A decision support system for sustainable urban development : the integrated land use and transportation indexing model

Broad, early definitions of sustainable development have caused confusion and hesitation among local authorities and planning professionals. This confusion has arisen because loosely defined principles of sustainable development have been employed when setting policies and planning projects, and when gauging the efficiencies of these policies in the light of designated sustainability goals. The question of how this theory-rhetoric-practice gap can be filled is the main focus of this chapter. It examines the triple bottom line approach–one of the sustainability accounting approaches widely employed by governmental organisations–and the applicability of this approach to sustainable urban development. The chapter introduces the ‘Integrated Land Use and Transportation Indexing Model’ that incorporates triple bottom line considerations with environmental impact assessment techniques via a geographic, information systems-based decision support system. This model helps decision-makers in selecting policy options according to their economic, environmental and social impacts. Its main purpose is to provide valuable knowledge about the spatial dimensions of sustainable development, and to provide fine detail outputs on the possible impacts of urban development proposals on sustainability levels. In order to embrace sustainable urban development policy considerations, the model is sensitive to the relationship between urban form, travel patterns and socio-economic attributes. Finally, the model is useful in picturing the holistic state of urban settings in terms of their sustainability levels, and in assessing the degree of compatibility of selected scenarios with the desired sustainable urban future.

Governors highway safety associations and transportation planning: Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 mandated the consideration of safety in the regional transportation planning process. As part of National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 8-44, "Incorporating Safety into the Transportation Planning Process," we conducted a telephone survey to assess safety-related activities and expertise at Governors Highway Safety Associations (GHSAs), and GHSA relationships with metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and state departments of transportation (DOTs). The survey results were combined with statewide crash data to enable exploratory modeling of the relationship between GHSA policies and programs and statewide safety. The modeling objective was to illuminate current hurdles to ISTEA implementation, so that appropriate institutional, analytical, and personnel improvements can be made. The study revealed that coordination of transportation safety across DOTs, MPOs, GHSAs, and departments of public safety is generally beneficial to the implementation of safety. In addition, better coordination is characterized by more positive and constructive attitudes toward incorporating safety into planning.

Information and communication technologies : catalysts for sustainable development

The concept of sustainable urban development has been pushed to the forefront of policy-making and politics as the world wakes up to the impacts of climate change and the effects of modern urban lifestyles. Today, sustainable development has become a very prominent element in the day-to-day debate on urban policy and the expression of that policy in urban planning and development decisions. As a result of this, during the last few years, sustainable development automation applications such as sustainable urban development decision support systems have become popular tools as they offer new opportunities for local governments to realise their sustainable development agendas. This chapter explores a range of issues associated with the application of information and communication technologies and decision support systems in the process of underpinning sustainable urban development. The chapter considers how information and communication technologies can be applied to enhance urban planning, raise environmental awareness, share decisions and improve public participation. It introduces and explores three web-based geographical information systems projects as best practice. These systems are developed as support tools to include public opinion in the urban planning and development processes, and to provide planners with comprehensive tools for the analysis of sustainable urban development variants in order to prepare the best plans for constructing sustainable urban communities and futures.

Preface : rethinking sustainable development : urban management, engineering, and design

In an atmosphere where civilization is progressing and becoming more aware of the consequences of careless development decisions, rethinking sustainable development - particularly sustainable urban and infrastructure development - has become an inevitable necessity. ------ ----- Rethinking Sustainable Development: Urban Management, Engineering, and Design considers the role of urban, regional and infrastructure planning in achieving sustainable urban and infrastructure development, providing insights into overcoming the consequences of unsustainable development. This companion volume to Sustainable Urban and Regional Infrastructure: Technology, Planning and Management, overviews all aspects of sustainable urban and infrastructure development.

Knowledge-based development for cities and societies : integrated multi-level approaches

Over the past twenty years, the conventional knowledge management approach has evolved into a strategic management approach that has found applications and opportunities outside of business, in society at large, through education, urban development, governance, and healthcare, amongst others. Knowledge-Based Development for Cities and Socieities: Integrated Multi-Level Approaches enlightens the concepts and challenges of knowledge management for both urban environments and entire regions, enhancing the expertise and knowledge of scholars, resdearchers, practitioners, managers and urban developers in the development of successful knowledge-based development policies, creation of knowledte cities and prosperous knowledge societies. This reference creates large knowledge base for scholars, managers and urban developers and increases the awareness of the role of knowledge cities and knowledge socieiteis in the knowledge era, as well as of the challenges and opportunities for future research.

