Smart City Dimensions and Associated Risks: Review of literature

Countries have been working on implementing smart city concepts in different regions. The need for the use of information and communication technology in various forms is needed in such cities. There are different dimensions that are to be considered for smart city planning and implementation. This complexity of the dimension, the use of technology, and their integration bring the risk perspectives into the implementation of the smart city concept. If such risks are not adequately understood and addressed, they can create issues in terms of privacy and security and, therefore, the functioning of smart cities. In this review, the identification of dimensions, smart city assessment tools, the available technologies, and the technical and non-technical risk parameters related to smart cities implementation are discussed. The current methods of risk assessment and the possible enhancements are highlighted. The findings of the literature review illustrate that not all smart cities adapt all of the smart city dimensions. The dominant technology used in smart cities' applications is found to be the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and blockchain. The paper also provides some research directions for the design, implementation, and operation of smart cities. 2021 The Author(s)N\A, There is no funding recived to complete this review paper.Scopus2-s2.0-8511950365

Disaster management in industrial areas: perspectives, challenges and future research

Purpose: In most countries, development, growth, and sustenance of industrial facilities are given utmost importance due to the influence in the socio-economic development of the country. Therefore, special economic zones, or industrial areas or industrial cities are developed in order to provide the required services for the sustained operation of such facilities. Such facilities not only provide a prolonged economic support to the country but it also helps in the societal aspects as well by providing livelihood to thousands of people. Therefore, any disaster in any of the facilities in the industrial area will have a significant impact on the population, facilities, the economy, and threatens the sustainability of the operations. This paper provides review of such literature that focus on theory and practice of disaster management in industrial cities. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper, content analysis method is used in order to elicit the insights of the literature available. The methodology uses search methods, literature segregation and developing the current knowledge on different phases of industrial disaster management. Findings: It is found that the research is done in all phases of disaster management, namely, preventive phase, reactive phase and corrective phase. The research in each of these areas are focused on four main aspects, which are facilities, resources, support systems and modeling. Nevertheless, the research in the industrial cities is insignificant. Moreover, the modeling part does not explicitly consider the nature of industrial cities, where many of the chemical and chemical processing can be highly flammable thus creating a very large disaster impact. Some research is focused at an individual plant and scaled up to the industrial cities. The modeling part is weak in terms of comprehensively analyzing and assisting disaster management in the industrial cities. Originality/value: The comprehensive review using content analysis on disaster management is presented here. The review helps the researchers to understand the gap in the literature in order to extend further research for disaster management in large scale industrial cities.Peer Reviewe

Additive Manufacturing Technology for Spare Parts Application: A Systematic Review on Supply Chain Management

Additive manufacturing (AM) is gaining interest among researchers and practitioners in the field of manufacturing. One major potential area of AM application is the manufacturing of spare parts, which affects the availability of the operation and supply chain. The data show that the application and adoption of AM has contributed to a reduction in lead times and inventory, which also contributes to a reduction in holding costs. This paper provides a review of recent work on the application of AM technology specifically for spare parts. The review shows that there are supply chain opportunities and challenges to the adoption of AM in spare parts within various application sectors. Our research reviews both the quantitative and qualitative models used for analysis to meet the emerging needs of the industry. The review also shows that the development of technology and its application is still emerging; therefore, there will be further opportunities to develop better spare parts supply chains to support AM applications. This paper concludes with future research directions. 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Acknowledgments: This study was made possible by the Qatar University grant# M?QJRC?2020?6. The APC was made possible through student grant #QUST?1?CENG?2022?302. The findings of this study are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopus2-s2.0-8512929378

System approach for building energy conservation

Energy use in residential and commercial buildings and towers represents more than 30% of energy consumption. The increase in number of buildings and towers in most of the major cities worldwide led to several initiatives for energy conservation programs with the main objective to achieve energy savings. Most energy strategies include energy conservation beside the increase in the penetration of renewable energy technologies. This paper shows business model and engineering design framework for practical implementation of energy conservation in buildings. Key performance indicators are modeled and used to evaluate energy conservation strategies and energy supply scenarios as part of the design and operation of building energy systems. The proposed system approach shows effective management of building energy knowledge on the basis of Energy Semantic Networks (ESN), which supports the simulation, evaluation, and optimization of several building energy conservation scenarios. Case study hotel is used to illustrate the proposed building energy conservation framework. 2014 The Author.Scopus2-s2.0-8492350384

