Search results for: compact urban design

Authors: Saif M. M. Obeidat

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This research investigates the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on interior spaces within a college of Architecture and Design. Employing a qualitative approach, the study conducts in-depth interviews and reviews AI-integrated design projects within the academic setting. The key objectives include assessing AI integration in design processes, examining the influence of AI on user experience, exploring its role in architectural innovation, identifying challenges, and assessing educational implications. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of AI's role in shaping interior spaces within academia. It anticipates improved efficiency in design processes, positive user feedback on functionality and experiences, the emergence of innovative design solutions, and the identification of challenges like ethical considerations and technical limitations. Additionally, the research expects insights into how educational programs may need to adapt to incorporate AI knowledge and skills, ensuring students are well-prepared for the evolving landscape of architecture and design practice. By addressing these objectives, the research contributes valuable insights into the evolving relationship between technology and the field of architecture, particularly within educational contexts.

Keywords: interior design, artificial intelligence, academic settings, technology, education

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Authors: Mariela Edith Arboit

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The main goal of the project is to explore the evolution possibilities of the morphological indicators of the built environment, including those resulting from progressive soil occupation, due to the relentless growth of the city’s population and subsequent increase in building density and solar access reduction per built unit. Two alternative normative proposals, Conventional Proposal (CP) and Alternative Proposal (AP), are compared. In addition, temporal scenarios of the city’s evolution process are analyzed, starting from the reference situation of existing, high-density built-up areas, and simulating their possible morphological outcomes on theoretical medium (30 yr.) and long (60 yr.) terms, as a result of the massive implementation of either regulation in the long run. The results obtained demonstrate that the Alternative Proposal (AP) presents higher mean values of predicted solar potential expressed by the Volumetric Insolation Factor total (VIFtot) for both time periods and services. Regarding environmental aspects, the different impacts of either alternative on the urban landscape quality seem to favor the AP proposal. Its deserved detailed assessment is also presently being developed through a quanti-qualitative methodology.

Keywords: building morphology, environmental quality, solar energy, urban sustainability

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Authors: Ali panahi-Kosar Khosravi

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Earthquake resilience is one of the most important theoretical and practical concepts in crisis management. Over the past few decades, the rapid growth of urban areas and developing lower urban areas (especially in developing countries) have made them more vulnerable to human and natural crises. Therefore, the resilience of urban communities, especially low-income and unhealthy neighborhoods, is of particular importance. The present study seeks to assess and evaluate the resilience of neighborhoods in the center of district 6 of Tabriz in terms of awareness, knowledge and personal skills, social and psychological capital, managerial-institutional, and the ability to return to appropriate and sustainable conditions. The research method in this research is descriptive-analytical. The authors used library and survey methods to collect information and a questionnaire to assess resilience. The statistical population of this study is the total households living in the four neighborhoods of Shanb Ghazan, Khatib, Gharamalek, and Abuzar alley. Three hundred eighty-four families from four neighborhoods were selected based on the Cochran formula using a simple random sampling method. A one-sample t-test, simple linear regression, and structural equations were used to test the research hypotheses. Findings showed that only two social and psychological awareness and capital indicators in district 6 of Tabriz had a favorable and approved status. Therefore, considering the multidimensional concept of resilience, district 6 of Tabriz is in an unfavorable resilience situation. Also, the findings based on the analysis of variance indicated no significant difference between the neighborhoods of district 6 in terms of resilience, and most neighborhoods are in an unfavorable situation.

Keywords: resilience, statistical analysis, earthquake, district 6 of tabriz

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Authors: Inyeol Paik, Ah-Ryang Kim

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In this research, a statistical analysis is carried out to examine the statistical properties of the formula given in the design code for concrete structures. The design formulas of the Korea highway bridge design code - the limit state design method (KHBDC) which is the current national bridge design code and the design code for concrete structures by Korea Concrete Institute (KCI) are applied for the analysis. The safety levels provided by the strength formulas of the design codes are defined based on the probabilistic and statistical theory.KHBDC is a reliability-based design code. The load and resistance factors of this code were calibrated to attain the target reliability index. It is essential to define the statistical properties for the design formulas in this calibration process. In general, the statistical characteristics of a member strength are due to the following three factors. The first is due to the difference between the material strength of the actual construction and that used in the design calculation. The second is the difference between the actual dimensions of the constructed sections and those used in design calculation. The third is the difference between the strength of the actual member and the formula simplified for the design calculation. In this paper, the statistical study is focused on the third difference. The formulas for calculating the shear strength of concrete members are presented in different ways in KHBDC and KCI. In this study, the statistical properties of design formulas were obtained through comparison with the database which comprises the experimental results from the reference publications. The test specimen was either reinforced with the shear stirrup or not. For an applied database, the bias factor was about 1.12 and the coefficient of variation was about 0.18. By applying the statistical properties of the design formula to the reliability analysis, it is shown that the resistance factors of the current design codes satisfy the target reliability indexes of both codes. Also, the minimum resistance factors of the KHBDC which is written in the material resistance factor format and KCE which is in the member resistance format are obtained and the results are presented. A further research is underway to calibrate the resistance factors of the high strength and high-performance concrete design guide.

