From Cyberpunk to Cramped Dweller: The Peculiar History of Hong Kong ‘Heterotopias’

75.6% of land comprising Hong Kong remains undeveloped according to the special administrative region’s planning department. In turn, Hong Kong’s constricted real estate, now estimated to be the world’s costliest, has created eye-popping living arrangements historically and contemporarily. Denizens’ colorful reputation and imagination for flouting city ordinances, zoning laws, and spatial management stand emblematic of tenacious self-sufficiency and a free-spirited brand of runaway capitalist initiative. Why is this conspicuous trademark of Hong Kong’s societal fabric very much alive in the 21st Century? Why does this matter in a rapidly urbanizing world witnessing the ascension of mega-urban centers alongside ever-widening socioeconomic chasms? This paper intends to illuminate the peculiar origins and longevity of the Kowloon Walled City, an urban monolith of notoriety and autonomy that blossomed in a semi-legal grey zone unencumbered under British protectorate rule for nearly a century. Parallels will connect the linear trajectory between Kowloon’s hardnosed living to today’s comparable Chungking Mansions and the hundreds of thousands of cage homes appearing in all corners of the city. This paper aims to answer why these residential paradoxes continue to function with efficiency and relevancy, posing solutions for indigent housing while exacerbating the stigma of social and economic ostracism.

BIM Based Time Management Among Construction Contractors in Turkey

In both developing and industrialised countries, due to numerous time-related problems of construction projects, BIM-based time management, 4D BIM, plays an increasingly critical role within the industry. This study investigates the planning and scheduling problems, BIM application level, and BIM-based scheduling implementation by the lead construction companies in Turkey. Despite the critical importance of the planning department in construction companies, the planning and BIM integration levels have scarcely been investigated from the contractor perspective in Turkey. This paper presents the outcomes of 16 semi-structured interviews (SSI) with managers of the leading Turkish contractors selected from 100 of ENR’s 2019 Top 250 International Contractors list; a list of issues are outlined. The current situation escalates problems like tendering with missing project documents, examining 2D project drawings while scheduling, fragmentation, project manager’s reluctance to use and follow the project schedule, issues with updating the schedule as per construction improvements and quantities, and a lack of investment for BIM implementation. The research findings, ultimately, aim to help contractors improve their processes. Although this study’s findings are obtained from interviews with lead Turkish contractors, it is not limited in terms of geographic context since the interviewed contractors work worldwide.

LAND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DECISIONS IN CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (CBD) OF THE TAMALE METROPOLIS IN GHANA

Tamale Metropolis have been experiencing a significant increase in economic activities especially with the influx of occupation, tertiary institutions, industrial explorations and usage of the town as the main transit route to other parts of the Northern Region and Ghana as a whole. Development of a Central Business District (CBD) has become very crucial for Tamale Metropolis as is seen in other parts of Ghana but this can best occur only depending on Land Resource Development Decisions (LRDD) taken by developers as every Central Business District backbone is on the built environment. This study explored the land resource development decisions in the Tamale Metropolis. The primary data for the study was obtained mainly through interviews with property owners within the Central Business District of Tamale Central. Existing literature both published and unpublished were also secured and reviewed. The study found out that there are more ripped for redevelopment properties than redeveloped properties within the Central Business District of Tamale Central with a source of funding being the major challenge towards redevelopment. Education, occupation and income are key things that were revealed to have a significant influence on the issue of redevelopment decisions within the Central Business District of Tamale. The study recommends that there should be awareness creation on the various aspects of redevelopment to developers within the Tamale Metropolis by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, the introduction of a by-law on redevelopment within the CBD of Tamale by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly Town and Country Planning Department and a special mortgage scheme by mortgage institutions/financial institutions in Ghana to support low-income developers in Tamale Metropolis to contribute to development and redevelopment of the housing industry thereby reducing the housing deficit of Ghana. Keywords: Land, Resource, Development, Redevelopment, Redevelopment Decisions, Central Business District (CBD). Tamale Metropolis, Northern Region, Ghana.

From Cyberpunk to Cramped Dweller: The Peculiar History of Hong Kong ‘Heterotopias’

75.6% of land comprising Hong Kong remains undeveloped according to the special administrative region’s planning department. In turn, Hong Kong’s constricted real estate, now estimated to be the world’s costliest, has created eye-popping living arrangements historically and contemporarily. Denizens’ colorful reputation and imagination for flouting city ordinances, zoning laws, and spatial management stand emblematic of tenacious self-sufficiency and a free-spirited brand of runaway capitalist initiative. Why is this conspicuous trademark of Hong Kong’s societal fabric very much alive in the 21st Century? Why does this matter in a rapidly urbanizing world witnessing the ascension of mega-urban centers alongside ever-widening socioeconomic chasms? This paper intends to illuminate the peculiar origins and longevity of the Kowloon Walled City, an urban monolith of notoriety and autonomy that blossomed in a semi-legal grey zone unencumbered under British protectorate rule for nearly a century. Parallels will connect the linear trajectory between Kowloon’s hardnosed living to today’s comparable Chungking Mansions and the hundreds of thousands of cage homes appearing in all corners of the city. This paper aims to answer why these residential paradoxes continue to function with efficiency and relevancy, posing solutions for indigent housing while exacerbating the stigma of social and economic ostracism.

