scholarly journals Improving the accessibility to public schools in urban areas of developing countries through a location model and an analytical framework

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262520
Author(s):  
Jesica de Armas ◽  
Helena Ramalhinho ◽  
Marta Reynal-Querol
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Location Model ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
New Schools ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
School Network

The location of primary public schools in urban areas of developing countries is the focus of this study. In such areas, new schools and modification of the current schools are required, and this process should be developed using rational and broad supporting tools for decision makers, such as optimization models. We propose a realistic coverage location model and a framework to analyze the location of schools. Our approach considers the existing schools and their resizing, the best locations of the new schools that may have different capacities, population coverage, walking distances and budget provisions for building and updating schools. As a case study, we assess the current primary school network in Ciudad Benito Juarez to provide managerial insights. Through the proposed framework, we analyze the current locations of schools and decisions to be made by considering future scenarios in different time periods. The proposed model is quite flexible and easy to adapt to new considerations, allowing it to be applied to regions in developing countries under similar conditions.

scholarly journals A GIS-based model to estimate flood consequences and the degree of accessibility and operability of strategic emergency response structures in urban areas

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2847-2865 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Albano ◽  
A. Sole ◽  
J. Adamowski ◽  
L. Mancusi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Urban System ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Proposed Model

Abstract. Efficient decision-making regarding flood risk reduction has become a priority for authorities and stakeholders in many European countries. Risk analysis methods and techniques are a useful tool for evaluating costs and benefits of possible interventions. Within this context, a methodology to estimate flood consequences was developed in this paper that is based on GIS, and integrated with a model that estimates the degree of accessibility and operability of strategic emergency response structures in an urban area. The majority of the currently available approaches do not properly analyse road network connections and dependencies within systems, and as such a loss of roads could cause significant damages and problems to emergency services in cases of flooding. The proposed model is unique in that it provides a maximum-impact estimation of flood consequences on the basis of the operability of the strategic emergency structures in an urban area, their accessibility, and connection within the urban system of a city (i.e. connection between aid centres and buildings at risk), in the emergency phase. The results of a case study in the Puglia region in southern Italy are described to illustrate the practical applications of this newly proposed approach. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that it allows for defining a hierarchy between different infrastructure in the urban area through the identification of particular components whose operation and efficiency are critical for emergency management. This information can be used by decision-makers to prioritize risk reduction interventions in flood emergencies in urban areas, given limited financial resources.

scholarly journals The Pleasure of Walking: An Innovative Methodology to Assess Appropriate Walkable Performance in Urban Areas to Support Transport Planning

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 3467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Appolloni ◽  
Corazza ◽  
D’Alessandro
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Suitability Index ◽  
Innovative Methodology ◽  
Governance Process ◽  
Walking Performance

The Walking Suitability Index of the Territory–T-WSI is an innovative methodology to assess walkability. Unlike other methods and tools in this field designed to evaluate walkability on given origin-destination paths, T-WSI is conceived for area-wide assessments, typically at the neighborhood level. This can be achieved by visual surveys to collect data, which are easy to perform at street level, their further process via an algorithm, and their aggregation to assess the walking performance levels of the test area. The paper describes such methodology, which includes the development of 12 indicators associated with four main evaluation categories (Practicability, Safety, Urbanity and Appeal), and its application to a case study in a medium-size town in central Italy. Results are described and elaborated to highlight T-WSI’s contribution to help decision makers in the urban governance process, typically in the fields of land use, mobility management and maintenance, coherently with the research objective to enlarge the potential of walkability methodologies thus far available up to area-level assessment.

scholarly journals Measuring Functional Urban Shrinkage with Multi-Source Geospatial Big Data: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megaregion

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 2513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiwei Ma ◽  
Zhaoya Gong ◽  
Jing Kang ◽  
Ran Tao ◽  
Anrong Dang
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Clustering Methods

