current temperatures and those predicted by future scenarios in the plateau around the city of Bogotá, namely from 8 °C to 30 °C. The performance results mostly aligned with previous exploratory behavioral determination of the ideal temperature range in the same species, although the metabolism increased at the highest temperature treatments, a point when exploratory behavior declined. These results indicate that this species of montane crab behaviorally compensates for increased thermal stress by decreasing its physical activity, which could have negative predator-prey consequences with changes to community structure as different species undergo climate-mediated geographic range shifts in the region. As this species is endemic to the plateau surrounding Bogotá, it also experiences a number of other stressors to its survival, including infrastructure development and invasive species.


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