1,721,010 research outputs found
Analysis of the Systemic Arrangements of the Built Environment in the Rocinha Favela with the Integrated Modification Methodology’s Diagnostic Phase
No full textWith an extremely high level of complexity, urban structures and the built environment are ever-changing entities, in which transformation is a continuous process. Specific patterns of transformation characterize each specific context, and in different urban systems, similar transformation actions generate different reactions and transformation results. Consequently, to plan for any modification on a formal or informal urban system, it is fundamental to learn about that system’s structure. The IMM methodology focuses on the systemic arrangements of the built environment and proposes holistic procedures to understand the nature of the urban systems as entities based on the unique qualities that each context offers. This chapter presents the results of this specific diagnostic process. In the first phase, the built environment system is broken down into its subsystems, and the relationship between those parts is investigated (horizontal investigation). Later, the synergy between them is outlined and the structural attributes emerging from their symbiosis (vertical investigation) are examined. The synthesis of the subsystems results in structural attributes regarded in IMM as Key Categories. Key Categories are morphology-related emergents that shape and host the dynamic processes of the city. This chapter also provides some information on the challenging data gathering processes that PolimipaRarocinha faced to collect the necessary information to better understand the complex and dynamic nature of the favela from a systemic point of view, offering a comprehensive view of the structural attributes and their complex networks and targeting their measurable factors
The Integrated Modification Methodology
No full textAs the environmental ramifications of urban development have become clear, it is fundamental to investigate what practical methods should be implemented to tackle urban growth and environmental issues simultaneously. How should one integrate urbanization and the issue of saving natural resources? How could design strategies contribute to climate change mitigation and the reduction of emissions? Is urban morphology correlated with these issues? And eventually, how can the urban transformation be performed, retrofitted, and monitored in order to achieve a more sustainable result? A strictly sectorial approach could result in neglecting the mutual dependencies of these demands. Conversely, an integrated approach can help to sharpen a better understanding of the different performances of different urban configurations. Although many studies have been carried out on how cities’ forms are structured, scarce efforts have been done for the systemic understanding and evaluation of the urban morphology through quantitative metrics. More research is required in this direction in order to better describe the urban form characteristics and their impact on the performance of cities. The integrated modification methodology (IMM) is a procedure encompassing an open set of scientific techniques for morphologically analysing the built environment in a multiscale manner and evaluating its performance in the actual state or under specific design scenarios. The methodology is structured around a nonlinear phasing process aiming at delivering a systemic understanding of any given urban settlement, formulating the modification set-ups for improving its performance, and examining the modification strategies to transform that system. The basic assumption in IMM is the recognition of the built environment as a complex adaptive system. IMM has been developed by IMMdesignlab, a research laboratory based at Politecnico di Milano at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (DABC)
From Local Modifications in Selected Pilot Areas to System-Wide Improvements: Transformation Strategies and Retrofitting Procedures According to the Integrated Modification Methodology
No full textIn a complex adaptive system (CAS), minor changes can have a big, nonlinear impact on its performance. Based on that, the PolimiparaRocinha project is used to demonstrate how systemic local actions, integrated with the whole, can produce controlled chain reactions to improve performance at a wider scale. In fact, the presented local transformation actions not only change structurally the intervention zones, but also make tangible improvements in the performance of the whole Rocinha favela, seen as a CAS, even in parts that are not directly touched by the project. After explaining how the transformation strategy is defined on the basis of the Diagnostic phase of the IMM, the improvement actions are applied to some selected pilot areas of the favela. The Retrofitting phase is then presented, showing how it is possible, thanks to numeric indicators, to assess the advancement in the quality of life and environmental performances. The proposed modification reveals indeed the hidden links between the structure and performances of the system thanks to the use of a set of appropriate indicators. The local-based strategic plan adopted by the PolimiparaRocinha project, coordinating minimal and systemic modifications to improve the performances of the whole system, can then be replicated to other parts of the Rocinha favela and in other informal contexts, with the final goal of integrating them with the rest of their cities
The Rocinha Favela as a Paradigmatic Case Study of Informal Settlements in Large Cities: Current Situation and Past Slum-Upgrading Programmes
No full textLocated between two of the wealthiest neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro, on a surface of less than 2 km2, the Rocinha favela is considered the largest single slum in Brazil, with an unofficial population between 150,000 and 200,000 inhabitants. Its privileged position, dimension and characteristics, compared to the other circa 1000 favelas of Rio, make Rocinha a paradigmatic case of the socio-economic and environmental contradictions of the Brazilian mega-city, but a significant case study for any slum-upgrading programme. The Brazilian experience with slums upgrading is globally recognized, but it is still fragmented and needs to be improved. An overview of the main slum-upgrading policies and programmes carried out in Rio shows that the lack of appropriate participatory programmes and systemic approaches can hinder successful solutions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Water and Wastewater Management in Informal Settlements: A Case Study
No full textIn the awareness of the need for an integrated and holistic approach, which aims to consider all the different aspects in order to improve the life of the inhabitants of the area, this chapter deals specifically with water and wastewater management, to show more deeply the applied methodology. The chapter shows that this approach has requested, in some cases, to propose solutions that textbooks would not consider theoretically “the best”, but that are more suitable for the actual situation of a slum, like Favela Rocinha, definitively to make the development of those systems more inclusive, resilient and sustainable. Design of both blackwater and stormwater management is carried out, highlighting the reasons for the choices made and considering also, even if briefly, the social aspects of the intervention
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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