Unsettling planning theory

Recent political developments in many parts of the world seem likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate the planetary-scale challenges of social polarization, inequality and environmental change societies face. In this unconventional multi-authored essay, we therefore seek to explore some of the ways in which planning theory might respond to the deeply unsettling times we live in. Taking the multiple, suggestive possibilities of the theme of unsettlement as a starting point, we aim to create space for reflection and debate about the state of the discipline and practice of planning theory, questioning what it means to produce knowledge capable of acting on the world today. Drawing on exchanges at a workshop attended by a group of emerging scholars in Portland, Oregon in late 2016, the essay begins with an introduction section exploring the contemporary resonances of ‘unsettling’ in, of and for planning theory. This is followed by four, individually authored responses which each connect the idea of unsettlement to key challenges and possible future directions. We end by calling for a reflective practice of theorizing that accepts unsettlement but seeks to act knowingly and compassionately on the uneven terrain that it creates

Current debates in urban theory: a critical assessment

Urban studies today is marked by many active debates. In an earlier paper, we addressed some of these debates by proposing a foundational concept of urbanization and urban form as a way of identifying a common language for urban research. In the present paper we provide a brief recapitulation of that framework. We then use this preliminary material as background to a critique of three currently influential versions of urban analysis, namely, postcolonial urban theory, assemblage theoretic approaches, and planetary urbanism. We evaluate each of these versions in turn and find them seriously wanting as statements about urban realities. We criticize (a) postcolonial urban theory for its particularism and its insistence on the provincialization of knowledge, (b) assemblage theoretic approaches for their indeterminacy and eclecticism, and (c) planetary urbanism for its radical devaluation of the forces of agglomeration and nodality in urban-economic geography

QoS-aware service composition in dino

A major advantage offered by Web services technologies is the ability to dynamically discover and invoke services. This ability is particularly important for operations of many applications executing in open dynamic environments. The QoS properties of the required and provided services play a significant role in dynamic discovery and invocation of services in open dynamic environments. In this paper, we discuss our approach to QoS specification and service provider selection, in the context of our work on the Dino project. The service provider selection algorithm used in Dino takes into account the relative benefit offered by a provider with respect to the requester-specified QoS criteria, and the trustworthiness of the provider. We explain our approach using an example from the automotive domain. 1

Engage: Engineering Service Modes with WS-Engineer and Dino

Abstract. In this demonstration 1 we present an approach to engineering service brokering requirements and capabilities using the concepts of Service Modes. The demonstration illustrates building service modes in UML2 with Rational Software Modeller, transforming modes in WS-Engineer and generating artefacts for runtime service brokering. 1 The Service Modes Approach A mode, in the context of service engineering, aims to provide an easily accessible mechanism for developing adaptive service brokering requirements. Service modes are an abstraction of a set of services that collaborate to achieve a task or sub-tasks. A Service Modes Architecture consists of specifying the service components, their configuration and behaviour required or provided, and their interface specifications. We developed and apply a UML Service Modes Profile [1] to identify various elements of the service configuration elements for service brokering, and reuse this in the approach to identify required and provided services in modes. A service modes model consists of a number of mode packages, whic