scholarly journals Dealing with Complexities and Uncertainties in a System-of- Systems: Case Studies on Urban Systems

Author(s):  
Datu Buyung Agusdinata
Author(s):  
Carlos Gonçalves

This chapter aims to discuss concepts and methods to measure the landscape resilience of urban systems and test the indicators framework in the Portuguese regional context. The objective is to measure the performance and the direction of the urban changes in different phenomena, as well as to evaluate the level of urban systems preparation for a desired and undesired change adaptability. The approach to these issues is analyzed in the literature, dividing the aforementioned analysis into the resilience of the economic base, of the social structure, and of the urban form. In brief, the chapter meets three objectives: firstly, defining the framework of principles more commonly associated with urban resilience; secondly, providing a selection of indicators that embodies the different proposals of measurement; and thirdly, applying the indicator matrix to two Portuguese case studies (Caldas da Rainha and Évora urban systems).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 11732
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Viglioglia ◽  
Matteo Giovanardi ◽  
Riccardo Pollo ◽  
Pier Paolo Peruccio

Cities will have a decisive role in reducing the consumption of resources and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Various experiences of urban regeneration have exploited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) potentialities to optimize the management of complex systems and to encourage sustainable development models. This paper investigates the role of ICT technologies in favouring emerging design for Circular Economy (CE) in the urban context. The paper starts by defining the theoretical background and subsequently presents the goal and methodology of investigation. Through a scoping review, the authors identify case studies and analyse them within the Ellen MacArthur Foundation classification framework that splits the urban context into three urban systems: buildings, mobility and products. The research focuses on nine case studies where the ICT solutions were able to promote the principles of CE. The results show, on the one hand, how data management appears to be a central issue in the optimization of urban processes and, on the other hand, how the district scale is the most appropriate to test innovative solutions. This paper identifies physical and virtual infrastructures, stakeholders and tools for user engagement as key elements for the pursuit of CE adoption in the urban context.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Neukom ◽  
Nadine Salzmann ◽  
Christian Huggel ◽  
Veruska Muccione ◽  
Sabine Kleppek ◽  
...  

<p>A recent study on ‘climate-related risks and opportunities’ of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) identified knowledge gaps and related missing planning tools for risks with low probability of occurrence but potentially very severe impacts for society and/or the environment. Such risks refer in particular to risks triggered by cumulating meteorological/climatic extremes events, which (i) exacerbate through process cascades or (ii) return within shorter time intervals than expected.</p><p>To respond to these knowledge gaps and ‘blind spots’ in climate risks, a collaborative effort including academic and government institutions at different administrative levels is undertaken in order to explore and analyse the potential of such large cumulative, complex risks and to suggest actions needed to manage them in Switzerland. The project is based on two case studies, which are developed in consultation with stakeholders from science, policy and practice at the national and sub-national level.</p><p>The case studies analyse risks triggered by meteorological events based on projected and recently published Swiss Climate Scenarios CH2018, considering rare but plausible scenarios where such triggering events cumulate and/or occur in combinations.</p><p>The first case study focuses on mountain systems in the southern Swiss Alps, with a potential reduction of the protective capacity of forests caused by extreme drought and heat, and subsequent increase of risks due to multiple natural hazards (fires, snow avalanches, landslides). A semi-quantitative analysis based on expert surveys allows us to estimate the probability of different levels of loss of the protective function caused by the given meteorological trigger event. In a parallel bottom-up approach we perform the analysis with an impacts-perspective and estimate the ecological and climatological thresholds that lead to a partial or complete loss of protective function. Results from the two methods are qualitatively compatible, but the bottom-up approach tends to show a higher risk of damage compared to the more ‘classical’ top-down analysis for similar meteorological events.</p><p>The second case study focuses on cascading impacts in relation with recurrent large-scale drought and heat events on urban systems and their vulnerable elements. We draw potential process cascades across various socio-economic systems for the urban area of Basel based on a systematic analysis of potentially relevant precedent information from selected past cases worldwide.</p><p>Our study is expected to provide important information concerning highly vulnerable systems and elements, their protection, and tipping points towards severe risk amplification. Moreover, we point to feasible risk management approaches and suggest transformative adaptation measures.</p>


Author(s):  
Antonia Bertolino ◽  
Guglielmo De Angelis ◽  
Francesca Lonetti ◽  
Vania de Oliveira Neves ◽  
Miguel Angel Olivero

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dexter Dunphy

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the issue of corporate sustainability. It examines why achieving sustainability is becoming an increasingly vital issue for society and organisations, defines sustainability and then outlines a set of phases through which organisations can move to achieve increasing levels of sustainability. Case studies are presented of organisations at various phases indicating the benefits, for the organisation and its stakeholders, which can be made at each phase. Finally the paper argues that there is a marked contrast between the two competing philosophies of neo-conservatism (economic rationalism) and the emerging philosophy of sustainability. Management schools have been strongly influenced by economic rationalism, which underpins the traditional orthodoxies presented in such schools. Sustainability represents an urgent challenge for management schools to rethink these traditional orthodoxies and give sustainability a central place in the curriculum.


1978 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-235
Author(s):  
David L. Ratusnik ◽  
Carol Melnick Ratusnik ◽  
Karen Sattinger

Short-form versions of the Screening Test of Spanish Grammar (Toronto, 1973) and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (Lee, 1971) were devised for use with bilingual Latino children while preserving the original normative data. Application of a multiple regression technique to data collected on 60 lower social status Latino children (four years and six months to seven years and one month) from Spanish Harlem and Yonkers, New York, yielded a small but powerful set of predictor items from the Spanish and English tests. Clinicians may make rapid and accurate predictions of STSG or NSST total screening scores from administration of substantially shortened versions of the instruments. Case studies of Latino children from Chicago and Miami serve to cross-validate the procedure outside the New York metropolitan area.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Rose Curtis

As the field of telepractice grows, perceived barriers to service delivery must be anticipated and addressed in order to provide appropriate service delivery to individuals who will benefit from this model. When applying telepractice to the field of AAC, additional barriers are encountered when clients with complex communication needs are unable to speak, often present with severe quadriplegia and are unable to position themselves or access the computer independently, and/or may have cognitive impairments and limited computer experience. Some access methods, such as eye gaze, can also present technological challenges in the telepractice environment. These barriers can be overcome, and telepractice is not only practical and effective, but often a preferred means of service delivery for persons with complex communication needs.


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