Social Media- A relevant tool for tourism and hospitality marketing

Tourism is an industry which is heavily dependent on marketing. Mouth to mouth communication has played a major role in shaping a number of destinations.This is particularly true in modern parlance.This is social networking phenomenon which is fast spreading over the internet .Many sites provide visitors a lot of freedom to express their views.Promotion of a destination depends lot on conversation and exchange of information over these social networks.This paper analyses the social networking sites their contribution to marketing tourism and hoapitality .The negetive impacts phenomena are also discussed

Homicide and public security indicator trends in the city of Sao Paulo between 1996 and 2008: a time-series ecological study

The scope of this paper was to analyze the association between homicides and public security indicators in Sao Paulo between 1996 and 2008, after monitoring the unemployment rate and the proportion of youths in the population. A time-series ecological study for 1996 and 2008 was conducted with Sao Paulo as the unit of analysis. Dependent variable: number of deaths by homicide per year. Main independent variables: arrest-incarceration rate, access to firearms, police activity. Data analysis was conducted using Stata. IC 10.0 software. Simple and multivariate negative binomial regression models were created. Deaths by homicide and arrest-incarceration, as well as police activity were significantly associated in simple regression analysis. Access to firearms was not significantly associated to the reduction in the number of deaths by homicide (p>0,05). After adjustment, the associations with both the public security indicators were not significant. In Sao Paulo the role of public security indicators are less important as explanatory factors for a reduction in homicide rates, after adjustment for unemployment rate and a reduction in the proportion of youths. The results reinforce the importance of socioeconomic and demographic factors for a change in the public security scenario in Sao Paulo.

Report to the President by the Emergency Board appointed September 10, 1948, by Executive order 9996 pursuant to section 10 of the Railway labor act as amended, to investigate an unadjusted dispute concerning a grievance involving the Public Belt Railroad Commission for the City of New Orleans and certain of its employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. New Orleans, Louisiana, September 18, 1948. No. 65.

Signed: Harry H. Schwartz, chairman, Floyd McGown, A. Langley Coffey.

Annual report of the Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction of the City of New York.

Mode of access: Internet.

Municipal register; containing a register of the city government ... with lists of executive and other public officers and membership of former city governments.

Issued 1893-19 in the series of Legislative documents.

Urban vulnerability in Sydney: Policy and institutional ambiguities in bushfire protection

Despite the inevitability of the bushfires hazard across the Sydney region, a mismatch exists between reactive technological fixes and proactive social programs which have far-reaching vulnerability and governance consequences. This paper questions the adequacy of current policy and action, revealing contradictions and tensions that expose Sydney's vulnerability and have implications for other Australian cities.

Evaluating the equity effects of road-pricing in the European urban context - The Madrid Metropolitan Area

The paper identifies the potential spatial and social impacts of a proposed road-pricing scheme for different social groups in the Madrid Metropolitan Area (MMA). We appraise the accessibility of different districts within the MMA in terms of the actual and perceived cost of using the road infrastructure ‘before’ and ‘after’ implementation of the scheme. The appraisal framework was developed using quantitative survey data and qualitative focus group discussions with residents. We then simulated user behaviours (mode and route choice) based on the empirical evidence from a travel demand model for the MMA. The results from our simulation model demonstrated that implementation of the toll on the orbital metropolitan motorways (M40, M30, for example) decreases accessibility mostly in the districts where there are no viable public transport alternatives. Our specific study finding is that the economic burden of the road-pricing scheme particularly affects unskilled and lower income individuals living in the south of the MMA. The focus groups confirmed that low income drivers in the south part of the MMA would reduce their use of tolled roads and have to find new arrangements for these trips: i.e. switch to public transport, spend double the time travelling or stay at home. More generally, our research finds that European transport planners are still a long way from recognising the social equity implications of their policy decisions and that more thorough social appraisals are needed to avoid the social exclusion of low income populations when road tolling is proposed.

