Environmental and Economic Implications of Alternative Cruise Ship Pathways in Bermuda

As the cruise ship industry moves towards ever larger vessels, many tourist destinations are faced with dilemmas about how to accommodate the latest generation of ships, which require deeper and wider shipping pathways. The location of nearshore shipping channels traveled by cruise ships has important environmental and economic implications, as dredging larger lanes damages habitat, ship traffic produces sediment plumes that can smother adjacent sensitive habitats (e.g., coral reefs, seagrass beds), and dredging costs vary spatially. These environmental and economic costs should ideally be evaluated in the context of projected benefits from increased tourism. To inform decision-making on cruise ship pathway design, we evaluated tradeoffs among tourism revenue to the local economy, dredging costs, direct coral damage and sedimentation impacts to coral reefs of alternative cruise ship approach channels for the island of Bermuda. We compiled economic data on cruise tourism and dredging costs and developed a sediment particle tracking model, overlaid on maps of coral cover, to track the spread of sediment particles and resulting coral sedimentation caused by cruise ships. Using our models we compared two viable routes, if dredged, for larger ships to reach Bermuda, along with a scenario of no dredging in which the next generation of larger ships is not accommodated. Our tradeoff analysis shows that the status quo (no dredging; no larger ships) scenario performs relatively well except for the risk of a significant loss in tourism revenue. When selecting between the two channel upgrade scenarios, the south channel upgrade is preferable if dredged material can be reused, thereby recouping dredging costs; otherwise, there is a strong tradeoff between upgrade costs and coral sedimentation. While developed with data layers and inputs specific to Bermuda, this analytical approach could easily be configured to other locations facing similar spatial planning decisions about whether and where to allow pathways for larger cruise ships

Landscape Grammar

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank both of my advisors, Dr. Brent Hall and Dr. Thomas Seebohm, for their guidance through this thesis. Brent has shown extraordinary commitment to the project at all stages of its evolution and has shown his interest in every detail. Thomas has always given his utmost confidence in my abilities and sought to attain the highest quality for this project. Both have fulfilled at various times, the roles of directors, quality control and cheering section. Their dedication to the thesis and to myself are reflected in the quality of the final product. I would also like to acknowledge my employers of the past few years, the Bermuda Civil Service and specifically the Department of Planning. My experience in the Department has given me new perspectives on this thesis that I might not have had in the university arena. I thank my co-workers who have covered my duties while I was on leave, my past and current superiors (Brian Rowlinson, Rudolp

Landscape grammar 2: implementation

In a previous paper, we presented landscape grammar as a framework in which to define the character of a landscape and we used it to generate simulated landscape scenes in order to assess visually the character definition. In this paper we describe the implementation of a landscape grammar in a software environment and its application to a residential neighbourhood. The architecture and functionality of the implementation are described with examples of elements from the landscape vocabulary and rule definitions. The system is applied to define the character of a neighbourhood in Bermuda. Following an outline of the landscape vocabulary, the spatial grammar rules are presented in the form of an iterative construction of a two-dimensional landscape scene which is then presented in a three-dimensional form. Finally, the grammar is modified to demonstrate the effect of imposing hypothetical planning regulations on the site.

Landscape grammar 1: spatial grammar theory and landscape planning

This paper presents the concept of a spatial landscape grammar. The concept formally draws parallels between the structures of linguistics and the character of real-world landscapes. Landscape grammar can be used to define a landscape’s character by using a vocabulary of landscape object types and spatial syntax rules, and these can be used to generate landscape scenes rendered in two or three dimensions through the use of a generative and interpretive production system and modern computing technology. The spatial counterparts of the linguistic concepts of vocabulary and grammar rules are formalized and the basis of the landscape production system is presented. The paper concludes with a short discussion of actual landscape scene generation as a prelude to a companion paper that describes a full implementation of the grammar and interpreter for a residential neighbourhood in Bermuda.

Creating specific grammars with generic grammars: Towards flexible urban design

The aim of the City Induction project is to develop an urban design tool consisting of 3 parts: an urban programme formulation module, a generation module and an evaluation module. The generation module relies on a very generic Urban Grammar composed of several generic grammars called Urban Induction Patterns (UIPs) corresponding to typical urban design moves. Specific grammars, such as the analytical grammars inferred from our case studies, can be obtained by defining specific arrangements of Urban Induction Patterns and specific constraints on the rule parameters. We show that variations on the UIP arrangements or rule parameters can provide design variations and specific grammars to be synthesised through design exploration. It is therefore seen as a process for synthesizing a specific design grammar within the field of urban design and has two main features: (1) it allows for the synthesis of specific grammars during the design process and (2) it allows for the customization of a personal design language within the broad scope of the generic grammar. A formal definition of Urban Grammars is presented and its application in the production of customized urban designs is demonstrated by customizing design languages using a specific compound grammar defined by a specific arrangement of generic grammars.Building TechnologyArchitectur