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Web applications that are based on user-generated content are often criticized for containing low-quality information; a popular example is the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The major points of criticism pertain to the accuracy, neutrality, and reliability of information. The identification of low-quality information is an important task since for a huge number of people around the world it has become a habit to first visit Wikipedia in case of an information need. Existing research on quality assessment in Wikipedia either investigates only small samples of articles, or else deals with the classification of content into high-quality or low-quality. This thesis goes further, it targets the investigation of quality flaws, thus providing specific indications of the respects in which low-quality content needs improvement. The original contributions of this thesis, which relate to the fields of user-generated content analysis, data mining, and machine learning, can be summarized as follows:
(1) We propose the investigation of quality flaws in Wikipedia based on user-defined cleanup tags. Cleanup tags are commonly used in the Wikipedia community to tag content that has some shortcomings. Our approach is based on the hypothesis that each cleanup tag defines a particular quality flaw.
(2) We provide the first comprehensive breakdown of Wikipedia's quality flaw structure. We present a flaw organization schema, and we conduct an extensive exploratory data analysis which reveals (a) the flaws that actually exist, (b) the distribution of flaws in Wikipedia, and, (c) the extent of flawed content.
(3) We present the first breakdown of Wikipedia's quality flaw evolution. We consider the entire history of the English Wikipedia from 2001 to 2012, which comprises more than 508 million page revisions, summing up to 7.9 TB. Our analysis reveals (a) how the incidence and the extent of flaws have evolved, and, (b) how the handling and the perception of flaws have changed over time.
(4) We are the first who operationalize an algorithmic prediction of quality flaws in Wikipedia. We cast quality flaw prediction as a one-class classification problem, develop a tailored quality flaw model, and employ a dedicated one-class machine learning approach. A comprehensive evaluation based on human-labeled Wikipedia articles underlines the practical applicability of our approach.
Text classification deals with discovering knowledge in texts and is used for extracting, filtering, or retrieving information in streams and collections. The discovery of knowledge is operationalized by modeling text classification tasks, which is mainly a human-driven engineering process. The outcome of this process, a text classification model, is used to inductively learn a text classification solution from a priori classified examples. The building blocks of modeling text classification tasks cover four aspects: (1) the way examples are represented, (2) the way examples are selected, (3) the way classifiers learn from examples, and (4) the way models are selected.
This thesis proposes methods that improve the prediction quality of text classification solutions for unseen examples, especially for non-standard tasks where standard models do not fit. The original contributions are related to the aforementioned building blocks: (1) Several topic-orthogonal text representations are studied in the context of non-standard tasks and a new representation, namely co-stems, is introduced. (2) A new active learning strategy that goes beyond standard sampling is examined. (3) A new one-class ensemble for improving the effectiveness of one-class classification is proposed. (4) A new model selection framework to cope with subclass distribution shifts that occur in dynamic environments is introduced.
The present thesis studies the effects of rice husk ash (RHA) as a pozzolanic admixture and the combination of RHA and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) on properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). The ultimate purpose of this study is to replace completely silica fume (SF) and partially Portland cement by RHA and GGBS to achieve sustainable UHPC. To reach this aim, characteristics of RHA in dependence of grinding period, especially its pozzolanic reactivity in saturated Ca(OH)2 solution and in a cementitious system at a very low water binder ration (w/b) were assessed. The influences of RHA on compatibility between superplasticizer and binder, workability, compressive strength, shrinkage, internal relative humidity, microstructure and durability of UHPC were also evaluated. Furthermore, synergic effects of RHA and GGBS on the properties of UHPC were investigated to produce more sustainable UHPC. Finally, various heat treatments were applied to study the properties of UHPC under these conditions. All the characteristics of these UHPCs containing RHA were compared to those of mixtures containing SF.
