Spatial analysis of urban stormwater quality

Urban stormwater non-point source pollutants are recognized as a major cause of receiving waters quality deterioration. To date most research has focused on specifying temporal variations of stormwater quality parameters which includes high uncertainties and also increases the risk of pollution control structures failure. Traditionally, the temporal variations of quality parameters in forms of either pollutograph or Event Mean Concentration (EMC) is obtained by sampling stormwater at the outlet of urban catchments for quality analysis in addition to measurement of flow rate over years. Spatial variations of the runoff quality are the key factor in non-point source pollution studies. This research investigates spatial variability of urban runoff quality parameters such as Total Phosphorous (TP), Total Nitrogen (TN), Suspended Solids (SS) and Biochemical Oxygen Demands (BOD) in relation to land use of urban catchments. In spatial analysis, stormwater will be sampled over the whole catchment area for a number of rainfall events during a year without any requirement to measure flow rate. This research showed comparable results for average pollutant concentrations with those of other urban catchments in Australia where traditional sampling method was used. The research outcomes will reliably estimate pollutants concentration for improved and efficient design of pollution control structures for each land use.

Colonial designs: Thomas Karsten and the planning of urban Indonesia

Thomas Karsten (1885 – 1945) is undoubtedly a major figure in the history of architecture and town planning in Indonesia. Between 1915 and 1941 he was involved in town planning in 12 of the 19 municipalities and towns in Java (the most prominent exception being Surabaya) 3 of the 9 towns in Sumatra, and the only town in Borneo This paper does not attempts to investigate or question his importance in this field but to place his architectural and town planning ideas in the context of his broader politico-cultural ideas and activities in the Dutch East Indies between 1914 and 1942, and these, in turn, in the context of an evolving colonialism and colonial discourse.

The health equity dimensions of urban food systems

There is increasing recognition that the nutrition transition sweeping the world’s cities is multifaceted. Urban food and nutrition systems are beginning to share similar features, including an increase in dietary diversity, a convergence toward “Western-style” diets rich in fat and refined carbohydrate and within-country bifurcation of food supplies and dietary conventions. Unequal access to the available dietary diversity, calories, and gastronomically satisfying eating experience leads to nutritional inequalities and diet-related health inequities in rich and poor cities alike. Understanding the determinants of inequalities in food security and nutritional quality is a precondition for developing preventive policy responses. Finding common solutions to under- and overnutrition is required, the first step of which is poverty eradication through creating livelihood strategies. In many cities, thousands of positions of paid employment could be created through the establishment of sustainable and self-sufficient local food systems, including urban agriculture and food processing initiatives, food distribution centers, healthy food market services, and urban planning that provides for multiple modes of transport to food outlets. Greater engagement with the food supply may dispel many of the food anxieties affluent consumers are experiencing.

Projections of the future path of the gender wage gap in Great Britain

Purpose – The paper attempts to project the future trend of the gender wage gap in Great Britain up to 2031.
Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis utilises the British Household Panel Study Wave F together with Office for National Statistics (ONS) demographic projections. The methodology combines the ONS projections with assumptions relating to the evolution of educational attainment in order to project the future distribution of human capital skills and consequently the future size of the gender wage gap.
Findings – The analysis suggests that gender wage convergence will be slow, with little female progress by 2031 unless there is a large rise in returns to female experience.
Originality/value – The paper has projected the pattern of male and female skill acquisition together with the associated trend in wages up to 2031.

New residents—new city. The role of urban activists in the transformation of inner city Melbourne

This study of inner suburban residents' associations in Melbourne in the 1960s and 1970s examines the role of social activism in shaping Australia's urban dynamics. It argues that the focus on gentrification as an all-embracing explanatory concept in urban studies in Australia and elsewhere has detracted attention from the importance of structural change especially the de-industrialisation of the inner suburbs and the influence of urban activists and residents' associations in this period. The article concludes that insufficient analysis of social and economic change and the limited recognition of the importance of diverse communities continue to limit inclusive policy responses to urban reconstruction in Australia.

The rise and fall of urban squatter settlements in Santiago de Chile

The thesis examines the forces at work that resulted in the proliferation in the 1950s-60s, and then the subsequent decline, in the number of urban squatter settelements in Santiago, Chile. A feature of the work is the fieldwork investigation on the material conditions within the squatter settlements households.

