276 research outputs found

    Resort Morphology: Chinese applications

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    This paper adopts a geographical perspective to understand the conceptual and theoretical issues of resort morphology. Resort morphology refers to “the forms and associated functions of a destination area and their development”. Resort towns are differentiated from other urban areas in terms of morphology because of their functional emphasis on tourism. The literature reflects the significant interest of European geographers in the morphological study of coastal resort towns. However, limited attention has been given to resort morphology in developing countries. It is argued that the complex of contextual factors that influence the morphological character of resorts needs to be considered and, furthermore, there is a great need to develop a systematic approach for investigating resort morphology. Based on a review of literature, this paper first introduces the contributions and implications of related research to the understanding of resort morphology: study of resort evolution, the Recreational Business District, urban morphology, and Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. Then, the situation of China is addressed because there is a striking contrast between the rate of change and increasing complexity of Chinese resorts and the very limited amount of studies from either western or Chinese scholars. A quantitative-qualitative mixed research approach is introduced to understand transitional resort morphology in China. It involves classifying land uses, building a descriptive and explanatory framework, creating form-function maps, and the analysis of morphological characteristics. Two study areas are selected for detailed examination: a coastal resort town, Sanya and a lake-based resort town, Wuxi. Morphological changes associated with key contextual factors influencing tourism and recreational development are analyzed in these places. A comparative discussion of Sanya and Wuxi indicates similarities between their development patterns of resort morphology and their present morphological features but significant differences in terms of history, evolutionary process, tourism resources, location and level of economic development. It is less helpful simply to define models applicable to distinct Chinese water-based resort towns than to identify similarities among them. Rules for resort study in the Chinese context are recommended and the characteristics of morphological transformation in a typical water-based resort town are summarized in view of resort development patterns. It is indicated that the morphology of a typical water-based resort cluster can be in large part a function of its recreational hinterlands (urban areas), and whether it is well-planned or more naturally developed. Finally, the relationships between contextual factors, tourism development, and resort evolution and resort morphology are interpreted in the context of Chinese water-based resort towns. The significance of morphological research on current as well as past resort structure for future planning and conservation activities is indicated. A systematic approach, which combines the morphological method, the functional method and the evolutionary method, is suggested to study resort morphology. By using resort evolution theory, it is indicated that resort morphology can be clearly identified and explored within a conceptual framework. This study also shows that GIS techniques are highly applicable in the study of resort morphology. This study indicates that water-based resort morphology in China is presently characterized by intensive land use and dense development, fast settlement expansion associated with growing vacation property development, and a generally clustered pattern of accommodation. Tourism planning in China has developed procedures and strategies with little consideration for the historical process. Therefore, this study has implications for making reasonable development strategies and efficiently implemented policies and plans. Academically, resort morphology is clarified in both Chinese and Western contexts. Also, common characteristics of Chinese water-based resort towns are summarized and phenomena generated from western studies are tested in the Chinese cases

    Determining Individual Endorsement Levels for Water Resilience Principles – A Case Study of the Town of Lincoln, Ontario.

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    The integrity of freshwater ecosystems is being challenged, mainly due to the failures of the traditional command-and-control governance approach. A social ecological resilience approach to water resources management (water resilience) has been proposed to help mitigate these challenges. To effectively implement this approach, individual endorsement and attitudes to water resilience and its underlying principles must be better understood; however, very little research has examined individual attitudes towards this concept. This thesis studied the extent to which individuals endorse (support and agree with) managing and governing water resources using a social ecological resilience approach. To explore and determine endorsement of water resilience, a quantitative vignette questionnaire was utilized in a single exploratory case study in the Town of Lincoln, Ontario. The vignette questionnaire was developed based on the seven underlying principles of social ecological resilience and elicited responses for both local and non-local water contexts. Demographic data was also collected to examine how they relate to endorsement scores. Overall, respondents indicated a medium level of endorsement for the water resilience principles, with lower endorsement for the local than the non-local context. However, the extent of endorsement for the resilience principles differed as a function of location, the type of water challenge, individual experiences, and the conceptualization of the resilience principles. Those with higher overall endorsement scores tended to be female, older and attached more meaning to water bodies. Sex, political ideology and attaching meaning to local water bodies emerged as important predictors of water resilience endorsement. The vignette questionnaire proposes a suitable methodological framework for determining and measuring endorsement levels for the resilience principles. A factor analysis showed the seven resilience principles as consisting of two major components: principles related to ‘the system being governed’ and principles related to the ‘governance system’. The results of this thesis provide useful insights to policy makers/planners in developing more adaptive, integrative and resilient water governance approaches tailored to align with particular community perceptions and demographics. For future research, the nuances of endorsement, as well as additional factors like personality and psychological factors that may influence endorsement levels, should be considered

