407 research outputs found

    A risk management model for commercial property development and investment in Ghana

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    Commercial property development and investment provide many benefits to individuals and governments around the globe; these include the generation of income for investors, employment, tax revenues, and contributions to a country‘s GDP. Yet commercial property development and investment projects involve construction, economic and management risks. A lack of effective risk assessment and management tools may lead to developers and investors incurring losses. To curtail such losses, this study sought to create a credible management model that can be used to assess and manage risks in Ghana‘s commercial property development and investment industry. An extensive literature review was done, covering all 12 identified study constructs: real estate trends and cycle, construction project management, outside advice/mentorship, spatial development, strategic factors, business management skills, PMBOK, PESTEL analysis, general management skills, governance structures, financial feasibility, professional feasibility, and risk management. Each construct was defined and operationalised. A positivistic philosophical approach was used, and quantitative approach was used to solicit data from the main respondents through the distribution of questionnaires to the target population sample. CB-SEM and SPSS version 24 were used to analyse data, SEM to test the positive relationships hypothesised between the identified variables and SPSS to analyse the demographic data. The major findings are that there is a lack of financial and professional feasibility analysis among respondents along the following factors: the PMBOK, real estate trends and cycles, general management, business management, strategic factors, spatial development, and PESTEL analysis. It was found that these factors have positive and favourable influences on CPDI projects. The study recommends that developers and investors do financial and professional feasibility studies before they embark on projects. This could improve project viability in commercial property development and investment. The study has contributed to the body of knowledge in CPDI sector by developing a new risk assessment/risk management model.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering Built Environment and Technology, School of the built Environment, 202

    Modeling and Simulation in Engineering

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    The Special Issue Modeling and Simulation in Engineering, belonging to the section Engineering Mathematics of the Journal Mathematics, publishes original research papers dealing with advanced simulation and modeling techniques. The present book, “Modeling and Simulation in Engineering I, 2022”, contains 14 papers accepted after peer review by recognized specialists in the field. The papers address different topics occurring in engineering, such as ferrofluid transport in magnetic fields, non-fractal signal analysis, fractional derivatives, applications of swarm algorithms and evolutionary algorithms (genetic algorithms), inverse methods for inverse problems, numerical analysis of heat and mass transfer, numerical solutions for fractional differential equations, Kriging modelling, theory of the modelling methodology, and artificial neural networks for fault diagnosis in electric circuits. It is hoped that the papers selected for this issue will attract a significant audience in the scientific community and will further stimulate research involving modelling and simulation in mathematical physics and in engineering

    A multi-criteria methodology for the integration of Risk Assessment into Spatial Planning as a basis for territorial resilience. The case of Seismic Risk