Der Film BERLIN – DIE SINFONIE DER GROSSTADT (1927, Walter Ruttman) gilt bis heute als der Sinfonische Dokumentarfilm schlechthin. Er präsentiert nicht nur die Traditionslinien, die ihre Wurzeln in der neuen Sachlichkeit und den ersten Dokumentarfilmtheorien fanden, sondern auch die künstlerische und filmische Vorstellung von Ruttmann. Um den höchsten Grad an Objektivität in der Realitätsdarstellung zu erreichen, hat dieser Film einerseits treu alle theoretischen und ästhetischen Gedanken der neusachlichen Kunst zum ersten Mal filmisch in einem DOKUMENTARFILM dargestellt. Noch dazu drückt der Berlin-Film seinen kulturellen Beitrag mit ausschliesslich filmischen Mitteln aus, also mit rein visuellen Mitteln, oder anders gesagt mit FILMSPRACHE.
Im Gegensatz zur ersten Ankündigung des Films und der Filmliteratur, die den Film als Dokumentarfilm ansehen, ist er in Wirklichkeit einer der ersten innovativen Musikfilme in seinem historischen Kontext, welcher mit der Montage von Wirklichkeitsabbilden autonome Musik zu interpretieren versucht. Seine sachlichen, dokumentarischen Reportage-Bilder ordnen sich der abstrakten Struktur und dem Taktmaß der Musik unter. Als Folge entsteht laut Ruttmann eine VISUELLE SINFONIE, die eigentlich vielmehr eine Vision von Berlin darstellte, als zukünftige industrielle Musterstadt. Mit anderen Worten ist Berlin in diesem Film eine realistische Illusion, aber keineswegs ein reales Bild. Er bildet ein neues Filmgenre, den KUNSTDOKUMENTARFILM, das den Grundprinzipien des Dokumentarfilms nicht folgt.
Dies unterscheidet ihn aber auch von den KÜNSTLERISCHEN DOKUMENTARFILMEN, die einerseits dem Film BERLIN – DIE SINFONIE DER GROSSTADT zwar formalstilistisch und ästhetisch ähneln. Aber im Gegensatz zu ihm erfüllen diese die elementaren Voraussetzungen für einen Dokumentarfilm. Beispiele dafür sind: DER MANN MIT DER KAMERA (1929, Dsiga Vertov), KOYAANISQATSI (1982,Godfry Reggio) und das Remake BERLIN, SINFONIE EINER GROßSTADT (2002, Thomas Schadt).
BERLIN – DIE SINFONIE DER GROSSTADT von Walter Ruttmann stellt nicht nur ein neues Filmgenre dar, er ist auch eine singuläre Erscheinung in der Filmgeschichte. In diesem Sinne spielte er, laut dem Filmkritiker Helmut Korte, eine entscheidende Rolle in der Weiterentwicklung des absoluten Films „als Musterbeispiel für die Möglichkeiten des künstlerisch-dokumentarischen Films“ (Korte 1991: 76).
The aim of this doctoral thesis was to investigate whether the German term “shrinking city” is appropriate to depopulating Polish cities. In order to do so an attempt to define the currently still vague notion of “shrinking city” was made. The urban development of Eastern Germany was thoroughly examined both in a short term perspective and in a wide historical as well as international context, with the Polish urban development used as reference. 25 cities (kreisfreie Städte) in Eastern Germany and depopulating Polish cities: Łódź and the Metropolis Silesia were chosen as case studies.
On the basis of the gathered information a “shrinking city” in Eastern Germany was defined as a city with a long-lasting population decrease coupled with over-dimensioned, growth-oriented development policies carried out for decades. Such a development path is triggering negative consequences in the spatial, economic and also demographic dimension, which tend to intensify each other.
The thesis postulates that the definition of the “shrinking city in Eastern Germany” is not appropriate to depopulating cities in Poland. Polish cities are characterized by a short-lasting population decrease and this trend is not triggering negative spatial and economic consequences. Oversized growth development policies were never present in the cities and they still suffer from great deficiencies in housing and other basic infrastructure, which derive from the socialist period. Furthermore, radical de-economization, known from Eastern German cities, did not occur in the Polish cities. Both Łódź and the Metropolis Silesia remain main production centers of the country.
