Identifying Key Factors in Planning and Implementing Autonomous Public Transport: An Investigation of Road- and Rail-bound Projects in Germany

Autonomous driving in public transport is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. The reasons for this are manifold – as are the challenges in the implementation. The aim of this article is to highlight these reasons and challenges and, in particular, to provide a deeper insight into the planning and implementation processes of various transport projects in Germany. This enables a comparison of road- and rail-bound transport systems and emphasises the differences between urban and rural project areas. Particular attention is paid to the formation of a stakeholder network in the case of the autonomous metro system in Nuremberg as well as to forms of cooperation in road-bound projects

Thessaloniki for People: Developing a Postmodern Vision for Sustainable Urban Mobility

Modernist urban planning emerged in the 20th century as a solution to conflicts of use between industrial production and housing. However, these originally visionary guidelines are increasingly coming under criticism. Especially the resulting dominant car traffic causes problems today. In order to design more liveable and climate-resilient cities for the future, new planning approaches are needed. These are developed in the following article for the Greek port metropolis of Thessaloniki

Identifying Key Factors in Planning and Implementing Autonomous Public Transport: An Investigation of Road- and Rail-bound Projects in Germany

Autonomous driving in public transport is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. The reasons for this are manifold – as are the challenges in the implementation. The aim of this article is to highlight these reasons and challenges and, in particular, to provide a deeper insight into the planning and implementation processes of various transport projects in Germany. This enables a comparison of road- and rail-bound transport systems and emphasises the differences between urban and rural project areas. Particular attention is paid to the formation of a stakeholder network in the case of the autonomous metro system in Nuremberg as well as to forms of cooperation in road-bound projects

Introduction : Sustainable planning perspective approaches in Thessaloniki

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Introduction: Sustainable Centres of the Future?!

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Conclusion

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Transforming Heat Islands into Neat Islands

The resilience of cities has become an important topic to be considered by authorities in planning (MYRIVILI 2017, oral). Nowadays, many cities need to face various problems caused by environment, such as earthquakes, heat islands or floods (ibid.). The case study takes place in the centre of the city of Athens, to which the main emphasis has been paid during the research. This place also has to fight the shock of heat waves that occur during summer seasons on a daily basis (ibid.). It is not only a challenge for planning authorities, but most importantly it affects people who live in such areas. Therefore, the heat waves have significant impact on Athens’ neighbourhoods, as its occurrence makes those areas barely liveable for people (PAPAIOANNOU 2017, oral). It is mainly burdensome for the inhabitants of such district, where the surrounding areas have not been improved in ages, have not followed the newest and more socially friendly standards, which could reduce heat islands and therefore provide inhabitants with more liveable places to live in, like the researched one (ibid.). The proposal of transforming the heat islands to neat islands in the central district of Athens focuses on the creation of new green and clean places, where people could gather together, but at the same time, these areas would be efficiently reducing the phenomenon of heat islands

The Future of Central Urban Areas – Sustainable Planning and Design Perspectives from Thessaloniki, Greece

European cities such as Thessaloniki and Hanover are facing major transformations and continue to experience increasing challenges today, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or the financial crisis. Current challenges among European cities present similarities but also differentiations and local specificities. Different theats intensified structural upheavals and impacted various sectors, such as health, retail, labour and mobility. Therefore, a number of these challenges are exacerbated. The publication summarises the contributions of a Summer School 2023 in Thessaloniki that focused on „The future of central urban areas of Thessaloniki“ and the discussion of approaches and strategies coping with some of the above mentioned challenges in central urban areas. The Summer School is a central cornerstone of the University partnership for joint educational and research activities at the Leibniz University of Hanover (Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, Institute of environmental planning) and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – AUTH (Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture). It is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of the project “Centres of the Future“ (FutureCentres)

The challenges of recruiting never-smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from the large population-based Swedish CArdiopulmonary bioImage study (SCAPIS) cohort

Background A substantial proportion of individuals with COPD have never smoked, and it is implied to be more common than previously anticipated but poorly studied.Aim To describe the process of recruitment of never-smokers with COPD from a population-based cohort (n = 30 154).Methods We recruited never-smokers with COPD, aged 50–75 years, from six University Hospitals, based on: 1) post broncho-dilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) 100% of predicted (26%) or z-score ≥ −1,64 (24%). Finally, 154 never-smokers with COPD were included: 56 (36%) women, (mean) age 60 years, FEV1 84% of predicted, FEV1/FVC: 0.6, z-score: −2.2, Oxygen saturation: 97% and BMI: 26.8 kg/m2.Conclusions The challenges of a recruitment process of never-smokers with COPD were shown, including the importance of correct spirometry testing and strict inclusion criteria. Our findings highlight the importance of repeated spirometry assessments for improved accuracy in diagnosing COPD