4,927 research outputs found
From massive rapid reconstruction to small-scale stepwise urban renewal: A contribution to socially integrative cities?: Case studies of Wuhan, China
Initially, urban renewal focused mainly on promoting better physical environments, living conditions and economic activities, by upgrading derelict neighbourhoods. But since the 1990s in Europe, the urban renewal approach emphasising the physical, environmental and economic spheres has been replaced by a more comprehensive and integrated approach, which links the stimulation of economic activities and environmental improvements with social integration, inclusion and cultural elements.
The former pathway, marked by massive rapid demolition and reconstruction, is regarded as the dominant urban renewal approach in China. Driven by the unprecedented urbanisation, it has brought enormous economic benefits but at the cost of aggravating social and environmental problems, resulting in unsustainable cities. Therefore, China has entered a new stage by transforming into a more sustainable avenue â the small-scale stepwise urban renewal. Since 2009, the Chinese government has launched experimental actions in many pilot cities to cultivate the new approach. This trend can be noticed in different fields involving policies, movements, institutional settings and academia. Government and scholars expect small-scale urban renewal to simultaneously enhance physical infrastructures, reinforce cultural diversity and foster social cohesion, leading to sustainable and socially integrative cities. However, it can be questioned if the new urban renewal approach genuinely has a better performance in this regard.
Therefore, the guiding research question (RQ) asks: How does urban renewal contribute to socially integrative cities in China? The author first sought insights to build a holistic conceptual framework: urban renewal towards socially integrative cities. It helped understand the urban renewal evolution in China, and the concept of social integration and inclusion both in international and in the Chinese context, especially regarding urban renewal projects. By conducting a literature review, three research gaps were identified: 1) A lack of systematic studies that integrate and summarise fragmented urban renewal approaches and concepts in China; 2) Social integration and inclusion in China have a relatively narrow perspective of âassimilationâ; 3) Systematic and multi-faceted evaluation of experimental urban renewal in China, especially in social aspects, is too inadequate to make suggestions for improving current Chinese urban renewal approaches. To fill these gaps, this dissertation firstly scrutinises the differences between these co-existing two renewal approaches in China, massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal; secondly, it examines to what extent these two approaches have contributed to socially integrative cities, and thirdly, analyses the strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches and the rationales behind them.
The 'socially integrative cities' (SIC) analytical framework, jointly proposed by Chinese and European scholars, is applied to examine the accomplishments in two urban renewal cases. The author defines 26 indicators corresponding to 12 characteristics, grouped into five dimensions: collaborative urban planning and design, urban environment and living conditions, local economy and labour market, socio-cultural development and social capital, institutional development and urban finance.
The methodology comprises descriptive documents analysis and literature research, followed by qualitative comparative case studies. Two typical cases were selected, representing massive rapid reconstruction (Wuhan Tiandi) and small-scale stepwise urban renewal (Tanhualin). Both are traditional inner-city and run-down areas in Wuhan, a frontrunner prefecture-level city in China. During the fieldwork, semi-structured in-depth interviews have been conducted on identified stakeholders. After the fieldwork, a thematic content analysis and a stakeholder analysis were performed to analyse the interview data collected from online databases, documents, and project plans.
Results firstly suggested that the differences between massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal exist in the aspects of the intervention levels, the actors and strategies, the scales of coverage, the planning goals, the renewal targets, the housing types and the sources of funds. An urban renewal project can combine both approaches in a hybrid model or adopt different approaches in different periods.
The assessment of the implementation and impact of both urban renewal cases reveals that massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal have genuinely contributed to socially integrative cities in all five dimensions but to a varying degree. Massive rapid reconstruction has unique advantages in improving living and environmental conditions in urban areas, upgrading the physical environment in distressed areas, and strengthening the economy and labour market on a large regional scale, but it does not respect the social and cultural dimension. In contrast, small-scale stepwise renewal prevails in the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, revitalising cities and older towns, keeping people in the original neighbourhoods, stabilising housing prices and affordability, strengthening the economy and labour market on a small local scale, preserving cultural heritage, fostering the identity of neighbourhoods, as well as fostering social capital and the engagement of local stakeholders. However, it suffers from a comprehensive but limited effectiveness.
The study also shows that many strengths and weaknesses of both urban renewal approaches are antithetical. Based on this finding, the author discovers their rationales behind the two different approaches, investigates the underlying causes that precipitate these antitheses, and proposes possible solutions to the challenges and dilemmas facing current Chinese urban renewal.