Keywords: concrete design code, reliability analysis, resistance factor, shear strength, statistical property

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Authors: Seiied Taghi Seiied Safavian, Ebrahim Fataei, Taghi Ebadi

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Urbanized population increasing has been a major driving force for physical development and expansion. In this regard, selecting optimal management strategies for sustainable development of cities as the most important population centers has gotten more attention by the city managers. One of the most important issues in planning a sustainable development is environmental sustainability. In this research, identifying the optimal physical development strategies of Ardabil city in the future condition have been investigated based on land-use planning principles and regularities. Determination of suitable lands of urban development was conducted through natural variables comprised of slope, topography, geology, distance from fault, underground water's depth, land-use strategies and earth shape using hierarchical process method (AHP) in Geographical information system (GIS). Region's potential capabilities and talents were estimated by environmental elements extraction and its measurement based on environmental criteria. Consequently, specified suitable areas for Ardabil city development were introduced. Results of this research showed that the northern part of the Ardabil city is the most suitable sites for physical development of this city regarding the environmental sustainability criteria.

Keywords: urban development, environmental sustainability, Ardabil city, AHP, GIS

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Authors: Sivapan Choo-In

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The main objective of this study was investigate particulate matter concentration on main and secondary roadside in urban area. And studied on the concentration of some heavy metal including lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) in particulate matter in Bangkok area. The averaged particle concentration for main roadside are higher than secondary roadside. The particulate matter less than 10 micron concentration contribute the majority of the Total Suspended Particulate for main road and zinc concentration were higher than copper and lead for both site.

Keywords: air pollution, air quality, polution, monitoring

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Authors: Carolina Arriagada, Yasna Contreras

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Since mid-2000, the migratory flows of Latin American migrants to Chile have been increasing constantly. There are two reasons that would explain why Chile is presented as an attractive country for the migrants. On the one hand, traditional centres of migrants’ attraction such as the United States and Europe have begun to close their borders. On the other hand, Chile exhibits relative economic and political stability, which offers greater job opportunities and better standard of living when compared to the migrants’ origin country. At the same time, the neoliberal economic model of Chile, developed under an extractive production of the natural resources, has privatized the urban space. The market regulates the growth of the fragmented and segregated cities. Then, the vulnerable population, most of the time, is located in the periphery and in the marginal areas of the urban space. In this aspect, the migrants have begun to occupy those degraded and depressed areas of the city. The problem raised is that the increase of the social spatial segregation could be also attributed to the migrants´ occupation of the marginal urban places of the city. The aim of this investigation is to carry out an analysis of the migrants’ housing strategies, which are transforming the marginal areas of the city. The methodology focused on the urban experience of the migrants, through the observation of spatial practices, ways of living and networks configuration in order to transform the marginal territory. The techniques applied in this study are semi–structured interviews in-depth interviews. The study reveals that the migrants housing strategies for living in the marginal areas of the city are built on a paradox way. On the one hand, the migrants choose proximity to their place of origin, maintaining their identity and customs. On the other hand, the migrants choose proximity to their social and familiar places, generating sense of belonging. In conclusion, the migration as international displacements under a globalized economic model increasing socio spatial segregation in cities is evidenced, but the transformation of the marginal areas is a fundamental resource of their integration migratory process. The importance of this research is that it is everybody´s responsibility not only the right to live in a city without any discrimination but also to integrate the citizens within the social urban space of a city.

Keywords: migrations, marginal space, resignification, visibility

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Authors: Elaine Cristina Barboza, Antonio Jaschke Machado

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This paper discusses micrometeorological aspects of the urban climate in three cities in Western São Paulo State: Presidente Prudente, Assis, and Iepê. Particular attention is paid to the method used to estimate the components of the energy balance at the surface. Estimates of convective fluxes showed that the Bowen ratio was an indicator of the local climate and that its magnitude varied between 0.3 and 0.7. Maximum values for the Bowen ratio occurred earlier in Iepê (11:00 am) than in Presidente Prudente (4:00 pm). The results indicate that the Bowen ratio is modulated by the radiation balance at the surface and by different clusters of vegetation.

