Innovations in spatial planning as a social process – phases, actors, conflicts

The aim of this paper is to understand the social process of the emergence and institutionalization of innovations in spatial planning (which we describe as ‘social innovations’). The paper is based on a recently finished empirical and comparative study conducted in four distinct areas of spatial planning in Germany: urban design, neighbourhood development, urban regeneration and regional planning. The empirical cases selected in these areas encompass different topics, historical periods, degrees of maturity and spatial scales of innovation. As a temporal structure of the innovation processes in the different cases we identified five phases: ‘incubating, generating, formatting, stabilizing, adjusting’. In a cross-comparison of the case studies and along these phases, we furthermore found typical (groups of) actors, tensions and conflicts. In the focus of our case analyses are the following dimensions: (1) the content of the innovations, (2) actors, networks and communities involved as well as (3) institutions and institutionalization

Local Constructions of Vulnerability and Resilience in the Context of Climate Change. A Comparison of Lübeck and Rostock

Climate change is globally defined as a “reality”. This does not mean however that the way in which it is understood is the same all over the world. Rather, perceptions may differ at different places and times, even if physical and geographical conditions are similar. For the time being, this phenomenon has not been dealt with on a theoretical-conceptual level. The article will address this desiderate. Based on the approaches of social constructivism as well as actor-network theory, a theoretical concept will be suggested as a heuristic model for empirical analysis. By the examples of Lübeck and Rostock, two cities on Germany’s Baltic coast, it will be shown that climate change related perceptions of vulnerability and resilience may build on physical- material aspects but that they are above all considerably interwoven with specific cultural and social patterns of interpretation. In the framework of the local discourse in Lübeck, it is the strong Hanseatic tradition which consumes the climate change issue, whereas in Rostock it is the problems and historical breaks of a transformation society which shape the way of viewing climate change. View Full-Tex

Local Constructions of Vulnerability and Resilience in the Context of Climate Change. A Comparison of Lübeck and Rostock

Climate change is globally defined as a “reality”. This does not mean however that the way in which it is understood is the same all over the world. Rather, perceptions may differ at different places and times, even if physical and geographical conditions are similar. For the time being, this phenomenon has not been dealt with on a theoretical-conceptual level. The article will address this desiderate. Based on the approaches of social constructivism as well as actor-network theory, a theoretical concept will be suggested as a heuristic model for empirical analysis. By the examples of Lübeck and Rostock, two cities on Germany’s Baltic coast, it will be shown that climate change related perceptions of vulnerability and resilience may build on physical- material aspects but that they are above all considerably interwoven with specific cultural and social patterns of interpretation. In the framework of the local discourse in Lübeck, it is the strong Hanseatic tradition which consumes the climate change issue, whereas in Rostock it is the problems and historical breaks of a transformation society which shape the way of viewing climate change. View Full-Tex

Response of a catalytic reaction to periodic variation of the CO pressure: Increased CO_2 production and dynamic phase transition

We present a kinetic Monte Carlo study of the dynamical response of a Ziff-Gulari-Barshad model for CO oxidation with CO desorption to periodic variation of the CO presure. We use a square-wave periodic pressure variation with parameters that can be tuned to enhance the catalytic activity. We produce evidence that, below a critical value of the desorption rate, the driven system undergoes a dynamic phase transition between a CO_2 productive phase and a nonproductive one at a critical value of the period of the pressure oscillation. At the dynamic phase transition the period-averged CO_2 production rate is significantly increased and can be used as a dynamic order parameter. We perform a finite-size scaling analysis that indicates the existence of power-law singularities for the order parameter and its fluctuations, yielding estimated critical exponent ratios $\beta/\nu \approx 0.12$ and $\gamma/\nu \approx 1.77$. These exponent ratios, together with theoretical symmetry arguments and numerical data for the fourth-order cumulant associated with the transition, give reasonable support for the hypothesis that the observed nonequilibrium dynamic phase transition is in the same universality class as the two-dimensional equilibrium Ising model.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted in Physical Review

Security Evaluation of Support Vector Machines in Adversarial Environments

Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are among the most popular classification techniques adopted in security applications like malware detection, intrusion detection, and spam filtering. However, if SVMs are to be incorporated in real-world security systems, they must be able to cope with attack patterns that can either mislead the learning algorithm (poisoning), evade detection (evasion), or gain information about their internal parameters (privacy breaches). The main contributions of this chapter are twofold. First, we introduce a formal general framework for the empirical evaluation of the security of machine-learning systems. Second, according to our framework, we demonstrate the feasibility of evasion, poisoning and privacy attacks against SVMs in real-world security problems. For each attack technique, we evaluate its impact and discuss whether (and how) it can be countered through an adversary-aware design of SVMs. Our experiments are easily reproducible thanks to open-source code that we have made available, together with all the employed datasets, on a public repository.Comment: 47 pages, 9 figures; chapter accepted into book 'Support Vector Machine Applications

