Urban infrastructure modeling: Ethical and aesthetic aspects

In modern urban planning discourse, ethical issues, primarily the fairness of resource allocation, are being discussed more and more persistently. The city's infrastructure is considered here as an expression of the principles of social philosophy. The article raises the problem of modeling the ethical and aesthetic aspects of urban infrastructure using artificial intelligence as part of the general trend in the development of modern architecture.

World-class as a provincial construct: Historicizing planning in Colombo and Delhi

South Asia’s bourgeoning agglomerations are argued to derive their imageries from the abstracted northern notions of the urban, partially captured by the umbrella phrase – world-class. This article unpacks the notion of world-class using planning exercises in Colombo and Delhi. I argue that world-class cannot be seen in isolation to read the violence of urbanization, but when planning is historicized, visions like world-class present themselves as a subsequent logical step. Therefore, for any radical opposition to exclusionary planning, we need to look at the possibility of an epistemological rupture in the planning discourse rather than to critique the notion of world-class.

Multiculturalism and Diversity in Urban Revitalization

This article examines the uses of “diversity” in the revitalization of two public housing projects in Toronto, Canada: Regent Park and Lawrence Heights. Both revitalization plans emphasize a diversity of use, diversity of income, and diversity of culture. I argue the diversity of diversity serves as a legitimizing tool for the revitalization projects and that the use of the term is productively ambiguous and draws from the cachet of Canadian multiculturalism, without explicitly naming race and racial inequality. My analysis sheds light on tensions between the types of diversity, challenging the potential for the framework to address structural inequality via revitalization. While both diversity and mix (mixed income or diversity of incomes, for example) are generally taken-for-granted terms in planning discourse, promoting more equitable planning practices requires analyzing them more closely in context.

Exploring the genre of telephone-based financial planning consultations

Until relatively recently, financial planning typically involved investment advisers advising relatively wealthy and financially literate individuals about where to place their abundant disposable incomes. Today, many financial planners are focused on advising individuals with modest incomes and little understanding of finance how best to manage their financial affairs in anticipation of retirements that could last for decades. The domain of financial planning discourse, despite the profession’s remarkable growth, is virtually unexplored territory in terms of studies conducted using applied linguistic analytic tools. This paper sheds light on the social purpose of financial planning consultations and their realization through their generic structure. A dataset of 10 authentic recorded telephone-based financial planning consultations was established and analysed for generic moves using Halliday and Hasan’s (1985) generic structure potential. Using the generic structure potential (GSP) as a basis for evaluating the achievement of intended social purpose, and identifying a problem in the move sequencing and the common omission of a key component, we suggest strategic discursive modifications that would improve outcomes for all stakeholders. Implications for professional and academic training are discussed.