Investigation into a best practice model for providing an integrated user experience with mobile cloud applications

Mobile Cloud Computing promises to overcome the physical limitations of mobile devices by executing demanding mobile applications on cloud infrastructure. In practice, implementing this paradigm is difficult; network disconnection often occurs, bandwidth may be limited, and a large power draw is required from the battery, resulting in a poor user experience. This thesis presents a mobile cloud middleware solution, Context Aware Mobile Cloud Services (CAMCS), which provides cloudbased services to mobile devices, in a disconnected fashion. An integrated user experience is delivered by designing for anticipated network disconnection, and low data transfer requirements. CAMCS achieves this by means of the Cloud Personal Assistant (CPA); each user of CAMCS is assigned their own CPA, which can complete user-assigned tasks, received as descriptions from the mobile device, by using existing cloud services. Service execution is personalised to the user's situation with contextual data, and task execution results are stored with the CPA until the user can connect with his/her mobile device to obtain the results. Requirements for an integrated user experience are outlined, along with the design and implementation of CAMCS. The operation of CAMCS and CPAs with cloud-based services is presented, specifically in terms of service description, discovery, and task execution. The use of contextual awareness to personalise service discovery and service consumption to the user's situation is also presented. Resource management by CAMCS is also studied, and compared with existing solutions. Additional application models that can be provided by CAMCS are also presented. Evaluation is performed with CAMCS deployed on the Amazon EC2 cloud. The resource usage of the CAMCS Client, running on Android-based mobile devices, is also evaluated. A user study with volunteers using CAMCS on their own mobile devices is also presented. Results show that CAMCS meets the requirements outlined for an integrated user experience.

The Open Data Smart City: A Case Study of Smart City Progress through Open Data Initiatives

Smart cities, cities that are supported by an extensive digital infrastructure of sensors, databases and intelligent applications, have become a major area of academic, governmental and public interest. Simultaneously, there has been a growing interest in open data, the unrestricted use of organizational data for public viewing and use. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS), Urban Studies and Political Economy, this thesis examines how digital processes, open data and the physical world can be combined in smart city development, through the qualitative interview-based case study of a Southern Ontario Municipality, Anytown. The thesis asks what are the challenges associated with smart city development and open data proliferation, is open data complimentary to smart urban development; and how is expertise constructed in these fields? The thesis concludes that smart city development in Anytown is a complex process, involving a variety of visions, programs and components. Although smart city and open data initiatives exist in Anytown, and some are even overlapping and complementary, smart city development is in its infancy. However, expert informants remained optimistic, faithful to a technologically sublime vision of what a smart city would bring. The thesis also questions the notion of expertise within the context of smart city and open data projects, concluding that assertions of expertise need to be treated with caution and scepticism when considering how knowledge is received, generated, interpreted and circulates, within organizations.

Climate change adaptation planning under uncertainty in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: a case study on institutional vulnerability, adaptive capacity and climate change governance

Climate change is expected to have wide-ranging impacts on urban areas and creates additional challenges for sustainable development. Urban areas are inextricably linked with climate change, as they are major contributors to it, while also being particularly vulnerable to its impacts. Climate change presents a new challenge to urban areas, not only because of the expected rises in temperature and sea-level, but also the current context of failure to fully address the institutional barriers preventing action to prepare for climate change, or feedbacks between urban systems and agents. Despite the importance of climate change, there are few cities in developing countries that are attempting to address these issues systematically as part of their governance and planning processes. While there is a growing literature on the risks and vulnerabilities related to climate change, as yet there is limited research on the development of institutional responses, the dissemination of relevant knowledge and evaluation of tools for practical planning responses by decision makers at the city level. This thesis questions the dominant assumptions about the capacity of institutions and potential of adaptive planning. It argues that achieving a balance between climate change impacts and local government decision-making capacity is a vital for successful adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Urban spatial planning and wider environmental planning not only play a major role in reducing/mitigating risks but also have a key role in adapting to uncertainty in over future risk. The research focuses on a single province - the biggest city in Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City - as the principal case study to explore this argument, by examining the linkages between urban planning systems, the structures of governance, and climate change adaptation planning. In conclusion it proposes a specific framework to offer insights into some of the more practical considerations, and the approach emphasises the importance of vertical and horizontal coordination in governance and urban planning.

Propuesta sostenible para mitigar los efectos climáticos adversos en una ciudad costera de Argentina

Los indicadores de sostenibilidad climática constituyen herramientas fundamentales para complementar las políticas de ordenamiento del territorio urbano y pueden beneficiar la calidad de vida sus habitantes. En el presente trabajo se diseñó un indicador climático urbano para la ciudad de Bahía Blanca considerando variables meteorológicas y análisis de la percepción social. El mismo permitió delimitar la ciudad en cuatro regiones bien diferenciadas entre sí. A partir de entonces, se realizó una propuesta sostenible para mitigar los efectos adversos del clima a partir de la aplicación del método DPSIR. Las mismas estuvieron destinadas a mejorar las condiciones de vida de la población. Los resultados permitieron considerar que una pronta implementación de la misma junto con una activa participación de los actores sociales y los tomadores de decisiones es necesaria para mejorar las condiciones actuales en la que se encuentra la ciudad. Con las medidas propuestas, la población local sabrá cómo actuar ante la ocurrencia de distintos eventos extremos, eventos de desconfort climático, etc. Al ser un método sencillo, la metodología aplicada en este estudio puede replicarse en otras ciudades del mundo con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de vida de los habitantes.

