6,724 research outputs found

    Cycling Through the Pandemic : Tactical Urbanism and the Implementation of Pop-Up Bike Lanes in the Time of COVID-19

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    Provides an international overview on how tactical urbanism was implemented to give more space to cycling Demonstrates the conceptual framework surrounding tactical urbanism and how it plays out theoretically Proposes new methodological insights to understand the effects of tactical urbanism intervention

    Modern computing: Vision and challenges

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    Over the past six decades, the computing systems field has experienced significant transformations, profoundly impacting society with transformational developments, such as the Internet and the commodification of computing. Underpinned by technological advancements, computer systems, far from being static, have been continuously evolving and adapting to cover multifaceted societal niches. This has led to new paradigms such as cloud, fog, edge computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), which offer fresh economic and creative opportunities. Nevertheless, this rapid change poses complex research challenges, especially in maximizing potential and enhancing functionality. As such, to maintain an economical level of performance that meets ever-tighter requirements, one must understand the drivers of new model emergence and expansion, and how contemporary challenges differ from past ones. To that end, this article investigates and assesses the factors influencing the evolution of computing systems, covering established systems and architectures as well as newer developments, such as serverless computing, quantum computing, and on-device AI on edge devices. Trends emerge when one traces technological trajectory, which includes the rapid obsolescence of frameworks due to business and technical constraints, a move towards specialized systems and models, and varying approaches to centralized and decentralized control. This comprehensive review of modern computing systems looks ahead to the future of research in the field, highlighting key challenges and emerging trends, and underscoring their importance in cost-effectively driving technological progress

    Forest planning utilizing high spatial resolution data

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    This thesis presents planning approaches adapted for high spatial resolution data from remote sensing and evaluate whether such approaches can enhance the provision of ecosystem services from forests. The presented methods are compared with conventional, stand-level methods. The main focus lies on the planning concept of dynamic treatment units (DTU), where treatments in small units for modelling ecosystem processes and forest management are clustered spatiotemporally to form treatment units realistic in practical forestry. The methodological foundation of the thesis is mainly airborne laser scanning data (raster cells 12.5x12.5 m2), different optimization methods and the forest decision support system Heureka. Paper I demonstrates a mixed-integer programming model for DTU planning, and the results highlight the economic advances of clustering harvests. Paper II and III presents an addition to a DTU heuristic from the literature and further evaluates its performance. Results show that direct modelling of fixed costs for harvest operations can improve plans and that DTU planning enhances the economic outcome of forestry. The higher spatial resolution of data in the DTU approach enables the planning model to assign management with higher precision than if stand-based planning is applied. Paper IV evaluates whether this phenomenon is also valid for ecological values. Here, an approach adapted for cell-level data is compared to a schematic approach, dealing with stand-level data, for the purpose of allocating retention patches. The evaluation of economic and ecological values indicate that high spatial resolution data and an adapted planning approach increased the ecological values, while differences in economy were small. In conclusion, the studies in this thesis demonstrate how forest planning can utilize high spatial resolution data from remote sensing, and the results suggest that there is a potential to increase the overall provision of ecosystem services if such methods are applied

    Beam scanning by liquid-crystal biasing in a modified SIW structure

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    A fixed-frequency beam-scanning 1D antenna based on Liquid Crystals (LCs) is designed for application in 2D scanning with lateral alignment. The 2D array environment imposes full decoupling of adjacent 1D antennas, which often conflicts with the LC requirement of DC biasing: the proposed design accommodates both. The LC medium is placed inside a Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) modified to work as a Groove Gap Waveguide, with radiating slots etched on the upper broad wall, that radiates as a Leaky-Wave Antenna (LWA). This allows effective application of the DC bias voltage needed for tuning the LCs. At the same time, the RF field remains laterally confined, enabling the possibility to lay several antennas in parallel and achieve 2D beam scanning. The design is validated by simulation employing the actual properties of a commercial LC medium

