scholarly journals Float: Designing for the Rise in Sea Level

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilo Cerro ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Healthcare Education ◽  
American University ◽  
Real Possibility ◽  
Urban Problem ◽  
Will Force ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Floating Systems

According to the United Nations, presently, about 54% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, with the number expected to increase to 66% by 2050. Urban areas which are ill prepared to deal with their present population needs will have to develop and manage; housing, healthcare, education, transportation, infrastructure and food pro-duction for an additional 2.5 billion people. With three-quarters of the world’s megalopolis by the sea and 80% of people living within 60 miles of the coast, sea level rise will force a new way of thinking about urban development. Managing urban areas has become one of the most important development challenges of the 21st century. In the UAE specifically, there are nearly 1,300 kilometers of coast-line. Approximately 85% of the population and over 90% of the infra-structure are located within several meters of sea level in low-lying coastal areas. This poses a very specific urban problem of relocation. But not all relocation will need to be done inland. The potential for floating architecture is a very real possibility to help solve some of the problems brought on by the rise in sea level. This is why at the American University of Sharjah, we have been studying this issue and other sustainability related opportunities in a series of courses that started in 2014 with a summer studio course set in Cambodia. Students lived with a floating community in the Tong le Sap lake for a month, studying vernacular floatation systems to inform the development of proposals for floating dwelling studies. This semester (Spring 2018), a fifth year architecture studio set up to transfer specific urban functions to the water within protected areas in the UAE. The aim of the studio was to start looking at possible implementation of floating systems within everyday functions to start a discussion of the potential of this technologies and the feasibility of its use at both an industrial and commercial level. The idea was to develop a series systemic interdependent sustainable designs based on the idea of third nature, hybridizing complex relationships between distinct functions in environments above and below water. This paper will cover the methodology implemented to start tackling these subjects in the studio environment with the aim to create awareness for designers and the general public.

scholarly journals Planning the Urban Waterfront Transformation, from Infrastructures to Public Space Design in a Sea-Level Rise Scenario: The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Case

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Francesca Dal Cin ◽  
Fransje Hooimeijer ◽  
Maria Matos Silva
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Space Design ◽  
Urban Waterfront ◽  
Mies Van Der Rohe ◽  
The Impact

Future sea-level rises on the urban waterfront of coastal and riverbanks cities will not be uniform. The impact of floods is exacerbated by population density in nearshore urban areas, and combined with land conversion and urbanization, the vulnerability of coastal towns and public spaces in particular is significantly increased. The empirical analysis of a selected number of waterfront projects, namely the winners of the Mies Van Der Rohe Prize, highlighted the different morphological characteristics of public spaces, in relation to the approximation to the water body: near the shoreline, in and on water. The critical reading of selected architectures related to water is open to multiple insights, allowing to shift the design attention from the building to the public space on the waterfronts. The survey makes it possible to delineate contemporary features and lay the framework for urban development in coastal or riverside areas.

Modeling Transit Flow Through Port Gates and Connecting Channel in Baltic Sea—Liepaja Port—Liepaja Lake System

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilnis Frishfelds ◽  
Juris Sennikovs ◽  
Uldis Bethers ◽  
Jens Murawski ◽  
Andrejs Timuhins
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Lake System ◽  
The North ◽  
Transit Flow ◽  
Trade Channel ◽  
Calm Weather ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Baltic

This study investigates a water transport features by extending Copernicus Marine Environment Service (CMEMS) to the Liepaja coast-port-channel-lake system with a two-way nested model. The Liepaja lake and Liepaja port are connected by Trade channel. The Liepaja port has three gates—the openings in wave breakers connecting the port aquatory with the Baltic sea. Each of gates has a corresponding dredged channel for securing the navigation. A hydrodynamic model is set up to study the flow and water level in this system. The area of the port gates, port and Trade channel are resolved by 33 m grid. The model results are verified against currents and sea level observations inside/outside port, Trade channel and Liepaja lake. Results and observations show that strong currents occur in the Trade channel in case of rapid sea level change in Baltic sea despite the Trade channel is rather shallow at the connection with Liepaja lake. The northern part of the Liepaja lake gets filled with brackish water during storm surge events. The channel has notable alternating current also during a relatively calm weather due to the port seiches. Long and narrow shape of the channel implies the Helmholtz type oscillations between the lake and the port with a period in approximately semidiurnal range. Hydrodynamic simulations describe well these oscillations but the phase of hourly scale oscillations in the port may differ in case of weak external forcing. Water exchange is significantly increased by the transit (gate to gate) sea currents. This transit flow usually occurs between South or Central gate and the North gate carrying sea water into the port. Northward flow of the surface layer is more characteristic in the port aquatory due the prevailing south-western winds. There are intense morphological processes at the coastline and underwater slope near the Liepaja port due to a sandy western coastline of Latvia, long fetch of the waves and strong currents at the port gates. Liepaja port is one of the Latvian ports in HywasPort operational service of hydrodynamics, waves and siltation.

