Energy Capital and Opportunity City

2019 ◽  
pp. 242-294
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Pratt ◽  
Martin V. Melosi

Houston began the twentieth century as a small cotton port linked to the Gulf of Mexico by a ship channel. It became an important center of oil production and refining before World War II, a leading producer during the war and its aftermath, and the global capital of energy focusing on technological innovation, refining, and petrochemicals as the world economy globalized. As it grew, the city drew migrants, Anglo- and African-American, from the U.S. South, many from Louisiana, to become a diverse but not simply segregated city. The long-term economic benefits of oil-led development allowed unequal yet shared gains and funded the rise of leading medical centers, sustaining a diversified economy after the 1980s oil bust made it a symbol of a major city built on oil. It expanded employment and improved infrastructure, but economic opportunities and physical growth came with high environmental costs, including health challenges and urban problems ranging from water supply, to pollution, to chronic flooding—as the city grew with a new wave of migration from Mexico into the twenty-first century.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 949
Author(s):  
Salman Qureshi ◽  
Saman Nadizadeh Shorabeh ◽  
Najmeh Neysani Samany ◽  
Foad Minaei ◽  
Mehdi Homaee ◽  
...  

Due to irregular and uncontrolled expansion of cities in developing countries, currently operational landfill sites cannot be used in the long-term, as people will be living in proximity to these sites and be exposed to unhygienic circumstances. Hence, this study aims at proposing an integrated approach for determining suitable locations for landfills while considering their physical expansion. The proposed approach utilizes the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) to weigh the sets of identified landfill location criteria. Furthermore, the weighted linear combination (WLC) approach was applied for the elicitation of the proper primary locations. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) and cellular automation-based Markov chain method were used to predict urban growth. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed approach, it was applied to a case study, namely the city of Mashhad in Iran, where suitable sites for landfills were identified considering the urban growth in different geographical directions for this city by 2048. The proposed approach could be of use for policymakers, urban planners, and other decision-makers to minimize uncertainty arising from long-term resource allocation.


2019 ◽  
pp. 009614421987785
Author(s):  
Christoph Strupp

The resilience of cities is usually tested by acute catastrophes such as physical destruction by natural disasters or wars or long-term processes of economic decline. This article discusses another type of catastrophe and the response of the political and economic elite of the city to it in the form of a case study on Germany’s biggest seaport city Hamburg in the aftermath of World War II. Although the air war of 1943-1945 had seriously damaged large parts of the port of Hamburg, the physical reconstruction began soon after the end of the war and made steady progress. This aspect of the disaster of war was to be overcome within a few years. But the war and its aftermath of political confrontation between East and West had changed the geopolitical position of Hamburg and moved it from the center of Europe to the periphery of the West. The hinterland of the port in Eastern Europe was cut off. The founding of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957 with its focus on the Rhine-Ruhr area further seemed to marginalize Hamburg. These developments were quickly perceived as a greater disaster than the physical destruction. This article examines the strategies developed by the political and economic leaders in Hamburg in the late 1940s and 1950s for dealing with processes they had no control over and could not directly influence.


Author(s):  
Andrew Salzberg ◽  
Shomik Mehndiratta ◽  
Zhi Liu

This paper provides an overview of the recent development of urban rail systems in Chinese cites and the challenges ahead. China is set to become the world leader in length of metro lines in operation in the near to medium term. In view of the large scale of this investment, a focus on the overall economic and financial viability of these systems is needed. On the basis of analytical work supporting a project investment in the city of Kunming and a study tour of urban rail systems in China, this paper highlights four areas believed to be crucial in meeting these objectives: integration of new metro systems with existing systems of public transport, a supportive overall urban transport policy, transit-oriented development, and long-term financial sustainability. The conclusion is that in all of these areas, China possesses tools that may enable the program to succeed if they are used effectively and in concert. Any issues appear to result from a lack of attention to these four areas and from a managerial focus on ensuring the completion of the construction program above all other concerns. The RMB 1 trillion investment in urban rail construction under way in China needs to be a catalyst for joint action on the issues identified in this paper (RMB 1 is approximately US$0.15). Otherwise, Chinese cities may be left with an investment that carries large long-term costs and does not deliver the crucial economic benefits expected.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-66
Author(s):  
Adam Goodman