    Waterfront Analysis and Design:

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    Waterfront Analysis and Design Comparative Report of Beijing, Suzhou and Yinchuan systematically summarizes the research and planning cases. Conventional concepts and strategies concerning urban planning implemented in Beijing, Suzhou and Yinchuan have long been established, and the construction of many areas in these cities have been widely finished. Under such circumstances, based on analyses of the three cities and several typical cases of waterfront planning, this book breaks through the established conceptual constraints and delves into the commonalities and differences among the cases through systematic scientific approaches. On top of conducting the intensive research into urban waterfronts planning at levels of both basic theory and methodology, this book also presents specific practices of urban waterfront planning and design customized to the urban water system, as well as the layout and space of waterfront areas. By displaying how research findings can be applied into urban design, this book is of unique significance on value transmission. The book is broken down into four chapters, namely Comparison, Beijing, Suzhou and Yinchuan. Comparing and researching the water-city relations of the three cities. Chapter Comparison makes clear of the development characteristics of urban spatial structure based on changes of water systems in these cities with different geographical environments, and researches the patterns of urban spatial organization. Finally, the chapter summarizes the creating mode and focus of urban waterfronts under the effects of different natural environments, water networks and city landscapes. Chapter Beijing is compiled jointly by Harbin Institute of Technology and China Architecture Design and Research Group. Led by Professor Suning Xu, the study is structured as the combination of “research”, “judgment” and “design”. Studying the historical changes of water-city relation in Beijing and comparing the water-city relation of world typical capitals with that of prominent Chinese ancient capitals. This chapter sets the overall goal for Beijing’s waterfront development; The value system of the waterfront area is evaluated in 6 dimensions, including ecology, space, demand, history, economy and aesthetics, based on which the urban design strategy is crafted and verified with the design of typical nodes. Chapter Suzhou is put together by Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Iuav University of Venice, Tianjin University, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou and China Architecture Design and Research Group. At the macro level, the joint research team analyzed the spatial structure of Suzhou urban area, selected important urban waterfronts based on the comprehensive considerations of urban functions, different water network structures, ecological protection and urban landscapes, and proposed practical urban design strategy and guidance at various grades and of different types; At the micro level, dedicated to the objectives of “properly clustered water networks, water conservation, living along the water, open and sharing, and reflection of historical culture”, the team offered key points for different urban waterfront designs. Chapter Yinchuan is collectively compiled by Delft University of Technology, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Ningxia University and China Architecture Design and Research Group. Adopting the RTD (research through design) method, in other words, further defining research questions through designing and exploring various possibilities and solutions, the joint research team attempted to identify comprehensive solutions at multiple levels: Yinchuan city as a whole, the urban areas where the waterfronts are located, and the waterfronts themselves; Jointly led by landscape architects and urban designers, the research of waterfront design in Yinchuan highlights the ecology-based analysis method and design strategy

    Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms in South Louisiana estuaries : a synthesis of field research, management implications, and outreach

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    Estuaries are biologically productive and important habitats for several fisheries. However, human intervention has separated many estuaries from their needed freshwater source and the commonly used solution is to use diversions to regulate the flow. This episodic increase in nutrients into estuaries has sometimes led to the formation of freshwater cyanobacteria HABs (CyanoHABs). The goal of this dissertation was to look at a field research study of phytoplankton bloom dynamics; management implications for cyanobacteria entering estuaries; and an outreach effort in relation to residents knowledge about cyanobacteria and algae. The first study compared the phytoplankton bloom dynamics, specifically CyanoHABs, in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana (LA) during a diversion opening year and a non-opening year. While variations in freshwater flow were found to be important to determine which phytoplankton group dominates the system, species diversity within a group likely was regulated by the water source. During the large flow year (21.9 km3) in 2011, chlorophytes and diatoms were the dominant groups. In 2012, with a much lower flow of 0.3 km3, again chlorophytes and diatoms were dominant in the spring, but both years cyanobacteria numbers significantly increased in the late summer. The second study was conducted in a different estuary of LA (Breton Sound) to determine the salt tolerance of toxic cyanobacteria; the ability of oysters to feed on toxic cyanobacteria; and their ability to retain those toxins in their viscera. The study found that the cyanotoxin, microcystin (MC) was present, where the native oysters inhabit (\u3c10 g kg-1). When the oysters were exposed to toxic Anabaena sp. cells, they fed on these cells and retained MCs. This led to a concern for the public health. The last study surveyed fishermen about their knowledge of algae and HABs. This baseline data was used to create an educational brochure which was distributed to the marinas around Lake Pontchartrain and Lac Des Allemandes. There was also a follow-up survey to determine the effectiveness of the educational brochure. Many of the people surveyed had a basic understanding of algae, but 60% were not familiar with harmful algal blooms

