Search results for "infrastructure"
showing 10 items of 326 documents
Life-Cycle Costing Decision-Making Methodology and Urban Intersection Design: Modelling and Analysis for a Circular City
2021
The importance of being circular reflects one of the key concepts of the life-cycle thinking that promotes the sustainable production of goods and services. If it is true that the analysis of the product life-cycle is fundamental to optimize the use of resources and to plan for the future reduction of adverse effects on urban environment, it is also true that there are still several barriers covering conceptual and practical issues which hinder the building of shared approaches for the economic evaluation of infrastructure projects. The chapter presents a case study where the Life-Cycle Cost methodology is used to compare three alternative intersection projects based on their total life-cyc…
Effect of sodium borohydride and hydrogen peroxide pretreatments on soda pulping of sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
2021
For recovering value-added wood-based organic material prior to delignification, sodium borohydride (NaBH4) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) pretreatments under alkaline conditions were performed before soda pulping of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) chips with sodium hydroxide (NaOH). In this investigation, it was determined whether the pulp yield could be increased by partly stabilizing the hemicelluloses by these pretreatments, and simultaneously obtains lower pulp kappa numbers. The results indicated that when aiming to the same kappa numbers (i.e., kappa numbers 14.3-20.5), roughly 3% higher pulp yield could be achieved if the chips were pretreated with alkaline 0.5% NaBH4 solutions, compared…
Accesibilidad y provisión de servicios de interés general en las áreas rurales de la Unión Europea: un análisis a partir del Eurobarómetro
2014
La finalidad de este trabajo es ofrecer un estado de la cuestión sobre el acceso y provisión de Servicios de Interés General (SeIG) en las áreas rurales de la Unión Europea. Se identifican fuerzas de cambio, oportunidades y dificultades relativas a los SeIG que pueden contribuir a impulsar o ralentizar los procesos de desarrollo rural. Se lleva a cabo una revisión de las principales aproximaciones teóricas y se presentan diversos análisis empíricos a partir de los escasos datos homogéneos disponibles. A partir del conocimiento adquirido se formula un conjunto de reflexiones sobre la función de los SeIG en los procesos de cambio rural en la UE.
“Misura/Relazione. Area Porta Ovest"
2010
The paper describes the different phases of the project experience faced during the INTERNATIONAL PhD SUMMER SCHOOL: STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECTS FOR THE CONTEMPORARY CITY. TALL BUILDINGS AND LANDSCAPE. The construction of the landscape through the composition of the figure; the relationship of the tall building with its context; and, finally, the definition of the elements of the tall building consisting of the plinth, the central body, and the crowning.
Land Information Systems for Development (LIS4D): A Neglected Area within ICT4D Research?
2015
The lack of accurate information about land and land ownership is a major challenge for developing countries. Despite the important role of information systems (IS) in overcoming such weaknesses, the research area of land information systems has been scattered within IS, as well as within the area of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D). Based on a literature review research contributions are synthesized into four main perspectives, namely Development, eGovernment, Geographical information systems (GIS) and Land law, policy, and administration. These perspectives form the basis for the suggested conceptualization of the land information systems for development …
Environmental Features Associated With Older Adults' Physical Activity in Different Types of Urban Neighborhoods.
2020
The authors studied associations of nature- and infrastructure-based features with physical activity (PA) in different urban neighborhood types; 848 community-dwelling people aged 75–90 years reported PA and three perceived nature-based destinations and seven infrastructure-based features as outdoor mobility facilitators. Neighborhood type was defined using a geographic information system based on proximity to central service areas and residential density (city center, subcenter, and dense and dispersed areas outside centers). PA was higher in dense areas and the city center. Binary logistic regression showed that perceiving nature-based destinations increased the odds for higher PA in the …
Sustainable Infrastructure Projects: Systemic versus Traditional Delivery Models
2021
Sustainability involves multiple environmental, technical, social and economic factors, and such complex analysis requires systemic solutions. Delivery models are key to achieving system benefits and enhancing sustainable development in infrastructure investments. They define the phases of a project, incentive structures, risk sharing and the relationships among the actors in it. They are usually developed early in the project and determine the project dynamics and outcomes. We compared traditional delivery models with systemic ones. We identified and illustrated elements that differ between them through two cases. The contribution is an increased understanding of how systemic infrastructur…
Ecosocial Innovations and Their Capacity to Integrate Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability Transition
2019
The article contributes to sustainability transition research by indicating the significance of transformative grassroots innovations in the context of social work research. We introduce the integrative concept of ecosocial innovation in order to demonstrate how grassroots innovations can successfully combine social, ecological and economic aspects of a sustainability transition. By ecosocial innovations, we refer to social innovations with a strong ecological orientation (e.g., recycling workshops, urban gardening, participatory unemployment projects and new local economies). The data consists of 50 examples of ecosocial innovations in Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the UK. We invest…
THE EXPECTED DEMOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES ON THE PROVISION OF EDUCATION SERVICES IN THE NEIGHBOURHOODS OF RIGA
2020
This paper discusses the spatial extent of population change and provides new insights into the relationships between demographic characteristics and the provision of education services in urban neighbourhoods of Riga. Thus, our empirical evidence confirms that the provision of social infrastructure is fundamentally dependent on the nature of demographic processes. The aim of this paper is twofold: to explore the spatial extent of changes in the number of pre-school and school-aged children in Riga, and to assess how the demographic change of particular age cohorts are associated with the provision of educational establishments at the neighbourhood level. Using available statistics and base…
ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FOR PLANNING OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL
2019
Ecosystem services (ES) are defined as the benefits that human beings derive from ecosystem functions. Assessment and mapping of these benefits are crucial for sustainable environmental planning and future natural capital. Green infrastructure (GI) is natural or semi-natural territories that provide wide range of ES. Human affected ecosystems tend to fail to provide certain sets of ES due to the trade-offs among those services, which could be mitigated through implementation of GI. Mapping of ES, as well as assessing the interactions among various ES and analysing their supply potential’s cold/hot spots considerably enhances and substantiates the planning process of GI, particularly at the …