Urban high-density construction sites and their surrounding community:issues encountered and strategiesadopted by contractors

Inner city developments are a common feature within many urban environments. Where these construction sites are not managed effectively, they can negatively impact their surrounding community. The aim of this paper is to identify and document, in an urban context, the numerous issues encounter and subsequent strategies adopted by on-site contractors and local people, in the mitigation of factors which negatively impact their surrounding community. The objectives in achieving this aim are to identify what effect, if any, an urban construction site has on its surrounding environment, the issues and resulting strategies adopted by contractors on the factors identified, and also what measures are put in place to minimise such disturbances to the local community. In order to meet the requirements, a mixed methodology is adopted culminating in a literature review, case study analysis, contractor and community interviews, concluding in the development of two specific questions for both perspectives in question. The data is assessed using severity indices based on mean testing in the development of key findings. The results indicate that the main forms of disturbance to the local community from an urban development include noise, dust and traffic congestion. With respect to a contractor on-site, the key issues include damaging surrounding buildings, noise control and off-site parking. The resulting strategies identified in the mitigation of such issues include the implementation of noise and dust containment measures and minimising disruption to local infrastructure. It is envisaged that the results of this study will provide contractors operating in such environments, with the required information which can assist in minimising disruption and therefore, avoiding disputes with the local community members. By consulting with and surveying those most affected, this research will illustrate to on-site management, the difficulties faced by those who accommodate such developments within their living environment.

Street Space—North Street, Belfast

The Belfast city center is fractured, divided by motorways, parking lots, empty buildings, and big box stores. Its 19th-century heyday put it on the international map of textile production, which transformed and enriched its built structure. This tight architectural fabric was slowly destroyed in the 1940s by the Blitz, in the 1970s by road plans and “the troubles” and in the 1990s by large retail buildings. Few pedestrian streets traverse Belfast, and among them, most are recently-developed conduits for the passage of shoppers from one chain store to the next.Within this seemingly bleak urban landscape, there remain a few areas that offer a richer, more architecturally and socially diverse, more memory-laden conception of public space. Current redevelopment plans, however, threaten the mere existence of these few remaining historic streets in Belfast.This reality inspired the current project of one of the Masters in Architecture design units at Queen’s University Belfast. Our team (led by urban designer Michael Corr and myself) has been exploring North Street, one of the main arteries in Belfast City Center. Although North Street has a reputation for being run-down, derelict, and in need of redevelopment, it is one of the few intact 19th-century streets left in the area, and as such is worthy of study as an example of public space that is not strictly synonymous with commercial space.

Creating and sustaining mixed income communities: a good practice guide

A comprehensive guide to planning and consultation issues around mixed income communities. This guide explores how to create attractive and well-managed places that meet the needs of all sections of the community. Drawing on the latest research, and featuring nine case study areas, it includes detailed guidance on: developing a strategy and negotiating the planning process; good practice in masterplanning, design, layout and long-term financial viability; how stakeholders can collaborate effectively and ensure that local residents are fully involved at all stages; how barriers to the development of sustainable communities might be overcome. The guide explores all types of mixed income communities, from the diversification of single-tenure inner-city estates to greenfield development on the urban fringe.

Creating and sustaining mixed income communities in Scotland: a good practice guide

A good practice guide to creating and sustaining mixed income communities in Scotland. This guide explores how to create attractive and well-managed places that meet the needs of all sections of the community. Drawing on the latest research, and featuring 11 case studies from Scotland and England, it offers a comprehensive guide to the issues that need to be planned for and addressed. The book includes detailed guidance on: -Developing a strategy and negotiating the planning process; -Good practice in masterplanning, design, layout and long-term financial viability; -How stakeholders can collaborate effectively and ensure that local residents are fully involved at all stages; -How barriers to the development of sustainable communities might be overcome. The guide explores all types of mixed income communities, from the diversification of mono-tenure estates in inner city areas to greenfield development on the urban fringe.

