bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Universal and Specific Codes of Cultural Context in Audio-Visual Media
Authors: Yeromin Mykola Borysovych , Charskykh Igor
Published: May 2018

Mission of the chapter is to draw the attention to how specific and universal cultural contexts influence audio-visual media used in technology-enhanced language learning (TELL) and how additional efforts in this area from both faculty and students might give very satisfying and rich results, both drawing from cultural differences to ensure the mutual enrichment and appealing to universal basic principles that could be understood in different cultures more or less similarly and/or identical. As audio-visual media nowadays finds its way as a large area of the internet, filtering what is suitable for TELL and what might not be depends a lot on cultural context of media, which should be chosen wisely depending on situation and curriculum. Also included are the recommendations, based on authors' experience in the field of study, and a vast array of background information.
Issues of Cross-Cultural Communications in a Globalizing Era
Authors: Wang Ai-Ling
Published: May 2018

This chapter describes issues of cross-cultural communications emerging in an era moving towards globalization. The author identifies three main areas of concern: language, culture, and technology. These issues are not new in cross-cultural communications. However, new issues are emerging. As World Englishes developed, cultural awareness alone is no longer enough to respond to a globalizing era and people are required to possess intercultural competences to be able to function appropriately in the global community. Additionally, new issues relevant to technology are emerging, such as digital divides and flaming in computer-mediated communications. Having discussed these issues, the author provides recommendations for practitioners of cross-cultural communication, including developing cross-cultural exchange programs, developing training programs, focusing on netiquette and respect of different cultures and languages, rather than computer skills, and finally, designing authentic assessment to evaluate students' cross-cultural performance.
Effect of GI and Glogster on Improving the Intercultural Communication Skills in Higher Education
Authors: Awada Ghada M. , Diab Hassan B. , Faour Kawthar H.
Published: May 2018

The study reports the effect of group investigation (GI) cooperative learning method and the Glogster online poster on improving the intercultural communication skills of international students (n=54) of eight different countries. The study is premised on the proposition that the integration of GI and Glogster in classrooms consisting of Lebanese and non-Lebanese students could be effective in improving the intercultural communication skills of international students and enhancing their perceptions of intercultural communication. The study employed the mixed methods pretest-posttest control group experimental design whereby six Interactions Among Civilizations intact classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. Employing the intercultural sensitivity scale yielded findings indicating the significance of the GI and Glogster in developing the cultural adaptability and intercultural sensitivity of the experimental group participants (n=25) whereas the control group participants (n=28) did not show similar improvement.
A Literature Survey on the Usage of Fuzzy MCDM Methods for Digital Marketing
Authors: Kahraman Cengiz , Yazıcı İbrahim , Karaşan Ali
Published: May 2018

Digital marketing is the integrated processes of building and maintaining customer relationships using online channels to establish the exchange and flow of products, and services in the market. It is the marketing that bridges electronic technology with psychology in the marketplace. Fuzzy sets can handle the uncertainty and human-manner linguistic evaluations in digital marketing. The objective of this chapter is to summarize and classify the literature on digital marketing, which uses the fuzzy multicriteria decision making methods (MCDM), and predict the future directions for digital marketing. Our chapter will include the main definitions and principles of digital marketing with its challenges. We also give a brief definition of the fuzzy MCDM used methods in the literature. We use graphical illustrations techniques for summarizing the survey results.
Review and Proposal for Intelligent Distance Education
Authors: Işik Ali Hakan , Aslan Göksel
Published: May 2018

Information and communication technologies have led to new developments in education. Time and place independent education has emerged. Furthermore, different characteristics and huge numbers of individuals have made the use of new technological methods inevitable. In this context, distance education has become a popular education method to meet the emerging needs, increasing satisfaction, and learning performance of students. Mobile technology, intelligent systems, and Three Dimensional (3D) animations also provide enhancements in this field. In addition, distance education systems should be selected and developed properly for target students and environments. For this purpose, the assessment of prominent studies provides a road map for new research. In this sense, this chapter evaluates intelligent distance education studies in literature. Furthermore, it proposes a novel Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based distance education system for Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. This ANN-based system can be implemented on Mehmet Akif Ersoy University infrastructure with agent. The proposed system consists of a learning management system, Web conferencing system, and an ANN agent. The agent's inputs that are already stored in Mehmet Akif Ersoy University's distance education databases can be easily retrieved. This agent provides reusability of course content and Web conferencing records.
From Learning Management System to Internet-Based Research in Mathematics Education
Authors: Cai Tianxing
Published: May 2018