Developing a knowledge-based urban development analysis framework : the case of multimedia super corridor, Malaysia

Purpose: In the global knowledge economy, investment in knowledge-intensive industries and information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures are seen as significant factors in improving the overall socio-economic fabric of cities. Consequently knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has become a new paradigm in urban planning and development, for increasing the welfare and competitiveness of cities and regions. The paper discusses the critical connections between KBUD strategies and knowledge-intensive industries and ICT infrastructures. In particular, it investigates the application of the knowledge-based urban development concept by discussing one of South East Asia’s large scale manifestations of KBUD; Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor. ----- ----- Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides a review of the KBUD concept and develops a knowledge-based urban development assessment framework to provide a clearer understanding of development and evolution of KBUD manifestations. Subsequently the paper investigates the implementation of the KBUD concept within the Malaysian context, and particularly the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). ----- ----- Originality/value: The paper, with its KBUD assessment framework, scrutinises Malaysia’s experince; providing an overview of the MSC project and discussion of the case findings. The development and evolution of the MSC is viewed with regard to KBUD policy implementation, infrastructural implications, and the agencies involved in the development and management of the MSC. ----- ----- Practical implications: The emergence of the knowledge economy, together with the issues of globalisation and rapid urbanisation, have created an urgent need for urban planners to explore new ways of strategising planning and development that encompasses the needs and requirements of the knowledge economy and society. In light of the literature and MSC case findings, the paper provides generic recommendations, on the orchestration of knowledge-based urban development, for other cities and regions seeking to transform to the knowledge economy.

Analysis of build-up of heavy metals and volatile organics on urban roads in Gold Coast, Australia

Urban water quality can be significantly impaired by the build-up of pollutants such as heavy metals and volatile organics on urban road surfaces due to vehicular traffic. Any control strategy for the mitigation of traffic related build-up of heavy metals and volatile organic pollutants should be based on the knowledge of their build-up processes. In the study discussed in this paper, the outcomes of a detailed experiment investigation into build-up processes of heavy metals and volatile organics are presented. It was found that traffic parameters such as average daily traffic, volume over capacity ratio and surface texture depth had similar strong correlations with the build-up of heavy metals and volatile organics. Multicriteria decision analyses revealed that the 1 - 74 um particulate fraction of total suspended solids (TSS) could be regarded as a surrogate indicator for particulate heavy metals in build-up and this same fraction of total organic carbon could be regarded as a surrogate indicator for particulate volatile organics build-up. In terms of pollutants affinity, TSS was found to be the predominant parameter for particulate heavy metals build-up and total dissolved solids was found to be the predominant parameter for he potential dissolved particulate fraction in heavy metals build-up. It was also found that land use did not play a significant role in the build-up of traffic generated heavy metals and volatile organics.

International regional planning educational experience : learnings from Malaysia, Korea and Turkey study trips

In an era of rapidly changing economic, social and environmental conditions, urban and regional planning education must be resilient, innovative and able to deal with the complex political and socio-economic fabric of post-modern cities. As a consequence, urban and regional planning education plays a fundamental role in educating and forming planning practitioners that will be able to tackle such complexity. However, not many tertiary education institutions provide a trans-cultural engagement opportunity for students, where the need to internationalise planning education has been widely recognised worldwide. The aim of this paper is to communicate the findings of three overseas study trips (Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia, Daejeon-Korea, Istanbul and Gallipoli-Turkey) that students of Queensland University of Technology are taken to where these study trips trailed the provision of an innovative tertiary education experience of teaching regional planning in an international context. The findings of the pedagogic analyses of the study reveal that the exposure of students to different planning processes and practices give them a new outlook on what they knew from their own country and provide them with useful insights on international planning issues and cultural differences and barriers.

Sustainability and urban settlements: urban metabolism as a framework for achieving sustainable development

Urban settlements, with their role as economic and governance nerve centres, are rapidly expanding in size and in consumption of resources, and consequently have significant impacts on the environment. The transition to an ‘eco-city’ - an urban settlement that adopts the goals and principles in the urban metabolism model - needs to occur to meet the challenges posed by a multitude of pressures including population growth, climate change and resource depletion. Thus, the adoption and integration of ‘sustainable development’ into the management of urban growth is one of the most critical governance issues for urban settlements. A framework in which sustainable development can be achieved is through the lenses of the established theoretical concept of ‘urban metabolism’. The key facet of the proposed ‘Integrated Urban Metabolism Framework’ is the provision of a platform whereby different fields can appreciate, absorb and learn from other areas, to increase the understanding of where each and every one of the pieces fit together in order to create a larger, holistic approach to the currently stagnant problem of unsustainable development.