When long-term Chicago resident and World War II veteran Rodolfo Lozoya traveled to Mexico in 1957 to visit his ailing mother, he probably did not think that he would face the threat of permanent separation from his US citizen wife and children. But when he tried to reenter the United States, authorities excluded him from the country because of his alleged past membership in the Communist Party. The saga of Lozoya’s exclusion and his family’s separation offer insights into the hypocritical nature of democracy in Cold War America. The case also sheds light on the intertwined lives of citizens and noncitizens, and how immigrant rights groups such as the Midwest Committee for Protection of Foreign Born mobilized to defend people from exclusion and deportation under the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. Federal censors’ decision to withhold materials on Lozoya more than fifty-five years later, and thirty years after his death, points to the enduring legacy of the Cold War and to the pervasive fear of radical politics in the twenty-first century.


Author(s):  
Ralston Ian

Berry in central France figures frequently in assessments of the level of complexity in western temperate Europe at the annexation of Gallia comata in 52 BC. Information from a number of sites, particularly Levroux (Indre: e.g. Büchsenschütz et al. 1988; 1992; 2000; Krausz 1993), contributes to what is now a tolerably well-understood pattern, contrasting markedly with the poorly known settlement record for the earlier Iron Age of the area. One site forms a conspicuous exception. For the end of the Hallstatt Iron Age and the initial phase of its successor—broadly the decades either side of 500 BC— Bourges (Cher) is now known to be of critical importance, not only in regional terms, but also as a variant of the elite phenomenon known as the Fürstensitze that occurs widely across west-central temperate Europe. It will come as no surprise that the first English-language author to recognize the emerging importance of this site was Barry Cunliffe in The Ancient Celts, and it is thus with pleasure that this interim statement on Bourges and its immediate hinterland at the time of the transition from the Hallstatt to La Tène Iron Age has been prepared. Since 1995, with Jacques Troadec, the municipal archaeologist, Olivier Büchsenschütz, Pierre-Yves Milcent and others, the author has been excavating within and on the periphery of Bourges—by the first century BC certainly Avaricum of the Bituriges—as part of a long-term rescue project on that site and its surroundings. A few, selected aspects of this are considered below. The pace of development, and evolving legislative arrangements for rescue archaeology, mean that other important sites in the commune have been examined by Alexis Luberne and colleagues in the State Archaeological Rescue Service, INRAP, and reference to some of their work is included below. The rate of change in and around the city, particularly as military establishments—many initially set up at the time of the 1870 Franco-Prussian war—are redeveloped for light industry, and new housing, transport and other infrastructure is constructed, provides much scope for new discoveries; what follows is thus by necessity provisional.


HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 557E-557
Author(s):  
Robin G. Brumfield

Since World War II, U.S. agriculture has reduced production costs by substituting petrochemicals for labor, often resulting in overuse of agricultural chemicals. Among the adverse results of chemical overuse are increases in certain pests, groundwater and surface water contamination, and surface water run-off. There is a growing perception that consumers bear the risk of pesticide use and farmers reap the profits. For farmers, the short-term risk of losing a crop that is already planted may take precedence over the long-term risks of such things as the pests developing resistance to pesticide, environmental damage, and applicator health risks. Alternative farming programs such as ICM and organic farming allow farmers to reconcile short-term risks and long-term benefits. Before farmers adopt an alternative system, they must be convinced that economic benefits from the alternative farming program surpass the costs incurred. Few studies have compared the cost of producing organic produce vs. using conventional production systems. One study found that net returns were slightly higher in ICM and organic systems that conventional ones. This is because of lower costs when using ICM systems and price premiums for organic crops. These results suggest that there may not be any trade-off between economic efficiency and environmentally friendly farming practices. If the society desires better environmental quality, it will be ready to pay premium price for the organic or ICM-grown vegetables. In a free-market system, farmers will use the market signals in the form of price, and they will produce accordingly.