This doctoral thesis presents a contradictory view to contemporary publications on “shrinking cities”, in which this phenomenon is regarded as having occurred suddenly after the collapse of the socialism. It proved that “shrinking cities” in Eastern Germany are not the outcome of short-lasting processes, but are deeply rooted in the past. Moreover, they represent a very distinct development pattern that highly differentiates from the one found in Central Eastern Europe and the one in Western Europe. In this way the doctoral thesis provided a new, critical approach to the discourse on “shrinking cities” in Germany. It also draws attention to the importance of the historical analysis in cities’ development research, particularly in cross border studies. In time of European integration peculiarities resulting from centuries of different spatial, economic and social development paths should not be underestimated.
Post Conflict Reconstruction is a very complex topic, whether it is to be undertaken by the Local or the International Community. The process of the Post Conflict Development is to be very hard to investigate, primarily for the combination of socio-cultural phenomena, war and political instability; having difficulties of conducting solid empirical analysis (obtaining reliable data) and dealing with war-torn communities. The multifaceted process of the reconstruction is ought to touch a lot of countries vital segments, whereas each of them requires different approach; coordination with one another; and unification in their common aim.
The emergency of the assistance programs are not equal, same as with the priority and weight when compared with each other, therefore occasionally there are programs for the success of which the other less important actions are violated or neglected.
The case is with the International Community presence ( the set up), which aside from their mission and projects, it is considered to play a very important role on the urban development of a post conflict city; the setting was never planned or considered in a holistic manner, therefore IC establishment was done ad hoc and it was guided by issues which did not help at its greatest to the urban development of the city and more over to the citizens who were most in need.
The study is about the Urban Development, due to the fact that the biggest concentration of the International Community is likely to be in the urban centers, and the experienced changes are of a much considerable magnitude. The reconstruction phase is likely to be lasting at about 10 years and more , consequently the International Community for that time being tends to be recognized as temporary citizens of the city, and it is inevitably that they will be having an impact on the urban development of the city; in that basis it is considered to be significant that the International Community Establishment/Set Up be included into the International Organizations mission and assist in the overall mission of the reconstruction.
Environmental and operational variables and their impact on structural responses have been acknowledged as one of the most important challenges for the application of the ambient vibration-based damage identification in structures. The damage detection procedures may yield poor results, if the impacts of loading and environmental conditions of the structures are not considered.
The reference-surface-based method, which is proposed in this thesis, is addressed to overcome this problem. In the proposed method, meta-models are used to take into account significant effects of the environmental and operational variables. The usage of the approximation models, allows the proposed method to simply handle multiple non-damaged variable effects simultaneously, which for other methods seems to be very complex. The input of the meta-model are the multiple non-damaged variables while the output is a damage indicator.
The reference-surface-based method diminishes the effect of the non-damaged variables to the vibration based damage detection results. Hence, the structure condition that is assessed by using ambient vibration data at any time would be more reliable. Immediate reliable information regarding the structure condition is required to quickly respond to the event, by means to take necessary actions concerning the future use or further investigation of the structures, for instance shortly after extreme events such as earthquakes.
The critical part of the proposed damage detection method is the learning phase, where the meta-models are trained by using input-output relation of observation data. Significant problems that may encounter during the learning phase are outlined and some remedies to overcome the problems are suggested.
The proposed damage identification method is applied to numerical and experimental models. In addition to the natural frequencies, wavelet energy and stochastic subspace damage indicators are used.
In this research work, an energy approach is employed for assessing quality in dynamic soil-structure interaction (SSI) models, and energy measures are introduced and investigated as general indicators of structural response.
Dynamic SSI models with various abstraction levels are then investigated according to different coupling scenarios for soil and structure models.
The hypothesis of increasing model uncertainty with decreasing complexity is investigated and a mathematical framework is provided for the treatment of model uncertainty. This framework is applied to a case study involving alternative models for incorporating dynamic SSI effects. In the evaluation process, energy measures are used within the framework of the \textit{adjustment factor} approach in order to quantitatively assess the uncertainty associated with SSI models. Two primary types of uncertainty are considered, namely the uncertainty in the model framework and the uncertainty in the model input parameters.
Investigations on model framework uncertainty show that the more complex three-dimensional FE model has the best quality of the models investigated, whereas the Wolf SSI model produces the lowest model uncertainty of the simpler models. The fixed-base model produces the highest estimated uncertainty and accordingly the worst quality of all models investigated.