Overall, this research concludes fragmented urban renewal approaches and concepts in China, summarised into two paradigms: massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal. Besides, it develops a more comprehensive and analytical framework that adapts to the Chinese context - âsocially integrative citiesâ, to examine urban renewal projects. Finally, it elucidates in-depth empirical knowledge of the urban renewal paradigm shift in China and makes recommendations for government, practitioners and scholars to promote a more socially integrative urban renewal.:CONTENTS
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem overview
1.2 Study design and thesis structure
2 Conceptual framework: urban renewal towards socially integrative cities
2.1 Urban renewal in China
2.1.1 Basic Chinese terms and concepts
2.1.2 Massive rapid demolition and reconstruction
2.1.3 Small-scale stepwise urban renewal
2.1.4 Urban renewal evolution in China: initiating, testing and promotion
2.2 Social integration and inclusion
2.3 Influence of urban renewal on social integration and inclusion - socially integrative cities
2.4 Typical practices of urban renewal in China
2.5 Raised research questions
3 Research design and methodology
3.1 Overall research design
3.2 Framework to examine the accomplishment of socially integrative cities in urban renewal projects
3.3 Comparative case studies
3.3.1 Case study selection
3.3.2 Interview design
3.3.3 Data analysis
4 Exploring the context: Wuhan city and its two cases
4.1 Urban renewal in Wuhan
4.2 Planning documents of Wuhan concerning urban renewal
4.3 Massive rapid reconstruction case: Wuhan Tiandi
4.4 Small-scale stepwise urban renewal case: Tanhualin
5 Differences between massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.1 Classification criteria for urban renewal approaches
5.2 Intervention levels
5.2.1 Redevelopment, rehabilitation, and conservation
5.2.2 Intervention levels in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.3 Actors and strategies
5.3.1 Government-led, property-led, comprehensive model, and community-oriented mode
5.3.2 Actors and strategies in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.3.3 Sources of funds in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.4 Scales of coverage
5.4.1 Macro-level, medium-level, micro-level
5.4.2 Scales of coverage in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.5 Planning goals
5.5.1 Physical, social, economic, and morphological integrated
5.5.2 Planning goals in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.6 Renewal targets
5.6.1 Old city, old factory, old village
5.6.2 Renewal targets in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.7 Summary
6 Contributions to socially integrative cities by massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
6.1 Collaborative urban planning and design
6.1.1 Reducing urban sprawl and appropriate access to urban land
6.1.2 Involving different stakeholders in collaborative and participative planning and design on the different politico-administrative levels
6.1.3 Reflections
6.2 Urban environment and living conditions
6.2.1 Improving urban environment and living conditions in Wuhan Tiandi
6.2.2 Improving the urban environment and living conditions in Tanhualin
6.2.3 Reflections
6.3 Local economy and labour market
6.3.1 Strengthening the local economy and labour market
6.3.2 Strengthening technical and social innovation in cities and neighbourhoods opening up new possibilities for the local population
6.3.3 Reflections
6.4 Socio-cultural development and social capital
6.4.1 Fostering proactive education and training policies for children and young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods
6.4.2 Preserving cultural heritage and fostering the identity of neighbourhoods and their inhabitants
6.4.3 Fostering social capital and engagement of local stakeholders
6.4.4 Reflections
6.5 Institutional development and urban finance
6.5.1 Supporting adequate institutional conditions and mechanisms
6.5.2 Supporting adequate financial conditions and mechanisms
6.5.3 Reflections
6.6 Summary
7 Strengths and weaknesses of massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise renewal and their rationales
7.1 Collaborative urban planning and design
7.1.1 Rental-sales rights inequality
7.1.2 Paternalistic Danwei system
7.1.3 Lack of channels for public participation
7.1.4 Lack of vertical and horizontal integration between government sectors
7.1.5 Lack of clear collective goals
7.2 Urban environment and living conditions
7.2.1 Housing prices and affordability
7.2.2 Low-rent housing programmes and two innovations
7.2.3 Monetisation strategy
7.2.4 Efficiency versus quality
7.3 Socio-cultural development and social capital
7.3.1 Cultural heritage protection
7.3.2 Aesthetic concept cultivation
7.3.3 Open community versus gated community
7.3.4 Understandings of social integration and inclusion
7.4 Institutional development and urban finance
7.4.1 Establishment of urban renewal bureau
7.4.2 Transition from management-oriented government to service-oriented government
7.4.3 Human-centred, people-oriented design
7.5 Summary
8 Conclusion
References
Annexes
Annex 1: Interview guidelines
Annex 2: Dates of interviews
Annex 3: Collected data
Annex 4: Example of consent formUrsprĂŒnglich zielte Stadterneuerung in erster Linie darauf ab, Infrastruktur, Lebensbedingungen und wirtschaftliche Gegebenheiten durch die Aufwertung baufĂ€lliger Stadtviertel zu verbessern. Seit den 1990er Jahren jedoch wurde in Europa der Ansatz der hauptsĂ€chlich materielle, ökologische und ökonomische Aspekte betonenden Stadterneuerung durch eine ganzheitlichere Herangehensweise abgelöst. Diese verbindet die Stimulation ökonomischer AktivitĂ€ten und ökologischer Verbesserungen mit sozialer Integration und Teilhabe der Bewohner sowie RĂŒcksichtnahme auf kulturelle Gegebenheiten (Dixon et al., 2009, p. 3).
