Design of Urban Public Spaces: Intent vs. Reality.

This study investigated how two public spaces for sport and recreation were utilized by different user groups, and how this aligned with the initial design objectives for these spaces. Two newly built urban spaces situated in Copenhagen, Denmark, provided the context for this investigation. The System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) was used to examine the physical activity of users in these two urban spaces. The architects responsible for designing each space were interviewed to ascertain the intended target group of each space and to unravel the reasons behind the design decisions. The SOPARC observations revealed that males were more vigorously active than females when using the recreation facilities, and the observed users did not align with the intended target groups. The interviews suggested that design decisions were based on minimal interdisciplinary knowledge, and that expert knowledge was chosen randomly. These findings point to a systematic lack of evidence-based practice when designing sport and recreational facilities. This article has implications for landscape architects and urban planners; a new method must be developed to embed interdisciplinary knowledge in the planning process of future sport and recreation projects. This must be done in a systematic way to make the design process transparent

Best value and workplace partnership in local government

Purpose – This paper explores employee experiences concerning job security/insecurity, workload, job satisfaction and employee involvement in the aftermath of Best Value reviews in a local authority. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques employees’ experiences of Best Value reviews in a local authority are compared and contrasted with council staff employed elsewhere in the authority to establish the extent to which workplace partnership principles have taken hold under a Best Value regime. Findings – Little evidence of positive outcomes was found from partnership at work under a Best Value regime. The constraints imposed by central government, under which managers in the public sector operate, contributed significantly to partnership at work remaining little more than a hollow shell. Originality/value – This paper provides a recent in-depth case study of the experience of workplace partnership, which was developed not discrete from but as part of the Best Value modernisation programme in a local authority

Optimised access to user analysis data using the gLite DPM

The ScotGrid distributed Tier-2 now provides more that 4MSI2K and 500TB for LHC computing, which is spread across three sites at Durham, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Tier-2 sites have a dual role to play in the computing models of the LHC VOs. Firstly, their CPU resources are used for the generation of Monte Carlo event data. Secondly, the end user analysis data is distributed across the grid to the site's storage system and held on disk ready for processing by physicists' analysis jobs. In this paper we show how we have designed the ScotGrid storage and data management resources in order to optimise access by physicists to LHC data. Within ScotGrid, all sites use the gLite DPM storage manager middleware. Using the EGEE grid to submit real ATLAS analysis code to process VO data stored on the ScotGrid sites, we present an analysis of the performance of the architecture at one site, and procedures that may be undertaken to improve such. The results will be presented from the point of view of the end user (in terms of number of events processed/second) and from the point of view of the site, which wishes to minimise load and the impact that analysis activity has on other users of the system

Community Economic Development, Community Development Finance: Introducing the Terms Exploring the Relationship

How the two terms community economic development and community development finance are defined is crucial to the construction of any development system, whether it be geographic or functional in scope. What the terms are thought to entail will influence the fundamental direction of any effort. In this article, the authors set out what is generally accepted as the connotation of these terms, and then report the particular principles that appear to underlie the most effective practice in CED and Community Development finance

The web in marketing : information cue usage in two commercial domains

The study reported in this paper involves a comparison of Resnik &amp; Stern&rsquo;s (e.g., 1977) information cue usage in websites registered in two commercial domains of the World Wide Web (Web)&mdash;.com (global domain managed by VeriSign) and .com.au (a country domain, auDomain, managed by the Australian Domain Name Administrator&mdash;AUDA). The hypothesised higher use of information cues by digital marketers with .com registered domain names relative to .com.au registered domain names is not supported. Examination of the audited websites in the two-domain comparison confirms that the Web provides a richer marketing communication medium than other media analysed in a meta-analysis of 117 datasets by Abernethy &amp; Franke (1996). The study is important given the acknowledged influence of advertising information on consumer responses to ads and the brands they relate, to both in traditional and new media (Aaker &amp; Stayman, 1990; Brown &amp; Stayman, 1992; Bruner &amp; Kumar, 2000).<br /

Improving Metacognitive Skills

Research Question: Can a short, weekly email reflection from students in introductory physics courses be structured to improve students’ thinking about their own thinking? Method: By analyzing student responses we will refine the writing prompt and scoring guidelines so that, starting fall 2008, we can begin a longitudinal study in which we follow individual students through at least two quarters of the introductory physics course

Cobranding on the World Wide Web

The drafting of cobranding agreements related to websites requires the consideration of the cobranding parties\u27 needs as well as the end-user experience. This Article outlines most of the primary issues to consider when drafting agreements related to cobranded websites, including: separate party identity and goodwill, substantive obligations, risk allocation, termination of the cobranding relationship, and unauthorized cobranding of websites

The Battle for Higher Standards

In the aftermath of the federal mandates imposed through No Child Left Behind, the state-led effort to establish common math and English standards across states—known as the Common Core State Standards—seemed a welcome change in the approach to improving student achievement and success. However, the effort to ensure that students were ready for college or the workforce became the political target of those who distrust federal mandates and fear a nationalized education agenda bent on social engineering. The standards became intertwined with NSA spying, data mining, and federal grants for education with strings attached