Urban Land and Development Management in a Challenged Developing World: An Overview of New Reflections

The urban development and management challenges of the developing world are well documented in the literature. However, the global built environment landscape is undergoing rapid changes. These changes are steeped in three fundamental imperatives, which have serious implications for the developing world. These imperatives are population growth and rising urbanisation; environmental challenges, particularly climate change and the quest to embrace sustainability as a panacea; and advances in technological development. This paper discusses these three imperatives with the view to teasing out their implications for urban development and management in the developing world. Consistent with the literature, the paper establishes that most of the population growth and rising urbanisation are occurring in the developing world, particularly Africa and Asia, and although these phenomena have the tendency to increase economic density and promote both private and public investment in urban development, especially construction/housing and related infrastructure activities, there are and will be several problems with them. These include land tenure insecurity, lack of access to decent affordable housing and the threat of destruction to heritage sites. Furthermore, environmental challenges such as poor waste management, and climate change are and will remain pressing issues requiring the adoption of sustainability credentials because of legislative requirements, moral suasion, and value addition. Despite the potential disruptive nature of technology with respect to some aspects of the built environment, it is recognised that advances in technology are essential to the achievement of optimal urban development and management outcomes in the developing world. The paper, therefore, recommends better understanding of the socio-economic, cultural, and political forces underlying urban growth in the developing world, factoring in technology and sustainability in urban development and management, and collaboration among relevant actors, particularly government and the private sector, for optimal outcomes.

Systematic Development of Generic Skills to Enhance Innovation Capacity of Eastern and Southeastern European Universities

The level of innovativeness within the higher education systems of east and southeast Europe and their graduates is still assessed as modest or moderate. Besides the general socio–economic context and the inherited institutional management types, this deficiency stems from a lack of generic skills crucial for increasing the innovation capacity of the universities. TrainESEE v.2 project suggests that significant changes should be already put in place within the applied teaching methodology, but also highlights the importance of developing project development and management skills, innovation, entrepreneurial skills, and finally competences needed to strengthen science to business cooperation.

STUDY OF MORPHODYNAMIC AND SEDIMENTOLOGICAL CHANGES IN THE OUALIDIA LAGOON (MOROCCO) USING BATHYMETRIC DATA: FIRST INVESTIGATIONS AFTER THE SEDIMENT TRAP DREDGING

Coastal lagoons are highly dynamic and physically complicated systems. They are environmentally productive and socio-economically valuable. Contemporary global development and management pressures require a better understanding of their dynamics and sustainability. The present study focuses on the problem of water confinement in the Oualidia lagoon (Atlantic coast of Morocco). This lagoon is characterized by an asymmetric tidal propagation, with a shorter duration of the flood (rising tide) than the ebb (falling tide). In the long term, this contributes to the reduction of depths and the confinement of water upstream. After extensive studies, a sediment trap was created in 2011 to trap the finest sediment in the upstream part of the lagoon. This study aims to analyze the morphodynamical and sedimentological changes in the lagoon of Oualidia, after the sediment trap dredging. For this purpose, bathymetric surveys covering 6 years between 2006 and 2012 were analyzed, providing sufficient data to identify the morphological changes that the lagoon has undergone during this period. The data analysis was followed by a study of the lagoon bed dynamics using profile lines extracted from the bathymetric data in a GIS environment. As a result, the findings partly show that over 6 years, an average height of +0.65 m was gained by the lagoon, while the average change in the eroded areas was estimated to be −0.42 m. In addition, the eroded area in the lagoon was estimated to be about 1,513,800 m2 with an erosion volume of 633,383 m3, while the accumulated area found was about 2,699,396 m2 with an accumulation volume of 1,765,866 m3. These changes can be related to the large input of marine sediment, mainly caused by tidal currents and waves, but also to the creation of a sediment trap in the upstream area of the lagoon.