    Proceedings of the 2021 DigitalFUTURES

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    This open access book is a compilation of selected papers from 2021 DigitalFUTURES—The 3rd International Conference on Computational Design and Robotic Fabrication (CDRF 2021). The work focuses on novel techniques for computational design and robotic fabrication. The contents make valuable contributions to academic researchers, designers, and engineers in the industry. As well, readers encounter new ideas about understanding material intelligence in architecture

    Integrated Water Quality Monitoring of Skaneateles Lake Tributaries

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    Skaneateles Lake is the drinking water source for the City of Syracuse and surrounding areas. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been occurring in Skaneateles Lake every year since 2017 and posing a great threat to water quality and drinking water safety. Although the exact cause of the HABs is still unclear, sunlight, quiescent conditions, warm temperature, and elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus seem to favor the development of such blooms. In this study, a custom-built, low-cost, multi-parameter sensor unit was designed, built, and deployed on a third-order tributary. The unit collected high-frequency data for stage, temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen. The unit successfully captured the variability in stream discharge calculated from stage measurements and temperature. The pH and dissolved oxygen sensors performed well during low-flow periods but deviated during high-flow events. Overheating of electronics also contributed to instability in sensor measurements.Grab water samples were collected from nine tributaries and analyzed for total and dissolved organic carbon, phosphorus species, and nitrogen species. Nutrient analysis suggested export of phosphorus and nitrogen during high flow events. Analysis of physical watershed characteristics such as stream order, watershed area, and basin slope, implied that hydrologic flow paths were controlling the concentrations of some carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus species. This study could provide a blueprint for building low-cost water monitoring systems in non-navigational rivers and contribute to the understanding of how hydrological and nutrient dynamics influences HABs in lakes

    Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present

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    Today our societies face great challenges with water, in terms of both quantity and quality, but many of these challenges have already existed in the past. Focusing on Asia, Water Societies and Technologies from the Past and Present seeks to highlight the issues that emerge or re-emerge across different societies and periods, and asks what they can tell us about water sustainability. Incorporating cutting-edge research and pioneering field surveys on past and present water management practices, the interdisciplinary contributors together identify how societies managed water resource challenges and utilised water in ways that allowed them to evolve, persist, or drastically alter their environment. The case studies, from different periods, ancient and modern, and from different regions, including Egypt, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Southwest United States, the Indus Basin, the Yangtze River, the Mesopotamian floodplain, the early Islamic city of Sultan Kala in Turkmenistan, and ancient Korea, offer crucial empirical data to readers interested in comparing the dynamics of water management practices across time and space, and to those who wish to understand water-related issues through conceptual and quantitative models of water use. The case studies also challenge classical theories on water management and social evolution, examine and establish the deep historical roots and ecological foundations of water sustainability issues, and contribute new grounds for innovations in sustainable urban planning and ecological resilience

    An Enchanted Modern: Urban Cultivation in Shanghai

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    China is in the midst of the fastest and largest process of urbanization in history. Alongside the dynamism of the region’s hyperdense cities however are alarming levels of air pollution, recurrent stories of toxic food, contaminated waterways and intensifying popular protests concerning polluting factories and plants. Issues surrounding a sustainable urban ecology have thus become paramount in the construction of Asia’s metropolitan future. This paper, which focuses particularly on the Shanghai region, suggests that the ideas and practices of ‘cultivation’ might be of value in the creation and imagination of a future ecological metropolis. We examine self-cultivation concretely, as a set of situated embodied practices in specific places and specific historical conditions. We also explore the abstract conceptual idea, by looking at how the modern philosopher Mou Zongsan, articulated the idea of ‘cultivation’ as a guide for life. Ultimately, we are interested in how the embodied cultural practices of cultivation can be harnessed as a strategy of re-enchantment, with the power to reconfigure urban nature in the Chinese megacity of the 21st century
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