Ersterer Ansatz, gekennzeichnet durch groĂflĂ€chigen und schnellen Abriss und Neubau stĂ€dtischer Areale, wird meist als die in China ĂŒbliche Vorgehensweise bei Stadterneuerungen angesehen. Getrieben von einem Prozess beispielloser Urbanisierung, ging sie einen enormen wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung einher. Dieser brachte allerdings gravierende soziale und ökologische Problemen mit sich, welche zu einer nicht-nachhaltigen Stadtentwicklung fĂŒhrten. Deshalb beschreitet China zunehmend einen nachhaltigeren Weg: die schrittweise Stadterneuerung in jeweils kleinerem Umfang. Seit 2009 initiierte die chinesische Regierung verschiedene experimentelle Pilotprojekte fĂŒr den neuen Ansatz. Dieser Trend macht sich in verschiedenen Bereichen wie Planungs- und Baustrategien, institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen und der Wissenschaft bemerkbar. Sowohl chinesische Regierungsinstitutionen als auch zahlreiche Wissenschaftler gehen davon aus, dass eine kleinteiligere Stadterneuerung nicht nur die physische Infrastruktur verbessert, sondern auch das GefĂŒhl der IdentitĂ€t, die kulturelle Entwicklung und den sozialen Zusammenhalt unter den Bewohnern verstĂ€rkt. Damit geht allerdings die Frage einher, ob der neue Ansatz der Stadterneuerung tatsĂ€chlich per se besser zur Verwirklichung dieser Absichten beitrĂ€gt.
Die zentrale Forschungsfrage lautet daher: Auf welche Weise trĂ€gt Stadterneuerung zur sozialen IntegrativitĂ€t chinesischer StĂ€dte bei? ZunĂ€chst entwickelte die Autorin den konzeptionellen Rahmen: Stadterneuerung im Sinne sozial-integrativer Stadtentwicklung. Dieser hilft beim VerstĂ€ndnis chinesischer Stadterneuerung und der Einsicht in den stĂ€dtebaulichen Bezug von Konzepten sozialer Integration und Inklusion sowohl international als auch spezifisch in China. Bei der Recherche in Dokumenten und Fachliteratur zeigten sich weiterhin folgende drei ForschungslĂŒcken: 1) Ein Mangel an systematischen Untersuchungen, die die einzelnen Herangehensweisen und Konzepte der Stadterneuerung in China integrieren und zusammenfassen; 2) AnsĂ€tze der sozialen Integration und Teilhabe folgen in China einem relativ engen VerstĂ€ndnis von âAssimilierungâ; 3) Der gegenwĂ€rtige Bestand systematischer Analyse und Bewertung experimenteller Stadterneuerungsprojekte ist hinsichtlich sozialer Aspekte unzureichend fĂŒr eine Verbesserung aktueller AnsĂ€tze der Stadterneuerung in China. Um diese ForschungslĂŒcken zu fĂŒllen, sollen in der vorliegenden Dissertation zum Ersten die Unterschiede zwischen den beiden in China angewendeten Vorgehensweisen der Stadterneuerung â groĂflĂ€chiger und scheller gegenĂŒber kleinteiligem und schrittweisem Stadtumbau â erforscht werden; zum Zweiten soll untersucht werden, inwiefern beide AnsĂ€tze zur sozial integrierten Stadtentwicklung beitragen, und zum Dritten soll eine generelle Analyse der StĂ€rken und SchwĂ€chen beider AnsĂ€tze und ihrer inneren Logik erfolgen.