These results confirm the hypothesis of increasing model uncertainty with decreasing complexity only when the assessment is based on the ratio of structural hysteretic energy to input energy as a response indicator.
Einleitung:
Die Kunst und der Kunstbetrieb haben sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten stark verändert und werden sich aller Voraussicht nach in Zukunft noch weit rascher und durchgreifender ändern. In meiner Dissertation geht es um eine Analyse des Jetzt-Zustandes des Kunstbetriebs und um die Konsequenzen die daraus für die zu erwartende Entwicklung zu ziehen sind, insbesondere bezüglich der Ausbildung von Künstlern an Kunsthochschulen. Dort sollten meines Erachtens die beruflichen Aspekte des künstlerischen Feldes (in und außerhalb der Akademie) verstärkt erläutert und vermittelt werden.
Der Fokus der Arbeit liegt auf den folgenden 4 Aspekten: Der Künstler, die Arbeitswelt, die Ausbildung und das Netz und die Vernetzung und ihren Zusammenhängen.
Diese Feststellungen basieren auf meinen Recherchen zu den vier Hauptthemen im Rahmen meiner Arbeit in der Lehre und der eigenen künstlerischen Praxis der letzten Jahre und spiegeln diese wider und sollen gleichzeitig als Beispiel für ihre Anwendung dienen und bieten einen Überblick in deren Ausführung in der Praxis.
Hinweis
Die hier vorliegende Dateien (in 5 Teilen) sind die digitale Veröffentlichung meiner Dissertation im Rahmen der Promotion im Studiengang "Kunst und Design" an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Diese Publikation ist open source und wird in einem offenen und kollaborativen Prozess weiterentwickelt werden. Die jeweils aktuelle Version wird hier zu finden sein: http://phd.nts.is Dort befinden sich auch weitere Formate zum Download, ebenso wie der vollständige (markdown-formatierte) Quelltext.
(Aus urheber- und lizenzrechtlichen Gründen sind in dieser Version der Bildtafeln einige Bilder ausgelassen. Die gedruckte Ausgabe enthält alle Bildtafeln, diese liegt in der Bibliothek der Bauhaus-Universität aus.)
Teile:
- Thesenpapier
- PhD Dissertation
- Bildtafeln
- Der 5-Jahres-Plan
- KIOSK09-Katalog
Resumen
La pregunta de investigación que guía el trabajo es: ¿cuál es la lógica de reproducción urbana de una ciudad intermedia en el contexto de los territorios possocialista? y ¿por qué referimos a esa lógica en términos de desarrollo urbano posfordista? Lo que se demuestra con esta investigación es cómo la forma particular de entrecruzamiento de territorialidades - estrategias espacializadas de los agentes - y las sinergias que de ellas se derivan con sus respectivas expresiones en el espacio, caracterizan el desarrollo urbano de Weimar.
El objetivo general del trabajo es interpretar el tipo de desarrollo urbano posfordista alcanzado por esta ciudad intermedia, que se configura en relación a su hinterland inmediato como una ciudad-región en una región de ciudades. Los objetivos específicos son: contextualizar geohistóricamente la ciudad-región Weimar, analizar los factores que posibilitan y condicionan el desarrollo urbano, identificar la constelación de agentes sociales que participan en el proceso de governance de la ciudad considerando sus estrategias, e indagar sobre las sinergias territoriales a partir del cruce y convergencia de esas estrategias convertidas en territorialidades.
En el trabajo se aplico una lógica metodológica cualitativa de investigación basada en: relevamiento bibliográfico, lectura de periódicos locales y regionales, observaciones in situ, captación de atmósfera, entrevistas complementadas con estadísticas oficiales y recolección de folletos informativos.
