Geodesign the multi-layered water safety

This paper aims to frame the multi-layered water safety concept in the context of a systematic, thorough, multidisciplinary and collaborative methodology for complex problems solving, i.e. geodesign. Multi-layered safety is an integrated flood risk management (FRM) concept based not only on flood probability reduction through prevention (layer 1), but also on consequences’ minimization in the case of a flood through spatial solutions (layer 2) and crisis management (layer 3). It has been introduced in the Netherlands in 2009 following the European Flood Risk Directive adopted in 2007. In this study, the multi-layered safety is qualitatively assessed, demonstrating that it rather resembles a parallel system, and that collaboration is required to decide about the most desirable safety measures, which should not only be based on their economic efficiency but also on their social acceptability. In the light of these factors, we attempt to methodologically systematize the multi-layered safety concept by following the geodesign framework. The latter means that, through its implementation, understanding of the current situation of a particular area of interest, which in turn it may support, the allocation of weights regarding the three layers of the multi-tier safety concept is facilitated. Furthermore, the geodesign of the multi-layered safety shows that participation and interaction of the safety policy makers, as well as iterations for achieving maximum consensus between them concerning the more balanced safety measures, taking into account their economic efficiency, their impact on the environment, the local circumstances and the values of the people at place, are methodologically enabled

Spatial Barriers in Information and Communication Systems

Giaoutzi Maria. Spatial Barriers in Information and Communication Systems. In: NETCOM : Réseaux, communication et territoires / Networks and Communication Studies, vol. 4 n°1, avril 1990. pp. 84-101

PROMOTING RES AND RUE IN TRANSPORT POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

INTRODUCTION Over the last decades tourism has grown enormously and travel distances have increased. Land occupied by tourism related activities is growing significantly, in certain areas, and this trend is expected to continue, at the expense of land previously used in other activities. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), tourism is likely to become the largest single economic activity in the EU (currently accounts for 5.5% of the EU's GNP). In this context, particular emphasis should be placed on the impacts of tourism on sustainable development where the integration of environment considerations into the tourism sector should appear of top priority. It is of great importance to find solutions that potentially increase the surplus of carrying capacity of the tourist sites, such as flexible arrival and departure dates, larger seasonal price differentiation, better information on traffic and transport and sustainable tourist development for unexploited promising areas with limited demand. The tourism industry depends heavily on transport and affects significantly traffic generation. Therefore, in the sustainability context, the contribution of renewable energy sources and rational use of energy in the transport sector for tourism, is one of the issues that should be thoroughly explored. The focus of the present paper will be on the contribution of the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Rational Use of Energy (RUE), in the transport sector, for sustainable tourism. In particular, the paper will elaborate on the concerns that should guide future actions on RES and RUE at the various levels of the transport chain in the global Tourism Stakeholder Model. The first part of the paper will provide some basic definitions and will explore the main Community actions to promote sustainability in European Tourism. The second part of the paper will describe the major RES and RUE technologies and practices related to transport, which could play a role in the context of sustainable tourism. The third part will elaborate on policies at the various levels of the transport chain promoting the use of RES and RUE for sustainable tourism. In the fourth part, a real case from Malta will be presented providing integrated solutions towards this end. Finally, in the fourth part some conclusions and guidelines for action will be drawn

