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Between The Sea And Giants: The Case on Nature- Based Solutions along the Flemish Coast
Get PDFThe Belgian coastline is 65 kilometres, has 15 coastal towns and, like many of its North-Sea neighbours, experiences the volatile dynamics of sea level rise and raised demand for effective coastal safety measures. Today, we are seeing the consequences of hard and grey infrastructural solutions which solely address the concerns of coastal safety in a majority technical way. Along the Belgian coast, exists an array of sea walls, dikes, and beaches along a traditional sweeping concrete surface delineating the edge between land and sea. Through the perspective of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) this paper will unpack how NBS has been planned and implemented across three of the Belgian coastal towns Bankenberge, Middelkerke and Ostend. These three Flemish pilots are representative for the typical coastal conditions of a dense urban frontage along concrete boulevards, substantiating the edge condition to the sand and sea. The pilots are a showcase of how NBS can acts as a performative buffer, or interface, between the urban edge and the sea, between the sea and giants.
 
Rules, Power and Trust: Interplay between inter-organizational structures and interpersonal relationships in project-based organizations in the construction industry
Get PDFThe aim of this PhD project was to explore the multi-level interplay between the interorganizational structures and interpersonal relations in building project organizations. In the first two studies, quantitative approaches were used to validate assumptions about how interorganizational structures are shaped by actors and how interpersonal relationships affect the effectiveness of project teams in the construction industry. These two studies were integrated in a third qualitative case study that explored the interplay between inter-organizational structures and interpersonal relationships in long-term partnerships. The third study sampled three cases of strategic partnerships which are characterized as longterm, highly integrated and collaborative relationships. To gain theoretical sensitivity in this thirdstudy, a conceptual framework was developed using the concepts from the first two studies. The major finding across the three studies is that the way integration in the supply chain develops is highly dependent on the interaction between project actors. The way actors use the interorganizational rules of a project organization, influences the level of trust and no-blame culture that emerges through interaction. In turn, the level of trust can influence the rules of actors. More specifically, dominant actors seem to able to change the rules of the system. When a dominant actor uses his power position to change the rules of the social system, it can make other actors lose their commitment to the partnership. This research shows that successful long-term and close collaboration between firms continuously requires careful consideration of how the organizational structures are designed and used and their effect on relationships between actors. One should not assume that integrated contracts and integrative practices that have been shown to work in one project, will automatically lead to close and long-lasting relationships between actors in another project
Research on the Formation and Development of the Area Centred on Jiyu Gakuen, focusing on the founders’ Philosophy
Get PDFIn this study, we analyzed the formation and development of the area, focusing on the philosophy of those who created the area as one of the key points that led to the exposure, preservation, and transmission of cultural property values. The target area is centred on Jiyu Gakuen, located in Minamisawa, Higashikurume City, Tokyo. In Ikebukuro, the campus was created by the fusion between the philosophy of the couple of Motoko Hani and Yoshikazu Hani, the founder, and the architecture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Later, the philosophy was embodied through the school\u27s social activities. After moving to Minamisawa, the new school town was built based on Hanis\u27 philosophy. A multilayered community carried out the campus, the surrounding area, and the school town. The philosophy was developed into people who understood Hanis\u27 philosophy. The architecture designed by Arata Endo, who understood Hanis\u27 philosophy, became part of the area’s landscape. After WWII, the region\u27s urbanization transformed the school from an entity with urban elements to one that preserved the original regional landscape. Education and architecture were passed on to the next generation, who understood the philosophy. In recent years, the developed philosophy was clearly stated: cultural heritage and clarification
Lisbon Urban Allotments: A twentieth century cartographic account
Get PDFAccess to food constitutes one of the most basic daily human needs. Throughout history, cities have been shaped in order to accommodate the growth of food, namely in garden allotments. The shape and location of such areas have received differentiated levels of attention by city authorities, guided by specific planning paradigms, while determining different urban form arrangements over time, including those for the production of vegetable farming. This presentation exposes the first attempt of a legend proposal for the existing types of vegetation present in the “Plan of the City” for Lisbon, elaborated between 1948 and 1959. The identification of these vegetation elements is important as it provides an opportunity to better visualize the metabolic condition of the City of Lisbon, at a period of time when deep societal changes affected its urban and territorial arrangements. During the 1950s onwards, Lisbon testified the elaboration of a number of municipal plans, including new neighbourhoods, determining the reorganization of its housing fabric and the consequent vanishing of vegetation areas. The implications of these on the spatiality of the Lisbon food system are yet to be determined and urge for further investigation, namely on historical mapping sources as it is here attempted
Economic order quantity for growing items in the presence of mortality
