Pakistan: the causes and repercussions of the housing crisis

"Pakistan is experiencing an unprecedented urban housing crisis. Low-rise, low-income urban settlements are rapidly and informally becoming high-rise, high-density informal settlements, with all the physical, social and environmental problems of unplanned densification. Meanwhile, speculative low-density elite housing is encroaching on the ecological assets of the city. This working paper explores the factors that have led to this crisis – and also what policy actions can be taken to help mitigate it, such as passing legislation to acquire land for low-income settlements, suppressing land speculation and prescribing minimum density for all settlements. Providing affordable credit and house improvement loans for informal settlements will also be crucial, as well as advice on how to use those loans effectively. Appropriate housing standards are also needed so that design and technical advice is available to those involved in the informal and formal densification process, while also establishing criteria for judging the merits of new housing projects. Finally, more research is needed to better understand the processes, actors and dynamics of the evolving informal densification process.

Crisis Communication Patterns in Social Media during Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was one of the deadliest and costliest of hurricanes over the past few decades. Many states experienced significant power outage, however many people used social media to communicate while having limited or no access to traditional information sources. In this study, we explored the evolution of various communication patterns using machine learning techniques and determined user concerns that emerged over the course of Hurricane Sandy. The original data included ~52M tweets coming from ~13M users between October 14, 2012 and November 12, 2012. We run topic model on ~763K tweets from top 4,029 most frequent users who tweeted about Sandy at least 100 times. We identified 250 well-defined communication patterns based on perplexity. Conversations of most frequent and relevant users indicate the evolution of numerous storm-phase (warning, response, and recovery) specific topics. People were also concerned about storm location and time, media coverage, and activities of political leaders and celebrities. We also present each relevant keyword that contributed to one particular pattern of user concerns. Such keywords would be particularly meaningful in targeted information spreading and effective crisis communication in similar major disasters. Each of these words can also be helpful for efficient hash-tagging to reach target audience as needed via social media. The pattern recognition approach of this study can be used in identifying real time user needs in future crises

Impacts of economic crises and reform on the informal textile industry in Karachi

"To date, no empirical research has examined the local impacts of economic crises and reform on cities in Pakistan, including Karachi. This study addresses this gap by examining how the textile industry – as one of Pakistan’s most productive economic sectors – has been impacted, with a focus on the informal power loom sub-sector. The factors that have contributed to the decline of the textile industry and the repercussions for this sub-sector, including one of the settlements in which it operates, are discussed. The conclusions contemplate the challenges of formulating urban policy responses to an economic problem that is shaped simultaneously by local, regional and global pressures.

“If you look at Karachi and who plans it, the decisions are made by those who do not understand the problems of the ordinary people” – Arif Hasan

With its fast-growing population Karachi is typical of many South Asian megacities that struggle to meet the needs of low income citizens. The eminent Pakistani architect Arif Hasan has been involved in urban development for over 40 years. Here he talks to Mukti Jain Campion about his home city’s post-Partition evolution

Sejarah kedatangan Islam dan Tradisi Posan (Pesaji) di Pulau Lombok

Islam muncul di Pulau Lombok pada abad ke-16 sekitar tahun 1545 masihi. Kemudian agama Islam disebar luaskan oleh pendakwah yang berasal dari Pulau Jawa iaitu Sunan Prapen putera kepada Sunan Giri (Wali Songo). Sebelum kedatangan Islam kepercayaan asli masyarakat Lombok atau Suku Sasak ialah Boda. Penganut Boda merupakan komuniti kecil dan masih wujud pada awal abad ke-20, di bahagian utara Gunung Rinjani dan di beberapa desa di sebelah selatan Gunung Rinjani. Mereka berasal dari bahagian tengah pulau Lombok dan mereka pindah ke wilayah pegunungan untuk menghindari proses Islamisasi. Sementara masyarakat Islam Wetu Telu dalam pengamalan kepercayaannya dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, masih sangat kuat berpegang teguh pada adat atau tradisi nenek moyang. Contohnya ialah tradisi Posan (Pesaji) merupakan sebuah upacara adat yang dilaksanakan oleh masyarakat Islam Wetu Telu ketika menyunat anak lelaki dan tradisi ini masih dilaksanakan sampai sekarang ini. Masyarakat Islam Wetu Telu juga merupakan masyarakat yang kuat akan kepercayaannya terhadap Animisme dan Dinamisme. Asal usul masyarakat Islam Wetu Telu ini ialah adanya percampuran kepercayaan daripada Animisme, Dinamisme, Hindu dan Islam. Kajian ini membincangkan tentang sejarah singkat tradisi posan dan sejarah munculnya agama Islam di Pulau Lombok

Assessment of English Language Learning in 2013 Curriculum

This study aims to determine: (1) the implementation of the 2013 curriculum in the assessment of English learning conducted by teachers; (2) the implementation of the 2013 curriculum English learning assessment in terms of national examination results; (3) the implementation of the 2013 curriculum English learning assessment in terms of teacher stratum. This research is a survey research using a quantitative approach and supported by a qualitative approach. This research was conducted in 16 state high schools in Sleman Regency. The samples in this study were 34 English teachers, all of them had taught based on the 2013 curriculum. Data collection in this study used questionnaires, observations, document analysis and interviews. The data analysis technique used is quantitative and qualitative descriptive techniques. The results of this study indicate that: (1) the implementation of the 2013 curriculum in learning assessment gets an average score of 3.5 (very good). Learning assessment is carried out based on education assessment standards in the 2013 curriculum. (2) implementation of learning assessments that are in accordance with the 2013 curriculum in schools that have low, medium, and high national examination scores is included in the excellent category with an average percentage of 87.45%; (3) the implementation of learning assessment that is in accordance with the 2013 curriculum in terms of the stratum of teachers, that non-civil servant teachers implement higher learning assessment than civil servant teachers

Analisis Koordinasi Recloser dan PMT Penyulang Palasari (PLSI) Distribusi Jawa Barat dan Banten Area Bandung

Gangguan pada jaringan distribusi teganganmenengah yang sering terjadi adalah gangguan temporer,untuk mengatasi gangguan temporer pada jaringan distribusibiasanya dipasang recloser (Pemutus Balik Otomatis)dimana kontak-kontak recloser dapat menutup kembalisecara otomatis ketika terjadi gangguan. Pengaman recloserharus dapat dikoordinasikan dengan pengaman lain padajaringan, misalnya PMT di bagian hulu penyulang, relay aruslebih (OCR) dan relay gangguan tanah (GFR) agarselektifitasnya tercapai. Untuk mengkoordinasikan recloserdan PMT diperlukannya settingan relay serta waktu kerjarelay yang sesuai pada jaringa

Pakistan: the causes and repercussions of the housing crisis

"Pakistan is experiencing an unprecedented urban housing crisis. Low-rise, low-income urban settlements are rapidly and informally becoming high-rise, high-density informal settlements, with all the physical, social and environmental problems of unplanned densification. Meanwhile, speculative low-density elite housing is encroaching on the ecological assets of the city. This working paper explores the factors that have led to this crisis – and also what policy actions can be taken to help mitigate it, such as passing legislation to acquire land for low-income settlements, suppressing land speculation and prescribing minimum density for all settlements. Providing affordable credit and house improvement loans for informal settlements will also be crucial, as well as advice on how to use those loans effectively. Appropriate housing standards are also needed so that design and technical advice is available to those involved in the informal and formal densification process, while also establishing criteria for judging the merits of new housing projects. Finally, more research is needed to better understand the processes, actors and dynamics of the evolving informal densification process.