Uno de los principales aportes del trabajo es la definición del concepto de desarrollo urbano posfordista como una modalidad de reproducción urbana en el contexto de relaciones capitalistas de producción caracterizadas por producción flexible, terciarización de servicios públicos, creación de nuevos niveles territoriales de regulación, flexibilización de los mercados de trabajo urbano y precarización de las condiciones de vida. En las últimas décadas se asiste a cambios profundos en las ciudades. Así, es posible hablar de ciudades en transición que ensayan diversidad de modalidades ante los desafíos que implican estos cambios. En efecto, en muchos espacios urbanos comenzaron a suceder procesos de rápida desindustrialización y/o reindustrialización, con lo cual las ciudades han perdido parcialmente su base económica o han debido reestructurarse como un lugar vinculado a la economía de servicios. Incluso en aquellas ciudades que mantuvieron industrias de producción masiva, propias de las llamadas economía fordista, como por ejemplo la industria automotriz, requirieron importantes cambios en sus planificaciones espaciales. De este modo, los cambios en las modalidades de producción y sus impactos socioterritoriales en el contexto de la glocalización permiten observar el paso de una sociedad fordista a una posfordista.
A more careful consideration of food waste is needed for planning the urban environment. The research signals links between the organization of individuals, the built environment and food waste management through a study conducted in Mexico. It recognizes the different scales within which solid waste management operates, explores food waste production at household levels, and investigates the urban circumstances that influence its management. This is based on the idea that sustainable food waste management in cities requires a constellation of processes through which a ‘people centered’ approach offers added value to technical and biological facts. This distinction addresses how urban systems react to waste and what behavioral and structural factors affect current sanitary practices in Mexico. Food waste is a resource-demanding item, which makes for a considerable amount of refuse being disposed of in landfills in developing cities. The existing data shortage on waste generation at household levels debilitates implementation strategies and there is a need for more contextual knowledge associated with waste. The evidence-based study includes an explorative phase on the culture of waste management and a more in-depth examination of domestic waste composition. Mixed data collection tools including a household based survey, a food waste diary and weighing recording system were developed to enquire into the daily practices of waste disposal in households. The contrasting urban environment of Mexico City Metropolitan Area holds indistinctive boundaries between the core and the periphery, which hinder the implementation of integrated environmental plans. External determinants are different modes of urban transformation and internal determinants are building features and their consolidation processes. At the household level, less and more affluents groups responded differently to external environmental stressors. A targeted planning proposition is required for each group. Local alternative waste management is more likely to be implement in less affluent contexts. Further, more effective demand-driven service delivery implies better integration between the formal and informal sectors. The results show that efforts toward securing long-term changes in Mexico and other cities with similar circumstances require creating synergy between education, building consolidation, local infrastructure and social engagement.
Alkali-silica reaction causes major problems in concrete structures due to the rapidity of its deformation which leads to the serviceability limit of the structure being reached well before its time. Factors that affect ASR vary greatly, including alkali and silica content, relative humidity, temperature and porosity of the cementitious matrix,all these making it a very complex phenomenon to consider explicitly. With this in mind, the finite element technique was used to build models and generate expansive pressures and damage propagation due to ASR under the influence of thermo-hygrochemoelastic loading. Since ASR initializes in the mesoscopic regions of the concrete,
the accumulative effects of its expansion escalates onto the macroscale level with the development of web cracking on the concrete surface, hence solution of the damage model as well as simulation of the ASR phenomenon at both the macroscale and mesoscale levels have been performed. The macroscale model realizes the effects of ASR expansion as a whole and shows how it develops under the influence of moisture, thermal and mechanical loading. Results of the macroscale modeling are
smeared throughout the structure and are sufficient to show how damage due to ASR expansion orientates. As opposed to the mesoscale model, the heterogeneity of the model shows us how difference in material properties between aggregates and the cementitious matrix facilitates ASR expansion. With both these models, the ASR phenomenon under influence of thermo-chemo-hygro-mechanical loading can be better understood.
Die Arbeit fokussiert die Rolle des Abjekten in der zeitgenössischen Kunst und hier insbesondere die Rolle der Künstler aus den wohlhabenden – sogenannten postindustriellen – Ländern. Die Arbeit mit abjekten Themen in der Kunstproduktion ist sehr präsent, jedoch aus einer anderen, eher individualistischen Perspektive. Die wichtigsten Orte der Kunst (Galerien, Museen, Kulturzentren) sind Räume der Legitimation dieser Art von Produktion, dabei wird das Potential der Provokation hinterfragt. Die klassische Avantgarde, besonders der Dadaismus, hat das Abjekte zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts als künstlerisches Material genutzt. Das Spiel mit Grenzüberschreitungen durch die Darstellung des Verbotenen und Ekelerregenden machte das Abjekte zur produktiven Kraft auch auf sozialer Ebene, weil es als Mittel dem gesellschaftlichen Protest und der sozialen Kritik diente.
