Measurement of Accessibility at Building Scale and Comparison with Accessibility at Neighbourhood Scale: A Case Study of Northeast Area in Adachi Ward, Tokyo

There has been a recent interest in expanding the focus of deindustrialisation studies to the cities of the Global South. Bangalore, with its long legacy of state sponsored industrialisation, as well as a substantial shift in its economy following economic liberalisation in 1991, presents itself as a suitable case to examine the impacts of industrial transformation. We study the decline of the engineering economy in one of Bangalore’s earliest planned industrial suburbs, Rajajinagar, to understand how industrial restructuring at the city and national scale has affected and reconfigured local economies. Using this case study, we make two main theoretical contributions: one, we bring out shifts at a neighbourhood scale that go beyond the existing literature on neoliberal transformations in Bangalore as well as other Indian cities. Two, the case also allows us to assess the limitations of deindustrialisation as a framework to analyse these changes, and we suggest a modified framework, that of ‘industrial destabilisation’.

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Walking to Occupational Activities Within Three Neighbourhoods in Basra City

Open House International ◽

10.1108/ohi-01-2019-b0007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 53-61

Author(s):

Qaaid Al-Saraify ◽

David Grierson

Keyword(s):

Mixed Method ◽

Theory Of Planned Behaviour ◽

Planned Behaviour ◽

Perceived Environment ◽

Environment Variables ◽

Occupational Activities ◽

Potential Case ◽

Neighbourhood Scale ◽

Study Participants

Recognizing the demand for a reliable subjective instrument to gather information on walking to occupational activities on the neighbourhood scale, this paper outlines the Neighbourhood Walking to Occupational Activities Questionnaire (NWOAQ) recently developed at the Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde. The approach follows reliable techniques in the design of questionnaires including the analysis of currently available instruments, interviews with the potential case study participants, and the use of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). It describes the testing of NWOAQ, following a ‘mixed method' adopted to sample the population of three case studies in Basra City, in Iraq (Al-Saymmar, Al-Mugawleen, and Al-Abassya). Cronbach's ‘Alpha Test' (Cronbach, 1951) was conducted on three significant variables selected; ‘the perceived environment' variables; the ‘constructs of the TPB' variables; and the ‘walking outcome' variables. This displayed different alpha levels, which were; 0.76; 0.74; and 0.87, respectively. Based on CAT, the level of internal consistency that would render a group of indicators reliable should be no less than 0.60.

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Increasing Urban Walkability through Citizens’ Participation Processes

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13115835 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 5835

Author(s):

Francesco Scorza ◽

Giovanni Fortunato ◽

Raffaella Carbone ◽

Beniamino Murgante ◽

Piergiuseppe Pontrandolfi

Keyword(s):

Urban Regeneration ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Syntax Analysis ◽

Local Characteristics ◽

Cognitive Framework ◽

Neighbourhood Scale ◽

Space Syntax Analysis ◽

The City

The work is focused on the integration of space syntax analysis (SSA) in a process of participatory planning focused on a neighbourhood scale where the challenge of promoting pedestrian-friendly regeneration process is a bottom-up priority. The promotion of active mobility is one of the main themes of the urban regeneration project CAST operating on the western part of the city of Potenza (capital of the Basilicata region, Italy). Both the state of the art of the case study area and the potential effects of the intervention proposed on the basis of the participatory process have been assessed by SSA as a walkability assessment method. By measuring a street network’s syntactic parameters, it was possible to further enrich the cognitive framework relating to the current situation and to simultaneously evaluate the effects (in terms of potential movement and social usage) deriving from design interventions. The paper presents a methodology to evaluate the urban pedestrian environment and to provide an insight for walking-related intervention and improvements in neighbourhood-scale planning, according to a participatory approach. The research, based on specific local characteristics, represents a transferable approach to supporting and informing policy-makers and designers engaged in inclusive and participative urban regeneration projects.