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    Rapid urban development and continuous demands for space have increased the pressure on the territory. The need for this “usable” space, no matter the purpose, leads to an excess of capacities of existing areas and the creation of new areas, both significantly increasing the level of exposure to natural disasters. Statistics show that within a period of almost two decades from 1994 to 2013, 218 million people were affected by natural disasters annually (CRED, 2015). In the situation where the demand for growth is accompanied by an increasing potentiality of damages in economic, social, environmental or cultural terms, disaster risk management (DRM) is having an important focus in terms of research. The way communities and urban systems react to a natural distress is tightly related to the economic and technological development as well as data availability. Developed countries have the capacities to consider mitigation strategies in pre-event situations, which is not always feasible for developing and poor countries. Also, as emphasized by (Gaillard & Mercer, 2012), the issue is related to the fact that disasters affect those who are marginalized and have partial or no access to resources and means of protection. Such paradigm imposes the need to develop preventive strategies focusing on the community, which is directly affected by aftermath of these natural events. The analysis of natural disasters and their impact on the society and the built environment is complex and requires an integration of multi-disciplinary information from social to exact sciences. The main issue that hinders the entire process is mainly related to the effectiveness of transmitting such an information between different stakeholders such as experts, responsible local and national authorities and the community itself. This process is even more difficult in the conditions where there is a lack of information, appropriate tools and also the lack of risk perception by the community, especially in the cases of disasters having a relatively large return period such as earthquakes. The purpose of this research is the analysis of a possible way to integrate disaster risk information within planning instruments aiming towards an inclusive disaster risk reduction (DRR) process through the proposal of a risk assessment methodology at a local scale for the case of seismic events. The analysis is carried out through the proposal of a hierarchic system containing several parameters that characterize firstly the hazard itself and secondly, the built environment in terms of exposure and vulnerability by a combination of a multi-scale information (building and local scale). The selection of relevant parameters, their value, the relationship to one another and their contribution will be given based on a thorough literature research, site visits, questionnaires and experts opinions. The results will be given in the form of a visual spatial information using mapping processes. The main objective is that the proposed methodology will serve as a preliminary tool for several decision-making processes in terms of strategic risk reduction measures, policies, prioritization, fund allocation etc. The methodology is also aimed to serve as an important node that connects the community, the experts and responsible authorities with one another towards an inclusive disaster risk reduction approach.Il rapido sviluppo urbano e le continue richieste di spazio hanno aumentato la pressione sul territorio. La necessità per questo spazio “utilizzabile”, indipendentemente dallo scopo, porta ad un eccesso di capacità delle aree esistenti e alla creazione di nuove aree, in entrambi casi aumentando notevolmente il livello di esposizione ai disastri naturali. Le statistiche mostrano che in un periodo di quasi due decenni, dal 1994 al 2013, 218 milioni di persone sono state colpite ogni anno da disastri naturali (CRED, 2015). Nella situazione in cui la richiesta di crescente utilizzo del terreno è accompagnata da una crescente potenzialità dei danni in termini economici, sociali, ambientali o culturali, la gestione del rischio dei disastri sta avendo un ruolo sempre più importante in termini di ricerca. Il modo in cui le comunità e i sistemi urbani reagiscono ad un evento naturale è strettamente correlato allo sviluppo economico e tecnologico, nonché alla disponibilità dei dati. I paesi sviluppati hanno la capacità di prendere in considerazione strategie di mitigazione in situazioni pre-evento, il che non è sempre fattibile nei Paesi in via di sviluppo e in quelli poveri. Inoltre, come sottolineato da (Gaillard & Mercer, 2012), la questione è legata al fatto che i disastri colpiscono la parte di comunità emarginata e che ha accesso parziale o nullo alle risorse e ai mezzi di protezione. Tale paradigma impone la necessità di sviluppare strategie preventive incentrate sulla comunità, che è direttamente colpita dalle conseguenze di questi eventi naturali. L'analisi dei disastri naturali e del loro impatto sulla società e sull'ambiente urbano è complessa e richiede un'integrazione di informazioni multidisciplinari dalle scienze sociali a quelle esatte. Il problema principale che ostacola l'intero processo è principalmente legato all'efficacia della trasmissione di tali informazioni tra le diverse parti interessate come esperti, autorità locali e nazionali che hanno responsabilità in tal senso e la comunità stessa. Questo processo è ancora più difficile nelle condizioni in cui mancano informazioni, strumenti adeguati e anche la mancanza di percezione del rischio da parte della comunità, soprattutto nei casi di catastrofi con un periodo di ritorno relativamente lungo come i terremoti. Lo scopo di questa ricerca è l'analisi della possibilità di integrare le informazioni sul rischio di disastro all'interno degli strumenti di pianificazione che mirano a un processo inclusivo di riduzione del rischio, attraverso la proposta di una metodologia di valutazione del rischio stesso a scala locale per il caso di eventi sismici. L'analisi viene condotta attraverso la proposta di un sistema gerarchico contenente diversi parametri che caratterizzano in primo luogo l’azzardo stesso e in secondo luogo l'ambiente urbano in termini di esposizione e vulnerabilità mediante una combinazione di informazioni multiscala (edificio e scala locale). La selezione dei parametri rilevanti, il loro valore, la relazione tra loro e il loro contributo, saranno analizzati sulla base di un'approfondita ricerca bibliografica, visite in situ, questionari e opinioni di esperti. I risultati saranno forniti sotto forma di informazioni spaziali visive utilizzando processi di mappatura. L'obiettivo principale è che la metodologia proposta serva da strumento preliminare per diversi processi decisionali in termini di misure strategiche di riduzione del rischio, normative, definizione delle priorità, allocazione dei fondi, ecc. Lo scopo ulteriore della ricerca è anche quello che la metodologia proposta serva da nodo di collegamento tra la comunità, gli esperti e le autorità responsabili tra loro verso un approccio inclusivo alla riduzione del rischio delle catastrofi

    k-Means

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    Trends in Science and Technology for Sustainable Living