Delocalization: The Highway Apparatus

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Common Ground: Building A Better Seattle Through an Improved Democratization of The City’s Design Review Process

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Public Risk Interpretation and Community Resilience Planning: A Case Study in Aberdeen, Washington

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Residential planning, driver mobility and CO2 emission

The literature on residences and citizens’ transports has focused on either reforming traffic managing in response to residential relocation or post-evaluation of urban planning policies or the evolution of the urban spatial form. In a city there are hotspots that attract the citizens and most of the transportation in the city arises as the citizens’ movement between their residence and the hotspots. Little scholarly attention has been devoted to the possibility to minimize citizens’ transportation in the city by the urban planning of residential areas. In this paper we propose a method to evaluate the environmental impact (in terms of CO2-emissions) of urban plans of residential areas. The method is illustrated in a Swedish case of a midsize city which is presently preoccupied with urban planning of new residential areas in response to substantial population growth due to immigration. The residential plans aims to increase the compactness and residential density in the current center and sub centers leads to less CO2 emissions compare to urban expansion to the edge of the city. The plans of concentrated apartment buildings are more effective in meeting residential needs and mitigating CO2 emissions than dispersed single-family houses.

Reviews pages: Extreme weather events caused by climate change

Starting from the relationship between urban planning and mobility management, TeMA has gradually expanded the view of the covered topics, always remaining in the groove of rigorous scientific in-depth analysis. During the last two years a particular attention has been paid on the Smart Cities theme and on the different meanings that come with it. The last section of the journal is formed by the Review Pages. They have different aims: to inform on the problems, trends and evolutionary processes; to investigate on the paths by highlighting the advanced relationships among apparently distant disciplinary fields; to explore the interaction’s areas, experiences and potential applications; to underline interactions, disciplinary developments but also, if present, defeats and setbacks. Inside the journal the Review Pages have the task of stimulating as much as possible the circulation of ideas and the discovery of new points of view. For this reason the section is founded on a series of basic’s references, required for the identification of new and more advanced interactions. These references are the research, the planning acts, the actions and the applications, analysed and investigated both for their ability to give a systematic response to questions concerning the urban and territorial planning, and for their attention to aspects such as the environmental sustainability and the innovation in the practices. For this purpose the Review Pages are formed by five sections (Web Resources; Books; Laws; Urban Practices; News and Events), each of which examines a specific aspect of the broader information storage of interest for TeMA.

Defining the Resolution of a Network for Transportation Analyses: a New Method to Improve Transportation Planning Decisions

Travel demand models are important tools used in the analysis of transportation plans, projects, and policies. The modeling results are useful for transportation planners making transportation decisions and for policy makers developing transportation policies. Defining the level of detail (i.e., the number of roads) of the transport network in consistency with the travel demand model’s zone system is crucial to the accuracy of modeling results. However, travel demand modelers have not had tools to determine how much detail is needed in a transport network for a travel demand model. This dissertation seeks to fill this knowledge gap by (1) providing methodology to define an appropriate level of detail for a transport network in a given travel demand model; (2) implementing this methodology in a travel demand model in the Baltimore area; and (3) identifying how this methodology improves the modeling accuracy. All analyses identify the spatial resolution of the transport network has great impacts on the modeling results. For example, when compared to the observed traffic data, a very detailed network underestimates traffic congestion in the Baltimore area, while a network developed by this dissertation provides a more accurate modeling result of the traffic conditions. Through the evaluation of the impacts a new transportation project has on both networks, the differences in their analysis results point out the importance of having an appropriate level of network detail for making improved planning decisions. The results corroborate a suggested guideline concerning the development of a transport network in consistency with the travel demand model’s zone system. To conclude this dissertation, limitations are identified in data sources and methodology, based on which a plan of future studies is laid out.

A Comparison of Geo-tagging in Mobile Internet Browsing Applications on iOS and Android.

Nowadays there is almost no crime committed without a trace of digital evidence, and since the advanced functionality of mobile devices today can be exploited to assist in crime, the need for mobile forensics is imperative. Many of the mobile applications available today, including internet browsers, will request the user’s permission to access their current location when in use. This geolocation data is subsequently stored and managed by that application's underlying database files. If recovered from a device during a forensic investigation, such GPS evidence and track points could hold major evidentiary value for a case. The aim of this paper is to examine and compare to what extent geolocation data is available from the iOS and Android operating systems. We focus particularly on geolocation data recovered from internet browsing applications, comparing the native Safari and Browser apps with Google Chrome, downloaded on to both platforms. All browsers were used over a period of several days at various locations to generate comparable test data for analysis. Results show considerable differences not only in the storage locations and formats, but also in the amount of geolocation data stored by different browsers and on different operating systems.