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Assessing Socioeconomic Vulnerability after a Hurricane: A Combined Use of an Index-Based approach and Principal Components Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12041452 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 1452

Author(s):

Neiler Medina ◽

Yared Abayneh Abebe ◽

Arlex Sanchez ◽

Zoran Vojinovic

Keyword(s):

Census Data ◽

Principal Component ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Small Island ◽

Socioeconomic Vulnerability ◽

Combined Use ◽

Assessment Approach ◽

Components Analysis ◽

Neighbourhood Scale

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are vulnerable to sea-level rise and hydro-meteorological hazards. In addition to the efforts to reduce the hazards, a holistic strategy that also addresses the vulnerability and exposure of residents and their assets is essential to mitigate the impacts of such hazards. Evaluating the socioeconomic vulnerability of SIDS can serve the purpose of identification of the root drivers of risk. In this paper, we present a methodology to assess and map socioeconomic vulnerability at a neighbourhood scale using an index-based approach and principal component analysis (PCA). The index-based vulnerability assessment approach has a modular and hierarchical structure with three components: susceptibility, lack of coping capacities and lack of adaptation, which are further composed of factors and variables. To compute the index, we use census data in combination with data coming from a survey we performed in the aftermath of Irma. PCA is used to screen the variables, to identify the most important variables that drive vulnerability and to cluster neighbourhoods based on the common factors. The methods are applied to the case study of Sint Maarten in the context of the disaster caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017. Applying the combined analysis of index-based approach with PCA allows us to identify the critical neighbourhoods on the island and to identify the main variables or drivers of vulnerability. Results show that the lack of coping capacities is the most influential component of vulnerability in Sint Maarten. From this component, the “immediate action” and the “economic coverage” are the most critical factors. Such analysis also enables decision-makers to focus their (often limited) resources more efficiently and have a more significant impact concerning disaster risk reduction.

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Priority Areas for Developing Green Infrastructure in Semi-arid Cities: A Case Study of Tehran

Environment and Urbanization Asia ◽

10.1177/0975425321990326 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 097542532199032

Author(s):

Farimah Sadat Jamali ◽

Shahriar Khaledi ◽

Mohammad Taghi Razavian

Keyword(s):

Green Infrastructure ◽

Land Surface ◽

Local Climate ◽

Priority Areas ◽

Local Climate Zones ◽

Runoff Control ◽

Neighbourhood Scale ◽

Vulnerability Framework ◽

Semi Arid

Urban green infrastructure (GI) approach supports building resilience, mitigating greenhouse gases emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. However, the development and maintenance of GI in semi-arid cities can be hindered by limitations such as available water resources. In this article, we study priority areas for GI development schemes at the neighbourhood scale through a seasonal vulnerability framework with the case study of two urban districts in the semi-arid city of Tehran, Iran. Heat mitigation and stormwater runoff control are considered as the main objectives of GI development. The results show that priority areas have high levels of land surface temperature, impervious surfaces and population density, with a low proportion of vegetation land cover. The necessary GI services vary in different local climate zones (LCZ) during the year. Although heat mitigation is required in both compact and open LCZs, the runoff control service of GI is also needed for neighbourhoods with compact midrise settings. To promote sustainability at the neighbourhood scale, the findings of the study can be used for initiating nature-based solutions and GI development projects.

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An interdisciplinary exploration of responsible algorithm design in the era of distributed energy resources

10.21203/rs.3.rs-253762/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Hedda Ransan-Cooper ◽

Björn Sturmberg ◽

Marnie Shaw ◽

Lachlan Blackhall

Keyword(s):