Keywords: Bowen ratio, medium-sized cities, surface energy balance, urban climate

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Authors: Emma Mathias

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The aim of this study was to explore the role of food insecurity as a mediator of mental health in sub-Saharan Africa, taking Ghana as a case study. Although a quantitative correlation has recently been established between food insecurity and mental illness in Ghana, the nature and validity of this correlation remains unclear. A qualitative exploration was employed to investigate this correlation further. During the data collection period, twelve semi-structured interviews and five focus groups were conducted with a total of 124 individuals who were diagnosed with mental illnesses and their primary carers throughout rural and urban areas in Ghana. Interviews and focus groups were transcribed, translated, and analysed using thematic analysis. Preliminary results suggest that food insecurity may plays a role in mental illness in rural areas of Ghana where communities are reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods, but may play a lesser role in urban areas where communities are more reliant on petty trade as a source of livelihood. These results support psychosocial theories which suggest that the social and cultural factors involved in food production and consumption may be the key mediators between food insecurity and mental health.

Keywords: Food insecurity, Ghana, Mental health, Phenomenology

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Authors: Shafiq ur Rehman, Zubair Ahmed Shaikh

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This research provides the comparative study of different mobile payment system and proposes an efficient solution of mobile payment system. The research involves discovering how the mobile payment methods can be used and implemented keeping user and system interaction under consideration. The implementation of Nielsen’s heuristic and universal design principles enhanced the user’s interaction design and made the system more appropriate, understandable and visible to the end user. The design of application is greatly affected by the user driven factors. These factors help in the efficiency of the application usage.

Keywords: mobile payment system, m-commerce, usability, near field communication

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Authors: Thomas Benson

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Smart cities have been heralded as multi-faceted entities which utilise information and communication technologies to enhance citizen participation. The purpose of this paper is to outline authoritative definitions of smart cities and citizen participation and investigate smart city citizen-centrism rhetoric by examining urban governance and citizen participation processes. Drawing on extant literature and official city government documents and websites, Singapore (Singapore) and Tokyo (Japan) are chosen as comparable smart city case studies. For the smart city to be truly realised, this paper concludes that smart cities must do more to incorporate genuine citizen participation mechanisms.

Keywords: citizen participation, smart cities, urban governance, Singapore, Tokyo

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Authors: Ananchai Ukaew, Choopong Chauypen

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Design concepts of real-time embedded system can be realized initially by introducing novel design approaches. In this literature, model based design approach and in-the-loop testing were employed early in the conceptual and preliminary phase to formulate design requirements and perform quick real-time verification. The design and analysis methodology includes simulation analysis, model based testing, and in-the-loop testing. The design of conceptual drive-by-wire, or DBW, algorithm for electronic control unit, or ECU, was presented to demonstrate the conceptual design process, analysis, and functionality evaluation. The concepts of DBW ECU function can be implemented in the vehicle system to improve electric vehicle, or EV, conversion drivability. However, within a new development process, conceptual ECU functions and parameters are needed to be evaluated. As a result, the testing system was employed to support conceptual DBW ECU functions evaluation. For the current setup, the system components were consisted of actual DBW ECU hardware, electric vehicle models, and control area network or CAN protocol. The vehicle models and CAN bus interface were both implemented as real-time applications where ECU and CAN protocol functionality were verified according to the design requirements. The proposed system could potentially benefit in performing rapid real-time analysis of design parameters for conceptual system or software algorithm development.

Keywords: drive-by-wire ECU, in-the-loop testing, model-based design, real-time embedded system

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Authors: Jerzy Banski

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Small towns represent a key element of settlement structure and serve a number of important functions associated with the servicing of rural areas that surround them. It is in light of this that scientific studies have paid considerable attention to the functional structure of centers of this kind, as well as the relationships with both surrounding rural areas and other urban centers. But a preliminary to such research has typically involved attempts at classifying the urban centers themselves, with this also assisting with the planning and shaping of development policy on different spatial scales. The purpose of the work is to test out the methods underpinning three different classifications of small urban centers, as well as to offer a preliminary interpretation of the outcomes obtained. Research took in 722 settlement units in Poland, granted town rights and populated by fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. A morphologically-based classification making reference to the database of topographic objects as regards land cover within the administrative boundaries of towns and cities was carried out, and it proved possible to distinguish the categories of “housing-estate”, industrial and R&R towns, as well as towns characterized by dichotomy. Equally, a functional/morphological approach taken with the same database allowed for the identification – via an alternative method – of three main categories of small towns (i.e., the monofunctional, multifunctional or oligo functional), which could then be described in far greater detail. A third, multi-criterion classification made simultaneous reference to the conditioning of a structural, a location-related, and an administrative hierarchy-related nature, allowing for distinctions to be drawn between small towns in 9 different categories. The results obtained allow for multifaceted analysis and interpretation of the geographical differentiation characterizing the distribution of Poland’s urban centers across space in the country.