Aggregated coefficients of IT projects labor resources

The purpose of this article is to reduce the cost and time for the formation of a project team, as well as improve the quality of selected teams, by automating the process of calculating the labor resources of project teams. The objectives of the article are to study and analyze theoretical works on project teams formation and the construction of aggregated coefficients of a project and an employee for IT projects labor resources calculation. The article reveals the basic concepts and mechanisms of project management and human resources of an IT organization; the process of a project team forming and its structure, which is made up of the customer's team and the executor's team, is considered. A set of key indicators of a project and an employee is highlighted, which are necessary components for introducing the concept of an aggregated coefficient. The description of the calculation of the aggregate coefficient of the project (Iп), the aggregate coefficient of the employee (Ic), as well as the project aggregated coefficient of the employee (Ic п ) is provided, since the aggregated indicators of the project and the employee are independent in relation to each other, and to solve the tasks we need a coefficient that describes usefulness and efficiency of attracting a specific employee for a specific project. The theoretical significance of the work lies in the fact that it describes the process of project teams building in details, proposes aggregated coefficients of projects and employees, which make it possible to assess and select labor resources for project teams. The obtained theoretical results can be used to assess the role of each employee on a separate project and in the company as a whole, to calculate the labor resources of IT projects, as well as by the search and project planning department when choosing the scope and nature of work for the period under consideration.

Advantages and Losses Analysis on Burning Hours by The Production Planning Control in Determining Time Implementation of Maintenance Activities

Burning Hours is the one of policy in scheduling aircraft maintenance. With the burning hours the operator could performed aircraft maintenance before the due time. Burning Hours is indeed beneficial for flight operators to maintain the stability of the safety of the aircraft operation. Using the quantitative analysis method with the sample data’s from two aircraft, found that the burning hours affects to Burning Hours Cost loss for every aircraft meintenance activity. The value of Burning Hours Cost Loss and Potential Lost per Day needs to be considered by operators in scheduling maintenance activities, because it is possible that Burning Hours cannot be avoided in aircraft operation. Based on the data processing, the value of burning hours cost lost is not more than limit of potential lost per day. However it should also be considered if burning hours applied continuously will increase maintenance cost. Therefore, between maintenance planning department and the operation department should keep good coordination to minimize the burning hours cost loss. Keywords: Planning, Maintenance, Burning Hours

Gender Difference in Health Condition Among Emirati Adolescent: Role of Environment and Parent Perceptions

Background: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the developed nations in the middle-east with the obesity rate among the youth two to three times greater than the international standards. Therefore, this research aims to study the variation of perception of the built environment among Emirati male and female adolescents and their parents. Also, the role of determinants of the health condition of Emirati adolescents is analyzed. Method: A total of 335 students (aged 14-20) from six schools in the Al Ain region of Abu Dhabi Emirate and 250 parent responses were used to conduct the mean-test of perception of hindrances and multinomial logit of the health condition using the perception, behavior and built environment measures. Results: Emirati males perceive the built environment factors as barriers more than female adolescents. Parents perceive street-crossing (p<0.016) and sidewalk characteristics (p<0.020) to be more of a hindrance to walking to school than students. Traffic exposure and walkability at home and schools report a significant effect on the health condition of the Emirati adolescents along with the self-reported physical activity. Marginal effect reports sedentary and low-levels of activity predicts the probability of an Emirati adolescent being not just overweight or obese (p<0.001), but also underweight (p<0.05)Conclusion: Recommendations for parents and school authorities, Abu Dhabi Municipality and Urban Planning department, and to enhance the built environment are discussed. Also recommendation to address both, levels of obesity and being underweight, are discussed.

Effectiveness of Tree Pattern in Street Canyons on Thermal Conditions and Human Comfort. Assessment of an Urban Renewal Project in Historical District in Lodz (Poland)

The implementation of adaptation strategies has become an essential activity of spatial planning departments. Passive technologies related to the introduction of natural components in the form of vegetation are used, especially in urban development plans, to mitigate the effects of climate change and thus improve the quality of citizen life. Nature-Based Solutions are of particular importance in the areas of strict city centers, where historical building structures are subject to legal protection. In this study, the authors tested the influence of high greenery on the microclimatic conditions in the areas of typical street canyons (east–west and north–south orientations). Authors included the established greenery strategy by the City Planning Department. To estimate the impact of the assumed scenarios, a CFD tool was used—the ENVI-met application, which is commonly used in the field of urban microclimatology. Studies have shown that the introduction of 10% of green area contributed to a maximum air temperature reduction of 0.80 °C (17:00) in an east–west-oriented canyon, 0.49 °C (10:00) in a north–south canyon. The scenarios, assumed by the City Planning Department, related to the introduction of a greater amount of greenery turned out to be a less effective solution. The impact of greenery on the thermal comfort felt by humans was also determined. The reduction in the PET index was a maximum of 10.80 °C (14:00) in an east–west canyon; 6.66 °C (14:00) in a canyon area with a north–south orientation. This research might constitute the foundations to a re-evaluation of the urban development plans. The outcomes can lead to taking alternative direction of city layout transformations.

Publicly-led proactive and privately-led reactive planning : a comparison of comprehensive planning and development approaches between East Bayfront and King-Liberty Village

This research examines two sites in downtown Toronto undergoing large-scale comprehensive brownfield redevelopment schemes. While city agencies helped to spur initial investment in King-Liberty Village, most changes have been privately-led while the planning department has attempted to incrementally guide development and the inclusion of specific public amenities. Waterfront Toronto's planning of East-Bayfront is seen as a strategic public investment and has undergone proactive policy-led planning. These differing frameworks have resulted in contrasting outcomes. While the planning and development framework of the latter has created the conditions for a neighbourhood well-serviced by transit and more robust parkland, affordable housing and sustainability goals, it has required enormous public investment. The process in King-Liberty Village is more indicative of the challenges facing other private redevelopments that often require greater public planning resources than are available to ensure Toronto's continued growth is sufficiently accommodated.