Comparing: knowledge-based urban development of Vancouver, Melbourne, Manchester and Boston

The research reported in this paper introduces a knowledge-based urban development assessment framework, which is constructed in order to evaluate and assist in the (re)formulation of local and regional policy frameworks and applications necessary in knowledge city transformations. The paper also reports the findings of an application of this framework in a comparative study of Boston, Vancouver, Melbourne and Manchester. The paper with its assessment framework: demonstrates an innovative way of examining the knowledge-based development capacity of cities by scrutinising their economic, socio-cultural, enviro-urban and institutional development mechanisms and capabilities; presents some of the generic indicators used to evaluate knowledge-based development performance of cities; reveals how a city can benchmark its development level against that of other cities, and; provides insights for achieving a more sustainable and knowledge-based development.

On facilitating regional integration and economic development with collaborative technologies in the South Pacific

The current global economic instability and the vulnerability of small island nations are providing the impetus for greater integration between the countries of the South Pacific region. This exercise is critical for their survival in today’s turbulent economic environment. Past efforts of regional integration in the South Pacific have not been very successful. Reasons attributed to this outcome include issues related to damage of sovereignty, and lack of a shared integration infrastructure. Today, the IT resources with collaborative capacities provide the opportunity to develop a shared IT infrastructure to facilitate integration in the South Pacific. In an attempt to develop a model of regional integration with an IT-backed infrastructure, we identify and report on the antecedents of the current stage of regional integration, and the stakeholders’ perceived benefits of an IT resources backed regional integration in the South Pacific. Employing a case study based approach, the study finds that while most stakeholders were positive about the potential of IT-backed regional integration, significant challenges exist that hinder the realisation of this model. The study finds that facilitating IT-backed regional integration requires enabling IT infrastructure, equitable IT development in the region, greater awareness on the potential of the modern IT resources, market liberalisation of the information and telecommunications sector and greater political support for IT initiatives.

Knowledge and the City : Concepts, Applications and Trends of Knowledge-Based Urban Development

This book underlines the growing importance of knowledge for the competitiveness of cities and their regions. Examining the role of knowledge - in its economic, socio-cultural, spatial and institutional forms - for urban and regional development, identifying the preconditions for innovative use of urban and regional knowledge assets and resources, and developing new methods to evaluate the performance and potential of knowledge-based urban and regional development, the book provides an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of both theoretical and practical aspects of knowledge-based development and its implications and prospects for cities and regions.

Beyond Bilbao : rethinking flagship cultural development and planning in three California cities

Since the widely publicized revitalization success story of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, local governments have been scrambling to create their own flagship cultural projects. Because of the broad public sponsorship of such projects, urban planners need a full understanding of the associated potentials and problems. However, little research specifically examines the localized complexities of the flagship cultural strategy. Examining projects in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, the article illustrates that much more than impressive architecture influences their catalytic ability. Flagship cultural projects are highly dependent on a variety of contextual factors and, therefore, should be positioned to build on existing arts and related commercial activity rather than gamble that they will generate new development from scratch.

Analysis and improvement of a construction permit approval process: A teaching case for developing business process development capabilities, targeting developing nations

With the increasing competitiveness in global markets, many developing nations are striving to constantly improve their services in search for the next competitive edge. As a result, the demand and need for Business Process Management (BPM) in these regions is seeing a rapid rise. Yet there exists a lack of professional expertise and knowledge to cater to that need. Therefore, the development of well-structured BPM training/ education programs has become an urgent requirement for these industries. Furthermore, the lack of textbooks or other self-educating material, that go beyond the basics of BPM, further ratifies the need for case based teaching and related cases that enable the next generation of professionals in these countries. Teaching cases create an authentic learning environment where complexities and challenges of the ‘real world’ can be presented in a narrative, enabling students to evolve crucial skills such as problem analysis, problem solving, creativity within constraints as well as the application of appropriate tools (BPMN) and techniques (including best practices and benchmarking) within richer and real scenarios. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive teaching case demonstrating the means to tackle any developing nation’s legacy government process undermined by inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The paper also includes thorough teaching notes The article is presented in three main parts: (i) Introduction - that provides a brief background setting the context of this paper, (ii) The Teaching Case, and (iii) Teaching notes.