Keywords: small towns, classification, local planning, Poland

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Authors: Azazhu Wassie

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This study tried to evaluate the maximum design flood for appurtenance structure design using the given climatological and hydrological data analysis on the referenced study area. The maximum design flood is determined by using flood frequency analysis. Using this method, the peak discharge is 32,583.67 m3/s, but the data is transferred because the dam site is not on the gauged station. Then the peak discharge becomes 38,115 m3/s. The study was conducted in June 2023. This dam is built across a river to create a reservoir on its upstream side for impounding water. The water stored in the reservoir is used for various purposes, such as irrigation, hydropower, navigation, fishing, etc. The total average volume of annual runoff is estimated to be 115.1 billion m3. The total potential of the land for irrigation development can go beyond 3 million ha.

Keywords: dam design, flow duration curve, peak flood, rainfall, reservoir capacity, risk and reliability

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Authors: Abdullah Al Mamoon, Ataur Rahman

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Due to climate change, future rainfall will change at many locations on earth; however, the spatial and temporal patterns of this change are not easy to predict. One approach of predicting such future changes is to examine the trends in the historical rainfall data at a given region and use the identified trends to make future prediction. For this, a statistical trend test is commonly applied to the historical data. This paper examines the trends of daily extreme rainfall events from 30 rain gauges located in the State of Qatar. Rainfall data covering from 1962 to 2011 were used in the analysis. A combination of four non-parametric and parametric tests was applied to identify trends at 10%, 5%, and 1% significance levels. These tests are Mann-Kendall (MK), Spearman’s Rho (SR), Linear Regression (LR) and CUSUM tests. These tests showed both positive and negative trends throughout the country. Only eight stations showed positive (upward) trend, which were however not statistically significant. In contrast, significant negative (downward) trends were found at the 5% and 10% levels of significance in six stations. The MK, SR and LR tests exhibited very similar results. This finding has important implications in the derivation/upgrade of design rainfall for Qatar, which will affect design and operation of future urban drainage infrastructure in Qatar.

Keywords: trends, extreme rainfall, daily rainfall, Mann-Kendall test, climate change, Qatar

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Authors: Yiorgos Hadjichristou

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The paper will focus on the hybrid living typologies which are brought about due to the Global Crisis. Mixing of the generations and the groups of people, mingling the functions of living with working and socializing, merging the act of living in synergy with the urban realm and its constituent elements will be the springboard of proposing an essential sustainable housing approach and the respective urban development. The thematic will be based on methodologies developed both on the academic, educational environment including participation of students’ research and on the practical aspect of architecture including case studies executed by the author in the island of Cyprus. Both paths of the research will deal with the explorative understanding of the hybrid ways of living, testing the limits of its autonomy. The evolution of the living typologies into substantial hybrid entities, will deal with the understanding of new ways of living which include among others: re-introduction of natural phenomena, accommodation of the activity of work and services in the living realm, interchange of public and private, injections of communal events into the individual living territories. The issues and the binary questions raised by what is natural and artificial, what is private and what public, what is ephemeral and what permanent and all the in-between conditions are eloquently traced in the everyday life in the island. Additionally, given the situation of Cyprus with the eminent scar of the dividing ‘Green line’ and the waiting of the ‘ghost city’ of Famagusta to be resurrected, the conventional way of understanding the limits and the definitions of the properties is irreversibly shaken. The situation is further aggravated by the unprecedented phenomenon of the crisis on the island. All these observations set the premises of reexamining the urban development and the respective sustainable housing in a synergy where their characteristics start exchanging positions, merge into each other, contemporarily emerge and vanish, changing from permanent to ephemeral. This fluidity of conditions will attempt to render a future of the built- and unbuilt realm where the main focusing point will be redirected to the human and the social. Weather and social ritual scenographies together with ‘spontaneous urban landscapes’ of ‘momentary relationships’ will suggest a recipe for emerging urban environments and sustainable living. Thus, the paper will aim at opening a discourse on the future of the sustainable living merged in a sustainable urban development in relation to the imminent solution of the division of island, where the issue of property became the main obstacle to be overcome. At the same time, it will attempt to link this approach to the global need for a sustainable evolution of the urban and living realms.