Most of the shrinking cities experience an unbalanced deurbanization across different urban areas in cities. However, traditional ways of measuring urban shrinkage are focused on tracking population loss at the city level and are unable to capture the spatially heterogeneous shrinking patterns inside a city. Consequently, the spatial mechanism and patterns of urban shrinkage inside a city remain less understood, which is unhelpful for developing accommodation strategies for shrinkage. The smart city initiatives and practices have provided a rich pool of geospatial big data resources and technologies to tackle the complexity of urban systems. Given this context, we propose a new measure for the delineation of shrinking areas within cities by introducing a new concept of functional urban shrinkage, which aims to capture the mismatch between urban built-up areas and the areas where significantly intensive human activities take place. Taking advantage of a data fusion approach to integrating multi-source geospatial big data and survey data, a general analytical framework is developed to construct functional shrinkage measures. Specifically, Landsat-8 remote sensing images were used for extracting urban built-up areas by supervised neural network classifications and Geographic Information System tools, while cellular signaling data from China Unicom Inc. was used to depict human activity areas generated by spatial clustering methods. Combining geospatial big data with urban land-use functions obtained from land surveys and Points-Of-Interests data, the framework further enables the comparison between cities from dimensions characterized by indices of spatial and urban functional characteristics and the landscape fragmentation; thus, it has the capacity to facilitate an in-depth investigation of fundamental causes and internal mechanisms of urban shrinkage. With a case study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei megaregion using data from various sources collected for the year of 2018, we demonstrate the validity of this approach and its potential generalizability for other spatial contexts in facilitating timely and better-informed planning decision support.

A maximal covering facility location model for emergency services within an M (t)/M/m/m queuing system

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Bahrami ◽  
Roya M. Ahari ◽  
Milad Asadpour
Keyword(s):  
Facility Location ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Queuing System ◽  
Location Model ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Nsga Ii ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Maximal Covering ◽  
Proposed Model

Purpose In emergency services, maximizing population coverage with the lowest cost at the peak of the demand is important. In addition, due to the nature of services in emergency centers, including hospitals, the number of servers and beds is actually considered as the capacity of the system. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to propose a multi-objective maximal covering facility location model for emergency service centers within an M (t)/M/m/m queuing system considering different levels of service and periodic demand rate. Design/methodology/approach The process of serving patients is modeled according to queuing theory and mathematical programming. To cope with multi-objectiveness of the proposed model, an augmented ε-constraint method has been used within GAMS software. Since the computational time ascends exponentially as the problem size increases, the GAMS software is not able to solve large-scale problems. Thus, a NSGA-II algorithm has been proposed to solve this category of problems and results have been compared with GAMS through random generated sample problems. In addition, the applicability of the proposed model in real situations has been examined within a case study in Iran. Findings Results obtained from the random generated sample problems illustrated while both the GAMS software and NSGA-II almost share the same quality of solution, the CPU execution time of the proposed NSGA-II algorithm is lower than GAMS significantly. Furthermore, the results of solving the model for case study approve that the model is able to determine the location of the required facilities and allocate demand areas to them appropriately. Originality/value In the most of previous works on emergency services, maximal coverage with the minimum cost were the main objectives. Hereby, it seems that minimizing the number of waiting patients for receiving services have been neglected. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that a maximal covering problem is formulated within an M (t)/M/m/m queuing system. This novel formulation will lead to more satisfaction for injured people by minimizing the average number of injured people who are waiting in the queue for receiving services.

scholarly journals Simulating the effects of low impact development approaches on urban flooding: a case study from Tehran, Iran

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (8) ◽  
pp. 1591-1600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Movahedinia ◽  
Jamal Mohammad Vali Samani ◽  
Fakhreddin Barakhasi ◽  
Saleh Taghvaeian ◽  
Raffi Stepanian
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Peak Flow ◽  
Low Impact Development ◽  
Hydraulic Modeling ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Urban Flooding ◽  
Urban Stormwater ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Storm Water Management Model