Commercialisation of agriculture in Kenya: Case study of urban bias on food availability in farm households

This study investigates the effect of cash cropping on food availability and examines the determinants of the proportion of income allocated for food expenditures in the Nyeri district in Kenya. Using a Tobit model, the results suggest that in general food expenditure allocations suffer due to cash cropping in Kenya as the lump-sum income flows from this may be used for purchases other than food. Food expenditure also suffers when remittances are irregular. On the other hand, earnings from outside employment for married women living with husbands are positively associated with food expenditure allocations. Amounts of non-cash food output as well as ownership of livestock are negatively associated with food expenditure allocations. These findings indicate that lump sum income may not lead to improved welfare of women and children. Thus, there may be social reasons for increasing non-cash food production especially by women, instead of over emphasizing cash cropping as now seems to be so in public policy.

Understanding and enhancing research-policy linkages in Australian housing: A discussion paper

This project aimed to develop a systematic framework for understanding the relationship between social science research and public policy, and to build more effective linkages between social researchers and policy practitioners in the Australian housing system, particularly through AHURI. The project is explicitly applied and solution-focused. It was undertaken in close collaboration with AHURI and has contributed to AHURI's overall mission and strategy to enhancing research-based housing policy. It provided an opportunity for the AHURI policy community to engage in a process of action-oriented, self-reflection around its core business of applied housing policy research.

Portrait et analyse des stratégies à base territoriale pour contrer la pauvreté et l'exclusion dans le territoire de La Petite-Patrie à Montréal. Conditions d’une action intégrée

L’objet de la présente thèse est la lutte contre la pauvreté. Elle cherche à identifier les conditions favorisant la sortie de la pauvreté dans un territoire urbain, ici le quartier de la Petite-Patrie. par une approche territoriale intégrée. S’inscrivant dans la mouvance des multiples initiatives de lutte contre la pauvreté et l’exclusion au Québec, le postulat qui fonde cette recherche est le suivant : la lutte contre la pauvreté par l’approche territoriale intégrée permet : 1) d’instaurer des conditions favorisant la sortie de la pauvreté et 2) de renverser les processus qui mènent à l’appauvrissement des personnes et, du même coup, d’améliorer les conditions et la qualité de vie de celles-ci dans un territoire particulier. Les résultats de cette recherche permettent : 1) de contribuer à la compréhension des dynamiques de lutte contre la pauvreté grâce à une approche considérant les acteurs agissant dans un territoire et, 2) d’éclairer les différents niveaux de conception et de mise en œuvre des politiques et des stratégies d’action, tant au niveau de l’État que de la société civile, sachant que les dispositifs d’intervention intégrés se créent à l’interface des initiatives locales ou régionales et des nouvelles formes de politiques publiques en matière de lutte contre la pauvreté. Les grandes conclusions qui émergent de cette recherche sont au nombre de trois : 1) Si la multidimentionnalité de la pauvreté est acceptée par plusieurs auteurs, on ne peut pas parler d’une seule pauvreté, mais de diverses pauvretés. Les visages de la pauvreté dans le territoire de La Petite-Patrie témoignent de cette diversité des pauvretés, et appellent une variété de stratégies d’action ; 2) Les personnes en situation de pauvreté, en fonction de leurs capacités d’agir, peuvent être appréhendées selon un double profil qui structure de façon importante leur processus de sortie de la pauvreté : le premier groupe rassemble les personnes en situation de pauvreté qui ont des initiatives découlant de leurs capacités d’agir, et le second groupe qui réunit les personnes en situation de pauvreté dont la capacité d’initiative est altérée, apparemment de façon durable, par leurs conditions de vie. Toute stratégie publique de sortie de la pauvreté dans un espace donné devrait alors considérer cette dimension relative aux capacités de rapprochement des individus et des ressources pour soutenir le développement d’une stratégie territoriale intégrée de lutte à la pauvreté plus efficace pour les personnes dont le processus de désaffiliation est plus avancé; 3) Les acteurs de lutte contre la pauvreté dans un territoire, pour réunir les conditions d’une action intégrée et mettre en place des conditions favorables de lutte contre la pauvreté, doivent s’appuyer sur la concertation, les alliances intersectorielles, le leadership inclusif et concerté, les passerelles formelles et fonctionnelles entre acteurs institutionnels, et sur une démarche hybride (emploi et défense des droits) qui constituent des ingrédients fondamentaux pour toute action ou intervention en faveur des personnes en situation de pauvreté vivant dans un cadre territorial défini et accepté par l’ensemble des acteurs locaux. Ce caractère hybride de la démarche permet d’agir de façon différenciée sur les deux groupes de la population. L’intégration est donc avant tout stratégique, c’est-à-dire fondée sur l’articulation d’une pluralité de logique d’action.