Ausgangspunkt der Arbeit ist der Aspekt des Unheimlichen in jener Hochhausstadt, deren Entwurf Ludwig Hilberseimer 1924 zum ersten Mal publizierte und die später zum Synonym für die Aberrationen modernistischen Städtebaus wurde. Daraus geht die Forschungsfrage hervor, wie der Eindruck des Unheimlichen evoziert wird und an welchen Elementen des Entwurfs und/oder der Darstellung dieser festgemacht werden kann. Hier geht es nicht um eine Analyse der Intentionen des Autors der Hochhausstadt, der diese ja als Verbesserung zu den herrschenden Wohnverhältnissen anpries; stattdessen wird eine Reihe von unterschiedlichen interpretatorischen Ansätzen gewählt (von Nelson Goodmans Theorie der Notation über Norman Brysons visuelles Zeichensystem bis hin zu Adornos Negativer Dialektik; von der „Bildwissenschaft“ bis hin zur „visual theory“). In diesem Zusammenhang werden schließlich auch jene Divergenzen herausgearbeitet, die zwischen der Architektur der Moderne und der Kunst der Avantgarde herrschten. Da aufgrund der Frage nach der Bildwirkung der beiden Perspektiven der Hochhausstadt die Ästhetik des Erhabenen eine besondere Rolle spielt, reicht der Fokus der Arbeit bis in den kunst- und architekturtheoretischen Diskurs des 18. Jahrhundert zurück. Zuletzt mündet die Arbeit in eine Diskussion von Interpretation selbst und der Möglichkeit einer kritischen Architekturtheorie.
Development of a Sustainability-based Sanitation Planning Tool (SusTA) for Developing Countries
(2014)
Background and Research Goal
Despite all the efforts in the sanitation sector, it is acknowledged that the world is not on track to meet the MDG sanitation target to reduce the number of people without access to sanitation by 2015. Furthermore, a large number of existing sanitation facilities in developing countries is out of order. This leads to the conclusion that, besides technical failures, the planning process in the sanitation sector was ineffective. This ineffectiveness may be attributed to the lack of knowledge of the sanitation planners about the local conditions of the sanitation project. In addition, sustainability of a technology is often approached from a fragmented perspective that often leads to an unsustainable solution.
The dissertation is conducted within the framework of the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Indonesia project. The goal of this work is to contribute to the development of a methodology of a planning tool for sustainable sanitation technology. The tool is designed for sanitation planners in developing countries, where a top-down planning approach is common practice. The proposed tool enables comprehensive sustainability assessments (using the Helmholtz Concept of Sustainability as reference), taking into account local conditions.
State of the Science
In the planning practice, many sanitation planning tools focus on technology selection. However, it has become evident that the selection criteria for sustainable technologies are not always considered in the tools’ framework. In other cases, when the criteria are provided by the tool, there is no clear indication of the conditions to be fulfilled in order to meet these criteria. Specifically, there is no reference to what is meant by sustainable technology in a particular context and how to comprehensively assess the sustainability of different technology options.
Research Methodology
Developing a planning tool is an empirical process, combining theory and practical experience. Hence, the development process of such a tool requires extensive observations, particularly on the interaction between stakeholders in the sanitation sector as well as between technology and its environment. For this purpose, a case study within the project area was carried out. Pucanganom, a village representing common strategic problems in developing countries (e.g. top-down planning approaches, lack of involvement of beneficiaries in the planning process, lack of sustainability assessments) was finally selected as the case study area. After the in-depth case study, an analytical generalisation was developed to enable the tool’s application to a broader context.
