scholarly journals Resilience In Suburban Toronto Suburban Renewal In The Face Of Future Uncertainties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Peak Oil ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Urban Models ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Uncertain Future

This thesis envisions a new suburban approach based on future uncertainties in environmental, economic and social conditions. The review of responses suggest that resilience building is a viable option for such uncertainties and therefore, focus has been placed on Toronto's suburban housing stock, despite criticism for its fragility and inability to function or change in a future without cheap energy. Although it is often argued that low density neighbourhoods will be unsustainable in a future of environmental uncertainty and that they will not endure the coming crises of peak oil and climate change, Toronto's suburban building stock is ideal for resilience building and will in fact be a vital aspect of Toronto's durability in an uncertain future. This thesis examines different aspects of resilience building in regards to environmental, social and economic uncertainty including: localisation over globalisation, economies of well-being, an ecological systems approach, and rethinking zoning regulations and by-laws. This new vision for the suburbs serves not to replace them with dense urban models, but to maintain and add to suburban qualities while also provoking new ideas for introducing resilience into our built environment.

scholarly journals Resilience In Suburban Toronto Suburban Renewal In The Face Of Future Uncertainties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Peak Oil ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Urban Models ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Uncertain Future

This thesis envisions a new suburban approach based on future uncertainties in environmental, economic and social conditions. The review of responses suggest that resilience building is a viable option for such uncertainties and therefore, focus has been placed on Toronto's suburban housing stock, despite criticism for its fragility and inability to function or change in a future without cheap energy. Although it is often argued that low density neighbourhoods will be unsustainable in a future of environmental uncertainty and that they will not endure the coming crises of peak oil and climate change, Toronto's suburban building stock is ideal for resilience building and will in fact be a vital aspect of Toronto's durability in an uncertain future. This thesis examines different aspects of resilience building in regards to environmental, social and economic uncertainty including: localisation over globalisation, economies of well-being, an ecological systems approach, and rethinking zoning regulations and by-laws. This new vision for the suburbs serves not to replace them with dense urban models, but to maintain and add to suburban qualities while also provoking new ideas for introducing resilience into our built environment.

Public Housing and Well-Being: Evaluation Frameworks to Influence Policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 825-835
Author(s):  
Lara Rangiwhetu ◽  
Nevil Pierse ◽  
Elinor Chisholm ◽  
Philippa Howden-Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Public Housing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Change Models ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Background A robust evidence base is needed to develop sustainable cross-party solutions for public housing to promote well-being. The provision of public housing is politically contentious in New Zealand, as in many liberal democracies. Depending on the government, policies oscillate between encouraging sales of public housing stock and reducing investment and maintenance, and large-scale investment, provision, and regeneration of public housing. Aim We aimed to develop frameworks to evaluate the impact of public housing regeneration on tenant well-being at the apartment, complex, and community levels, and to inform future policies. Method Based on a systems approach and theory of change models, we developed a mixed methods quasi-experimental before-and-after outcomes evaluation frameworks, with control groups, for three public housing sites. This evaluation design had flexibility to accommodate real-world complexities, inherent in evaluating large-scale public health interventions, while maintaining scientific rigor to realize the full effects of interventions. Results Three evaluation frameworks for housing were developed. The evaluation at the apartment level confirmed proof of concept and viability of the framework and approach. This also showed that minor draught-stopping measures had a relatively big impact on indoor temperature and thermal comfort, which subsequently informed healthy housing standards. The complex and community-level evaluations are ongoing due to longer regeneration timeframes. Conclusion Public housing is one of central government’s larger social sector interventions, with Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities the largest Crown entity. Evaluating public housing policies is important to develop an evidence base to inform best practice, rational, decision-making policy for the public as well as the private sector.

scholarly journals Applying Systems Thinking to Coastal Infrastructure Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Pezza ◽  
C. Ariel Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Coastal Flooding ◽  
Simple Approach ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Integrated Systems ◽  
Soft Systems ◽  
The Face ◽  
Uncertain Future

Coastal communities have an uncertain future as municipalities grapple with an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding. This article offers a simple approach to make decisions based on systems thinking. The objective of this article is to explore how to represent the coast as a system, how to apply systems thinking to coastal infrastructure, and to offer a framework to employ an integrated systems approach. The framework aids a community to map its future in the face of the changing coastal waters and a way to assess if they are moving toward a solution. It also provides a disciplined way of structured thinking to judge a problem and determine whether a hard or soft systems approach is appropriate. This kind of thinking is necessary for a community to plan capital improvement investments that are compatible with an uncertain future brought about by climate change.

scholarly journals Banking Responsibility and Liability for the Environment: What Are Banks Doing?