Renewable energy sources in Latin America and the Caribbean: situation and policy proposals

Includes bibliography

Federal and state policy influence on woody biomass utilization

A considerable portion of public lands in the United States is at risk of uncharacteristically severe wildfires due to a history of fire suppression. Wildfires already have detrimental impacts on the landscape and on communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) due to unnatural and overstocked forests. Strategies to mitigate wildfire risk include mechanical thinning and prescribed burning in areas with high wildfire risk. The material removed is often of little or no economic value. Woody biomass utilization (WBU) could offset the costs of hazardous fuel treatments if removed material could be used for wood products, heat, or electricity production. However, barriers due to transportation costs, removal costs, and physical constraints (such as steep slopes) hinder woody biomass utilization. Various federal and state policies attempt to overcome these barriers. WBU has the potential to aid in wildfire mitigation and meet growing state mandates for renewable energy. This research utilizes interview data from individuals involved with on-the-ground woody biomass removal and utilization to determine how federal and state policies influence woody biomass utilization. Results suggest that there is not one over-arching policy that hinders or promotes woody biomass utilization, but rather woody biomass utilization is hindered by organizational constraints related to time, cost, and quality of land management agencies’ actions. However, the use of stewardship contracting (a hybrid timber sale and service contract) shows promise for increased WBU, especially in states with favorable tax policies and renewable energy mandates. Policy recommendations to promote WBU include renewal of stewardship contracting legislations and a re-evaluation of land cover types suited for WBU. Potential future policies to consider include the indirect role of carbon dioxide emission reduction activities to promote wood energy and future impacts of air quality regulations.

Policy Contexts of Social Work in Britain: the wider implications of 'New' Labour and the 'New Legal Regime'

Several commentators have expressed disappointment with New Labour's apparent adherence to the policy frameworks of the previous Conservative administrations. The employment orientation of its welfare programmes, the contradictory nature of the social exclusion initiatives, and the continuing obsession with public sector marketisation, inspections, audits, standards and so on, have all come under critical scrutiny (c.f., Blyth 2001; Jordan 2001; Orme 2001). This paper suggests that in order to understand the socio-economic and political contexts affecting social work we need to examine the relationship between New Labour's modernisation project and its insertion within an architecture of global governance. In particular, membership of the European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) set the parameters for domestic policy in important ways. Whilst much has been written about the economic dimensions of 'globalisation' in relation to social work rather less has been noted about the ways in which domestic policy agenda are driven by multilateral governance objectives. This policy dimension is important in trying to respond to various changes affecting social work as a professional activity. What is possible, what is encouraged, how things might be done, is tightly bounded by the policy frameworks governing practice and affected by those governing the lives of service users. It is unhelpful to see policy formulation in purely national terms as the UK is inserted into a network governance structure, a regulatory framework where decisions are made by many countries and organisations and agencies. Together, they are producing a 'new legal regime', characterised by a marked neo-liberal policy agenda. This paper aims to demonstrate the relationship of New Labour's modernisation programme to these new forms of legality by examining two main policy areas and the welfare implications they are enmeshed in. The first is privatisation, and the second is social policy in the European Union. Examining these areas allows a demonstration of how much of the New Labour programme can be understood as a local implementation of a transnational strategy, how parts of that strategy produce much of the social exclusion it purports to address, and how social welfare, and particularly social work, are noticeable by their absence within policy discourses of the strategy. The paper details how the privatisation programme is considered to be a crucial vehicle for the further development of a transnational political-economy, where capital accumulation has been redefined as 'welfare'. In this development, frameworks, codes and standards are central, and the final section of the paper examines how the modernisation strategy of the European Union depends upon social policy marked by an employment orientation and risk rationality, aimed at reconfiguring citizen identities.The strategy is governed through an 'open mode of coordination', in which codes, standards, benchmarks and so on play an important role. The paper considers the modernisation strategy and new legality within which it is embedded as dependent upon social policy as a technology of liberal governance, one demonstrating a new rationality in comparison to that governing post-Second World War welfare, and which aims to reconfigure institutional infrastructure and citizen identity.