Conservation of urban historic districts in China : present models of integration and utilization of historic resources and challenges for authenticity

Chinese urban historic districts retain abundant urban traditional features, local characteristics and historic architecture. They not only gather and display urban cultural heritage but extend and develop urban historic culture and social traditions. In 1964 the “Venice Charter” expanded the concept and scope of historical and cultural heritage conservation from individual building heritage, historical sites comprising heritage buildings and historical environments to whole historic districts. At the same time, authenticity was adopted as a principle of heritage conservation. In 1994 the Nara Document on Authenticity confirmed that authenticity is of great importance to the conservation of cultural heritage. In 2003, “The Hoi An Declaration on Conservation of Historic Districts of Asia” reinforced the significance, integrity and authenticity of historic district conservation. In China, with the accelerated urbanization process and improved living conditions of urban residents, the unique values and historic and cultural heritage of historic districts is being destroyed. Considerable historic and cultural heritage has been reconstructed, leading to the loss of authenticity of these historic districts. This paper provides an overview of the Chinese situation. It highlights the problems and demonstrates a clear need to protect the authenticity of these historic districts. Authenticty is evaluated against various Chinese conservation of historic districts having regard to international experience and methods. As a result, it will be demonstrated that conservation modes of authenticity of urban historic districts in China and historic resources should be employed to ensure: 1) the restoration and conservation of historic architecture; 2) the preservation and renovation of old spaces and structures; 3) the integration and coordination of historic and new buildings; and the 4) the continuation and succession of historic culture and local tradition.

ID scanning, the media and the politics of urban surveillance in an Australian regional city

Computerised ID scanning technologies have permeated many urban night-time economies in Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. This paper documents how one media organisation’s overt and tacit approval of ID scanners helped to normalise this form of surveillance as a precondition of entry into most licensed venues in the Australian city of Geelong. After outlining how processes of governance “from above” and “from below” interweave to generate distinct political and media demands for strategies to prevent localised crime problems, a chronological reconstruction of media reports over a three-and-a half year period demonstrates how ID scanning became the centrepiece of a holistic reform strategy to combat alcohol-related violence in this nightclub precinct. Several discursive techniques helped to normalise this “technological fix”, while suppressing critical discussion of viable concerns over information privacy, data security and system networking. These
included pairing reports of an initial “signal crime” with examples of “virtual victimhood” to stress the urgency of a radical surveillance-based response, which was supported by anecdotal statements from key “primary definers” highlighting the success of this initiative in targeting a wider population of antisocial “others”. The implications of these reporting practices are discussed in light of the media’s central role in reforming the Geelong night-time economy and broader trends in using novel surveillance technologies to combat urban crime problems at the expense of alternative measures that protect individual liberty.

Second city syndrome : media reportage of urban rankings

This paper investigates the popularly reported phenomenon of city rankings and, in particular, the category of the ‘second city’ that regularly features as part of this prolific evaluative discourse. Our paper proposes that the category ‘second city’ has a specific analytical value that has to date been underestimated in academic accounts (particularly in the confusing, interchangeable use of ‘second-tier’, ‘secondary’ and ‘second cities’ in the dominant urban studies literature). Instead, we are interested in how second city identifications permeate popular forms of urban comparison in some places.

The example of Melbourne (Australia) is used to investigate how second city identities are historically sustained through evaluative media representations. In particular we examine how, through their reportage of various world city rankings, metropolitan newspapers reveal and articulate a ‘second city consciousness’. How do media institutions, and more specifically, media reports, frame these urban rankings in such a way to confirm Melbourne’s similarity to other globalised places (i.e. proposing its status as a ‘world city’), yet also as a city also marked by a particular historical specificity? And how do they draw on already existing popular and political traditions of urban comparison? This article will identify and analyse the role of newspapers in perpetuating both formal and informal urban comparisons.

Solving the median shortest path problem in the planning and design of urban transportation networks using a vector labeling algorithm

This paper proposes an alternative algorithm to solve the median shortest path problem (MSPP) in the planning and design of urban transportation networks. The proposed vector labeling algorithm is based on the labeling of each node in terms of a multiple and conflicting vector of objectives which deletes cyclic, infeasible and extreme-dominated paths in the criteria space imposing cyclic break (CB), path cost constraint (PCC) and access cost parameter (ACP) respectively. The output of the algorithm is a set of Pareto optimal paths (POP) with an objective vector from predetermined origin to destination nodes. Thus, this paper formulates an algorithm to identify a non-inferior solution set of POP based on a non-dominated set of objective vectors that leaves the ultimate decision to decision-makers. A numerical experiment is conducted using an artificial transportation network in order to validate and compare results. Sensitivity analysis has shown that the proposed algorithm is more efficient and advantageous over existing solutions in terms of computing execution time and memory space used.