Perspectives on the capabilities for the selection of strategic projects

Strategic projects are large scale, complex, and require significant investments and resources. These projects aim at gaining long-term social and economic benefits. Therefore, organizations focusing on strategic projects should use a consistent approach that suits their strategy, capability, and long-term expectations. Based on the four research questions and content analysis of the literature, generic processes used for the strategic project selection in tandem with the managerial capabilities are identified in this paper. The generic processes and managerial capabilities are used to develop a generic framework for strategic project selection. The framework is used for literature analysis in the paper. The review shows that both qualitative and quantitative methods are used for strategic project selection. Some possible research directions have also been proposed at the end of the review. The paper provides value to both researchers and practitioners in terms of tools available and a guidance on project selection through a structured process framework. 2020 by the authors.Scopus2-s2.0-8509254534

A Multi-echelon Network Distribution Model For Emergency Resource Planning

Resource planning in emergency management is a challenging task as it involves disaster situations where the demands are rapidly increasing and the resources are scarce. Conventional planning involves a centralized network structure where resources are distributed through a few prepositioning facilities located near to the disaster regions. In this research, we develop a novel multi-echelon network distribution structure for emergency resource planning. The structure at its highest echelon consists of a set of potential Supply Points (SPs), where resources are purchased and consolidated which is more practical in comparison to the conventional centralized structure. SPs are considered as typically large facilities in metropolitan cities in and around the potential disaster region from where the resources are distributed to the prepositioning facilities in order to be able to supply the materials immediately after the disaster in the area. The proposed structure also allows direct shipment of resources from SPs to the disaster regions in the response stage which is more close to the reality. Under the network structure, we formulate a new two-stage stochastic mixed integer programming model for an integrated emergency preparedness and response planning. The objective is to obtain the optimal allocations of the resources along with locations of the SPs and prepositioning facilities to satisfy the demand of disaster victims in a timely and cost-effective manner. We assume demand for supplies in the disaster hit areas are aggregated at locations called Aggregated Demand Points (ADPs). For the current study, the demands at the ADPs are obtained with a set of disaster scenarios each with a probability of occurrence. To develop the resource allocation model, we consider two distribution stages that are decided simultaneously: pre-disaster and post-disaster stages. In the pre-disaster stage, the analysis provides the location of SPs and the pre-disaster purchasing amounts to be acquired at the SPs. All or part of the purchased resources are positioned in prepositioning facilities located at selected ADPs. In the post-disaster stage, detail distribution of the resources to satisfy demands following the disaster event is considered. The demands in the post-disaster stage are met through pre-positioned resources at the prepositioning facilities and additionally, if required, through the direct shipments of resources from the SPs. We consider limited post-disaster purchasing opportunities at SPs as the quantities are to be purchased during a short and chaotic period. The optimization model proposed in this research consists of logistics and deprivation costs. The logistics costs include cost of provisioning, prepositioning, and delivering the resources. The deprivation costs represent the cost of not providing or delays in providing the supplies at the point of demand. The model is tested in a network for numerical analysis. The result shows that multiple SPs in the proposed network distribution structure helps to overcome the possible resource disruption that occurs with single sourcing in the centralized structure, resulting decrease of the demand shortage. Sensitivity of the model with different pre-disaster and post-disaster purchasing conditions at SPs are also discussed in order to represent realistic disaster scenarios. (Acknowledgement: Qatar/QNRF/NPRP Project: 5-200-5-027)qscienc