    Study of neural circuits using multielectrode arrays in movement disorders

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    Treballs Finals de Grau d'Enginyeria BiomĂšdica. Facultat de Medicina i CiĂšncies de la Salut. Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2022-2023. Tutor/Director: RodrĂ­guez AlluĂ©, Manuel JosĂ©Neurodegenerative movement-related disorders are characterized by a progressive degeneration and loss of neurons, which lead to motor control impairment. Although the precise mechanisms underlying these conditions are still unknown, an increasing number of studies point towards the analysis of neural networks and functional connectivity to unravel novel insights. The main objective of this work is to understand cellular mechanisms related to dysregulated motor control symptoms in movement disorders, such as Chorea-Acanthocytosis (ChAc), by employing multielectrode arrays to analyze the electrical activity of neuronal networks in mouse models. We found no notable differences in cell viability between neurons with and without VPS13A knockdown, that is the only gene known to be implicated in the disease, suggesting that the absence of VPS13A in neurons may be partially compensated by other proteins. The MEA setup used to capture the electrical activity from neuron primary cultures is described in detail, pointing out its specific characteristics. At last, we present the alternative backup approach implemented to overcome the challenges faced during the research process and to explore the advanced algorithms for signal processing and analysis. In this report, we present a thorough account of the conception and implementation of our research, outlining the multiple limitations that have been encountered all along the course of the project. We provide a detailed analysis on the project’s economical and technical feasibility, as well as a comprehensive overview of the ethical and legal aspects considered during the execution

    Predictive Demand Response Modeling for Logistic Systems Innovation and Optimization

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    In the ever-increasing dynamics of global business markets, logistic systems must optimize the usage of all possible sources to continually innovate. Scenario-based demand prediction plays an important role in the effective economic operations and planning of logistics. However, many uncertainties and demand variability, which are associated with innovative changes, complicate demand forecasting and expose system operators to the risk of failing to meet demand. This dissertation presents new approaches to predictively explore how customer preferences will change and consequently demand would respond to the new setup of services caused by an innovative transformation of the logistic layout. The critical challenge is that the responses from customers in particular and demand in general to the innovative changes and corresponding adjustments are uncertain and unknown in practice, and there is no historical data to learn from and directly support the predictive model. In this dissertation, we are dealing with three different predictive demand response modeling approaches, jointly shaping a new methodological pathway. Chapter 1 provides a novel approach for predictive modeling probabilistic customer behavior over new service offers which are much faster than ever done before, based on the case of a large Chinese parcel-delivery service provider. Chapter 2 introduces an approach for predicting scenario-based erection-site demand schedules under uncertainty of disruptive events in construction projects whose logistics transformed from traditional to modular style, based on the case of a USA-based innovative leader in modular building production. For such a leader to advance in its logistics design innovations and associated capacity adjustments, and also to enhance its capability for taking more market share, it is crucial to estimate potential future demand for modular construction and corresponding probable projects in terms of their potential location, size, and characteristics. For this purpose, Chapter 3 introduces a methodological approach for estimating scenario-based future demand for modular construction projects to be implemented over the US metropolitan statistical areas.Ph.D

    The political economy of peri-urban transformations in Zimbabwe under globalisation - a case study of Harare