PARTICIPATORY PLANNING PILOT CASE STUDY IN CHINA: REALITY, CHALLENGES & LESSONS LEARNED FROM US

Urban planning in China is in a period of change, where participatory planning may supplement the traditional planning system. Since the beginning of the 21st century, several pilot participatory planning projects have responded to the new challenge. The author collected eight cases from the Chinese planning institution to explore the possible models of and barriers to participatory planning. On the other hand, public participation has been a concrete component of planning and implementation process in the United States. The author will also elaborate on one practical case of the planning process in the United States to compare the two countries on planning methods and barriers.

A Transformative Olympic Village: The Washington 2024 Post-Games Legacy

This thesis explores the Modern Olympic Games to strategically design an Olympic Village for Washington D.C. that plans not just to house athletes, but to provide a vision for the post-Games city. Through discovery of the spirit and meaning behind one of the world’s biggest events and analysis of various post-Games Villages, the proposed Olympic Village will innovate the future of Washington D.C.’s Southeast region. Study of existing mixed-use architecture, urban planning, and adaptation will help formulate an Olympic Village design. It is the intention that the Olympic Village, much like its athletes, will emulate the Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” meaning “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” The objective is to establish a village that allows for a faster turnaround in post-Olympic design, utilizes higher standards, and uses stronger applications to building a more sustainable city.

Análisis de viajes con la aplicación de teléfonos inteligentes

Se han desarrollado varios modelos prometedores para la captura digital de datos de movilidad, que pueden ser aplicados en la planificación urbana, de transporte y de ordenamiento territorial. Por ello el objetivo de este trabajo es desarrollar una metodología que recolecte información de movilidad con la cual se generen matrices Origen-Destino (OD) y de tiempos de viajes, además que identifique puntos de interés, modos y rutas frecuentes de viaje mediante el desarrollo e implementación de una aplicación para dispositivos móviles Android. Metodología: Se produjo una aplicación para dispositivos móviles con sistema operativo Android, en base a modelos existentes. Esta aplicación obtuvo datos de movilidad a partir de los sensores de localización incorporados en los móviles (GPS), para su posterior migración a una base de datos en la nube y consiguiente post proceso con herramientas de análisis como KNIME, Python y QuantumGis. La aplicación fue probada por 68 estudiantes voluntarios de la Universidad de Cuenca, durante 14 días del mes de enero de 2016. Resultados: Con la información completa de 44 participantes se obtuvieron matrices OD y de tiempos de viajes para diferentes períodos del día, las cuales permitieron identificar variaciones de interacción entre zonas, variaciones de número y tiempo de viajes. Fueron reconocidos también modos de transporte como caminata, bicicleta y motorizados para una sub muestra (n=6). Se detectaron los POIs Residencia (91%), Trabajo/Estudio (74%) y puntos intermedios (20% del total de POIs) y se logró observar comportamientos de movilidad atípico. Finalmente se compararon las rutas más frecuentadas por los usuarios con las rutas óptimas teóricas calculadas, encontrando que el 63.6% de los usuarios coincidían con el recorrido de estas últimas. Conclusiones: El método planteado presenta coherencia con trabajos previos, mostrando niveles de confianza equiparables. El mayor reto es la implementación masiva del modelo creado para la recolección de datos útiles para planes de movilidad.

Do physical activity and dietary smartphone applications incorporate evidence-based behaviour change techniques?

BACKGROUND: There has been a recent proliferation in the development of smartphone applications (apps) aimed at modifying various health behaviours. While interventions that incorporate behaviour change techniques (BCTs) have been associated with greater effectiveness, it is not clear to what extent smartphone apps incorporate such techniques. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of BCTs in physical activity and dietary apps and determine how reliably the taxonomy checklist can be used to identify BCTs in smartphone apps.

METHODS: The top-20 paid and top-20 free physical activity and/or dietary behaviour apps from the New Zealand Apple App Store Health & Fitness category were downloaded to an iPhone. Four independent raters user-tested and coded each app for the presence/absence of BCTs using the taxonomy of behaviour change techniques (26 BCTs in total). The number of BCTs included in the 40 apps was calculated. Krippendorff's alpha was used to evaluate interrater reliability for each of the 26 BCTs.

RESULTS: Apps included an average of 8.1 (range 2-18) techniques, the number being slightly higher for paid (M = 9.7, range 2-18) than free apps (M = 6.6, range 3-14). The most frequently included BCTs were "provide instruction" (83% of the apps), "set graded tasks" (70%), and "prompt self-monitoring" (60%). Techniques such as "teach to use prompts/cues", "agree on behavioural contract", "relapse prevention" and "time management" were not present in the apps reviewed. Interrater reliability coefficients ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 (Mean 0.6, SD = 0.2).

CONCLUSIONS: Presence of BCTs varied by app type and price; however, BCTs associated with increased intervention effectiveness were in general more common in paid apps. The taxonomy checklist can be used by independent raters to reliably identify BCTs in physical activity and dietary behaviour smartphone apps.