Urban green space: stakeholders’ and visitors’ perception in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Planning, development and maintenance of urban green space is among the key elements of sustainable urban development. Acknowledging and participating in the conservation and enhancement of the urban green space can improve the environment and provide huge benefits to city dwellers. The aim of this paper is to investigate the stakeholders’ and visitors’ understanding of their responsibility and responsiveness towards urban green spaces in Kuala Lumpur. Stakeholders and people understanding and responsibilities were investigated using interview method. Visitors to various urban parks in Kuala Lumpur and representatives of the National Landscape Department (JLN) and the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur (CHKL) were interviewed to capture the view of stakeholders and visitors. The study found that most visitors are concerned with the quality of the physical development and social necessities as their preferences for ‘sustainable city’. The survey also indicates that the government should initiate enhancement of urban green space and promote awareness of conservation through gazettes and information campaign to preserve urban green space. Thus, stakeholders such as NGOs, developers, professionals should play their role in realizing the visions of local authorities and the nation. Research demonstrated that there is need to have high awareness towards environmental attitude which could be enhanced to encourage preservation and conservation of nature and their associated benefits. Key words: Urban planning, Urban green space, Urban environment, Social benefits

Distracted driving in relation to risky road behaviors and traffic crashes in Bogota, Colombia

The growing evidence on road distraction during the recent years has shown how road distractions might be playing a relevant role on traffic crash causation. However, the empirical insights about how it works in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are really limited so far. The case of Colombian non-professional drivers remains virtually unexplored on this regard. This research aims to assess the effect of road distractions, driving-related issues and road behaviors on the self-reported crashes suffered by drivers in Bogotá, Colombia. To do so, a sample of 659 drivers (64% males and 36% females) with a mean age of 37.9 years (SD = 11.7) was gathered, who answered an online survey on road distractions, behaviors and self-reported crash history. Most of the distracting sources reported were found to be rather common among most of the drivers, even though only a few gender differences were found. Structural Equation Models show that there is a significant effect of road distractions on drivers' self-reported crash rates and that young adults are more prone to incur in these behaviors as a consequence thereof. These findings support the design of safety interventions that focus on mitigating the risk of being distracted. In the same vein, authorities should increase the efforts to enforce ICT-related laws while driving, thus contributing to reduce the prevalence and impact of distracting sources while driving

State of Australian cities 2013

The world continues to urbanise. In 2008, for the first time in history more than half of the world\u27s population lived in cities. By 2030, it is estimated that five billion people—80 per cent of humanity—will be urbanised. For highly urbanised countries, a wrong step in urban policy can have national implications, especially when around 40 per cent of the national population live in just two cities (as is the case for Australia). Aside from city states like Singapore and Monaco, Australia is the most urbanised nation on earth. More than three in four of Australians live in the 18 cities of 100,000 people or more. Few other countries have as much need to understand how their cities work as Australia. State of Australian Cities 2013 was launched by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, on 30 July 2013. The report brings together current research, including newly released data from the 2011 Census, to present a comprehensive snapshot of Australian cities. It is the fourth in a series of annual Australian Government publications reporting on the progress of Australia\u27s major cities towards the goals and objectives of the National Urban Policy. The previous three editions of State of Australian Cities have together been downloaded more than 3 million times. State of Australian Cities 2013 details changes in urban population and settlement and examines indicators relating to productivity, sustainability and liveability. It concludes with a discussion of governance in Australia\u27s 18 major cities and an evaluation of progress in implementing the National Urban Policy. In 2013, for the first time, the spatial focus of State of Australian Cities 2013 is significantly enhanced through the addition of a large number of interactive maps of the major cites. Around 1,000 maps are available in two versions: a medium resolution PDF version and a high resolution interactive version

Towards a large scale European Naturalistic Driving study: final report of PROLOGUE: deliverable D4.2

Naturalistic Driving (ND) studies represent the state of the art in traffic safety research and can be defined as studies undertaken to provide insight into driver behaviour during every day trips by recording details of the driver, the vehicle and the surroundings through unobtrusive data gathering equipment and without experimental control. Typically, in an ND study passenger cars, preferably the subjects' own cars, are equipped with several small cameras and sensors. For several months to several years, these devices continuously and inconspicuously register vehicle manoeuvres (like speed, acceleration/deceleration, direction), driver behaviour (like eye, head and hand manoeuvres), and external conditions (like road, traffic and weather characteristics). Thus, the ND approach allows us to observe and analyse the interrelationship between driver, vehicle, road and other traffic in normal situations, in conflict situations and in actual crashes. This type of information is not just useful for reducing road transport casualties, but also for reducing the environmental burden of road transport, and for reducing congestion. ND studies are not limited to passenger cars since vans and trucks can also be studied in a naturalistic way. Similarly, motorcycles can be equipped: naturalistic riding. The specific problems of pedestrians and cyclists can be studied based on observations from the vehicle. However for this application, naturalistic site-based observations can be a useful addition

2003 Abstract Booklet

Complete Schedule of Events for the 5th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The Courier, February 2014

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-miscellaneous-departmental-publications-tn-historical-commission/1026/thumbnail.jp