Survey forms used in urban freight studies

Report produced as part of the Green Logistics project (EPSRC and Department for Transport funded). This report contains examples of survey forms used in urban freight studies both in the UK and overseas. The studies from which these examples have been drawn range in data from 1970-2008. The purpose of the report is to provide insight into the types of questions used in different survey techniques and also into the design of survey forms. It is hoped that bringing together in a single document these examples of urban freight survey forms will be of use to researchers involved in such studies in future in planning and designing their survey work. Examples of several different types of survey techniques are provided including: Establishment surveys -- Commodity flow surveys -- Freight operator surveys -- Roadside interview surveys -- Driver surveys -- Vehicle observation surveys -- Parking surveys -- Vehicle trip diaries -- Service provider surveys

Survey techniques in urban freight transport studies

This article reviews and assesses the various survey techniques that have been used in studies in which data have been collected to obtain an understanding of road-based urban freight transport activities. The review identified 162 such studies in 18 countries over the last 50 years, and 12 different types of urban survey technique. In the studies reviewed, establishment surveys have been the most commonly used technique, followed by freight operator surveys, vehicle observation surveys, driver surveys, roadside interview surveys, and vehicle trip diaries. Few examples of other survey techniques (commodity flow, parking, global positioning system, supplier and service provider surveys) were identified. Establishment and vehicle observation surveys have the potential to offer insight into a wider range of issues associated with urban freight deliveries and collections to and from establishments in a specific urban area than the other survey techniques reviewed. These two survey techniques can provide insight into the frequency of goods vehicles deliveries and collections by time of day and day of week, the activities involved in the loading/unloading process, and the freight requirements of individual establishments. However, all 12 survey techniques provide insight into varying aspects of urban freight operations and various combinations are therefore likely to be used in future studies.

Understanding urban freight activity: key issues for freight planning

Using information gathered from some 30 UK surveys undertaken over the last 15 years, this paper provides planners with an understanding of road-based urban retail freight transport activity. The findings suggest that the average High Street business could expect up to 10 core goods and 7.6 service visits per week, in non-peak trading periods with 25% additional activity during the build up to Christmas. Vans (‘light goods vehicles’) were the dominant mode, responsible for 42% of delivery activity with a mean dwell time of 10 min. Where possible, load consolidation should be encouraged by methods such as Delivery and Servicing Plans and using out-of-town freight consolidation centres to bring in goods over the last mile in shared vehicles. Where this is not possible, loading bay monitoring and control, and preferred lorry routes can help manage the movement of vehicles in and out of dense urban areas. Service vehicle activity is a significant contributor to urban freight movements and often requires vehicles to be parked close to the premises being served. Centrally coordinating elements of service provision (e.g. for cleaning, equipment maintenance, recyclate collection), or providing improved, more flexible parking provision for service vehicles could be as or more beneficial in reducing overall freight impacts than focusing on core goods deliveries. In the case of the latter, ‘pay-as-you-leave’ car park charging systems could encourage short-stay service vehicles to park off-street.

The river solofrana bicycle network: a project of green mobility

The article presents the “LungoSolofrana” project, carried out during the course “Urban and Mobility” in the academic year 2009/2010, held during the bachelor in Environmental Engineering at the University of Naples “Federico II”. The work has also been chosen as a finalist at the “UrbanPromo 2010” contest, the urban and territorial marketing event sponsored by the National Institute of Urban Planning and Urbit which was held in Venice in 2010. The project consists in a green mobility proposal, developed with an approach based on the integration of the environmental redevelopment of a portion of river Solofrana, located in the Salerno Province, and of the renewal of seven local stations of the railway line Mercato San Severino – Nocera Inferiore, including the realization of a cycle-path network for the natural environment fruition. Furthermore the work drew attention to the local and regional administration. The main intent of the project is to integrate sustainable mobility themes with the environment recovery in a territory affected by high environmental troubles. The area includes the municipalities of Nocera Inferiore, Nocera Superiore, Mercato San Severino, Castel San Giorgio and Roccapiemonte, situated in Salerno’s province, with a total population about 114.000 (font Demo ISTAT 2010). The area extension is about 84,30 sqkm and it is crossed by river Solofrana that is the central point of the project idea. The intervention strategy is defined in two kinds of actions: internal and external rail station interventions. The external rail station interventions regard the construction of pedestrian-cycle paths with the scope of increasing the spaces dedicated to cyclists and to pedestrians along the river Solofrana sides and to connect the urban areas with the railway station. In this way, it’s also possible to achieve an urban requalification of the interested area. On the other side, the interventions inside the station , according to Transit Oriented Development principles, aim at redeveloping common spaces with the insertion of new activities and at realizing new automatic cycle parks covered by photovoltaic panels. The project proposal consists of the urban regeneration of small railway stations along the route-Nocera-Codola Mercato San Severino in the province of Salerno, through interventions aimed at improving pedestrian accessibility. The project involves in particular the construction of pedestrian paths protected access to the station and connecting with neighboring towns and installation of innovative bike parking stations in elevation, covering surfaces coated with solar panels and spaces information. The project is aimed to propose a new model of sustainable transport for small and medium shifts as an alternative to private transportation