Results
The result of this research is a new tool – the Sustainability-based Sanitation Planning Tool (SusTA). SusTA enables comprehensive sustainability assessment in its five generic steps, namely: (1) analysis of stakeholders and sanitation policy in the region, (2) distance-to-target analysis on sanitation conditions in the region, (3) examination of physical and socio-economic conditions in the project area, (4) contextualisation of the technology assessment process in the project area, and (5) sustainability-oriented technology assessment at the project level. These steps are conducted at two levels of planning – the region and the project area – in order to identify the specific problems and interests which influence the selection of a sanitation system. Each planning step is equipped with tool elements (e.g. set of indicators, household questionnaires, technology assessment matrices) to support the analysis.
From the development of SusTA, it can be concluded that four elements are required for an effective and widely applicable sanitation planning tool: sustainability concept, participatory approach, contextualisation framework and modification framework. SusTA provides both a theoretical and a practical basis for assessing the sustainability of sanitation technologies in developing countries. The tool’s main advantages for decision makers in these countries are: It is simple and transparent in its steps, does not require vast amounts of data and does not need a sophisticated computer program.
Exploratory Research into Transformation Processes of Former Industrial Complexes of Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei (Leipzig) and Mattatoio di Testaccio (Rome); New Meanings of Industrial Heritage
Physical manifestations of the Industrial Revolution left a permanent imprint on the complexion of cities. Abandonment that followed the deindustrialization contributed to an estrangement, turning derelict industrial spaces and run‐down factories into a ballast to conjure with. At present, industrial heritage management applies flexibility and creativity, partially overcoming the essentially traditional paradigm of heritage preservation. This approach permits sustainable conservation – utilization and integration of disused industrial constructs in the contemporary urban landscape. Being a part of the European cultural stock, industrial heritage is an exciting and unique setting from many perspectives. It is defined and consumed by many markets, ranging from the industrial heritage tourism to the market of special events and festivals. Reused industrial buildings and factories come into view as products of post‐industrial societies, fitting to the Western post‐industrial (consumer) culture, offering a field of activities that are at an interface between the industrial history and contemporary socio‐cultural milieu.
Alteration of values, growth of new roles and definitions of industrial heritage, generated by functional restructuring, is a subject which is often left behind the general discussion about sustainable conservation and adaptive reuse of industrial heritage. Yet, in the modified state, industrial heritage is very complex to understand and to define.
By conducting a desk and a case study research of former industrial complexes – Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei and Mattatoio di Testaccio, this doctoral thesis aims to identify industrial heritage as a contemporary (post‐industrial) concept. Observation of ideas, values and definitions that emerge as a consequence of the transformation and re‐conceptualization of industrial heritage are intended to raise awareness and appreciation of industrial heritage in the full richness of its contemporary interpretation.
Die Dissertation Staubaufwirbeln oder die Kunst der Partizipation stellt die Frage, ob und inwiefern künstlerische Interventionen zur Aktualisierung und Entwicklung demokratischer Teilhabe beitragen können. Im Zentrum der Untersuchung stehen sechs Projektgruppen, die experimentelle Freiräume gestalten, in denen neue Formen von Demokratielernen, Stadtnutzung, gesellschaftlicher Repräsentation und Symbolpolitik erprobt werden. Die Kunst der Partizipation wird in fünf Dimensionen beschrieben: Initiative, Kollektivität, Inszenierung, Öffentlichkeit und Kooperation. Sie erweitert damit das Repertoire demokratischer Beteiligungsformen sowie gegenwärtige Kunstbegriffe. Ihre heimliche Relevanz besteht darin, sich immer wieder dem Risiko auszusetzen, von allen Seiten als unzureichend betrachtet zu werden. Demokratie konstituiert sich hier als ästhetische Erfahrung. Die Kunst besteht darin, die Flüchtigkeit demokratischer Teilhabe erfahrbar zu machen, also gestaltbar und veränderbar.