Get PDFGrowth depicts the behavior of a class of inventories whose weight and size increase during their storage. Although the phenomenon is fundamental in the food industry, it still faces a lack of academic heed. Our research sheds new light on this area by illustrating the inventory system of a rearing farm that breeds fast-growing newborn animals (like broiler chickens) and finally slaughters them. The items are prone to different diseases during their growth which can lead to their death. This is modeled by applying a mortality rate that can be controlled by investing in preventive practices. The slaughtered items (such as chicken meat) that fall into the category of deteriorating inventory are quality controlled and exploited to satisfy demand. An analytic solution approach is developed to derive the optimal order quantity of newborn animals, their growth period, and action level for preventive practices. Experimental results show that choosing a hatchery with the best purchasing cost should be the first priority of the system to manage its costs. It is also depicted that the breeding period is not influenced by all input parameters of the model, and the nature of the items plays a key role in this regard
Curtailing invisibility of health and safety risks
Get PDFRisk control in many areas in society is based on known danger and avoidance of predicted accidents. Between accidents as predicted and accidents as they actually occur, there is a gap however. This gap hides a multitude of relevant safety information which might therefore not be considered in safety management systems, risk inventories and accident scenarios. Hence, it might help to pay attention to the gap of "invisible" phenomena and mechanisms and study the concept of "invisibility". Wondering about the role of invisibility in this respect, the authors explore literature using a scoping review approach, in search of invisibility concepts: ways in which full or partial invisibility exists in a variety of areas relevant to safety. Some 202 of such concepts are found. They can be grouped into 22 frequently found types of invisibility, each capable of hiding relevant safety information. Using a theoretical object-path-observer model, deconstruction of invisibility concepts into their constituting parts, and a proposed systematic combination process, an inventory with many more invisibility concepts can be generated than presently found in literature. This provides a new tool to search for currently hidden safety information and scenarios in the gap. Several examples of newly generated scenarios are discussed. The methodical limitations of this study make the current results indicative only. Both the 22 most frequently found invisibility types and the generation of new object, path and observer property combinations are recommended for use in safety management practice. Further research is recommended to gather more complete data for justification of an invisibility concepts classification
Environmental crisis, sectoral versus integral: The agency of change
Get PDFToday we experience and acknowledge the nexus of ecology, culture and politics as a moving objective, defined by local realities placed within global developments. Large-scale change is no longer a distant probability but an approaching condition, which forces us to accept instability and envision sustainability transitions as the ground of future inhabitation. When looking closer into atmospheric, water (riverine, maritime, deltaic), and land systems and their inherent uncertainties we realize the agency that local sensitivities, culture and planning regimes have in defining the success or failure of sustainable development. This dialogue will question what the real ground of preMarsent and future urbanization is, imagining adaptive and transformative change as material and ecologically sensitive practices to site, context and culture.
This dialogue is the transcription of the round table talk on the International Forum on Urbanism held in Delft on 26 November 2021. Lars Marcus, Chris Zevenbergen and Carola Hein presented their work in the light of the environmental crisis, sectoral versus integral: the agency of change. With moderator Fransje Hooimeijer they elaborated and related their work in a discussion around the main questions of history, the longue durée, disciplinarity and agency of change
Delta Challenges and Nature-based Solutions in Dialogue
Get PDFThe delta areas had been significant for human development.The environmental degradation and the climate change are one of the multiple pressures experienced by urban deltas such as groundwater extractions, land subsidence affecting the provision of ecosystem services that pose extra risk in the livelihoods of the local as well on the global populations living in these areas. Nature-based solutions have proved their potential to counteract some of these pressures. The following talk brings to the fore an interdisciplinary take on the potential, the value as well as the challenges encompassed in designing, planning and governing nature-based solutions for urban deltas. .
This dialogue is the transcription of a series of interviews from the guest editors, Veronica Zagare and Diego Sepulveda with the authors, held during October/November 2022.
Deltas - sustainable transitions - Nature-based solutions - societal challenge
Assessment of maintenance efforts and probabilities of failure at German inland waterways to advance the design of bank revetments
Get PDFRevetments protect waterways or flood defenses against erosion from waves and currents. In Germany a high percentage of about 7235 km of waterways is secured by revetments. Like many stakeholders of various infrastructures, the German Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration increasingly aims for a more economic and ecological design and maintenance strategy. Thus, new methodologies must be introduced that relate the structural condition of the revetment to resulting consequences such as required maintenance. In this paper we investigate the correlation of maintenance and revetment stability. Using the example of German inland waterways, maintenance measures conducted over at least six years are correlated with a deterministic and a probabilistic stability assessment. To account for realistic traffic loads, the stability assessment employs field measurements which provide data on ship-induced waves. It was found that at least a linear correlation between revetment stability and maintenance must be assumed. A comparison between the deterministic and the probabilistic stability assessment and thereby obtained correlations shows that less maintenance is predicted with the deterministic stability assessment. Particularly for small sample sizes and small probabilities of failure, the probabilistic approach should be favored over the deterministic approach to account for various uncertainties. In the case that only maintenance is of relevance for design considerations, the results of the probabilistic approach indicate that β = 1.3 (pf ≈ 10-1) may be a suitable annual target reliability