Zur Untersuchung zweier FĂ€lle von Stadterneuerung bezĂŒglich des Ziels einer sozial-integrativen Stadtentwicklung kommt der Analyserahmen âSocially Integrative Citiesâ (SIC), der gemeinsam von chinesischen und europĂ€ischen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern vorgeschlagen wurde, zum Einsatz. Die Autorin definierte 26 Indikatoren aufbauend auf 12 Charakteristika aus vorausgegangenen Forschungen, die fĂŒnf thematischen Dimensionen zugeordnet wurden: kollaborative Stadtplanung und Stadtgestaltung, urbane Umwelt- und Lebensbedingungen, wirtschaftliche Situation und Arbeitsmarkt vor Ort, soziokulturelle Entwicklung und soziales Kapital und schlussendlich institutionelle Entwicklung und stĂ€dtisches Finanzwesen.
Das methodische Vorgehen vereint beschreibende Analyse von Dokumenten und Literaturrecherche, gefolgt von qualitativen vergleichenden Fallstudien. FĂŒr die Untersuchung wurden zwei typische FĂ€lle von Stadterneuerungsprojekten ausgewĂ€hlt, die einerseits eine groĂflĂ€chige und schnelle (Wuhan Tiandi) und andererseits eine kleinteilige und schrittweise (Wuhan Tanhualin) Vorgehensweise reprĂ€sentieren. In beiden FĂ€llen handelt es sich um traditionelle innerstĂ€dtische, jedoch baufĂ€llige Viertel in Wuhan, einer aufstrebenden chinesischen Bezirkshauptstadt. Im Laufe der Feldforschung wurden unter anderem semistrukturierte vertiefende Interviews mit Vertretern von Einrichtungen gefĂŒhrt, die vorher als Stakeholder identifiziert wurden. FĂŒr die Auswertung des Interviewmaterials schloss sich wĂ€hrend und nach der Feldforschung die inhaltliche Analyse und die Stakeholderanalyse an. Weitere Daten hierfĂŒr wurden von Online-Datenplattformen, Dokumenten und Projektplanungen generiert.
ZunĂ€chst einmal legen die Resultate nahe, dass die Unterschiede zwischen groĂflĂ€chiger, schneller und kleinteiliger, schrittweiser Stadterneuerung hauptsĂ€chlich bei den Aspekten Interventionsebene, Akteure und ihre Strategien, GröĂe der BauflĂ€che, Planungs- und Erneuerungsziel, GebĂ€udetypen und Finanzierung liegen. Dabei besteht die Möglichkeit, dass Projekte der Stadterneuerung beide Vorgehensweisen in einem hybriden Modell kombinieren oder verschiedene AnsĂ€tze in unterschiedlichen Abschnitten zur Anwendung bringen.
Die Auswertung der Umsetzung und Folgen der beiden Stadterneuerungsprojekte offenbarte, dass sowohl die groĂflĂ€chige und schnelle als auch die kleinteilige, schrittweise Stadterneuerung in unterschiedlichem AusmaĂ einen spezifischen Einfluss auf allen fĂŒnf o.g. Dimensionen des Konzepts der sozial-integrativen Stadt haben. GroĂflĂ€chige und schnelle Stadterneuerung bietet unbestreitbare Vorteile fĂŒr die Verbesserung der Lebens- und Umweltbedingungen, bei der baulichen Aufwertung in baufĂ€lligen Stadtbereichen sowie fĂŒr die StĂ€rkung der regionalen WirtschaftstĂ€tigkeit und des ĂŒberregionalen Arbeitsmarktes. Allerdings nimmt sie wenig RĂŒcksicht auf soziale und kulturelle Aspekte. Im Gegensatz dazu zeichnet sich eine kleinteilige, schrittweise Stadterneuerung durch flexible Umnutzung existierender GebĂ€ude, eine Wiederbelebung von Stadtkernen und AltstĂ€dten und stabileren und erschwinglicheren Immobilienpreisen aus. Menschen können in ihrem angestammten Viertel bleiben, die Lokalwirtschaft und der Arbeitsmarkt vor Ort werden gestĂ€rkt, baukulturelles Erbe bewahrt und sowohl das IdentitĂ€tsgefĂŒhl der Quartiersbewohner mit ihrer Umgebung als auch Sozialkapital und Engagement lokaler Stakeholder gestĂ€rkt. Gleichwohl leiden diese zwar umfassenden AnsĂ€tze unter einer begrenzten EffektivitĂ€t.