2018 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Paul A. Shackel

Northeastern Pennsylvania has undergone long-term deindustrialization, and the region has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. In the late 1990s, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided major tax breaks to corporations, and many companies moved their fulfillment centers to the region. Latinos, mostly of Dominican descent, have migrated to the area to fill these low-skilled positions. As a result, Hazleton’s Latino population has risen from 4 percent in 2000 to 37 percent in 2010, and by 2020 it will be a majority minority community. Fearing undocumented workers, the City of Hazleton passed anti-immigration laws, which have helped fuel anti-immigration sentiment across the United States. The memory of Lattimer and recognition of the undocumented status of the victims have been employed to protest this type of legislation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-333
Author(s):  
Muhamad Albani ◽  
Suyudi Arif ◽  
Sofian Muhlisin

An effort to utilitize waste for the community is said to be successful if the products it produces can be useful for the community and economic value so that it sells. Likewise, various kinds of products resulting from waste processing, will feel the benefits if they can be felt by many people and have high economic value, so that it can help the economy of the community whose livelihoods depend a lot on scavenging garbage. To achieve the community’s economy, it is necessary to have an effort to manage the results of the utilization of the waste and market the products resulting from the utilization of waste so that they can be sold. In addition, the feasibility of business needs to be known with the financial presence so that the goals to be achieved can be met and produce results for those who manage it. This research uses a qualitative method with a case study approach. The method used is direct observation of the Galuga TPA in order to interview relevant parties to obtain complete information and data. Based on the information obtained from the intervies, the amount of income of the scavengers for one month ranges from Rp. 2,600,000. This means that these activities will be sustainable in the long term because of the market and the economic. Benefits received. The city government of Bogor must be able to empower and increase the capacity and role of scavengers as well as the participation of the surrounding community so that they are able to reduce the environmental burden on the dangers of pollution and obtain economic benefits from the exixtence of jobs at the Galuga TPA. Keyword : Utilization of Inorganic Waste, Improve the Community’s Economy


Design Issues ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-41
Author(s):  
Karla Rothstein

The environmental and social imperatives of twenty-first century cities require a rethinking of mortuary practices. Cemeteries across the globe are nearing capacity, and the number of deaths annually in the United States is increasing as the post-World War II generation ages. Despite their depletive and harmful environmental effects, casketed burial, cremation, and embalming have informed perceptions and policies, truncating access to alternatives. Although today's increasingly secular urban populations, for whom the health of the planet is paramount, are disconnected from “traditional” funerary rites, the importance of transitional mortal ritual endures. Through two design projects—one in an existing Victorian cemetery in Bristol, England, and the other augmenting iconic public infrastructure in New York City—this article argues for the potential of new disposition methods and enhanced public space. Countering the conventional dissociation of cemeteries from daily life, these new spaces of remembrance connect with the vitality of the city to promote intergenerational associations to family, culture, and environmental stewardship.


Author(s):  
Bart Eeckhout ◽  
Rob Herreman ◽  
Alexander Dhoest

AbstractThis chapter investigates the historical permutations of those areas that come closest to qualifying as lesbian and gay neighborhoods in Antwerp, the largest city in Flanders (the northern, Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). Although Antwerp has come to be represented as the “gay capital” of Flanders, it never developed a full-fledged gay neighborhood in the Anglo-American tradition of the concept. The clustering of sexual minorities in the city has been limited largely to the economic, social, and cultural business of (nightlife) entertainment, with lesbian and gay meeting places historically concentrating in particular neighborhoods that, moreover, have shifted over time and dissipated again. The chapter’s fine-grained analysis intends to reveal geographic, social, and cultural specificities for which a more detailed understanding of both the Antwerp and the Belgian contexts is necessary. Its tripartite structure is shaped by the specific heuristic conditions set by it. Because the larger historical context for the investigated subject remains to be written, the chapter first undertakes a substantial and panoramic survey of the emergence of gay nightlife in Antwerp during the early half of the twentieth century. This provides the framework needed for a more detailed analysis in the second part, which zooms in on an area in the immediate vicinity of the Central Station and takes as its emblematic focus one sufficiently long-term and iconic gay bar, called Café Strange. Finally, the chapter zooms out again to sketch how even such a limited gay nightlife cluster in Antwerp has evaporated again in the course of the twenty-first century, leaving a landscape that is hard to map and largely virtual.


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