1,721,016 research outputs found
Per un'analisi lessicometrica della rivista Urbanistica
No full textThe main aim of this contribution is to explore the evolution of the urban planning discipline from the post-war period to present, drawing on the privileged viewpoint of the journal of the National Urbanistic Institute, titled Urbanistica. For more than 70 years, with particular reference to Italy, the journal has been collecting the most interesting design and research experiences, as well as the most significant reflections on the role of urban planning. The study employs lexicometric analytical techniques (quantitative analyses for extraction of relevant statistical information from the normalised sample of texts, in particular: lexical extension, rank, frequency classes, etc.), applied here to the total occurrences and relations of the words in the 2,934 titles of the articles published in Urbanistica from 1949 to 2021. The contribution is organised into two sections, the first proposing an articulation of the articles published in Urbanistica in four time intervals, defined in relation to the editorial history of the journal and the evolution of the cultural and technical-scientific debate in Italy. The second section presents and discusses the results obtained from the lexicometric analyses on the titles of all the articles published between 1949 and 2021, with respect to rank and frequency classes. Among others, two of the most interesting results of the review are: - the development of the themes and insights collected by the journal, serving as a faithful mirror of the evolution of the discipline; - the aspects and interdisciplinary contents that most influenced Italian urban planning discipline (and not only) over the past 70 years
A discrete-to-continuum approach to the curvatures of membrane networks and parametric surfaces
No full textThe present work deals with a scale bridging approach to the curvatures of discrete models of structural membranes, to be employed for an effective characterization of the bending energy of flexible membranes, and the optimal design of parametric surfaces and vaulted structures. We fit a smooth surface model to the data set associated with the vertices of a patch of an unstructured polyhedral surface. Next, we project the fitting function over a structured lattice, obtaining a 'regularized' polyhedral surface. The latter is employed to define suitable discrete notions of the mean and Gaussian curvatures. A numerical convergence study shows that such curvature measures exhibit strong convergence in the continuum limit, when the fitting model consists of polynomials of sufficiently high degree. Comparisons between the present method and alternative approaches available in the literature are given. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Urban Form and Sustainability: the Case Study of Rome
Full text linkThis paper investigates the relation between sustainability and urban form. To this aim a system of Land-Use and Transport
Interactions (LUTI) models has been designed and applied to the metropolitan area of Rome, to understand the interdependence
of key variables such as travel behavior, transport supply, property values, jobs and residential location. The models represent the
behavior of both dwellers and transport users and how they react to changing conditions. A system of assessment indicators has
been defined to systematically test and compare alternative scenarios of urban form and to evaluate to what extent different
locations and density distributions of activities achieve sustainability in terms of transport performances, social and
environmental impacts
URBAN FORM AND SUSTAINABILITY: MODELLING EVIDENCES FROM THE EMPIRICAL CASE STUDY OF ROME
No full textThis paper investigates the relation between sustainability and urban spatial forms (i.e. compact, sprawl, TOD). To this aim a scenario analysis tool, based on a system of Land-Use and Transport Interactions (LUTI) models has been designed and applied to the urban area of Rome, to understand the interdependence of key variables such as travel behaviour, transport supply, property values, jobs and residents choice location. A system of assessment indicators has furthermore been defined to systematically test and compare alternative scenarios of urban forms and to evaluate to what extent different locations and density distribution of activities achieve economic, environmental and social goals. Preliminary results show that at the city level different urban development forms have found to differ in their sustainability, and in particular the compact development appears to better performs in comparison to others forms of spatial development
The learning process of accessibility instrument developers: Testing the tools in planning practice
No full textMany planning support tools have recently been developed aimed at measuring and modelling accessibility (Accessibility Instrument or AI). The main difficulty for tool developers is designing an AI that is at the same time technically rigorous and usable in practice. Measuring accessibility is indeed a complex task, and AI outputs are difficult to communicate to target end-users, in particular, because these users are professionals from several disciplines with different languages and areas of expertise, such as urban geographers, spatial planners, transport planners, and budgeting professionals. In addition to this, AI developers seem to have little awareness of the needs of AI end-users, which in turn tend to have limited ability for using these tools. Against this complex background, our research focuses on the viewpoint of AI developers, with two aims: (1) to provide insights into how AI developers perceive their tools and (2) to understand how their perceptions might change after testing their AI with end-users. With this in mind, an analysis of 15 case studies was performed: groups of end-users tested different AI in structured workshops. Before and after the workshops, two questionnaires explored the AI developers’ perceptions on the tools and their usability. The paper demonstrates that the workshops with end-users were critical for developers to appreciate the importance of specific characteristics the tool should have, namely practical relevance, flexibility, and ease of use. The study provides evidence that AI developers were prone to change their perceptions about AI after interacting directly with end-users
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Sequential Multi-Disciplinary Optimization for the Conceptual Design of a Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft
No full textComputational modeling of the dynamics of active sunscreens with tensegrity architecture
No full textRecent studies have investigated the use of tensegrity structures for the construction of active solar façades of Energy Efficient Buildings. In this paper we simulate the dynamics of shading screens with tensegrity architecture through an in-house developed code that handles rigidity constraints on the deformation of the bars. We present numerical results illustrating the dynamic response of a tensegrity solar façade and its morphing capabilities, which require minimal storage of internal energy
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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