A Travel Optimization System for Academic Environments

Carpooling initiated in America in the 1970s due to the oil crisis. However, over the past years, carpooling has increased significantly across the world. Some countries have created a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane to encourage commuters not to travel alone. In additional, carpool websites has been developed to facilitate the connection between the commuters, making it possible to create a compatible match in a faster and efficient manner. This project focuses on carpooling, especially in an academic environment since younger people are more likely to choose carpool. Initially, an intense research was made to examine carpool studies that occurred all over the world, following with a research of higher education institutes that use carpooling as a transportation mode. Most websites created carpools by targeting people from a specific country. These commuters have different origins and destinations making it more complicated to create compatible matches. The objective of this project is to develop a system helping teachers and students from an academic environment to create carpool matches. This objective makes it easier to create carpools because these students and teachers have the same destination. During the research, it was essential to explore, as many as possible, existing carpool websites that are available across the world. After this analysis, several sketches were made to develop the layout and structure of the web application that’s being implemented throughout the project. Once the layout was established, the development of the web application was initiated. This project had its ups and downs but it accomplished all the necessary requirements. This project can be accessed on the link: http://ipcacarpool.somee.com. Once the website was up and running, a web-based survey was developed to study the reasons that motivate people to consider carpooling as an alternative to driving alone. To develop this survey was used a tool called Survey Planet. This survey contained 408 respondents, which 391 are students and 17 are teachers. This study concludes that a majority of the respondents don’t carpool, however they will consider carpooling if there was a dedicated parking space. A majority of the respondents that carpool initiated less than a year ago, indicating that this mean of transportation is recent.

Modelo SIG para apoio à análise de sistemas de transportes e usos do solo

Dissertação de natureza científica para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil

Aeródromos do continente: metodologia de análise de descritores para o seu planeamento

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de especialização de Vias de Comunicação e Transportes

Projecto de execução do centro comercial Mercado da Praia: Cidade da Praia: Cabo Verde

Trabalho Final de Mestrado para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil

Projeto de fundações e estrutura de um edifício em Lisboa

Trabalho de Projeto para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Civil na Área de Especialização em Estruturas

Pedestrian Priority Zones in the Context of Urban Mobility and Valorization of Public Space

The second half of the XX century was marked by a great increase in the number of people living in cities. Urban agglomerations became poles of attraction for migration flows and these phenomena, coupled with growing car-ownership rates, resulted in the fact that modern transport systems are characterized by large number of users and traffic modes. The necessity to organize these complex systems and to provide space for different traffic modes changed the way cities look. Urban areas had to cope with traffic flows, and as a result nowadays typical street pattern consists of a road for motorized vehicles, a cycle lane (in some cases), pavement for pedestrians, parking and a range of crucial signage to facilitate navigation and make mobility more secure. However, this type of street organization may not be desirable in certain areas, more specifically, in the city centers. Downtown areas have always been places where economic, leisure, social and other types of facilities are concentrated, not surprisingly, they often attract large number of people and this frequently results in traffic jams, air and noise pollution, thus creating unpleasant environment. Besides, excessive traffic signage in central locations can harm the image and perception of a place, this relates in particular to historical centers with architectural heritage.