Petro-Modernity and Urban Visual Culture since the Mid-Twentieth Century

Petro-modernity is a local phenomenon essential to the history of Kuwait, while also a global experience and one of the prime sources of climate change. The book investigates petroleum’s role in the visual culture of Kuwait to understand the intersecting ideologies of modernization, political representation, and oil. The notion of iridescence, the ambiguous yet mesmerizing effect of a rainbowlike color play, serves as analytical-aesthetic concept to discuss petroleum’s ambiguous contribution to modernity: both promise of prosperity and destructive force of socio-cultural and ecological environments. Covering a broad spectrum of historical material from aerial and color photography, visual arts, postage stamps, and master plans to architecture and also contemporary art from the Gulf, it dismantles petro- modernity’s visual legacy

Liveability analysis of gated and non-gated low middle income communities in kuala lumpur, Malaysia

The aim of this paper is to examine the liveability conditions in gated and non-gated low middle income communities in Kuala Lumpur where rapid urban growth has led to many disruptions in the urban living environment. Hence, a livability framework was developed with dimensions from housing condition, economic condition, functional environment, social relations and community safety towards achieving the research objectives of – a) to study the liveability level in gated and non-gated communities, b) to compare the level of liveability between gated and non-gated communities, and c) to determine the dimensions and indicators which influence the level of liveability in both communities. Residents’ views were collected through a questionnaire survey which consisted of twenty-four indicators of liveability belonging to five dimensions from three communities in Kuala Lumpur. Two communities belong to non-gated and one community had gated living status. The findings of the research revealed that gated community has a better living conditions compared to the non-gated community. Thus, this research can be used as a turning point to improve the living environment of both gated and non-gated communit

Variations in demographic correlates of contraceptive usage among married women in Nigeria (1999-2008)

This study examined the variations in demographic correlates and patterns of contraceptive usage among married women in Nigeria. The data used were the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) data set series for 1999, 2003 and 2008. Overall, 34,919 women in age group 15-49 years were covered in the ratio of 17:15:69 across the three data set respectively. The data sets were merged into a single file and analyzed using a combination of univariate and multivariate analytical techniques. The findings reflect, among others, a progressive increase in contraceptives usage from 1999 to 2008. The study confirmed among others that educational attainment, usual place of residence and age are universal determinants of contraceptive use while desired number of children could be intermediated with other factors to influence contraceptive use among women of child bearing age in Nigeria. The study recommends further campaign towards increasing usage of contraceptives in order to stem the growth rate of children ever born

Iridescent Kuwait

Petro-modernity is a local phenomenon essential to the history of Kuwait, while also a global experience and one of the prime sources of climate change. The book investigates petroleum’s role in the visual culture of Kuwait to understand the intersecting ideologies of modernization, political representation, and oil. The notion of iridescence, the ambiguous yet mesmerizing effect of a rainbowlike color play, serves as analytical-aesthetic concept to discuss petroleum’s ambiguous contribution to modernity: both promise of prosperity and destructive force of socio-cultural and ecological environments. Covering a broad spectrum of historical material from aerial and color photography, visual arts, postage stamps, and master plans to architecture and also contemporary art from the Gulf, it dismantles petro- modernity’s visual legacy

HISTORY URBANISM RESILIENCE: Book of Abstracts

The 17th conference (2016, Delft) of the International Planning History Society (IPHS) and its proceedings place presentations from different continents and on varied topics side by side, providing insight into state-of-the art research in the field of planning history and offering a glimpse of new approaches, themes, papers and books to come. Book of Abstracts

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia

A COMPARISON BETWEEN ISLAMIC AND CONVENTIONAL HOME FINANCING IN KUWAIT: CLIENT PERCEPTIONS OF THE FACILITES OFFERED BY THE NATIONAL BANK OF KUWAIT AND KUWAIT FINANCE HOUSE

This study determines the awareness of the Islamic home inance products compared with conventional home financing, as well as clients’ perceptions of home financing, with the National Bank of Kuwait represented as a traditional Bank and the Kuwait Finance House as an example of an Islamic Bank. This comparison is important since it is new in this area and ives the clients an overview about available home finance. In addition, new students can benefit from this study to build on and start from where I finished. The empirical research was conducted utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as a case study and interviews, which is a method known as the triangulation technique. Questionnaires were distributed to 200 clients who had applied for home financing from both banks, using 100 clients from each bank. To sum up, it can be argued that an examination of Islamic banking as symbolized by the Kuwait Finance House has revealed that this type of financial institution has experienced a boom and has been successful in establishing itself as a practical substitute to conventional banking, in spite of what have been seen as authoritarian and nonflexible rules and regulations governing the activities of this type of financial institution. Islamic banks have experienced a boom and have been successful in developing alternative methods for attracting and utilizing funds in money-making outlets, regardless of the fact that they are comparative beginners in the field. Future prospects for the banks are even more promising, as experience is likely to improve the capability of these institutions to compete and to improve their performance

HISTORY URBANISM RESILIENCE VOLUME 04:

The 17th conference (2016, Delft) of the International Planning History Society (IPHS) and its proceedings place presentations from different continents and on varied topics side by side, providing insight into state-of-the art research in the field of planning history and offering a glimpse of new approaches, themes, papers and books to come. VOLUME 04: Planning and Heritag

Target Markets - International Terrorism Meets Global Capitalism in the Mall

This book explores the points of convergence between corporate capitalist and terrorist practice. Assessing an increase in the number of terrorist attacks directed at commercial entities in urban areas, with an emphasis on the shopping mall in general and Nairobi's Westgate Mall in particular, Suzi Mirgani offers a fascinating and disturbing perspective on the spaces where the most powerful forces of contemporary culture - the most mainstream and the most extreme - meet on common ground