DarĂŒber hinaus wurde in der Studie deutlich, dass die Vorteile des einen Ansatzes in vielen FĂ€lle die Nachteile des anderen spiegeln und umgekehrt. Darauf aufbauend beschrieb die Autorin die zu Grunde liegende Logik beider Wege, untersuchte die Ursachen, die zu deren WidersprĂŒchen fĂŒhren und bietet mögliche Lösungswege fĂŒr die Herausforderungen und Dilemmata an, denen gegenwĂ€rtige chinesische Stadterneuerungsprojekte gegenĂŒberstehen.
Diese Forschungsarbeit fasst verschiedene bislang fragmentarische AnsĂ€tze und Konzepte der Stadterneuerung in China zu zwei Paradigmen zusammen: Dem des groĂflĂ€chigen, schnellen Stadtumbaus und jenem der kleinteiligen, schrittweisen Erneuerung. Daneben wurde ein breiter gefasster und an den Kontext der chinesischen âsozial-integrativen Stadtâ angepasster Analyserahmen fĂŒr Stadterneuerungsprojekte entwickelt. Schlussendlich erlĂ€utert die vorliegende Forschungsarbeit ausfĂŒhrlich empirische Erkenntnisse im Zusammenhang mit dem stĂ€dtebaulichen Paradigmenwechsel, der sich in China vollzieht, und gibt Empfehlungen fĂŒr entsprechende Regierungsinstitutionen, Fachleute und Wissenschaftler zur Förderung einer sozialâintegrativen Stadtentwicklung.:CONTENTS
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem overview
1.2 Study design and thesis structure
2 Conceptual framework: urban renewal towards socially integrative cities
2.1 Urban renewal in China
2.1.1 Basic Chinese terms and concepts
2.1.2 Massive rapid demolition and reconstruction
2.1.3 Small-scale stepwise urban renewal
2.1.4 Urban renewal evolution in China: initiating, testing and promotion
2.2 Social integration and inclusion
2.3 Influence of urban renewal on social integration and inclusion - socially integrative cities
2.4 Typical practices of urban renewal in China
2.5 Raised research questions
3 Research design and methodology
3.1 Overall research design
3.2 Framework to examine the accomplishment of socially integrative cities in urban renewal projects
3.3 Comparative case studies
3.3.1 Case study selection
3.3.2 Interview design
3.3.3 Data analysis
4 Exploring the context: Wuhan city and its two cases
4.1 Urban renewal in Wuhan
4.2 Planning documents of Wuhan concerning urban renewal
4.3 Massive rapid reconstruction case: Wuhan Tiandi
4.4 Small-scale stepwise urban renewal case: Tanhualin
5 Differences between massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.1 Classification criteria for urban renewal approaches
5.2 Intervention levels
5.2.1 Redevelopment, rehabilitation, and conservation
5.2.2 Intervention levels in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.3 Actors and strategies
5.3.1 Government-led, property-led, comprehensive model, and community-oriented mode
5.3.2 Actors and strategies in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.3.3 Sources of funds in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.4 Scales of coverage
5.4.1 Macro-level, medium-level, micro-level
5.4.2 Scales of coverage in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.5 Planning goals
5.5.1 Physical, social, economic, and morphological integrated
5.5.2 Planning goals in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.6 Renewal targets
5.6.1 Old city, old factory, old village
5.6.2 Renewal targets in massive rapid reconstruction and small-scale stepwise urban renewal
5.7 Summary
6 Contributions to socially integrative cities by
Endogenous measures for contextualising large-scale social phenomena: a corpus-based method for mediated public discourse
This work presents an interdisciplinary methodology for developing endogenous measures of group membership through analysis of pervasive linguistic patterns in public discourse. Focusing on political discourse, this work critiques the conventional approach to the study of political participation, which is premised on decontextualised, exogenous measures to characterise groups. Considering the theoretical and empirical weaknesses of decontextualised approaches to large-scale social phenomena, this work suggests that contextualisation using endogenous measures might provide a complementary perspective to mitigate such weaknesses.