scholarly journals Adapting to sea level rise: Emerging governance issues in the San Francisco Bay Region

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro J. Pinto ◽  
G. Mathias Kondolf ◽  
Pun Lok Raymond Wong
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Environmental Benefit ◽  
Formidable Challenge

San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the Pacific Coast of North America, is heavily encroached by a metropolitan region with over 7 million inhabitants. Urban development and infrastructure, much of which built over landfill and at the cost of former baylands, were placed at very low elevations. Sea-level rise (SLR) poses a formidable challenge to these highly exposed urban areas and already stressed natural systems. “Green”, or ecosystem-based, adaptation is already on the way around the Bay. Large scale wetland restoration projects have already been concluded, and further action now often requires articulation with the reinforcement of flood defense structures, given the level of urban encroachment. While levee setback, or removal, would provide greater environmental benefit, the need to protect urban areas and infrastructure has led to the trial of ingenious solutions for promoting wetland resilience while upgrading the level of protection granted by levees.We analyzed the Bay’s environmental governance and planning structure, through direct observation, interviews with stakeholders, and study of planning documents and projects. We present two cases where actual implementation of SLR adaptation has led, or may lead to, the need to revise standards & practices or to make uneasy choices between conflicting public interests.Among the region’s stakeholders, there is an increasing awareness of the risks related to SLR, but the institutional arrangements are complex, and communication between the different public agencies/departments is not always as streamlined as it could be. Some agencies and departments need to adapt their procedures in order to remove institutional barriers to adaptation, but path dependence is an obstacle. There is evidence that more frank and regular communication between public actors is needed. It also emphasizes the benefits of a coordination of efforts and strategies, something that was eroded in the transition from government-led policies to a new paradigm of local-based adaptive governance.

scholarly journals Integrated Passenger Transport System in Rural Areas – A Literature Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 863-873
Author(s):  
Branimir Maretić ◽  
Borna Abramović
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Transport System ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Passenger Transport ◽  
Public Transport System ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Impact

The planning and organisation of public passenger transport in rural areas is a complex process. The transport demand in rural areas is often low, which makes it hard to establish and run a financially sustainable public transport system. A solution is integrated passenger transport that eliminates deficiencies and provides benefits for all participants in the public passenger transport process. This paper describes the impact of integrated passenger transport on mobility in rural areas and critically evaluates different literature sources. Integration of passenger transport in urban areas has been described in the context of rural areas, and the challenges of integration of public passenger transport specific to rural areas have been analysed. Through the application in urban and rural areas, the planning of integrated and non-integrated passenger transport has been functionally analysed. The analysis found an increase in the degree of mobility in the areas that use integrated passenger transport compared to the non-integrated one. This research of the literature review has identified the rural areas of mobility as under-researched. The mobility research can set up a more efficient passenger transport planning system in rural areas.

scholarly journals Impact Assessment and Management Challenges of Key Rural Human Health Infrastructure Under Sea Level Rise

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Mitchell ◽  
Robert E. Isdell ◽  
Julie Herman ◽  
Christine Tombleson
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Septic Systems ◽  
Health Infrastructure ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Economic Assets

Accelerating sea level rise in Virginia, United States, will significantly increase the flooding threat to low-lying roads, residences, and critical infrastructure as well as raise the water table, allowing saltwater intrusion into well water and threatening the function of septic fields. Although most of the adaptation work in Virginia has focused on urban economic centers, the majority of the coastline is rural and faces different threats and opportunities to address them compared to urban areas due to their reduced economic assets and their reliance on private infrastructure. In this case study, we assess the potential for geospatially quantifying impact to septic systems and adjacent water ways due to sea level rise. The case study found that the data necessary to reliably quantify these impacts on a state-wide scale are lacking and collection of that information needs to be prioritized given the potential for extensive sea level impacts.

Geodetic benchmark displacement measurements following the 2020 Petrinja earthquake in Croatia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Branko Kordić ◽  
Matija Vukovski ◽  
Marko Budić ◽  
Marko Špelić ◽  
Josip Barbača ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Postseismic Deformation ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Geodynamic Processes ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Deformation Area ◽  
Absolute Shift