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    The bulk of urban studies in sub-Saharan Africa has, hitherto, focused on the impacts of structural adjustment programmes on urban productivity and citizen welfare. However, little is known about the dynamics (Mbiba & Huchzermeyer, 2002: 114) of the structural gaps between the stated policy prescriptions and implementation practices, on one hand, and on the other, between the policy practices and lived experiences of ordinary residents in the marginalised urban spaces in developing countries that neoliberal economic structural reforms have engendered. Meanwhile the dominant perspectives on the nature and meaning of “‘peri-urban’” have intensified instead of stemming the crises of managing increasingly contested urban frontiers in the poorer countries (Mbiba & Huchermeyer, 2002: 114; Simon, et al., 2004; Lombard, 2016). Using Harvey’s (2003) revised and extended Marxist perspective of “primitive accumulation by dispossession” on jambanja, the study critically engages with the “multiple realities” (Giddens, 1984) of radically transformed peri-urban landscapes in a case study of Harare. The study deploys a mixed method strategy to capture multiple data sets through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and biographical accounts (Creswell & Brown, 1992; Mouton, 2003: 196) across different contexts of the ‘peri-urban’ in Harare. These contexts range from Zimbabwe’s abandoned neoliberal structural reform programme (Bond & Manyanya, 2003; Mbiba, 2017a: 8-9) to the country’s elitist policy projects of jambanja and Operation Murambatsvina (Moyo, 2013a; 2013b) post-2000. Drawing on the lived experiences of purposively selected town planners and ordinary peri-urban residents, the study builds conceptual blocks to bridge the gaps between the official policy prescriptions and the everyday life experiences of intended beneficiary ordinary residents. The study concludes that the emerging palimpsest peri-urban interface in sub Saharan Africa can be productive sites for understanding the dynamics of informalised The bulk of urban studies in sub-Saharan Africa has, hitherto, focused on the impacts of structural adjustment programmes on urban productivity and citizen welfare. However, little is known about the dynamics (Mbiba & Huchzermeyer, 2002: 114) of the structural gaps between the stated policy prescriptions and implementation practices, on one hand, and on the other, between the policy practices and lived experiences of ordinary residents in the marginalised urban spaces in developing countries that neoliberal economic structural reforms have engendered. Meanwhile the dominant perspectives on the nature and meaning of “‘peri-urban’” have intensified instead of stemming the crises of managing increasingly contested urban frontiers in the poorer countries (Mbiba & Huchermeyer, 2002: 114; Simon, et al., 2004; Lombard, 2016). Using Harvey’s (2003) revised and extended Marxist perspective of “primitive accumulation by dispossession” on jambanja, the study critically engages with the “multiple realities” (Giddens, 1984) of radically transformed peri-urban landscapes in a case study of Harare. The study deploys a mixed method strategy to capture multiple data sets through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and biographical accounts (Creswell & Brown, 1992; Mouton, 2003: 196) across different contexts of the ‘peri-urban’ in Harare. These contexts range from Zimbabwe’s abandoned neoliberal structural reform programme (Bond & Manyanya, 2003; Mbiba, 2017a: 8-9) to the country’s elitist policy projects of jambanja and Operation Murambatsvina (Moyo, 2013a; 2013b) post-2000. Drawing on the lived experiences of purposively selected town planners and ordinary peri-urban residents, the study builds conceptual blocks to bridge the gaps between the official policy prescriptions and the everyday life experiences of intended beneficiary ordinary residents. The study concludes that the emerging palimpsest peri-urban interface in sub Saharan Africa can be productive sites for understanding the dynamics of informalised The bulk of urban studies in sub-Saharan Africa has, hitherto, focused on the impacts of structural adjustment programmes on urban productivity and citizen welfare. However, little is known about the dynamics (Mbiba & Huchzermeyer, 2002: 114) of the structural gaps between the stated policy prescriptions and implementation practices, on one hand, and on the other, between the policy practices and lived experiences of ordinary residents in the marginalised urban spaces in developing countries that neoliberal economic structural reforms have engendered. Meanwhile the dominant perspectives on the nature and meaning of “‘peri-urban’” have intensified instead of stemming the crises of managing increasingly contested urban frontiers in the poorer countries (Mbiba & Huchermeyer, 2002: 114; Simon, et al., 2004; Lombard, 2016). Using Harvey’s (2003) revised and extended Marxist perspective of “primitive accumulation by dispossession” on jambanja, the study critically engages with the “multiple realities” (Giddens, 1984) of radically transformed peri-urban landscapes in a case study of Harare. The study deploys a mixed method strategy to capture multiple data sets through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and biographical accounts (Creswell & Brown, 1992; Mouton, 2003: 196) across different contexts of the ‘peri-urban’ in Harare. These contexts range from Zimbabwe’s abandoned neoliberal structural reform programme (Bond & Manyanya, 2003; Mbiba, 2017a: 8-9) to the country’s elitist policy projects of jambanja and Operation Murambatsvina (Moyo, 2013a; 2013b) post-2000. Drawing on the lived experiences of purposively selected town planners and ordinary peri-urban residents, the study builds conceptual blocks to bridge the gaps between the official policy prescriptions and the everyday life experiences of intended beneficiary ordinary residents. The study concludes that the emerging palimpsest peri-urban interface in sub Saharan Africa can be productive sites for understanding the dynamics of informalised party-state institutions, political patronage and violence in reproducing urban space. Thus, a reimagining of the peri-urban interface in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa should harness the multiple voices, struggles and experiences in everyday life of residents towards broadening urban theory.College of Agriculture and Environmental SciencesPh. D. (Geography