Algorithm Design ◽

Energy Sector ◽

Economic Modelling ◽

Distributed Energy ◽

Holistic View ◽

New Energy ◽

Neighbourhood Scale ◽

Interdisciplinary Study ◽

And Control

Abstract While the governance of algorithms is of growing societal concern, the energy sector has been slow to engage with this issue. We argue that there are at least three systemic concerns to the design and operation of algorithms in the new, digital energy era. Namely, reliance on algorithms can bias considerations towards the easily quantifiable, that they can inhibit explainability, transparency and trust, and that they could undermine energy users’ autonomy and control. We examine these tensions through an interdisciplinary study that reveals the diversity and materiality of algorithms. Our study focuses on neighbourhood-scale batteries (NSBs) in Australia as a case study of new energy algorithms. We conducted qualitative research with energy sector professionals and citizens to understand the range of perceived benefits and risks of NSBs and the algorithms that drive their behaviour. Issues raised by stakeholders were integrated into our development of multiple NSB optimisation algorithms, whose impacts on NSB owners and customers we quantified through techno-economic modelling. Our results show the allocation of benefits and risks vary considerably between different algorithm designs. This insight a need to improve energy algorithm governance, enabling accountability and responsiveness across the design and use of algorithms so that the digitisation of energy technology does not lead to adverse public outcomes. Taken together, our study underscores the importance for researchers and developers of new algorithms to take a holistic view of stakeholders and public benefit, and demonstrates one method to practice responsible algorithm design.

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The Genesis and Internal Dynamics of El Salvador's People's Revolutionary Army, 1970–1976

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x13009850 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 38 (01) ◽

pp. 102-129

Author(s):

ALBERTO MARTÍN ÁLVAREZ ◽

EUDALD CORTINA ORERO

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

El Salvador ◽

Early Years ◽

Left Wing ◽

Internal Dynamics ◽

Internal Coherence ◽

The 1960S

AbstractUsing interviews with former militants and previously unpublished documents, this article traces the genesis and internal dynamics of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army, ERP) in El Salvador during the early years of its existence (1970–6). This period was marked by the inability of the ERP to maintain internal coherence or any consensus on revolutionary strategy, which led to a series of splits and internal fights over control of the organisation. The evidence marshalled in this case study sheds new light on the origins of the armed Salvadorean Left and thus contributes to a wider understanding of the processes of formation and internal dynamics of armed left-wing groups that emerged from the 1960s onwards in Latin America.

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Culture and the plasticity of perception

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19002887 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Lifshitz ◽

T. M. Luhrmann

Keyword(s):

Cultural Context ◽

Sensory Experience ◽

Cultural Learning ◽

The World

Abstract Culture shapes our basic sensory experience of the world. This is particularly striking in the study of religion and psychosis, where we and others have shown that cultural context determines both the structure and content of hallucination-like events. The cultural shaping of hallucinations may provide a rich case-study for linking cultural learning with emerging prediction-based models of perception.

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Dual systems for all: Higher-order, role-based relational reasoning as a uniquely derived feature of human cognition

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000451 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel J. Povinelli ◽

Gabrielle C. Glorioso ◽

Shannon L. Kuznar ◽

Mateja Pavlic

Keyword(s):

Temporal Reasoning ◽

Higher Order ◽

Important Case ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Relational Reasoning ◽

Dual Systems ◽

First Order ◽

Reasoning System ◽

Role Based

Abstract Hoerl and McCormack demonstrate that although animals possess a sophisticated temporal updating system, there is no evidence that they also possess a temporal reasoning system. This important case study is directly related to the broader claim that although animals are manifestly capable of first-order (perceptually-based) relational reasoning, they lack the capacity for higher-order, role-based relational reasoning. We argue this distinction applies to all domains of cognition.

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Sociocultural memory development research drives new directions in gadgetry science

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000979 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Penny Van Bergen ◽

John Sutton

Keyword(s):

Episodic Memory ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Developmental Psychology ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Memory Development ◽

Development Research ◽

Cultural Research ◽

New Directions ◽

Cross Cultural Research

Abstract Sociocultural developmental psychology can drive new directions in gadgetry science. We use autobiographical memory, a compound capacity incorporating episodic memory, as a case study. Autobiographical memory emerges late in development, supported by interactions with parents. Intervention research highlights the causal influence of these interactions, whereas cross-cultural research demonstrates culturally determined diversity. Different patterns of inheritance are discussed.

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