This work develops a sociomaterial perspective on political participation in mediated discourse as affiliatory action performed through language. While the affiliatory function of language is often performed consciously (such as statements of identity), this work is concerned with unconscious features (such as patterns in lexis and grammar). This work argues that pervasive patterns in such features that emerge through socialisation are resistant to change and manipulation, and thus might serve as endogenous measures of sociopolitical contexts, and thus of groups.
In terms of method, the work takes a corpus-based approach to the analysis of data from the Twitter messaging service whereby patterns in usersâ speech are examined statistically in order to trace potential community membership. The method is applied in the US state of Michigan during the second half of 2018â6 November having been the date of midterm (i.e. non-Presidential) elections in the United States. The corpus is assembled from the original posts of 5,889 users, who are nominally geolocalised to 417 municipalities. These users are clustered according to pervasive language features. Comparing the linguistic clusters according to the municipalities they represent finds that there are regular sociodemographic differentials across clusters. This is understood as an indication of social structure, suggesting that endogenous measures derived from pervasive patterns in language may indeed offer a complementary, contextualised perspective on large-scale social phenomena
2023-2024 Boise State University Undergraduate Catalog
This catalog is primarily for and directed at students. However, it serves many audiences, such as high school counselors, academic advisors, and the public. In this catalog you will find an overview of Boise State University and information on admission, registration, grades, tuition and fees, financial aid, housing, student services, and other important policies and procedures. However, most of this catalog is devoted to describing the various programs and courses offered at Boise State
Elements of Ion Linear Accelerators, Calm in The Resonances, Other_Tales
The main part of this book, Elements of Linear Accelerators, outlines in Part
1 a framework for non-relativistic linear accelerator focusing and accelerating
channel design, simulation, optimization and analysis where space charge is an
important factor. Part 1 is the most important part of the book; grasping the
framework is essential to fully understand and appreciate the elements within
it, and the myriad application details of the following Parts. The treatment
concentrates on all linacs, large or small, intended for high-intensity, very
low beam loss, factory-type application. The Radio-Frequency-Quadrupole (RFQ)
is especially developed as a representative and the most complicated linac form
(from dc to bunched and accelerated beam), extending to practical design of
long, high energy linacs, including space charge resonances and beam halo
formation, and some challenges for future work. Also a practical method is
presented for designing Alternating-Phase- Focused (APF) linacs with long
sequences and high energy gain. Full open-source software is available. The
following part, Calm in the Resonances and Other Tales, contains eyewitness
accounts of nearly 60 years of participation in accelerator technology.
(September 2023) The LINACS codes are released at no cost and, as always,with
fully open-source coding. (p.2 & Ch 19.10)Comment: 652 pages. Some hundreds of figures - all images, there is no data in
the figures. (September 2023) The LINACS codes are released at no cost and,
as always,with fully open-source coding. (p.2 & Ch 19.10
A Review of Deep Learning Techniques for Speech Processing
The field of speech processing has undergone a transformative shift with the
advent of deep learning. The use of multiple processing layers has enabled the
creation of models capable of extracting intricate features from speech data.
This development has paved the way for unparalleled advancements in speech
recognition, text-to-speech synthesis, automatic speech recognition, and
emotion recognition, propelling the performance of these tasks to unprecedented
heights. The power of deep learning techniques has opened up new avenues for
research and innovation in the field of speech processing, with far-reaching
implications for a range of industries and applications. This review paper
provides a comprehensive overview of the key deep learning models and their
applications in speech-processing tasks. We begin by tracing the evolution of
speech processing research, from early approaches, such as MFCC and HMM, to
more recent advances in deep learning architectures, such as CNNs, RNNs,
transformers, conformers, and diffusion models. We categorize the approaches
and compare their strengths and weaknesses for solving speech-processing tasks.