<p>The earthquake with magnitude ML=6.2 that occurred on 29th December 2020 has caused significant material damage to objects and infrastructure in the towns of Petrinja, Sisak,Glina and the surrounding area. According to the satellite interferometry data, the coseismic and postseismic deformation area covers around 500 square kilometers. The existing geodetic benchmarks have been set in the affected towns, and their coordinates have been determined based on previous GPS campaigns. The GPS network was set up and adjusted at the State Geodetic Administration's request for geodetic monitoring of infrastructure and cadastral projects. These points are not primarily intended for high accuracy measurements at the level of a few millimeters, so their accuracy and the absolute shift concerning geodynamic processes in the region should be taken into account. Nevertheless, the data obtained by their observation after the earthquake can provide valuable information about the horizontal and vertical displacements with a certain level of confidence. The field survey has detected disappearance of a large number of benchmarks and some valuable information has been lost. Still, 58 points were found and observed and it has been concluded that 52 points are reliable and can be used for future research. Because the network of benchmarks is not developed in rural areas, there is a gap in the distribution of benchmarks in affected area. Therefore, the additional data was collected using the benchmarks established for the engineering and cadastral projects and studies. From a total of 67 points that have been found and observed, 42 points will be used. Along with the data collected in urban areas, there will be a total of 94 benchmarks. The accuracy of the geodetic benchmark measurements is at the centimeter level, while the values of deformation are at the level of a few decimeters. Therefore, the obtained data can be used to better assess the displacement recorded during the 29 December 2020 event. In the future, field research will focus on finding additional benchmarks to reach a better spatial distribution.</p>

scholarly journals Multifunctional Interactive Furniture for Smart Cities

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oihane Gómez-Carmona ◽  
Diego Casado-Mansilla ◽  
Diego López-de-Ipiña
Keyword(s):  
Information Exchange ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Multimodal Interaction ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Right

The adaptation of cities to a future in which connectivity is at the service of the citizens will be a reality by creating interaction spaces and augmented urban areas. The research on this field falls within the scope of Smart Cities (SC) with the advantages that the common public spaces provide as new points for information exchange between the city, the urban furniture and their citizens. Kiosk systems have been recognized as an appropriate mean for providing event-aware and localized information to the right audience at the right time. Hence, in this article, we provide a vision of an eco-system of multifunctional urban furniture, where kiosks are part of them, designed not only for digital interaction but for sustainable use and symbolic integration into the urban environment as well. The proposed approach is conceived to drive services through digital urban nodes that facilitate tailored citizen-city communication and interaction. The central element of the designed platform consists on an intelligent digital kiosk which features a series of hardware and software components for sensing different environmental conditions, multimodal interaction with users and for conveying the captured data to the Cloud. The custom-based contents visualized to the users are controlled remotely through a management tool that allows to set-up and configure the digital kiosk. This system is not presented as an ad-hoc solution for one specific purpose but instead, it becomes a platform that can accommodate and solve the needs of every kind of user that populates urban shared-use spaces.

Distributed Data Management of Daily Car Pooling Problems

2011 ◽  
pp. 408-412
Author(s):  
Roberto Wolfler Calvo ◽  
Fabio de Luigi ◽  
Palle Haastrup ◽  
Vittorio Maniezzo
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Transfer Velocity ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Transportation Demand ◽  
Freight Transportation Demand ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Public Transportation Systems

The increased human mobility, combined with high use of private cars, increases the load on the environment and raises issues about the quality of life. The use of private cars lends to high levels of air pollution in cities, parking problems, noise pollution, congestion, and the resulting low transfer velocity (and, thus, inefficiency in the use of public resources). Public transportation service is often incapable of effectively servicing non-urban areas, where cost-effective transportation systems cannot be set up. Based on investigations during the last years, problems related to traffic have been among those most commonly mentioned as distressing, while public transportation systems inherently are incapable of facing the different transportation needs arising in modern societies. A solution to the problem of the increased passenger and freight transportation demand could be obtained by increasing both the efficiency and the quality of public transportation systems, and by the development of systems that could provide alternative solutions in terms of flexibility and costs between the public and private ones. This is the rationale behind so-called Innovative Transport Systems (ITS) (Colorni et al., 1999), like car pooling, car sharing, dial-a-ride, park-and-ride, card car, park pricing, and road pricing, which are characterized by the exploitation of innovative organizational elements and by a large flexibility in their management (e.g., traffic restrictions and fares can vary according with the time of day).

scholarly journals A Novel Framework to Control and Optimize the Traffic Congestion Issue in VANET

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.31) ◽  
pp. 245
Author(s):  
Tanuja Kayarga ◽  
H M. Navyashree
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Fuzzy Inference ◽  
Vehicular Traffic ◽  
Vehicular Communication ◽  
Hoc Networks ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Inference Systems

In the recent times due to the increase of vehicular nodes in a vehicular communication network, there is a need of developing efficient systems in order to optimize the vehicular traffic congestion issues in urban areas. The current research trends shows that most of the conventional studies focused on developing fuzzy inference systems based vehicular traffic congestion model which has gained lots of attention on detecting and minimizing the congestion levels.We have proposed a new approach towards detection and controlling of traffic congestion in VANET. The proposed system utilizes the communication channels very efficiently and irrespective of any kind of overload. This proposed system aims to introduce a novel framework for identifying traffic jam on Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks. In order to detect and minimize the level of congestion our approach will use a fuzzy logic based approach to notify the drivers about available routes during the traffic congestion. An experimental prototype will be set up to enable the graphical simulation.

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