    Efficient 3D Semantic Segmentation with Superpoint Transformer

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    We introduce a novel superpoint-based transformer architecture for efficient semantic segmentation of large-scale 3D scenes. Our method incorporates a fast algorithm to partition point clouds into a hierarchical superpoint structure, which makes our preprocessing 7 times faster than existing superpoint-based approaches. Additionally, we leverage a self-attention mechanism to capture the relationships between superpoints at multiple scales, leading to state-of-the-art performance on three challenging benchmark datasets: S3DIS (76.0% mIoU 6-fold validation), KITTI-360 (63.5% on Val), and DALES (79.6%). With only 212k parameters, our approach is up to 200 times more compact than other state-of-the-art models while maintaining similar performance. Furthermore, our model can be trained on a single GPU in 3 hours for a fold of the S3DIS dataset, which is 7x to 70x fewer GPU-hours than the best-performing methods. Our code and models are accessible at github.com/drprojects/superpoint_transformer.Comment: Accepted at ICCV 2023. Camera-ready version with Appendix. Code available at github.com/drprojects/superpoint_transforme

    Machine Learning Applications in Advanced Additive Manufacturing: Process Modeling, Microstructure Analysis, and Defect Detection

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    Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques are critical for assessing the integrity, health, and mechanical properties of materials manufactured from various methods. High fidelity NDE techniques are essential for quality control but often lead to massive data generation. Such a vast data load cannot be manually processed, this leads to a severe bottleneck for process engineers. Machine learning (ML) offers a solution to this problem by providing powerful and adaptable algorithms capable of learning patterns, identifying features, and finding hidden relationships in large sets of data. Various ML models are used in this work to improve predictions, improve measurements, detect anomalies, classify anomalies, segment images, determine material health, and directly model behavior. These neural network or ML models are implemented to perform these tasks by utilizing data gathered through various NDE techniques. Additive manufacturing enables the production of complex geometries and customized parts with reduced waste and lead times. The development of new material printing capability and techniques is necessary to expand its capabilities to produce high performance parts with unique properties and functionality. Contributions to advanced additive manufacturing are made via the application of customized machine learning algorithms in this work. The development of a novel grain image generation method was completed to improve grain and grain boundary image segmentation methods on microstructure images. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) were also applied to datasets of Stainless Steel Powder to help identify, qualify, and classify the health of the powder prior to print application. A feasibility study of the implementation of Binder Jetting (BJT) is conducted on Martian and Lunar regolith using a simplistic binder in this work. The need for efficient techniques to process data gathered from NDE methods is crucial to enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and speed of the analysis of this data. This will lead to faster development and implementation of advanced manufacturing techniques

    From massive rapid reconstruction to small-scale stepwise urban renewal: A contribution to socially integrative cities?: Case studies of Wuhan, China

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    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 – 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 “assimilation”; 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 - “socially integrative cities”, 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 großflĂ€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 „Assimilierung“; 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 – großflĂ€chiger und scheller gegenĂŒber kleinteiligem und schrittweisem Stadtumbau – 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 „Socially Integrative Cities“ (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 großflĂ€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 großflĂ€chiger, schneller und kleinteiliger, schrittweiser Stadterneuerung hauptsĂ€chlich bei den Aspekten Interventionsebene, Akteure und ihre Strategien, GrĂ¶ĂŸe 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 großflĂ€chige und schnelle als auch die kleinteilige, schrittweise Stadterneuerung in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß einen spezifischen Einfluss auf allen fĂŒnf o.g. Dimensionen des Konzepts der sozial-integrativen Stadt haben. GroßflĂ€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 großflĂ€chigen, schnellen Stadtumbaus und jenem der kleinteiligen, schrittweisen Erneuerung. Daneben wurde ein breiter gefasster und an den Kontext der chinesischen „sozial-integrativen Stadt“ 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 sozial–integrativen 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
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