Keywords: social ritual scenographies, spontaneous urban landscapes, substantial hybrid entities, re-introduction of natural phenomena

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Authors: Aishwarya K. V., Shreya Sudesh

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Built along the edges of a 11th century CE man-made lake, the city of Bhopal has stood witness to historic layers dating back to Palaeolithic times; early and medieval kingdoms ranging from the Parmaras, Pratiharas to tribal Gonds; the Begum-Nawabs and finally became the Capital of Madhya Pradesh, post-Independence. The lake more popularly called the Upper Lake was created by the King Raja Bhoj from the Parmara dynasty in 1010 AD when he constructed a bund wall across the Kolans river. Atop this bund wall lies the Kamlapati Mahal - which was part of the royal enclosure built in 1702 belonging to the Gond Kingdom. The Mahal is the epicentre of development in the city because it lies in the centre of the axis joining the Old core and New City. Rapid urbanisation descended upon the city once it became the administrative capital of Madhya Pradesh, a newly-formed state of an Independent India. Industrial pockets began being set up and refugees from the Indo-Pakistan separation settled in various regions of the city. To cater to these sudden growth, there was a boom in infrastructure development in the late twentieth century which included precarious decisions made in terms of handling heritage sites causing the destruction of significant parts of the historic fabric. And this practice continues to this day as buffer/ protected zones are breached through exemptions and the absence of robust regulations allow further deterioration of urban heritage. The aim of the research is to systematically study in detail the effect of the urban infrastructure development of the city and its adverse effect on the existing heritage fabric. Through the paper, an attempt to study the parameters involved in preparing the Masterplan of the city and other development projects is done. The research would follow a values-led approach to study the heritage fabric where the significance of the place is assessed based on the values attributed by stakeholders. This approach will involve collection and analysis of site data, assessment of the significance of the site and listing of potential. The study would also attempt to arrive at a solution to deal with urban development along with the protection of the heritage fabric.

Keywords: heritage management, infrastructure development, urban conservation, urban heritage

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Authors: Henry Okoh, Obaro Verisa Omayuli, Gladys A. Osagie

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One of the challenges of developing nations is the dearth of measurement devices. Aside the shortage, when available, they are either old or obsolete and also very expensive. When this is the situation, researchers must design alternative systems to help meet the desired needs of academia. This paper presents a design of cost-effective multi-disciplinary virtual instrument system for scientific research. This design was based on NI USB-6255 multifunctional DAQ which was used for earth resistivity measurement in Schlumberger array and the result obtained compared closely with that of a conventional ABEM Terrameter. This instrument design provided a hands-on experience as related to full-waveform signal acquisition in the field.

Keywords: cost-effective, data acquisition (DAQ), full-waveform, multi-disciplinary, Schlumberger array, virtual Instrumentation (VI).

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Authors: Yu Song, Yuefei Jin

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Urban public transportation can be integrated when there is an efficient connection between urban rail lines, however, there are currently no effective or quick solutions being investigated for this connection. This paper analyzes the space-time distribution and travel demand of passenger connection travel based on taxi track data and data from the road network, excavates potential bus connection stations based on potential connection demand data, and introduces the link growth probability model in the complex network to solve the basic connection bus lines in order to ascertain the direction of the bus lines that are the most connected given the demand characteristics. Then, a tree view exhaustive approach based on constraints is suggested based on graph theory, which can hasten the convergence of findings while doing chain calculations. This study uses WEI QU NAN Station, the Xi'an Metro Line 2 terminal station in Shaanxi Province, as an illustration, to evaluate the model's and the solution method's efficacy. According to the findings, 153 prospective stations have been dug up in total, the feeder bus network for the entire line has been laid out, and the best route adjustment strategy has been found.

Keywords: feeder bus, route optimization, link growth probability, the graph theory

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Authors: Nirmal Yadav, Tanuja Srivastava

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Shannon theory is an exact method to recover a band limited signals from its sampled values in discrete implementation, using sinc interpolators. But sinc based results are not much satisfactory for band-limited calculations so that convolution with window function, having compact support, has been introduced. Convolution Backprojection algorithm with window function is an approximation algorithm. In this paper, the error has been calculated, arises due to this approximation nature of reconstruction algorithm. This result will be defined for fan beam projection data which is more faster than parallel beam projection.

Keywords: computed tomography, convolution backprojection, radon transform, fan beam

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Authors: C. K. Peter Chuah

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Essentially, the intention of reflective journal is meant for students to develop higher-order thinking skills and to provide a 'space' to make their learning experience and thinking, making and feeling visible, i.e., it provides students an opportunity to evaluate their learning critically by focusing on the rationale behind their thinking, making and feeling. In addition, reflective journal also gets the students to focus on how could things be done differently—the possibility, alternative point of views, and opportunities for change. It is hoped that by getting communication design students to reflect at various intervals, they could move away from mere working on the design project and pay more attention to what they thought they have learned in relation to the development of their design ability. Unfortunately, a closer examination—through content analysis—of the learning journals submitted by a group of design students revealed that most of the reflections were descriptive and tended to be a summary of what occurred in the learning experience. While many students were able to describe what they did, very few were able to explain how they were able to do something critically. It can be concluded that to get design students to reflect is a fairly easy task, but to get them to reflect critically could be very challenging. To ensure that design students could benefit from the use of reflective journal as a tool to develop their critical thinking skills, a more systematic and structured approach to the introduction of critical thinking and reflective journal should be built into the design curriculum to provide as much practice and sufficient feedback as other studio subjects.