Furthermore, we extensively cover various speech-processing tasks, datasets,
and benchmarks used in the literature and describe how different deep-learning
networks have been utilized to tackle these tasks. Additionally, we discuss the
challenges and future directions of deep learning in speech processing,
including the need for more parameter-efficient, interpretable models and the
potential of deep learning for multimodal speech processing. By examining the
field's evolution, comparing and contrasting different approaches, and
highlighting future directions and challenges, we hope to inspire further
research in this exciting and rapidly advancing field
Leveraging EEG-based speech imagery brain-computer interfaces
Speech Imagery Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) provide an intuitive and flexible way of interaction via brain activity recorded during imagined speech. Imagined speech can be decoded in form of syllables or words and captured even with non-invasive measurement methods as for example the Electroencephalography (EEG). Over the last decade, research in this field has made tremendous progress and prototypical implementations of EEG-based Speech Imagery BCIs are numerous. However, most work is still conducted in controlled laboratory environments with offline classification and does not find its way to real online scenarios. Within this thesis we identify three main reasons for these circumstances, namely, the mentally and physically exhausting training procedures, insufficient classification accuracies and cumbersome EEG setups with usually high-resolution headsets. We furthermore elaborate on possible solutions to overcome the aforementioned problems and present and evaluate new methods in each of the domains. In detail we introduce two new training concepts for imagined speech BCIs, one based on EEG activity during silently reading and the other recorded during overtly speaking certain words. Insufficient classification accuracies are addressed by introducing the concept of a Semantic Speech Imagery BCI, which classifies the semantic category of an imagined word prior to the word itself to increase the performance of the system. Finally, we investigate on different techniques for electrode reduction in Speech Imagery BCIs and aim at finding a suitable subset of electrodes for EEG-based imagined speech detection, therefore facilitating the cumbersome setups. All of our presented results together with general remarks on experiences and best practice for study setups concerning imagined speech are summarized and supposed to act as guidelines for further research in the field, thereby leveraging Speech Imagery BCIs towards real-world application.Speech Imagery Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) bieten eine intuitive und flexible Möglichkeit der Interaktion mittels GehirnaktivitĂ€t, aufgezeichnet wĂ€hrend der bloĂen Vorstellung von Sprache. Vorgestellte Sprache kann in Form von Silben oder Wörtern auch mit nicht-invasiven Messmethoden wie der Elektroenzephalographie (EEG) gemessen und entschlĂŒsselt werden. In den letzten zehn Jahren hat die Forschung auf diesem Gebiet enorme Fortschritte gemacht, und es gibt zahlreiche prototypische Implementierungen von EEG-basierten Speech Imagery BCIs. Die meisten Arbeiten werden jedoch immer noch in kontrollierten Laborumgebungen mit Offline-Klassifizierung durchgefĂŒhrt und finden nicht denWeg in reale Online-Szenarien. In dieser Arbeit identifizieren wir drei HauptgrĂŒnde fĂŒr diesen Umstand, nĂ€mlich die geistig und körperlich anstrengenden Trainingsverfahren, unzureichende Klassifizierungsgenauigkeiten und umstĂ€ndliche EEG-Setups mit meist hochauflösenden Headsets. DarĂŒber hinaus erarbeiten wir mögliche Lösungen zur Ăberwindung der oben genannten Probleme und prĂ€sentieren und evaluieren neue Methoden fĂŒr jeden dieser Bereiche. Im Einzelnen stellen wir zwei neue Trainingskonzepte fĂŒr Speech Imagery BCIs vor, von denen eines auf der Messung von EEG-AktivitĂ€t wĂ€hrend des stillen Lesens und das andere auf der AktivitĂ€t wĂ€hrend des Aussprechens bestimmter Wörter basiert. Unzureichende Klassifizierungsgenauigkeiten werden durch die EinfĂŒhrung des Konzepts eines Semantic Speech Imagery BCI angegangen, das die semantische Kategorie eines vorgestellten Wortes vor dem Wort selbst klassifiziert, um die Performance des Systems zu erhöhen. SchlieĂlich untersuchen wir verschiedene Techniken zur Elektrodenreduktion bei Speech Imagery BCIs und zielen darauf ab, eine geeignete Teilmenge von Elektroden fĂŒr die EEG-basierte Erkennung von vorgestellter Sprache zu finden, um so die umstĂ€ndlichen Setups zu erleichtern. Alle unsere Ergebnisse werden zusammen mit allgemeinen Bemerkungen zu Erfahrungen und Best Practices fĂŒr Studien-Setups bezĂŒglich vorgestellter Sprache zusammengefasst und sollen als Richtlinien fĂŒr die weitere Forschung auf diesem Gebiet dienen, um so Speech Imagery BCIs fĂŒr die Anwendung in der realenWelt zu optimieren
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