The Role of Contact Networks in Reconsidering Urban Systems Hierarchies

The drastic changes occurring within the European continent during the last decade, such as the removal of national harriers within the European Community and the strengthening of economic and political relationships between countries, imply a neiv geo-economic order in Europe as well as considerable changes in the hierarchical relationships between the regional and urban production systems. Reconsideration of hierarchical relationships will be based upon a certain number of criteria such as economic, social, ethnic as well as polarization and accessibility to contact networks. As contact networks can be considered all kinds of networks, both physical as well as non physical. The emphasis given to the notion of contact networks reflects strongly the growing importance attached to the interaction taking place between the various actors or regions, which adds a new dimension to the relationship between networks and spatial development. The growing accessibility of urban centres based on various types of contact networks is expected to reconsider accessibility and development patterns in the urban hierarchy at a European scale. In such a context, the hierarchy of urban centres so far based on indicators such as production activities, population e.t.c. has been, at stake. Cities are nowadays acquiring the role of being the nodes of contact networks. The focus of this paper is related to the process of evolving urban hierarchy at a European scale in the light of accessibility of urban centres to contact networks, both from a theoretical as well as a methodological point of view. The paper aims at establishing a methodological paradigm for evaluating the dynamics of urban hierarchy, where the issue of accessibility to contact networks is taken into account through various accessibility indicators.Giaoutzi Maria, Stratigea Anastasia. The Role of Contact Networks in Reconsidering Urban Systems Hierarchies. In: NETCOM : Réseaux, communication et territoires / Networks and Communication Studies, vol. 14 n°3-4,2000. Built Space, New Technologies and Networks. pp. 253-266

Teleworking and Virtual Organization in the Urban and Regional Context

The globalization process taking place in the context of information society provides a broad range of opportunities to the actors involved in more efficient organizational forms, new trading opportunities, restructured educational perspectives, new employment challenges, etc. Employment patterns so far have been dramatically influenced by the rapidly evolving technological innovations and their potential role on spatial structuring both at the urban and regional level. One prominent application of the newly offered possibilities is teleworking which alters considerably traditional patterns of work, mobility patterns, energy consumption patterns, personal relationships, etc. While teleworking has induced new forms of work organization, technological developments have also advocated radical changes in the structure of firms, where “virtual organization” is emerging as a response to increasing competition and need for efficient use of resources. Virtual organization is characterized by three distinct elements, namely-, new organizational forms, being active beyond the limits of the traditional company model, a network function support, where various firms are trying through networking to seize business opportunities, which none of them would be able to realize on their own and the ability to overcome time and space barriers in a rapidly changing global marketplace. The focus of the paper will be to explore the new perspectives opened to spatial restructuring due to the introduction of virtual firms.Stratigea Anastasia, Giaoutzi Maria. Teleworking and Virtual Organization in the Urban and Regional Context. In: NETCOM : Réseaux, communication et territoires / Networks and Communication Studies, vol. 14 n°3-4,2000. Built Space, New Technologies and Networks. pp. 331-357

Crowdsourcing as a Tool for Knowledge Acquisition in Spatial Planning

The term “crowdsourcing” was initially introduced by Howe in his article “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” [1]. During the last few years, crowdsourcing has become popular among companies, institutions and universities, as a crowd-centered modern “tool” for problem solving. Crowdsourcing is mainly based on the idea of an open-call publication of a problem, requesting the response of the crowd for reaching the most appropriate solution. The focus of this paper is on the role of crowdsourcing in knowledge acquisition for planning applications. The first part provides an introduction to the origins of crowdsourcing in knowledge generation. The second part elaborates on the concept of crowdsourcing, while some indicative platforms supporting the development of crowdsourcing applications are also described. The third part focuses on the integration of crowdsourcing with certain web technologies and GIS (Geographic Information Systems), for spatial planning applications, while in the fourth part, a general framework of the rationale behind crowdsourcing applications is presented. Finally, the fifth part focuses on a range of case studies that adopted several crowdsourcing techniques

Sustainable Product Lifecycle Management and Territoriality: New Structure for PLM

Part 12: New PLMInternational audienceProduct Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a business strategy, which aims to streamline the flow of information about products and related processes throughout the whole product’s Lifecycle such that the right information in the right context at the right time can be made available. Recently some studies have been presented on general capabilities of PLM to improve sustainability paradigm, but the subject is still not solved completely. In this paper, first a critical review on the recent advances of Sustainable PLM is presented then a new structure for PLM is proposed based on combination of geographical information systems (GIS) and Lifecycle assessment (LCA), to reach an improvement on sustainable development in territorial scale for achieving a more sustainable paradigm in global scale