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of e-learning education courses or training programs. The traditional distance education for mathematics has heavily relied on the application of LMS. However, the Standards for Mathematical Practice have provided the requirements to mathematics educators at all levels for the students' development. This chapter presents the introduction of the transformation from LMS to Internet-based research in the mathematical education. This is the viewpoint of the patterns, developments, changes, or phenomena within their respective fields with regards to distance education of mathematics. It also creates a broad, multidisciplinary understanding of online education across educational boundaries and demonstrates the unique future trajectories that online education has within these mathematics.
Moth-Flame Optimization Algorithm Based Multilevel Thresholding for Image Segmentation
Authors: Khairuzzaman Abdul Kayom Md , Chaudhury Saurabh
Published: May 2018

Multilevel thresholding is a popular image segmentation technique. However, computational complexity of multilevel thresholding increases very rapidly with increasing number of thresholds. Metaheuristic algorithms are applied to reduce computational complexity of multilevel thresholding. A new method of multilevel thresholding based on Moth-Flame Optimization (MFO) algorithm is proposed in this paper. The goodness of the thresholds is evaluated using Kapur's entropy or Otsu's between class variance function. The proposed method is tested on a set of benchmark test images and the performance is compared with PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) and BFO (Bacterial Foraging Optimization) based methods. The results are analyzed objectively using the fitness function and the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) values. It is found that MFO based multilevel thresholding method performs better than the PSO and BFO based methods.
Development and Evaluation of Intelligent Agent- Based Teaching Assistant in E-Learning Portals
Authors: Rouhani Saeed , Mirhosseini Seyed Vahid
Published: May 2018

Today, several educational portals established by organizations to enhance web E-learning. Intelligence agent's usage is necessary to improve the system's quality and cover limitations such as face-to-face relation. In this research, after finding two main approaches in this field that are fundamental use of intelligent agents in systems design and focusing on human-based agents, second method selected and is designed and implemented in a simple way as an educational assistant to answer the students frequently asked questions. Consequently the efficiency of this method is evaluated by Expectancy confirmation-Information technology model. By examining the results of the students interacted with designed agent through the learning management system of Mehralborz institute, and the conceptual model based on e-learning effectiveness, ease of use, user satisfaction, and usefulness variables gained the scores of 55, 58 and 57 percent that represents the overall effectiveness factor is medium. Some applicative suggestions for developing intelligent agents as educational assistants are provided for virtual universities and e-learning portals.
Design Principles for an Intelligent-Augmented-Reality-Based M-Learning Application to Improve Engineering Students' English Language Skills
Authors: Bozdogan Derya , Kasap Buket , Kose Utku
Published: May 2018

Introducing an intelligent augmented reality based M-learning application designed and developed for improving engineering students' English language skills, this chapter reports a work-in-progress that focuses on system design procedure. The application consists of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based functions to ensure an effective learning flow while taking advantages of game-based learning by providing a story board structure with a content tree. Four design principles “fair use, flexible use, fault tolerance, educational climate” by Elias in addition to Stockwell and Hubbard's principles for mobile supported language learning have been taken into account. Furthermore, the proposed system here employs an effective approach combining both real and virtual environments to achieve an Augmented Reality based learning experiences for students. After the introduction of the application, the chapter outlines how it will be processed in the future.
A Fuzzy TOPSIS+Worst-Case Model for Personnel Evaluation Using Information Culture Criteria
Authors: Alguliyev Rasim M. , Aliguliyev Ramiz M. , Mahmudova Rasmiyya S.
Published: May 2018

Personnel evaluation process is aimed at choosing the best alternative to fill the defined vacancy in an organization. It determines the input quality of personnel and thus plays an important role in human resource management. The multi criteria nature and the presence of qualitative factors make it considerably more complex. This paper proposes a hybrid fuzzy MCDM model for personnel evaluation. It combines the fuzzy TOPSIS method with fuzzy worst-case (or entropy) method for linguistic reasoning under group decision making. Fuzzy worst-case and entropy methods are used to get weights of criteria, while fuzzy TOPSIS is utilized to rank the alternatives. The weights obtained from fuzzy worst-case and entropy methods are included in fuzzy TOPSIS computations and the alternatives are evaluated. The fuzzy MCDM for group decision making enables to aggregate subjective assessments of the decision-makers and thus offer an opportunity to perform more robust personnel evaluation procedures. To evaluate the alternatives the authors have formed an executive group consisting of five decision-makers. For evaluation the group has decided to consider five information culture criteria expressed in linguistic variables. A numerical example demonstrated the possibilities of application of the proposed method.
Applications of Hybrid Intelligent Systems in Adaptive Communication
Authors: Rahman Atta ur
Published: May 2018

Dynamic allocation of the resources for optimum utilization and throughput maximization is one of the most important fields of research nowadays. In this process the available resources are allocated in such a way that they are maximally utilized to enhance the overall system throughput. In this chapter a similar problem is approached which is found in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) environment, in which the transmission parameters namely the code rate, modulation scheme and power are adapted in such a way that overall system's data rate is maximized with a constrained bit error rate and transmit power. A Fuzzy Rule Base System (FRBS) is proposed for adapting the code rate and modulation scheme while Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm are used for adaptive power allocation. The proposed scheme is compared with other schemes in the literature including the famous Water-filling technique which is considered as a benchmark in the adaptive loading paradigm. Supremacy of the proposed technique is shown through computer simulations.
Using Fuzzy Control Methods for Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Buildings
Authors: Mpelogianni Vassiliki , Groumpos Peter
Published: May 2018

