Towards an improved procedure for estimating industrial-pollutant emissions

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1992.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-162).by Georgioas Ioannis Kassinis.M.C.P

Ekistics, architecture and environmental politics, 1945-1976 : a prehistory of sustainable development by Panayiota I. Pyla.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2002.Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-157).The dissertation examines Ekistics, a field defined by the architect and planner Constantine Doxiadis as the "science of human settlements" that championed the radical expansion of architecture's scope, called for its alignment with international development, and emphasized the profession's responsibilities towards global environmental exigencies. Spanning the disciplines of architectural history, environmental history, and cultural studies, the study analyzes the intellectual lineage of Ekistics' conceptions of the global environment, and the complex historical circumstances in which they were shaped: international policies for development, postcolonial agendas of modernization and nation building, scientific controversies on global interconnectedness, and architectural critiques of modernism. The study focuses on Ekistics' planning models of "dynapolis" and "ecumenopolis," and on physical interventions proposed by branches of Doxiadis's enterprise in the Mediterranean margins of Europe and the Middle East, where Ekistics had widespread appeal. The study also analyzes Doxiadis's relationship with key figures in postwar architectural culture, notably Jaqueline Tyrwhitt, who was also the editor of the journal Ekistics, Buckminster Fuller, who embraced Doxiadis's vision of world cities, and Hassan Fathy, who operated as a proponent of local "traditions" in the midst of the Ekistics group.(cont.) Furthermore, the study examines Doxiadis's and his colleagues' interpretation of such concepts as Patrick Geddes's notion of an interconnected "environment," Conrad H. Waddington's notion of "systems," Jean Gottman's notion of "megalopolis," and Rachel Carson's notion of an ecological "balance." By proposing an alternative focus on Ekistics, which for the first time examines the environmental themes underlying its transnational practice, the study fills a gap in current scholarship, by uncovering the profound impact of 1950s and 60s environmental consciousness on architectural culture, before the popularization of environmentalism in the 1970s. Furthermore, it contemplates the extent to which postwar environmental consciousness in architecture is entangled with postwar modernization and development discourses directed at the so-called third world. In the process, the study suggests that the history of postwar environment-development politics can also provide a fresh critical perspective on today's popular topic of sustainability.Ph.D

Application of location theory and empirical data by area industrial development groups

The objective of this paper is to determine if theories of industrial location and empirical data describing changes in manufacturing employment might suggest efficient approaches in attracting industry to a particular area. This is in sharp contrast to the usual application of location theory in which the optimum location of a firm or of a particular industry is selected

Interregional trade estimation and input-output modelling based on total use rectangular tables

The present research concerns the study of input-output modelling and input-output table construction, when applied at the regional level. Input-output models, at the national or regional level, are known as a fundamental tool for economic analysis. Yet, in order to apply such models, the researcher must have access to the correspondent input-output tables. National-level tables are currently published by the national statistical offices according to well-defined conventions. The same, however, cannot be said about regional tables which are not provided as a rule by official statistics organisms. Being so, a great part of input-output research is still dedicated to the study of techniques for input-output table gathering. This dissertation is, in such context, divided into three chapters. The first one is mainly theoretical, aiming to review the basic principles underlying input-output analysis at the regional level. The second and third chapters constitute the research’s practical contribution, focused on two major issues, respectively: 1) interregional trade estimation and 2) input-output modelling on the basis of total-use rectangular table at purchasers’ prices. In most countries, survey-based interregional trade data does not exist. However, even when some simplifying assumptions are used in the model, a minimum amount of data on interregional trade is always necessary, in order for the model to succeed in capturing spillover and feedback effects caused by the interregional linkages. In order to evaluate the reasonability of using indirect interregional trade flows estimates, a comparison was made between alternative methodologies (with special focus on gravitational models), assessing the sensitivity of the model results. Such comparison allowed to conclude that the results of the input-output model are not greatly affected by the insertion of different trade flow values. Thus, the results obtained do not reject the reasonability of using indirect estimates for interregional trade, whenever survey-based data is unavailable. The official input-output tables are published on a total-use rectangular format, which is different from the lay-out upon which traditional input-output models were developed (domestic use symmetric tables). The objective here was to demonstrate the equivalence in the results of the input-output model between two alternative procedures: 1) to convert the available input-output table into a domestic-flow symmetric table at basic prices and then implement the input-output model; 2) to perform the direct modelling of the original table (the total-flow rectangular table at purchasers’ prices). It has been concluded that, when the same set of hypotheses is used, there is no advantage in making a previous transformation of the original tables into the symmetric format and a previous calculation of domestic flows, since the results of the model are exactly the same

Economic and demographic issues related to deployment of the Satellite Power System (SPS)

Growth in energy consumption stimulated interest in exploitation of renewable sources of electric energy. One technology that was proposed is the Satellite Power System (SPS). Before committing the U.S. to such a large program, the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are jointly participating in an SPS Concept Development and Evaluation Program. This white paper on industrial and population relocation is part of the FY 78 preliminary evaluation of related socio-economic issues. Results of four preliminary assessment activities are documented

Structuring information for environmental management

Thesis. 1975. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.Bibliography: leaves 130-132.by Jay William John Wollenberg.M.C.P