Rapid urbanisation that is not accompanied by socio-economic development strains the capacity of local and national governments to provide even basic services such as shelter. Informal settlements i.e. settlements not built or developed according to the formal regulations have become a solution to many urban dwellers in developing countries. In Tanzania informal settlements accommodate people from low, middle and high income groups. The study explores the nature of potentials and challenges posed by the existence of mixed socio-economic groups in informal settlements, including an assessment of what can be done to optimise utilisation of potentials and mitigation of conflicts. Using a case study strategy, the study was conducted in Dar es Salaam city focusing on Makongo mixed informal settlement.
The results show that mixed informal settlements are as a result of several factors including uncoordinated energies of people. The urban development forces that bring change in the development of the city are stronger than the public states capacity to coordinate and manage them. Informal settlements also offer user-friendly land tenure, flexibility in house construction and proximity to livelihoods. Other factors include the nature of socio-economic living patterns and extension of urban boundaries. Community members operate using social norms. Advantages of mixed informal settlements include availability of plots according to needs and affordability while a disadvantage is, people of different socio-economic groups perceive problems differently.
For policies to be effective, their formulation should be derived from what is happening on the ground i.e. addressing informal settlements according to their heterogeneity. Moreover, empowered local authorities can assist in implementing national development plans; also actors in land development including government institutions, non-governmental institutions, financial institutions, private sector, professionals, political leaders, research institutions, policy-makers and training institutions need to recognise, understand and respect each other’s roles, and pull resources together to minimise problems related to informality in land development; utilise potentials and minimise challenges in mixed informal settlements in Dar es Salaam.
Key words: Informal settlements, land development, urbanisation
The increasing success of BIM (Building Information Model) and the emergence of its implementation in 3D construction models have paved a way for improving scheduling process. The recent research on application of BIM in scheduling has focused on quantity take-off, duration estimation for individual trades, schedule visualization, and clash detection.
Several experiments indicated that the lack of detailed planning causes about 30% non-productive time and stacking of trades. However, detailed planning still has not been implemented in practice despite receiving a lot of interest from researchers. The reason is associated with the huge amount and complexity of input data. In order to create a detailed planning, it is time consuming to manually decompose activities, collect and calculate the detailed information in relevant. Moreover, the coordination of detailed activities requires much effort for dealing with their complex constraints.
This dissertation aims to support the generation of detailed schedules from a rough schedule. It proposes a model for automated detailing of 4D schedules by integrating BIM, simulation and Pareto-based optimization.
Structural vibration control of high-speed railway bridges using tuned mass dampers, semi-active tuned mass dampers, fluid viscous dampers and magnetorheological dampers to reduce resonant structural vibrations is studied. In this work, the addressed main issues include modeling of the dynamic interaction of the structures, optimization of the parameters of the dampers and comparison of their efficiency.
A new approach to optimize multiple tuned mass damper systems on an uncertain model is proposed based on the H-infinity optimization criteria and the DK iteration procedure with norm-bounded uncertainties in frequency domain. The parameters of tuned mass dampers are optimized directly and simultaneously on different modes contributing significantly to the multi-resonant peaks to explore the different possible combinations of parameters. The effectiveness of the present method is also evaluated through comparison with a previous method.
In the case of semi-active tuned mass dampers, an optimization algorithm is derived to control the magnetorheological damper in these semi-active damping systems. The use of the proposed algorithm can generate various combinations of control gains and state variables. This can lead to the improvement of the ability of MR dampers to track the desired control forces. An uncertain model to reduce detuning effects is also considered in this work.
Next, for fluid viscous dampers, in order to tune the optimal parameters of fluid viscous dampers to the vicinity of the exact values, analytical formulae which can include structural damping are developed based on the perturbation method. The proposed formulae can also be considered as an improvement of the previous analytical formulae, especially for bridge beams with large structural damping.
Finally, a new combination of magnetorheological dampers and a double-beam system to improve the performance of the primary structure vibration is proposed. An algorithm to control magnetorheological dampers in this system is developed by using standard linear matrix inequality techniques. Weight functions as a loop shaping procedure are also introduced in the feedback controllers to improve the tracking ability of magnetorheological damping forces. To this end, the effectiveness of magnetorheological dampers controlled by the proposed scheme, along with the effects of the uncertain and time-delay parameters on the models, are evaluated through numerical simulations.
Additionally, a comparison of the dampers based on their performance is also considered in this work.