School Families: A New Formulation of School District Planning Problem

This paper makes a plan to introduce school families. School families refer to a hierarchical system where the junior high school district encompasses the elementary school district. School families have the advantage of promoting efficient cooperation between elementary and junior high schools. Therefore, we formulated a new school district planning problem to introduce school families and created an optimal plan under changing population situations. Our formulation achieves school families by exploiting the continuity constraints of the school district. We also compare two different methods of reorganizing school districts in the simulation experiments: changing school districts by transferring current students in a given year (school-year method) and switching new students' schools over a multi-year period (birth-year method). We examined the cost and computation time of plans obtained with both methods and showed that the method combining the two provides the most significant cost savings

LandParcelS: A module for automated land partitioning

Land fragmentation is a widespread problem and schemes for consolidating land are required to improve agricultural efficiency. This paper explains the development of a module called LandParcelS (Land Parcelling System) that is part of an integrated planning and decision support system called LAONISS which is being developed to assist land consolidation planning in Cyprus. LandParcelS is the component of the system that automates the land partitioning process by optimising land parcels in terms of shape, size and value. The methodology employs a genetic algorithm and results are presented when treating the partitioning task as either a single or multi-objective problem

Time to Vote?

Despite the centrality of voting costs to the paradox of voting, little effort has been made to accurately measure these costs outside of a few spatially limited case studies. In this paper, we apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to validated national election survey data from New Zealand. We calculate distance and travel time by road from the place of residence to the nearest polling place and combine our time estimate with imputed wages for all sample members. Using this new measure of the opportunity cost of voting to predict turnout at the individual level, we find that small increases in the opportunity costs of time can have large effects in reducing voter turnout.paradox of voting, opportunity cost, travel time

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AS A FORM OF RESILIENCE IN CHINESE COUNTRYSIDE TRANSITION. EVIDENCE FROM A RURAL SETTLEMENT IN THE FUJIAN PROVINCE

Abstract. Chinese rural settlements face different critical challenges in the current framework of rapid transformation. Tangible and intangible elements related to the traditional spatial organisation of siting and living are threatened by a socio-economic transition which appears to be indifferent to local specificities. Such aspects express and shape the rural built fabric, which shows no resistance to the pressures of both planned and spontaneous development. The few exceptions are mainly represented by the survived vernacular architectures, whose function goes beyond practical uses, such as the ancestral halls. Their spatial principles persisted in the malleable rural patterns, making such buildings the physical carrier of local traditions. This paper takes a rural village in the Fujian Province, China, as a paradigmatic case study to explore the settlement pattern's degree of resilience. The data collected in two years of fieldworks allows authors to assert the prominent role played by the fifteen ancestral halls of the village. After introducing the current patterns of change, with a focus on the phenomenon of rural hollowing, the paper emphasises both the spatial rules and the contextual relationships of vernacular buildings. In the conclusions, we remark their importance against the backdrop of current land use development, suggesting to reconsider the vernacular buildings as an alternative approach for more conscious and sustainable development

The economy of the Beijing Olympic Games : An analysis of first impacts and prospects

This paper was presented at the International Sport Business Symposium, held by the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, in 2008. The speakers, Ferran Brunet, as a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Zuo Xinwen, as a member of Beijing Development and Reform Commission, both set out to analyze changes in the economic and social development of the city which were undertaken with the aim to celebrate the 2008 Olympic Games. They discuss aspects as a transformation in the mode of economic growth, resources of the Organizing Committee, investments related to the Games, transport and communications, industries, the balance of urban and rural development, urban construction and management service and operations into a well-off society.Texto presentado en el Simposio Internacional 'Sport Business', celebrado por la Universidad de Economía y Empresa de la Capital de Pequín, en 2008. Los ponentes, Ferran Brunet, como profesor de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona y Zuo Xinwen, miembro de la Comisión del Desarrollo y Reforma de Pequín, se proponen analizar los cambios producidos en el desarrollo económico y social de la ciudad con motivo de la celebración de los Juegos Olímpicos del 2008. Entre otros aspectos tratan la transformación en el modo de crecimiento económico, los recursos del Comité Organizador, las inversiones relacionadas con los Juegos, el transporte y las comunicaciones, las industrias, el equilibrio del desarrollo urbano y rural, la construcción urbana y la gestión y las acciones hacia una sociedad acomodada.Text presentat al Simposi Internacional 'Sport Business', celebrat per la Universitat d'Economia i Empresa de la Capital de Pequín, el 2008. Els ponents, en Ferran Brunet, com a professor de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona i Zuo Xinwen, membre de la Comissió del Desenvolupament i Reforma de Pequín, es proposen analitzar els canvis produïts en el desenvolupament econòmic i social de la ciutat amb motiu de la celebració dels Jocs Olímpics del 2008. Entre altres aspectes tracten la transformació en el mode de creixement econòmic, els recursos del Comitè Organitzador, les inversions relacionades amb els Jocs, el transport i les comunicacions, les indústries, l'equilibri del desenvolupament urbà i rural, la construcció urbana i la gestió i les accions cap a una societat benestant