THE INFLUENCE OF URBAN FORM AT DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL SCALES ON TRAVEL BEHAVIOR; EVIDENCE FROM U.S. CITIES

Suburban lifestyle is popular among American families, although it has been criticized for encouraging automobile use through longer commutes, causing heavy traffic congestion, and destroying open spaces (Handy, 2005). It is a serious concern that people living in low-density suburban areas suffer from high automobile dependency and lower rates of daily physical activity, both of which result in social, environmental and health-related costs. In response to such concerns, researchers have investigated the inter-relationships between urban land-use pattern and travel behavior within the last few decades and suggested that land-use planning can play a significant role in changing travel behavior in the long-term. However, debates regarding the magnitude and efficiency of the effects of land-use on travel patterns have been contentious over the years. Changes in built-environment patterns is potentially considered a long-term panacea for automobile dependency and traffic congestion, despite some researchers arguing that the effects of land-use on travel behavior are minor, if any. It is still not clear why the estimated impact is different in urban areas and how effective a proposed land-use change/policy is in changing certain travel behavior. This knowledge gap has made it difficult for decision-makers to evaluate land-use plans and policies. In addition, little is known about the influence of the large-scale built environment. In the present dissertation, advanced spatial-statistical tools have been employed to better understand and analyze these impacts at different scales, along with analyzing transit-oriented development policy at both small and large scales. The objective of this research is to: (1) develop scalable and consistent measures of the overall physical form of metropolitan areas; (2) re-examine the effects of built-environment factors at different hierarchical scales on travel behavior, and, in particular, on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and car ownership; and (3) investigate the effects of transit-oriented development on travel behavior. The findings show that changes in built-environment at both local and regional levels could be very influential in changing travel behavior. Specifically, the promotion of compact, mixed-use built environment with well-connected street networks reduces VMT and car ownership, resulting in less traffic congestion, air pollution, and energy consumption.

Urban public policies: towards the improvement of landscape ecological system. The case-study of the city of Évora, Portugal.

The Charter of European Planning 2013 presents a Vision for the future of European cities and regions, highlighting the sustainability of cities and the preservation of urban ecosystems, integrating the man-made environment with the natural ecosystems and contribute to the well-being and quality of life of their inhabitants and other stakeholders. Thus, urban public policies are crucial to the improvement of the landscape ecological system, achievable by city planning and design. The paper aims to analyse if public urban policies in Portugal have been integrating strategies and/or guidelines to enhance the ecological system of the landscape. Then, which new perspectives are possible, framed by the recently approved law Bases of Public Policy of Soils, Land Management and Urban Planning (2014). This new law, in contrast with the previous ones, don’t allow reserving land to urbanize, in municipal master plans. Moreover, it is possible to revert land classified for urban purposes in those plans into rustic soils (when it is not yet infra-structured or built). It allows creating new planning and design dynamics, convert several areas and including them in the urban ecological structure, essential to the enhancement of landscape ecological system. This is a filed of work where landscape architecture has huge responsibilities, by associating and harmonize man-made environment with natural systems, enlightening sustainability consistent with conservation and improvement of Nature while contributing to the well-being and quality of life of Man. A sustainability that is ethical, aesthetic, ecological and cultural. The study is supported by a case study – the city of Évora. The ultimate goal is to propose measures to promote larger and better integration of ecological component in urban public policies, framed by the new territorial management law, taking into account and highlighting the specificities of the landscape system – Man and Nature – at the local level.