scholarly journals Urban Planning and Climate Change Mitigation

Author(s):  
Amar Bennadji ◽  
Richard Laing ◽  
David Gray

The aim of the research described in this chapter is to explore the use of intelligent virtual transport modelling within the context of a case study involving the development of a university estate. Through the application of visualisation techniques, the study was able to explore how such techniques can lead to enlightenment of potential solutions, whilst simultaneously demonstrating the effects of design solutions on CO2 emissions. Such an approach leads to a better understanding of the transport complexity from the perspective of potential clients and users. Although images and physical models of the case study were appreciated by stakeholders, these did not provide more information than their current state and could not help in making funded decision by decision making community. Animated data, including calculated predictions of the effect of design on daily vehicles, human traffic, and CO2 emission, enlivened and illuminated the designed situation, and allowed decision makers to appreciate the real current and potential challenges.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 3932
Author(s):  
Shaoqing Dai ◽  
Yin Ren ◽  
Shudi Zuo ◽  
Chengyi Lai ◽  
Jiajia Li ◽  
...  

Gridded CO2 emission maps at the urban scale can aid the design of low-carbon development strategies. However, the large uncertainties associated with such maps increase policy-related risks. Therefore, an investigation of the uncertainties in gridded maps at the urban scale is essential. This study proposed an analytic workflow to assess uncertainty propagation during the gridding process. Gridded CO2 emission maps were produced using two resolutions of geospatial datasets (e.g., remote sensing satellite-derived products) for Jinjiang City, China, and a workflow was applied to analyze uncertainties. The workflow involved four submodules that can be used to evaluate the uncertainties of CO2 emissions in gridded maps, caused by the gridded model and input. Fine-resolution (30 m) maps have a larger spatial variation in CO2 emissions, which gives the fine-resolution maps a higher degree of uncertainty propagation. Furthermore, the uncertainties of gridded CO2 emission maps, caused by inserting a random error into spatial proxies, were found to decrease after the gridding process. This can be explained by the “compensation of error” phenomenon, which may be attributed to the cancellation of the overestimated and underestimated values among the different sectors at the same grid. This indicates a nonlinear change between the sum of the uncertainties for different sectors and the actual uncertainties in the gridded maps. In conclusion, the present workflow determined uncertainties were caused by the gridded model and input. These results may aid decision-makers in establishing emission reduction targets, and in developing both low-carbon cities and community policies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Wasef Abuezhayeh ◽  
Les Ruddock ◽  
Issa Shehabat

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and explain how organizations in the construction sector can enhance their decision-making process (DMP) by practising knowledge management (KM) and business process management (BPM) activities. A conceptual framework is developed that recognises the elements that impact DMP in terms of KM and BPM. The development of this framework goes beyond current empirical work on KM in addition to BPM as it investigates a wider variety of variables that impact DMP. Design/methodology/approach A case study is undertaken in the context of the construction industry in Jordan. A theoretical framework is developed and assessment of the proposed framework was undertaken through a questionnaire survey of decision-makers in the construction sector and expert interviews. Findings The outcomes of this research provide several contributions to aid decision-makers in construction organizations. Growth in the usage of KM and BPM, in addition to the integration between them, can provide employees with task-related knowledge in the organization’s operative business processes, improve process performance, promote core competence and maximise and optimise business performance. Originality/value Through the production of a framework, this study provides a tool to enable improved decision-making. The framework generates a strong operational as well as theoretical approach to the organizational utilization of knowledge and business processes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3747
Author(s):  
Robert Gibson ◽  
Karine Péloffy ◽  
Meinhard Doelle

Canada is preparing to initiate a challenging, but potentially ground-breaking, strategic assessment on the implications of its climate change mitigation commitments for project assessments. The strategic assessment is immediately needed to provide project-level guidance for decision makers who will be required under new federal legislation to consider the extent to which each assessed project “contributes to sustainability” and “hinders or contributes to” meeting Canada’s climate commitments. However, Canada, like many other countries, has not yet translated its Paris Agreement climate commitments into an adequate suite of specific policies, pathways, budgets, and other directives for compliance. Consequently, the climate commitments’ strategic assessment will need to play a fully strategic role—in policy development as well as policy interpretation and elaboration for assessment purposes. This paper outlines the key considerations and required steps for a strategic assessment that fills the policy gap between Paris and projects, and develops guidance centred on a suite of tests for evaluating proposed major projects that may have important effects on Canada’s prospects for meeting its climate commitments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (Special Issue1) ◽  
pp. S159-S165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Nocera ◽  
Antonio Gagliano ◽  
Gianpiero Evola ◽  
Luigi Marletta ◽  
Alice Faraci