Locations of Temporary Distribution Facilities for Emergency Response Planning

Resource planning in emergency response phase is challenging primarily because the resources have to be delivered to the affected regions in a timely manner and in right quantities. Disasters such as the hurricanes, epidemics and chemical explosions in general impact large regions and emergency supplies are needed for several days. Demand for the resources in one location at a period may not exist in the next period; or, a particular location may have a very high demand in the subsequent period. This dynamic change in the demand patterns adds further challenges in the planning process. The change in demand both in terms of the location and the quantity is usually tackled through allocation of resources at the prepositioned facilities. However, prepositioned facilities may be small in numbers and distribution of resources to the affected area may require additional funds for transportation and other overhead costs. In such a case, distribution of resources through a number of temporary facilities, located near the demand centers can significantly improve the distribution process thereby decreasing the supply response time. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a network flow model for emergency response planning which provides location and allocation plans of temporary distribution facilities for short distribution periods in the planning horizon. We assume that the individual demands in close vicinity are grouped at so-called aggregated demand points (ADPs). The distribution process initiates from a central supply point (CSP) which is a collection point that continuously acquires the resources and prepares them for distribution. In each distribution period, resource available at the CSP is allocated to the temporary distribution centers (TDCs) to distribute to the ADPs. The model considers periodically changing demands at the ADPs and supply availability at the CSP. Therefore, the decision on location and allocation are the dynamic decisions carried out in each distribution period, and the TDCs located in a period are functional temporarily only for the period. The model allows delayed satisfaction of demand when resources in a planning period are insufficient, and allows transfer of excess resources from a relief facility to another in the next time period. The consideration of the dynamic decision, transfer of excess resources and provision of delayed satisfaction of demand make the proposed model unique and more representative to the actual relief distribution. The objective is to minimize the total social cost which is sum of the logistics and the deprivation costs of all distribution periods. The logistics cost consists of the fixed set up costs and the transportation costs. The deprivation cost is the penalty cost associated with the delayed satisfaction of the supplies. The model is tested in a network for numerical analysis. The analysis shows that the location of TDCs in a time period influences the total cost of response. The results show that relief response can be more effective if movement of excess resources from one period to next is allowed. When such a movement is not allowed, it can increase shortage cost and eventually the total cost of emergency response. The analysis also shows solvability of the model in large and complex problem instances within a short computation time which shows the models' robustness and applicability to solve practical size distribution problems.qscienc

Solar Technology and District Cooling System in a Hot Climate Regions: Optimal Configuration and Technology Selection

With the increasing need for cooling and the concerns for pollution due to fossil fuel-based energy use, renewable energy is considered an add-on to cooling technologies. The climatic condition in the Middle East, analyzed in this paper, provides the potential to integrate solar energy with the cooling system. Due to the availability of various solar energy and cooling technologies, multiple configurations of solar-cooling systems can be considered to satisfy the cooling demand. The research presented in this paper aims to assess and compare these configurations by considering the energy prices and the installation area. The proposed model is formulated in Mixed-Integer Linear Programming and optimizes the holistic system design and operation. The economic, renewable energy use, and environmental performances of the optimal solution for each configuration are analyzed and compared to the base grid-DCS configuration. Results show that the electricity tariff and the available installation area impact the economic competitiveness of the solar energy integration. When electricity tariff is subsided (low), the conventional grid-based DCS is the most competitive. The PV-DCS configuration is economically competitive among the solar assisted cooling systems, and it can contribute to reducing the environmental impact by 58.3%. The PVT-DCS configuration has the lowest operation cost and the highest environmental performance by decreasing the global warming potential by 89.5%. The T-DCS configuration becomes economically competitive only at high electricity tariffs. 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This publication was made possible by the [NPRP10-0129-170280] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library.Scopus2-s2.0-8512847810

Assessment of Aesthetic Control in Qatar’s Urban Design

Aesthetic control is concerned with the visual appearance of the built environment, specifically in the urban setting. The built environment aesthetics can directly influence place identity, property values and the business owners’ financial status in the area. People’s behavior in terms of choosing a place to live or do business is also affected by the locality’s aesthetics. Qatar has invested heavily in the built environment over the last two decades, which has shed light on the importance of government adopted aesthetic control measures to preserve the identity of Qatar’s built form. This paper reviews the current control measures and provides some directions to adopt in the building permit process in support of Qatar’s National Master Plan 2032. The paper recommends a strategy to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment for a swift implementation of aesthetic/design control in Qatar until a fully integrated solution is adopted to align with the built environment as proposed in the Qatar National Master Plan 2032. Digital tools can foster designs that can restore the quality of compromised ecosystems. A partnership platform can be created between the building permit unit and pre-selected private design-oriented consultants. Lastly, this research initiative could be used by other countries subject to similar development dynamics as a precedent to further develop their own aesthetic control measures