The Road to SC Transition for Cities in Developing Nations

Smart city transformation is a complex operation and comes with critical challenges that this chapter addresses in a strategic manner. The chapter clearly distinguishes between different types of cities. An overview of the most significant and crucial four qualities of smart cities is discussed. An essential part of the chapter is the review of the foundations of technology in smart cities with emphasis on indispensable types of technology such as communications, smart technology, and connectivity infrastructure. The second important part of the chapter is the issue of developing guiding principles to smart city transformation. A discussion of strategies of migration versus transformation of smart cities is followed by a review of the phases of smart cities implementation.

Decomposing information into copying versus transformation

In many real-world systems, information can be transmitted in two qualitatively different ways: by copying or by transformation . Copying occurs when messages are transmitted without modification, e.g. when an offspring receives an unaltered copy of a gene from its parent. Transformation occurs when messages are modified systematically during transmission, e.g. when mutational biases occur during genetic replication. Standard information-theoretic measures do not distinguish these two modes of information transfer, although they may reflect different mechanisms and have different functional consequences. Starting from a few simple axioms, we derive a decomposition of mutual information into the information transmitted by copying versus the information transmitted by transformation. We begin with a decomposition that applies when the source and destination of the channel have the same set of messages and a notion of message identity exists. We then generalize our decomposition to other kinds of channels, which can involve different source and destination sets and broader notions of similarity. In addition, we show that copy information can be interpreted as the minimal work needed by a physical copying process, which is relevant for understanding the physics of replication. We use the proposed decomposition to explore a model of amino acid substitution rates. Our results apply to any system in which the fidelity of copying, rather than simple predictability, is of critical relevance.

Sexuality, esoteric energies, and the subtleties of transmutation versus transformation

Transpersonal perspectives on the meaningfulness of being human, and especially the significance of subtle energy teachings, necessitate a rethinking of the notion of sexuality, beyond definitions in terms of sex acts, biological endowments, or perhaps even the complex fantasia of desire. This redefining of the erotic dimension of human life leads both to appreciation of healing as inherently sexual and to understanding how the processes of transmutation by the forces of subtle energies profoundly differ from the transformations that representation of thoughts, feelings, and wishes may undergo. Cognitive access (including that of reflective self-consciousness) to these forces is inevitably limited and necessarily distorted. In this context, it is suggested that the esoteric traditions of mystical sexuality, including the teachings of authentic tantric practice, be reconsidered and appreciated for their transpersonal dimension.

Sentimentality versus Transformation of the Historical Traditional Rural Landscape (A Case Study: The Landscape of Dutch Law Settlement in Poland)

The study concentrated on social attitudes towards landscape heritage and the how the place of living was perceived in the context of the transformation of the rural landscape that is currently taking place. The following question was formulated: Are individuals’ approaches to landscape and their attachment to their place of living essential in terms of landscaping and future landscape changes? The research revealed that individual perceptions of rurality and the historical traditional rural landscape (HTRL) varied in different groups of interviewees. Nevertheless, observing the loss of the landscape’s beauty was a traumatic experience, and destructive changes to the landscape were difficult to accept for most of individuals who had spent their lives in the countryside and who felt a strong sense of patrimony. Conversely, the HTRL presented a less important value to other respondents, thus the destruction they observed of the local heritage induced less painful feelings in them. Overall, the results suggest that it is one’s personal interest that will ultimately decide about his/her preservation of the HTRL in the nearest future.

Decomposing information into copying versus transformation

In many real-world systems, information can be transmitted in two qualitatively different ways: by copying or by transformation. Copying occurs when messages are transmitted without modification, e.g., when an offspring receives an unaltered copy of a gene from its parent. Transformation occurs when messages are modified systematically during transmission, e.g., when non-random mutations occur during biological reproduction. Standard information-theoretic measures do not distinguish these two modes of information transfer, although they may reflect different mechanisms and have different functional consequences. Starting from a few simple axioms, we derive a decomposition of mutual information into the information transmitted by copying and by transformation. Our decomposition applies whenever the source and destination of the channel have the same set of outcomes, so that a notion of message identity exists, although generalizations to other kinds of channels and similarity notions are explored. Furthermore, copy information can be interpreted as the minimal work needed by a physical copying process, relevant to better understand the physics of replication. We use the proposed decomposition to explore a model of amino acid substitution rates. Our results apply to any system in which the fidelity of copying, rather than simple predictability, is of critical relevance.

Tel Aviv as a space of affirmation versus transformation

In this article we investigate the spatial politics of sexuality in Israel by focusing on two different but related data sets: (1) the official video for Tel Aviv Pride 2013 produced by the Mizrahi Jewish music group Arisa; and (2) a protest against the Occupation of Palestine performed at Tel Aviv Pride in 2017. We analyze these examples with the help of a theoretical framework that offers a dynamic conceptualization of citizenship and its semiotic manifestations, drawing on Fraser’s (1995) distinction between affirmative and transformative strategies of social justice. In line with the remit of this special issue, we highlight the importance of taking sexuality as an entry point for Linguistic Landscape analysis. More specifically, we argue that a focus on sexuality in space opens up a window into the affective, intimate and embodied dimensions of politics.