Climate Change and Its Impact on Soil Fertility and Life Forms

Climate change can disturb the characteristics of the soil either indirectly, or directly, or both. The direct effects include changes in the soil properties and composition by organic carbon transformation, precipitation, temperature, and % of moisture. The indirect impact includes nutrient cycling, improved soil erosion rate due to an increase in rate and intensity of rainfall, irrigation facility, changes in the crop rotation, and spadework practices. The presence of soil organic carbon (SOC) greatly influenced by the climatic condition. The crop cultivation depends upon the exchange of carbon between the troposphere and soil, which also vastly influences the fertility of the soil. The use, development, and management of soil depend upon soil structure, soil texture, soil stability, water holding capacity of the soil, availability of the nutrients, and erosion of the soil. Hence, deterioration of soil fertility by climatic change may affect the several soil lifeforms like fauna and flora either directly, or indirectly through nutritional value of the soil.

An Analysis of Sector-Based Water Supply and Demand

This chapter sought to assess sector-based current water use levels in Sanyati catchment, assess a possibility of new ways of managing the catchment water using inter-basin transfer systems, and assess future water demands projection using WEAP model. The study was both quantitative and qualitative in nature. Interviews and observations were the main primary data collection instruments. Findings showed that the main sectors and institutions that utilised water in the catchment were mining, agriculture, manufacturing industry, and local authorities. Local authorities and farming sectors were the major users of water. WEAP model results showed a steady increase in demand for water as a result of both population growth and agricultural activities water demand. The study mapped possible inter-basin transfer routes and recommends water harvesting as part of development and management in Sanyati catchment to address the problem of water shortage.

Management of Intercultural Relations in an Intercultural Organization

The chapter aims to reflect on the management of intercultural organizational relations. It explains the transition of homogenous organizations into the culturally heterogeneous organization and compares multiculturalism with cross-culturalism in its ability to harmonize the principles of cultural diversity with universal ethical principles. It explores the process of creation of a third culture to foster understanding and acceptance among diverse teams. It attempts to establish the impact of intercultural interactions/relations on the effectiveness of a diverse team of individuals interacting in concert to achieve common goals. The work also underpins some analysis of the creation, development, and management of organizational intercultural capital. Finally, the emergence of the model of strategic management of an intercultural organization focused on learning and training for proper operationalization and implementation is proposed, and some challenges that could antagonize the teams are looked into and proposals are formulated.

Towards a SDG Compliant Framework for the Open Learning Modules

The implement-ability of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depend on effective Project Planning, Development & Management (PPD&M). This applied research bases on the extensive possibilities for open learning modules via distance education. The two-fold research gap addressed are content and delivery. Participants need a SDG-embedded Project Planning, Development and Management offering. This curriculum redesign initiative is in line with the book's aim to disseminate, sustain and continuously improve content and practice incorporating new tools, insights, methods, necessary for proper implementation of the SDGs. The re-designed content emphasizes the ability to inter-relate through appropriate tool-sets on challenges, priorities, themes, sectors in the project development management domain. Complex developmental concerns are best served when the participant deploys the right combination of tools. Need for re-look at the evaluation system is highlighted with an interesting proposal to engage PPD&M alumni for continuous improvement on SDG-led growth.

The Main Component of Smart Tourism: A Principal Component Analysis Approach

Introduction. The establishment of a smart tourism model is indispensable for the effectiveness of tourism development and management supported by advances in information and communication technology. The successful implementation of smart tourism is determined by the smart tourism model. Determination of the main components has a significant role in building an effective model. The purpose of this study, to determine the main components forming a smart tourism model using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA is used to compress variables by reducing the number of dimensions, without losing much information. Method This research method is a quantitative method using SPSS software version 22. Result. The result obtained 9 main components, namely stakeholders, infrastructure, goals, resources, activities, challenges, innovation in various applications, strategies, and use of information and communication technologies. Conclusion. Those main components are expected to construct a smart tourism model with components that are comprehensive, interrelated, and adaptable.