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milad Around

In the world of business special attention is paid to entrepreneurs for their potential and large corporations for their impact on the market. Due to this, small businesses often fall short of resources and tools to help them grow. The aim of this dissertation is to introduce a framework for decision making to small businesses as a tool to help embed more structure into their organization. The framework was then applied to two distinct case studies to display its functionality and usefulness. The framework consists of several steps: 1) corporate plan and financial assessment 2) a current state analysis 3) a quantitative and mathematical feasibility study of the decision The framework in each case study resulted in an objective and qualified decision. It also suggests that, due to the unique structure and characteristics of each small business, the framework proposed would only be relevant and applicable on a general level and more work is required to refine the details in order to be able apply it universally to business entities with limited working capital.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véra Ehrenstein ◽  
Fabian Muniesa

This paper examines counterfactual display in the valuation of carbon offsetting projects. Considered a legitimate way to encourage climate change mitigation, such projects rely on the establishment of procedures for the prospective assessment of their capacity to become carbon sinks. This requires imagining possible worlds and assessing their plausibility. The world inhabited by the project is articulated through conditional formulation and subjected to what we call “counterfactual display”: the production and circulation of documents that demonstrate and con!gure the counterfactual valuation. We present a case study on one carbon offsetting reforestation project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We analyse the construction of the scene that allows the “What would have happened” question to make sense and become actionable. We highlight the operations of calculative framing that this requires, the reality constraints it relies upon, and the entrepreneurial conduct it stimulates.


Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Qing Liu ◽  
Tongle Yin

Navigation safety improving investment aims at mitigating risk and improving safety of shipping system, while decision-makers’ attitudes toward the uncertainty of shipping safety possess a characteristic of “bounded rationality.” To study the tendency of shipping safety investment decision-making with different risk perception and appetite, a decision-making method based on cumulative prospect theory is proposed in this article. First, we extract the decision attributes through analyzing the factors affecting shipping safety investment. Then, according to cumulative prospect theory, the value function and the probability weighting function for calculating cumulative prospect values of shipping investment attributes are given. Under the risk-based multi-attribute group decision-making framework, linear programming model and projection method are introduced to aggregate the weights of attributes and decision-makers, respectively. Furthermore, through a case study, the proposed methodology is utilized in Three Gorges Dam area, and the desirable safety investment scheme is determined from a set of candidate alternatives. The case study shows not only validity and feasibility of the decision-making approach but also the mechanism of shipping safety investment decision-making with consideration of the behavior characteristics of decision-makers such as reference dependence, risk appetite distortion, and loss aversion.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva D. Regnier ◽  
Joel W. Feldmeier

General Eisenhower’s decisions to postpone and, one day later, to launch the “D-Day” invasion of Normandy are a gripping illustration of sequential decisions under uncertainty, suitable for any introductory decision analysis class. They’re also the archetypal example of weather-sensitive decision making using a forecast. This paper develops a framework for analyzing weather-sensitive decisions with a focus on the less-familiar strategic decisions that determine how forecasts are produced and what operational alternatives are available so that decision makers can extract value from forecasts. We tell the story of the decisions made in the months before D-Day regarding how to set up the forecasting process and the myriad decisions implicating nation-level resources that prepared Allied forces not just to invade, but to hold open that decision until the last possible hour so that Eisenhower and his staff could use the critical forecasts. Finally, we overview the current state of the weather-forecasting enterprise, the current challenges of interest to decision analysts, and what this means for decision analysts seeking opportunities to help the weather enterprise improve forecasts and to help operational decision makers extract more value from modern weather forecasts.


Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virupaxi Bagodi ◽  
Biswajit Mahanty

PurposeManagerial decision-making is an area of interest to both academia and practitioners. Researchers found that managers often fail to manage complex decision-making tasks and system thinkers assert that generic structures known as systems archetypes help them to a great deal in handling such situations. In this paper, it is demonstrated that decision makers resort to lowering of goal (quick-fix) in order to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality in the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.Design/methodology/approachA real-life case study is taken up to highlight the pitfalls of “drifting the goals” systems archetype for a decision situation in the Indian two-wheeler industry. System dynamics modeling is made use of to obtain the results.FindingsThe decision makers fail to realize the pitfall of lowering the goal to resolve the gap between the goal and current reality. It is seen that, irrespective of current less-than-desirable performance, managers adopting corrective actions other than lowering of goals perform better in the long run. Further, it is demonstrated that extending the boundary and experimentation results in designing a better service system and setting benchmarks.Practical implicationsThe best possible way to avoid the pitfall is to hold the vision and not lower the long term goal. The managers must be aware of the pitfalls beforehand.Originality/valueSystems thinking is important in complex decision-making tasks. Managers need to embrace long-term perspective in decision-making. This paper demonstrates the value of systems thinking in terms of a case study on the “drifting the goals” systems archetype.


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