Factors behind rural student drop-out rates in North China: a qualitative study

To promote the development of compulsory education and educational equality in China, Two Exemptions and One Subsidy (TEOS) policy which initially aimed to help students from poor background finish their compulsory education was implemented by Chinese government step by step. This study examined the fact there were students in rural areas still dropping out under the policy of TEOS using a qualitative approach. Interviews were made and information was collected from different perspectives, dropouts, parents as well as teachers. The analysis from this study suggests that it was time to rethink grade retention removed in the revised compulsory education law. Furthermore, programs intended to help low achievers and parents in rural areas is suggested. Ultimately, a comprehensive evaluation should be adopted when assessing students and capabilities of teachers should be built to enhance the teaching in rural areas

Research of educational resources equilibrium and optimization based on GIS in Northern Zhengzhou

The balanced development of education is one of the important goals of the scientific development of education in China. It has been included in the "National Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development Plan Outline (2010-2020)". The socialist harmonious society has great practical significance and far-reaching historical significance. However, education balance involves the educational resources on the supply side and the demand-side population of the right age have varying degrees of complexity in terms of time, space, and attribute characteristics, resulting in a series of problems, including how to measure education in a certain area. Whether development is balanced, and how to dynamically monitor whether education is balanced development. GIS (Geographic Information System), as an important tool for space-time analysis, has application potential in solving the above problems. This study selects the three northern districts of Zhengzhou City as the study area, and explores the use of GIS to spatialize and dynamically update them; establish a balanced evaluation index system that covers evaluation indicators in multiple dimensions such as educational opportunities, resource allocation, and education quality. And through a variety of spatial analysis methods such as overlay analysis, buffer analysis, network analysis, etc., quantitatively carry out comprehensive evaluation of education balance in the study area; on this basis, combined with the development of education in the study area in recent years, education is carried out from the perspective of education balance Adjustment and optimization analysis of resource space layout. The main research work of this study includes: (1) Using statistical yearbooks and the Internet, we have obtained multi-source data of residential areas, roads, and traffic related to education balance in the study area, and spatialized processing of related data, including AutoNavi POI (point of interest) data Crawling, spatial distribution of educational resources, spatialization of demographic data. (2) Designed a set of index systems that can evaluate the balance of education in space, including educational opportunities, allocation of educational resources, and educational quality, involving spatial elements such as distance to school, transportation accessibility, and student-teacher ratio, Non-spatial factors such as class allocation and excellent high school admission rate, the combination of the two can quantitatively evaluate the education balance of the three northern districts of Zhengzhou at the street level. (3) Use Location Allocation Model (LA) to carry out education development policy simulation and put forward layout suggestions. Generally speaking, the balanced development level of education in the three northern districts of Zhengzhou City is relatively high in the central urban area. There are still large differences between the urban and suburban areas, and the overall equilibrium degree decreases from the southwest to the northeast. Based on the results of the LA model, it can be seen that at least 14 middle schools must be added in the three northern districts of Zhengzhou to make the school service area to the residential area. The solution results of the comprehensive minimum facilities model can be obtained to optimize the layout of educational facilities in the three northern districts of Zhengzhou. According to the actual needs of the local area, the corresponding educational facilities are equipped to promote the realization of educational balance from the hardware

Simulation and optimization of a multi-agent system on physical internet enabled interconnected urban logistics.

An urban logistics system is composed of multiple agents, e.g., shippers, carriers, and distribution centers, etc., and multi-modal networks. The structure of Physical Internet (PI) transportation network is different from current logistics practices, and simulation can effectively model a series of PI-approach scenarios. In addition to the baseline model, three more scenarios are enacted based on different characteristics: shared trucks, shared hubs, and shared flows with other less-than-truckload shipments passing through the urban area. Five performance measures, i.e., truck distance per container, mean truck time per container, lead time, CO2 emissions, and transport mean fill rate, are included in the proposed procedures using real data in an urban logistics case. The results show that PI enables a significant improvement of urban transportation efficiency and sustainability. Specifically, truck time per container reduces 26 percent from that of the Private Direct scenario. A 42 percent reduction of CO2 emissions is made from the current logistics practice. The fill rate of truckload is increased by almost 33 percent, whereas the relevant longer distance per container and the lead time has been increased by an acceptable range. Next, the dissertation applies an auction mechanism in the PI network. Within the auction-based transportation planning approach, a model is developed to match the requests and the transport services in transport marketplaces and maximize the carriers’ revenue. In such transportation planning under the protocol of PI, it is a critical system design problem for decision makers to understand how various parameters through interactions affect this multi-agent system. This study provides a comprehensive three-layer structure model, i.e. agent-based simulation, auction mechanism, and optimization via simulation. In term of simulation, a multi-agent model simulates a complex PI transportation network in the context of sharing economy. Then, an auction mechanism structure is developed to demonstrate a transport selection scheme. With regard of an optimization via simulation approach and sensitivity analysis, it has been provided with insights on effects of combination of decision variables (i.e. truck number and truck capacity) and parameters settings, where results can be drawn by using a case study in an urban freight transportation network. In the end, conclusions and discussions of the studies have been summarized. Additionally, some relevant areas are required for further elaborate research, e.g., operational research on airport gate assignment problems and the simulation modelling of air cargo transportation networks. Due to the complexity of integration with models, I relegate those for future independent research