Hardware Software Interface: a Strategy for the implementation of Urban Agriculture

This paper describes how urban agriculture differs from conventional agriculture not only in the way it engages with the technologies of growing, but also in the choice of crop and the way these are brought to market. The authors propose a new model for understanding these new relationships, which is analogous to a systems view of information technology, namely Hardware-Software- Interface.
The first component of the system is hardware. This is the technological component of the agricultural system. Technology is often thought of as equipment, but its linguistic roots are in ‘technis’ which means ‘know how’. Urban agriculture has to engage new technologies, ones that deal with the scale of operation and its context which is different than rural agriculture. Often the scale is very small, and soils are polluted. There this technology in agriculture could be technical such as aquaponic systems, or could be soil-based agriculture such as allotments, window-boxes, or permaculture. The choice of method does not necessarily determine the crop produced or its efficiency. This is linked to the biotic that is added to the hardware, which is seen as the ‘software’.
The software of the system are the ecological parts of the system. These produce the crop which may or may not be determined by the technology used. For example, a hydroponic system could produce a range of crops, or even fish or edible flowers. Software choice can be driven by ideological preferences such as permaculture, where companion planting is used to reduce disease and pests, or by economic factors such as the local market at a particular time of the year. The monetary value of the ‘software’ is determined by the market. Obviously small, locally produced crops are unlikely to compete against intensive products produced globally, however the value locally might be measured in different ways, and might be sold on a different market. This leads to the final part of the analogy - interface.
The interface is the link between the system and the consumer. In traditional agriculture, there is a tenuous link between the producer of asparagus in Peru and the consumer in Europe. In fact very little of the money spent by the consumer ever reaches the grower. Most of the money is spent on refrigeration, transport and profit for agents and supermarket chains. Local or hyper-local agriculture needs to bypass or circumvent these systems, and be connected more directly to the consumer. This is the interface. In hyper-localised systems effectiveness is often more important than efficiency, and direct links between producer and consumer create new economies.

Monitoring of urban transportation networks using wireless sensor networks

Dissertação de mestrado, Engenharia Informática, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

The role of urban consolidation centres in sustainable freight transport

The paper reviews the study and use of urban consolidation centres (UCCs) which are a freight transport initiative intended to reduce goods vehicle traffic, vehicle-related greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. An international literature review has identified 114 UCC schemes in 17 countries (12 in the European Union (EU) and 5 outside the EU) that have been the subject of either a feasibility study, trial or a fully operational scheme in the last 40 years. The period from 2006 to 2010 has been the most active 5-year period in terms of UCC study, trial and scheme generation since the first UCC study was carried out in the early 1970s. Five countries account for the majority of all the 114 UCC schemes identified: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. The vast majority of UCCs serve either all or part of an urban area. Examples of UCCs serving a single property (such as an airport or shopping centre) and construction sites have also been identified. Key organizational, operational, and financial issues that are critical to the success of UCCs are discussed. The traffic and environmental impacts of UCC trials and fully operational schemes are also reviewed.

The role of urban consolidation centres in sustainable freight transport

The chapter considers the role that urban consolidation centres (UCCs) can play in helping to reduce goods vehicle traffic and its environmental impacts in urban areas. A UCC is a logistics facility that is situated in relatively close proximity to the area that it serves. Goods destined for this area are dropped off at the UCC, and are sorted and consolidated onto goods vehicles for delivery to their final destinations, often using environmentally friendly vehicles such as electric and gas-powered goods vehicles, and electrically-assisted cycles. The development of UCCs since their first appearance in the 1970s is reviewed and the various types of UCC categorised. The freight transport and logistics advantages offered by UCCs are discussed. Case studies of four recent UCC trials are included. The objectives, operational and financial aspects and impacts of these UCCs are compared and their critical success factors identified.