Keywords: communication design education, critical thinking, reflection, reflective journal

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Authors: Hrishikesh Purandare, Ashwini Pethe

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Research from developed countries has demonstrated that the built environment can have a significant effect on children’s cognitive and socio-emotional development. A majority of the studies on the relationship between the built environment and the well-being of children have been conducted in North America and Western Europe, though most of the world’s children live in the global South. Millions of children living in urban slums in India confront issues associated with poor living conditions and lack of access to basic services. It is a well-known fact that slums are places of extreme poverty, substandard housing, overcrowding, and poor sanitation. These challenges faced by children living in slums can have a significant impact on their physical, psychological, and social development. Despite the magnitude of the problem, the area of research, particularly on the impact of the built environment of slums on children and adolescent well-being, has been understudied in India. Only a few studies in the global South have investigated the impact of the built environment on children’s well-being. Apart from issues of the limited access to health and education of these children, the perception of children regarding the built environment which they inhabit is rarely addressed. A sample of 120 children living in the slums of Pune city between the ages 7 and 16 participated in this study, which employed a concurrent embedded approach of mixed method research. Questionnaires were administered to obtain quantitative data that included attributes of crowding, noise, privacy, territoriality and housing quality in the built environment. The qualitative analysis of children’s sketches highlighted aspects of the built environment with which they associated themselves the most. The study sought to examine the perception of the deprived children living in the urban slums in the city of Pune (India) towards their built environment.

Keywords: physical environment, poverty, underprivileged children, urban Indian slums

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Authors: Taras Agryzkov, Jose L. Oliver, Leandro Tortosa, Jose Vicent

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This paper aims to demonstrate how network models can be used to understand and to deal with some aspects of urban complexity. As it is well known, the Theory of Architecture and Urbanism has been using for decades’ intellectual tools based on the ‘sciences of complexity’ as a strategy to propose theoretical approaches about cities and about architecture. In this sense, it is possible to find a vast literature in which for instance network theory is used as an instrument to understand very diverse questions about cities: from their commercial activity to their heritage condition. The contribution of this research consists in adding one step of complexity to this process: instead of working with one single primal graph as it is usually done, we will show how new network models arise from the consideration of two different primal graphs interacting in two layers. When we model an urban network through a mathematical structure like a graph, the city is usually represented by a set of nodes and edges that reproduce its topology, with the data generated or extracted from the city embedded in it. All this information is normally displayed in a single layer. Here, we propose to separate the information in two layers so that we can evaluate the interaction between them. Besides, both layers may be composed of structures that do not have to coincide: from this bi-layer system, groups of interactions emerge, suggesting reflections and in consequence, possible actions.

Keywords: graphs, mathematics, networks, urban studies

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Authors: Rogelio Portillo Vélez, Eduardo Vázquez-Santacruz, Mariano Gamboa-Zúñiga

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In this paper a new mechanical architecture design of a multi functional robot bed, is presented. The importance of this design relies on the fact that in next years the need of assistive devices development will increase in such way that elderly patients will use this kind of devices. This mechanical design implies following specific mechanisms which attend Mexican hospital requirements. This design is the base of next step of this kind of development given that it shows all technical details of the mechanical systems which are needed in order to construct the bed. This is first hospital bed design which could responds to the Latin America hospital requirements. We have obtained these hospital requirements using our diagnosis methodology [14]. From these results we have designed the mechanical system. This is the mechanical base of the hospital robotic bed which is being developed in our robotics laboratory. It will be useful in different hospital environments for elderly and disabled patients.

Keywords: assistive robotics, methodology, feasibility analysis, robotics, operational feasibility, assistive technology, viability analysis matrix, social impact

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Authors: Linda Márcia Mendes Delazeri, Dênis Antônio Da Cunha