Abstract Low impact development (LID) methods have been shown to be efficient in reducing the peak flow and total volume of urban stormwater, which is a top priority for effective urban stormwater management in many municipalities. However, decision-makers need information on the effects of LIDs and their associated costs before allocating limited resources. In this study, the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was used to investigate the effects of five different LID scenarios on urban flooding in a district in Tehran, Iran. The LID scenarios included rain barrel (RB) at two sizes, bio-retention cell (BRC), and combinations of the two structures. The results showed that significant node flooding and overflow volume would occur in the study area under the existing conditions, especially for rainfall events with longer return periods. BRC and combinations of BRC and RBs were the most effective options in reducing flooding, while the smaller-size RB was the cheapest alternative. However, normalized cost, obtained through dividing the total cost by the percent reduction in node flooding and/or overflow volume, was smallest for BRC. The results of this study demonstrate how hydraulic modeling can be combined with economic analysis to identify the most efficient and affordable LID practices for urban areas.

Strategic Decision Making for Outsourcing Information Systems with a Fuzzy Multi-criteria Decision-Making Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Modiri ◽  
Mohammad Dashti
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Analytic Network Process ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Service Support ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Network Process ◽  
Selection Of

Today, IS supplier selection is one of the most critical steps in the outsourcing process; the success of outsourcing is highly dependent on the selection of IS suppliers. This paper proposes a new hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model, which uses decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique, analytic network process (ANP), and Vlse Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje(VIKOR) to evaluate four potential suppliers using seven factors and five decision makers using a realistic case study. the results showed that Service support is importance for outsourcing. The proposed model can help practitioners improve their decision making process.

scholarly journals A Bilevel Multiobjective Optimisation Approach for Solving the Evacuation Location Assignment Problem

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed W. A. Hammad
Keyword(s):  
Assignment Problem ◽  
Programming Model ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Multiobjective Optimisation ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Level Problem ◽  
Location Assignment ◽  
Optimisation Model

In this paper, a bilevel multiobjective optimisation model is proposed to solve the evacuation location assignment problem. The model incorporates the two decision-makers’ spaces, namely, urban planners and evacuees. In order to solve the proposed problem, it is first reformulated into a single-level problem using the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions. Next, the problem is linearised into a mixed-integer linear programming model and solved using an off-the-shelf solver. A case study is examined to showcase the applicability of the proposed model, which is solved using single-objective and multiobjective lexicographic optimisation approaches. The model provides planners with an ability to determine the best locations for placement of shelters in such a way that the evacuees’ traffic assignment on the existing network is optimised.

scholarly journals Approved to fail: a case study of leadership at three new high schools

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Melvoin Bridich
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
High Schools ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
School Design ◽  
New Schools ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis paper explores how leaders of new public high schools – one charter and two innovation schools – navigated the journey from school-in-theory to school-in-practice during the school's first three years. School leaders at charter and innovation schools have increased freedom over curriculum, budget, scheduling and personnel when compared to leaders in traditional public schools.Design/methodology/approachUsing case study research, this qualitative, multisite study of school leaders at three schools in an urban district in Colorado examined the realities leaders experienced during the first three years of their schools. School leaders participated in semi-structured interviews, which were coded and analyzed for data individual to each school and across the three schools. Initial school design plans and district accountability data were also reviewed.FindingsThe study identified two distinct challenges for leaders of these new schools: (1) opening a new school contributes to burnout among school leaders and (2) school leaders face systemic, district-level barriers that impede implementation of a school's founding mission and vision.Research limitations/implicationsA qualitative study of three standalone charter and innovation schools in one urban school district limits generalizability.Originality/valueThe lived experience of school leaders at new, standalone charter and innovation schools is largely neglected in empirical studies. This research illuminates key struggles school leaders experience as they seek to establish new schools with fidelity to district-approved school plans.

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