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    Dalam buku ini, dibahas mengenai perkembangan tren kajian dalam sains dan teknologi yang mendukung pembangunan berkelanjutan untuk mewujudkan kehidupan berkelanjutan. Pembangunan berkelanjutan mempunyai prinsip pembangunan yang bertujuan memenuhi kebutuhan generasi saat ini tetapi tidak mengurangi ataupun mengorbankan kemampuan generasi selanjutnya dalam memenuhi kebutuhan mereka; sehingga kehidupan yang baik akan terus berlanjut dalam waktu yang lama. Pembangunan berkelanjutan saat ini berfokus pada tiga hal, yaitu pembangunan keberlanjutan ekonomi dan sosial, serta perlindungan terhadap lingkungan untuk generasi mendatang. Ketiganya saling berhubungan dan mendukung dalam mencapai tujuan pembangunan serta stabilitas lingkungan dan sosial. Oleh karena itu, keseimbangan yang baik dalam aspek lingkungan,ekonomi, dan sosial harus dicapai untuk membentuk kehidupan berkelanjutan

    Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch

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    In order to warrant a good present and future for people around the planet and to safe the care of the planet itself, research in architecture has to release all its potential. Therefore, the aims of the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture are: - To focus on the most relevant needs of humanity and the planet and what architectural research can do for solving them. - To assess the evolution of architectural research in traditionally matters of interest and the current state of these popular and widespread topics. - To deepen in the current state and findings of architectural research on subjects akin to post-capitalism and frequently related to equal opportunities and the universal right to personal development and happiness. - To showcase all kinds of research related to the new and holistic concept of sustainability and to climate emergency. - To place in the spotlight those ongoing works or available proposals developed by architectural researchers in order to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. - To underline the capacity of architectural research to develop resiliency and abilities to adapt itself to changing priorities. - To highlight architecture's multidisciplinarity as a melting pot of multiple approaches, points of view and expertise. - To open new perspectives for architectural research by promoting the development of multidisciplinary and inter-university networks and research groups. For all that, the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture is open not only to architects, but also for any academic, practitioner, professional or student with a determination to develop research in architecture or neighboring fields.Cabrera Fausto, I. (2023). Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/VIBRArch2022.2022.1686

    Operational Research: methods and applications

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordThroughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first summarises the up-to-date knowledge and provides an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion and used as a point of reference by a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes

    Sustainable Real Estate: Management, Assessment and Innovations

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    Production and consumption activities have determined a weakness of the sustainable real estate economy. The main problems are the subordination of public decision making, which is subjected to pressure from big companies; inefficient appraisal procedures; excessive use of financial leverage in investment projects; the atypical nature of markets; income positions in urban transformations; and the financialization of real estate markets, with widespread negative effects. A delicate role in these complex problems is assigned to real estate appraisal activities, called to make value judgments on real estate goods and investment projects, the prices of which are often formed in atypical real estate markets, giving ever greater importance to sustainable development and transformation issues. This Special Issue is dedicated to developing and disseminating knowledge and innovations related to most recent real estate evaluation methodologies applied in the fields of architecture and civil, building, environmental, and territorial engineering. Suitable works include studies on econometric models, sustainable building management, building costs, risk management and real estate appraisal, mass appraisal methods applied to real estate properties, urban and land economics, transport economics, the application of economics and financial techniques to real estate markets, the economic valuation of real estate investment projects, the economic effects of building transformations or projects on the environment, and sustainable real estate
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