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Over the past few years, the evidence that human activities have altered the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have become stronger, indicating that this accumulation is the most likely cause of climate change observed so far. The risks associated with climate change, although uncertain, have the potential to increase social vulnerability, exacerbating existing socioeconomic challenges. Developing countries are potentially the most affected by climate change, since they have less potential to adapt and are those most dependent on agricultural activities, one of the sectors in which the major negative impacts are expected. In Brazil, specifically, it is expected that the localities which form the semiarid region are among the most affected, due to existing irregularity in rainfall and high temperatures, in addition to economic and social factors endemic to the region. Given the strategic limitations to handle the environmental shocks caused by climate change, an alternative adopted in response to these shocks is migration. Understanding the specific features of migration flows, such as duration, destination and composition is essential to understand the impacts of migration on origin and destination locations and to develop appropriate policies. Thus, this study aims to examine whether climatic factors have contributed to rural-urban migration in semiarid municipalities in the recent past and how these migration flows will be affected by future scenarios of climate change. The study was based on microeconomic theory of utility maximization, in which, to decide to leave the countryside and move on to the urban area, the individual seeks to maximize its utility. Analytically, we estimated an econometric model using the modeling of Fixed Effects and the results confirmed the expectation that climate drivers are crucial for the occurrence of the rural-urban migration. Also, other drivers of the migration process, as economic, social and demographic factors were also important. Additionally, predictions about the rural-urban migration motivated by variations in temperature and precipitation in the climate change scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5 were made for the periods 2016-2035 and 2046-2065, defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results indicate that there will be increased rural-urban migration in the semiarid region in both scenarios and in both periods. In general, the results of this study reinforce the need for formulations of public policies to avoid migration for climatic reasons, such as policies that give support to the productive activities generating income in rural areas. By providing greater incentives for family agriculture and expanding sources of credit for the farmer, it will have a better position to face climate adversities and to settle in rural areas. Ultimately, if migration becomes necessary, there must be the adoption of policies that seek an organized and planned development of urban areas, considering migration as an adaptation strategy to adverse climate effects. Thus, policies that act to absorb migrants in urban areas and ensure that they have access to basic services offered to the urban population would contribute to the social costs reduction of climate variability.

Keywords: climate change, migration, rural productivity, semiarid region

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Authors: Jeremiah Mutamba

Abstract:

Water is a critical resource for sustainable economic growth and social development. It enables societies to thrive and influences every urban center’s future. Thus, water must always be available in the right quantity and quality. However, in South Africa - a known physically water scarce nation – the future of sustainable urban supply of water may be in jeopardy. The country facing a water crisis influenced by insufficient infrastructure investment and maintenance, recurrent droughts and climate variation, human induced water quality deterioration, as well as growing lack of technical capacity in water institutions, particularly local municipalities. Aside of the eight metropolitan municipalities for the country, most municipalities struggle with provision of reliable water to their citizens. These municipalities contend with having now capable engineers, aging infrastructure with concomitant high system water losses (of 30% and upwards), coupled with growing water demand from expanding industries and population growth. Also, a significant portion (44%) of national water treatment plants are in critically poor condition, requiring urgent rehabilitation. Municipalities also struggle to raise funding to instate projects. All these factors militate against sustainable urban water supply in the country. Urgent mitigation measures are required. This paper seeks to review the extent of the current water supply challenges in South Africa’s urban centers, including searching for practical and cost-effective measures. The study followed a qualitative approach, combining desktop literature research, interviews with key sector stakeholders, and a workshop. Phenomenological data analysis technique was used to study and examine interview data and secondary desktop data. Preliminary findings established the building of technical or engineering capacity, reversal of the high physical water losses, rehabilitation of poor condition and dysfunctional water treatment works, diversification of water resource mix, and water scarcity awareness programs as possible practical solutions. Other proposed solutions include the use of performance-based or value-based contracting to fund initiatives to reduce high system water losses. Out-come based arrangements for revenue increasing water loss reduction projects were considered more practical in funding-stressed local municipalities. If proactively implemented in an integrated manner, these proposed solutions are likely to ensure sustainable urban water supply in South African urban centers in the future.

Keywords: sustainable, water scarcity, water supply, South Africa

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Authors: Dongqi Li, Yunjia Huang, Tomo Inoue, Kohei Inoue

Abstract:

With urbanization, urban cultural heritage is facing the impact and destruction of modernization and urbanization. Many historical areas are losing their historical information and regional cultural characteristics, so it is necessary to carry out systematic color planning for historical areas in conservation. As an early focus on urban color planning, Japan has a systematic approach to urban color planning. Hence, this paper selects five merchant towns from the category of important traditional building preservation areas in Japan as the subject of this study to explore the color structure and emotion of this type of historic area. First, the image semantic segmentation method identifies the buildings, roads, and landscape environments. Their color data were extracted for color composition and emotion analysis to summarize their common features. Second, the obtained Internet evaluations were extracted by natural language processing for keyword extraction. The correlation analysis of the color structure and keywords provides a valuable reference for conservation decisions for this historic area in the town. This paper also combines the color structure and Internet evaluation results with generative adversarial networks to generate predicted images of color structure improvements and color improvement schemes. The methods and conclusions of this paper can provide new ideas for the digital management of environmental colors in historic districts and provide a valuable reference for the inheritance of local traditional culture.