The Static and Dynamic Lattice Changes Induced by Hydrogen Adsorption on NiAl(110)

Static and dynamic changes induced by adsorption of atomic hydrogen on the NiAl(110) lattice at 130 K have been examined as a function of adsorbate coverage. Adsorbed hydrogen exists in three distinct phases. At low coverages the hydrogen is itinerant because of quantum tunneling between sites and exhibits no observable vibrational modes. Between 0.4 ML and 0.6 ML, substrate mediated interactions produce an ordered superstructure with c(2x2) symmetry, and at higher coverages, hydrogen exists as a disordered lattice gas. This picture of how hydrogen interacts with NiAl(110) is developed from our data and compared to current theoretical predictions.Comment: 36 pages, including 12 figures, 2 tables and 58 reference

Beam-Normal Single Spin Asymmetry in Elastic Electron Scattering off 28^{28}Si and 90^{90}Zr

We report on a new measurement of the beam-normal single spin asymmetry $A_{\mathrm{n}}$ in the elastic scattering of 570 MeV transversely polarized electrons off $^{28}$Si and $^{90}$Zr at $Q^{2}=0.04\, \mathrm{GeV}^2/c^2$. The studied kinematics allow for a comprehensive comparison with former results on $^{12}$C. No significant mass dependence of the beam-normal single spin asymmetry is observed in the mass regime from $^{12}$C to $^{90}$Zr.Comment: Submitted for publication to Physics Letters

Analysing changes in discursive constructions of rural areas in the context of demographic change: towards counterpoints in the dominant discourse on "dying villages"

"Empirically, this article is based on a research project on rural municipalities in structurally weak regions of Germany suffering from demographic change and attempting to find ways out of their crisis situation through novel approaches in community development. The example of the village of Treptitz in Saxony, which was investigated using an ethnographic discourse analysis, demonstrated that a small-scale discourse (of restricted spatial range) developed in the context of its innovative sewage works and biogas project. There, commonly shared knowledge could establish a context in which the village is considered an ingenious, socially intact, resolute and thus vibrant village; a village that actively pursues its prospects for the future. This small-scale discourse defies the wider demographic discourse, which, as the article shows, focuses primarily on 'dying villages.' For the conceptualisation of the empirical observations, the article is based on the assumption that it is in communications and in public discourses - in particular specific recurrent contents on rural areas and demographic change - that specific knowledge elements and reality constructions of rural areas emerge and stabilise within society. This assumption includes the idea that when the content of public discourses on rural areas change, for example through small-scale discursive counterpoints, it is possible for new knowledge elements and new constructions of reality to develop. Against this background, the approach of a (new) discursive construction of spaces is selected as theoretical starting point for the analysis. By referring to the communicative-constructivism approach and by integrating the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse, it is perfectly suited for theoretically spelling out changing discursive constructions of rural areas in the context of demographic change." (author's abstract

Investigating spatial transformation processes: an ethnographic discourse analysis in disadvantaged neighbourhoods

This contribution focuses on the question of how spatial transformation processes, or to be more concrete, the social reconstruction of places can be methodologically investigated. On the basis of a micro-perspective, I will argue that it is communicative action that plays a crucial role in spatial transformation processes. Taking this into account, the main question is how the structures and dynamics of space-related communicative action in actor constellations as well as in discourses can be empirically explored. Such a dynamic and broad object of research in methodological terms requires a complex research design, and I suggest that it is an "ethnographic discourse analysis" which can meet these requirements. In the following, I will start with basic theoretical considerations, to then outline the research question of a project that, by the example of ‘urban pioneers’, investigates bottom-up initiatives aiming to achieve more quality of life in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. First of all, I will describe the significant properties of the selected neighbourhoods of Berlin-Moabit and Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg in Germany as well as the characteristics of the urban actors under analysis. Subsequently, I will explain the way in which (focused) ethnography and (the sociology of knowledge approach to) discourse analysis were combined, particularly how the methods involved – such as the problem-centred interview, ego-centred network analysis, participant observation as well as discourse analytical procedures – were applied and how the collected data were analysed. The contribution concludes with the presentation of selected results and a discussion on how far the methodological proceeding proved to be adequate in order to investigate spatial transformation processes on a "microscopic level"