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antony L.T. McCammon
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
The Us ◽  
Development Institutions ◽  
The Face ◽  
African Development Bank ◽  
Multilateral Lending ◽  
Uncertain Future ◽  
Bilateral Assistance ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable

No-strings-attached lending is anathema to the serious commercial banker, who sees only a wafer-thin line between such ‘lending’ and the un-bank-like practice of giving (non-returnable) grants. Such doubts, indeed, are not confined to the banking industry. In the face of home grown problems of unemployment or health-care, for instance, democratically elected governments of donor countries are finding themselves under increasing pressure from their voters to cut back on bilateral assistance to hopelessly indebted taker-states. Multilateral lending and development institutions are facing an uncertain future, trapped in the vicious circle of bad debts that are all-too-steadily increasing, capital and funding quotas that are failing to materialize (eyes are currently on the US Congress), and borrowing that is becoming ever-more expensive. The African Development Bank is faltering; a Middle East Development Bank is in danger of being stillborn. The World Bank has recently been trying bravely to redress the balance: it has created a ‘multilateral debt facility’ for the most severely-indebted countries, and devised a numerical scale of national well-being that is more appropriate for the measurement of ecologically sustainable development than GNP per head of population. While these initiatives should not be belittled, good ideas are too often murdered by gangs of ugly facts.

scholarly journals Vulnerabilities and resilience in Danish housing stock: A comparative study of architectural answers to climate change in Danish housing in relation to other oceanic climates

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 03068
Author(s):  
Mikkel Poulsen Rydborg ◽  
Michael Lauring ◽  
Camilla Brunsgaard
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Traditional Architecture ◽  
Building Site ◽  
Climate Zone ◽  
Residential Architecture ◽  
Sustainable Housing ◽  
Timber Frame ◽  
The Face

Climate change will affect the same climate zones relatively similarly. When considering how to design residential architecture for future climates it is therefore relevant to understand how residential architecture can adapt within the specific climate zone. Denmark is placed within the oceanic climate zone and shares many of the same problems that countries in similar climates do. However, the architectural responses have developed radically different. Denmark has been building heating efficient housing for the last decade, which have lately caused increased overheating problems and surging energy demands for cooling. This paper compares the architecture of different oceanic zones with Danish architecture. The strategies for adapting to climate change represents a broad variety. Western European tradition has itself created varied methods for coping with the climatic struggles their societies meet. Danish architecture has for centuries been focused on heavy robust constructions that would withstand the large amount of precipitation and wind that is predominant in the country. In Holland flood danger has been a constant threat to society, which has led both to defensive and reactive measures in the form of dykes and amphibious housing. On the other side of the globe, New Zealand’s traditional architecture has adapted to similar problems but with a much lighter construction, leading to architecture that is resilient to lateral forces like wind and earthquakes. While lacking the thermal properties of northern European houses the New Zealand homes show a remarkable flexibility and mobility through simple timber-frame constructions. The vulnerabilities in the Danish building stock is due to an unwillingness to invest in adaptive measures. It might be necessary to integrate a flexible building style to future sustainable housing and build up a different expectation for how a house is used. In the face of climate change, architecture need to be adapted to the problems apparent on the building site and draw on experiences from other cultures that might have faced similar problems in the past. Danish architects might likewise use the non-rocky ground for water retention through planting and landscaping strategies in relation to architecture.

scholarly journals Urban task force

Spatium ◽  
2002 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Grubovic
Keyword(s):  
Urban Policy ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Housing Stock ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
Task Force Report ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Principles Of Design ◽  
The Uk

The Urban Task Force Report has brought to our attention, that English towns and cities today require a new renaissance. The comprehensive planning has retarded urban living (Urban Renaissance, Sharing the Vision 01.99, 1999). Forty percent of inner-urban housing stock is subsidized 'social' housing. A review of the demographic and development trends have lead to the UK Government?s new urban policy that prioritizes the regeneration of towns and cities by building on recycled urban land and protecting the countryside. As result, Urban Task Force (UTF) was founded the with the following aims To identify causes of urban decline in England; To recommend practical solutions how to bring people back into cities; To establish a new vision for urban regeneration based on the principles of design excellence, social well being and environmental responsibility within a viable economic and legislative framework (Urban Task Force, 1999:1). This paper represents the analysis of the economic and political effects of the program and its viability.