Keywords: historic districts, color planning, semantic segmentation, natural language processing

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Authors: Akeel Noori Al-Mulla Hwaish

Abstract:

The environmental impact, economics, social and cultural factors, and the processes by which people define history and meaning had influenced the dynamic shape and character of the traditional Islamic Arabic city. Therefore, in regard to the period when Islam was at its peak (7th- 13th Centuries), Islamic city wasn’t the highly dynamited at the scale of buildings and city planning that demonstrates a distinguished city as an ‘Islamic’ as appeared after centuries when the function of the buildings and their particular arrangement and planning scheme in relation to one another that defined an Islamic city character. The architectural features of the urban fabric of the traditional Arabic Islamic city are a ‎reflection of the spiritual, social, and cultural characteristics of the people. It is a ‎combination of Islamic values ‘Din’ and life needs ‘Dunia’ as Prophet Muhammad built the first Mosque in ‎Madinah in the 1st year of his migration to it, then the Suq or market on 2nd of Hijrah, attached to ‎the mosque to signify the birth of a new Muslims community which considers both, ‎‎’Din’ and ‘Dunia’ and initiated nucleus for what which called after that as an ‘Islamic’ city. This research will discuss the main characteristics and components of the traditional Arab cities and demonstrate the impact of the Islamic values on shaping the planning layout and general built environment features of the early traditional Arab cities.

Keywords: urban, Islamic, Arabic, city

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Authors: Seongjun Kim, Jinwooung Kim, Sung-Ah Kim

Abstract:

The development of information and communication technology also affects human cognition and thinking, especially in the field of design, new techniques are being tried. In architecture, new design methodologies such as machine learning or data-driven design are being applied. In particular, these methodologies are used in analyzing the factors related to the value of real estate or analyzing the feasibility in the early planning stage of the apartment housing. However, since the value of apartment buildings is often determined by external factors such as location and traffic conditions, rather than the interior elements of buildings, data is rarely used in the design process. Therefore, although the technical conditions are provided, the internal elements of the apartment are difficult to apply the data-driven design in the design process of the apartment. As a result, the designers of apartment housing were forced to rely on designer experience or modular design alternatives rather than data-driven design at the design stage, resulting in a uniform arrangement of space in the apartment house. The purpose of this study is to propose a methodology to support the designers to design the apartment unit plan with high consumer preference by deriving the correlation and importance of the floor plan elements of the apartment preferred by the consumers through the machine learning and reflecting this information from the early design process. The data on the pre-sale competition rate and the elements of the floor plan are collected as data, and the correlation between pre-sale competition rate and independent variables is analyzed through machine learning. This analytical model can be used to review the apartment unit plan produced by the designer and to assist the designer. Therefore, it is possible to make a floor plan of apartment housing with high preference because it is possible to feedback apartment unit plan by using trained model when it is used in floor plan design of apartment housing.

Keywords: apartment unit plan, data-driven design, design methodology, machine learning

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Authors: Amin Padash, Javad Kazem Zadeh Khoiy, Hossein Vahidi

Abstract:

Purpose: The mechanization system for the urban services was implemented in Tehran City in the year 2004 to promote the collection of domestic wastes; in 2010, in order to achieve the objectives of the project of urban services mechanization and qualitative promotion and improve the urban living environment, sustainable development and optimization of the recyclable solid wastes collection systems as well as other dry and non-organic wastes and conformity of the same to the modern urban management methods regarding integration of the mechanized urban services contractors and recycling contractors and in order to better and more correct fulfillment of the waste separation and considering the success of the mechanization plan of the dry wastes in most of the modern countries. The aim of this research is analyzing of Environmental Risk Assessment of the mechanization waste collection scheme in Tehran. Case Study: Tehran, the capital of Iran, with the population of 8.2 million people, occupies 730 km land expanse, which is 4% of total area of country. Tehran generated 2,788,912 ton (7,641 ton/day) of waste in year 2008. Hospital waste generation rate in Tehran reaches 83 ton/day. Almost 87% of total waste was disposed of by placing in a landfill located in Kahrizak region. This large amount of waste causes a significant challenge for the city. Methodology: To conduct the study, the methodology proposed in the standard Mil-St-88213 is used. This method is an efficient method to examine the position in opposition to the various processes and the action is effective. The method is based on the method of Military Standard and Specialized in the military to investigate and evaluate options to locate and identify the strengths and weaknesses of powers to decide on the best determining strategy has been used. Finding and Conclusion: In this study, the current status of mechanization systems to collect waste and identify its possible effects on the environment through a survey and assessment methodology Mil-St-88213, and then the best plan for action and mitigation of environmental risk has been proposed as Environmental Management Plan (EMP).

Keywords: environmental risk assessment, mechanization waste collection scheme, Mil-St-88213

Procedia PDF Downloads 439