Mapping policy discourse with CRANES: spatial understanding support systems as a medium for community conflict resolution

In this paper I will report on the development of a new spatial understanding support system (SUSS) for representing community disputes. It is argued that the more traditional approach of spatial decision support systems (SDSS) has had limited success in its application to actual community conflicts. In this study I have therefore adopted an alternative approach to spatial decision support, broadly following the paradigm of soft operational research. A prototype system termed CRANES (coordinator for rational arguments through nested substantiation) has been developed based on this alternative approach, integrated with a GIS. CRANES is a computer-assisted communication tool that aims to structure conflicts with their geographical, strategic, and argumentative dimensions. In the case study CRANES was introduced into an actual consultation exercise on an urban regeneration scheme in London. Results show that the multidimensional representation realised by CRANES contributed to a richer understanding of other peoples' arguments. Furthermore these arguments structured by and stored in CRANES proved to be a useful public resource for future decisionmaking. It is concluded that SUSS such as CRANES could be incorporated into a future consultation process for many real-world community conflicts.

International Investment Treaties and Host Government Opportunism in Public-Private Partnership: a Critical Appraisal

Contemporary schemes on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) often involve the participation of both foreign and domestic private investors in public infrastructure. The vulnerability of these schemes to host government actions and omissions has given rise to a number of empirical studies on global determinants of PPP trends. In the light of this vulnerability, the impacts of reward and punishment mechanisms that characterize Bilateral and Multilateral Investment Protection Treaties on reducing the temptation for host-government opportunism have been a subject of interest. Interestingly, the actual impact of these international legal mechanisms on investment location has also been controversial. The aims of this paper are as thus to examine the applicability of agreements on Bilateral and Multilateral Investment Protection in Public-Private Infrastructure, and to analyze the factors that militate against the benefits thereof, using political economy and game-theoretic perspectives. In view of the increase in the number of cases that have used various forms of agreement on international investment, we conclude that it will be premature to deny the fact that international investment laws have made a significant difference. In addition, we have examined a number of factors that can determine the extent of their efficacy, with particular reference to oversea PPP investment promotion and protection

Using argumentative mapping and qualitative probabilistic network in resettlement planning process: A case study of Padma Multi-purpose Bridge Project

This paper describes an alternative methodology for representing and analyzing diversified views of project Affected Persons (APs) in order to facilitate development processes for resettlement planning. The traditional methodologies including Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) and Argumentation Support Systems have at times showed their ineffectiveness in terms of gathering, analyzing and incorporating diversified views of project APs into necessary strategies and actions. This ineffectiveness is due to the fact that they have limitations in dealing with ill-structured problems and uncertainty to analyze alternative strategies or management options. The paper therefore, proposes an integrated method in order to encounter these limitations. The integrated method is based on a combination of Argumentative Mapping for Resettlement Planning (AMRP) and Qualitative Probabilistic Networks (QPNs). The new methodology was introduced in a large-scale infrastructure project, namely Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project, Bangladesh to verify its applicability. Scenario-based analyses for different combination of management options/interventions within the developed qualitative probabilistic networks were conducted which provided basis for a list of recommendations. Results derived from the scenario-based analyses not only provide better insights of the land acquisition and resettlement-related problems, but also indicate critical management options for desired objectives

The devil is in the detail: visualising analogical thought in retail location decisionmaking

Retailers use analogues (similar stores) routinely in the process of site assessment, either as a basic method of sales forecasting in its own right, or as a check on more complex quantitative models. In earlier stages of our research, we identified intuitive or qualitative causal knowledge structures derived from cognitive mapping interviews with UK retail directors to classify new sites according to their degree of likeness on these same attributes. Here, we focus on how the analogues identified by our qualitative system can be visualised effectively for use in location analysis. We discuss the role of analogy in retail location decisionmaking and the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of visualisation. We evaluate the visual aspects of the system developed in the course of our research with reference to users' qualitative responses. The central issue appears to be the value users place on the system being able to summarise analogues simply on key dimensions at a general level, as well as its ability to 'drill down' into the detail so that analogue representativeness can be established.

The Impact of Ecological Restoration Projects in Dry Lands: Data-based Assessment and Human Perceptions in the Lower Reaches of Heihe River Basin, China

Desertification is a critical environmental problem in China’s northwestern region. In this context, since the early 2000s, projects targeting ecological restoration have been implemented in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin. Using multi-scale remote sensing data and field observations, this paper examines the outcomes of the ecological restoration projects. Specifically, this paper examines the vegetation change through remote sensing and local perceptions of the projects through semi-structured questionnaires. The results from remote sensing reveal that during the restoration projects, vegetation coverage in riparian areas of the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin increased. However, this increase cannot be simply equated with ecological recovery. Expansion of farmland and afforested areas have also contributed to the increase in vegetation coverage. Questionnaire results reveal that although locals perceived improvements in the ecological conditions of the lower reaches, most of them were more about future environmental changes. Additionally, results indicate that ecological restoration projects redistributed water resources in the local river reaches and, as a result, local residents living in riparian areas perceive greater benefit. Therefore, the implementation of the project may have actually negatively impacted the water accessibility of those living in the drier Gobi Desert areas