Beyond worker health: Toward a systems approach to well-being and performance

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Ballard ◽  
Matthew J. Grawitch ◽  
Larissa K. Barber ◽  
Lois E. Tetrick
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Worker Health ◽  
And Performance

Meditation buffers medical student compassion from the deleterious effects of depression.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer S Mascaro ◽  
Sean Kelley ◽  
Alana Darcher ◽  
Lobsang Negi ◽  
Carol Worthman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Student ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Daily Functioning ◽  
Wait List ◽  
School Students ◽  
Social Emotions ◽  
The Face ◽  
Second Year

Increasing data suggest that for medical school students the stress of academic and psychologicaldemands can impair social emotions that are a core aspect of compassion and ultimately physiciancompetence. Few interventions have proven successful for enhancing physician compassion inways that persist in the face of suffering and that enable sustained caretaker well-being. To addressthis issue, the current study was designed to (1) investigate the feasibility of cognitively-basedcompassion training (CBCT) for second-year medical students, and (2) test whether CBCT decreasesdepression, enhances compassion, and improves daily functioning in medical students. Comparedto the wait-list group, students randomized to CBCT reported increased compassion, and decreasedloneliness and depression. Changes in compassion were most robust in individuals reporting highlevels of depression at baseline, suggesting that CBCT may benefit those most in need by breakingthe link between personal suffering and a concomitant drop in compassion

scholarly journals Contactless Video-Based Heart Rate Monitoring of a Resting and an Anesthetized Pig

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 442
Author(s):  
Meiqing Wang ◽  
Ali Youssef ◽  
Mona Larsen ◽  
Jean-Loup Rault ◽  
Daniel Berckmans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Estimation Error ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Window Functions ◽  
The Face ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Better Than

Heart rate (HR) is a vital bio-signal that is relatively easy to monitor with contact sensors and is related to a living organism’s state of health, stress and well-being. The objective of this study was to develop an algorithm to extract HR (in beats per minute) of an anesthetized and a resting pig from raw video data as a first step towards continuous monitoring of health and welfare of pigs. Data were obtained from two experiments, wherein the pigs were video recorded whilst wearing an electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring system as gold standard (GS). In order to develop the algorithm, this study used a bandpass filter to remove noise. Then, a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) method was tested by evaluating different window sizes and window functions to accurately identify the HR. The resulting algorithm was first tested on videos of an anesthetized pig that maintained a relatively constant HR. The GS HR measurements for the anesthetized pig had a mean value of 71.76 bpm and standard deviation (SD) of 3.57 bpm. The developed algorithm had 2.33 bpm in mean absolute error (MAE), 3.09 bpm in root mean square error (RMSE) and 67% in HR estimation error below 3.5 bpm (PE3.5). The sensitivity of the algorithm was then tested on the video of a non-anaesthetized resting pig, as an animal in this state has more fluctuations in HR than an anaesthetized pig, while motion artefacts are still minimized due to resting. The GS HR measurements for the resting pig had a mean value of 161.43 bpm and SD of 10.11 bpm. The video-extracted HR showed a performance of 4.69 bpm in MAE, 6.43 bpm in RMSE and 57% in PE3.5. The results showed that HR monitoring using only the green channel of the video signal was better than using three color channels, which reduces computing complexity. By comparing different regions of interest (ROI), the region around the abdomen was found physiologically better than the face and front leg parts. In summary, the developed algorithm based on video data has potential to be used for contactless HR measurement and may be applied on resting pigs for real-time monitoring of their health and welfare status, which is of significant interest for veterinarians and farmers.

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