The energy sector worldwide faces significant challenges that everyday become even more acute. Innovative technologies and energy efficiency measures are nowadays well known and widely spread, and the main issue is to identify the more effective and reliable in the long term. In order to do so the decision maker has to compensate many factors. This article investigates the feasibility of the application of new intelligent control methods in modeling and controlling the performance of a building. For the first time a performance comparison of Fuzzy Logic vs Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) theories is performed and interesting results are presented. Multi-level intelligent controllers to manage the various parts of a building's automation and increase its energy efficiency are presented. For the first time the Building Energy Management System has been modeled using FCMs. Simulation studies with real environmental data have been performed and useful results have been obtained and discussed. Challenging future research topics are provided.
Wiki for Agility
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2018

The movement towards agility is one of the most significant human-centered and socially oriented changes in industrial software engineering. In the practice of agile methodologies, there are different types of content (data, information, or knowledge) that are created, communicated, and consumed. It is imperative for an organization to manage such content, both during development and beyond deployment. This chapter proposes a conceptual model for understanding and exploring the use of Wiki as a vehicle for managing content in agile software development. In doing so, the parity between agile software development and Wiki is shown, human and social aspects of each are emphasized, the Social Web-Context of Wiki is demonstrated, illustrative examples are given, and the implications of committing to a Wiki are considered.
An Example Application of an Artificial Intelligence-Supported Blended Learning Education Program in Computer Engineering
Authors: Yigit Tuncay , Koyun Arif , Yuksel Asim Sinan , Cankaya Ibrahim Arda , Kose Utku
Published: May 2018

Blended Learning is a learning model that is enriched with traditional learning methods and online education materials. Integration of face-to-face and online learning with blending learning can enhance the learning experience and optimize seat time. In this chapter, the authors present the teaching of an Algorithm and Programming course in Computer Engineering Education via an artificial intelligence-supported blended learning approach. Since 2011, Computer Engineering education in Suleyman Demirel University Computer Engineering Department is taught with a blended learning method. Blended learning is achieved through a Learning Management System (LMS) by using distance education technology. The LMS is comprised of course materials supported with flash animations, student records, user roles, and evaluation systems such as surveys and quizzes that meet SCORM standards. In this chapter, the related education process has been supported with an intelligent program, which is based on teaching C programming language. In this way, it has been aimed to improve educational processes within the related course and the education approach in the department. The blended learning approach has been evaluated by the authors, and the obtained results show that the introduced artificial intelligence-supported blended learning education program enables both teachers and students to experience better educational processes.
On the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Distance Education
Authors: Kose Utku
Published: May 2018

In today's world, intelligent systems play an important role in improving humankind's life standards and providing effective solutions for real-world-based problems. In this sense, such intelligent systems are the research outputs of the Artificial Intelligence field in Computer Science. Today, in many fields intelligent systems are widely used to obtain effective and accurate results for the problems encountered. At this point, education is one of the most remarkable fields in which lots of Artificial Intelligence-oriented research works are performed. When we consider the education field in terms of the latest technological developments, we can also see that the e-learning technique and more generally distance education approach are highly associated with the applications of Artificial Intelligence. Therefore, in this chapter the author explores the trends within the interaction between Artificial Intelligence and Distance Education. The chapter is a brief report on current trends of applications of “intelligent distance education” solutions. It also provides a short focus on the future possibilities of the relation of Artificial Intelligence and Distance Education.
Observing Customer Segment Stability Using Soft Computing Techniques and Markov Chains Within Data Mining Framework
Authors: Hiziroglu Abdulkadir
Published: May 2018

This study proposes a model that utilizes soft computing and Markov Chains within a data mining framework to observe the stability of customer segments. The segmentation process in this study includes clustering of existing consumers and classification-prediction of segments for existing and new customers. Both a combination and an integration of soft computing techniques were used in the proposed model. Segmenting customers was done according to the purchasing behaviours of customers based on RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) values. The model was applied to real-world data that were procured from a UK retail chain covering four periods of shopping transactions of around 300,000 customers. Internal validity was measured by two different clustering validity indices and a classification accuracy test. Some meaningful information associated with segment stability was extracted to provide practitioners a better understanding of segment stability over time and useful managerial implications.
A New Perspective on RFM Analysis
Authors: Aghdaie Mohammad Hasan , Tafreshi Parham Fami
Published: May 2018

The aim of this chapter is proposing a novel integrated Fuzzy Group Multiple Attribute Decision Making (FGMADM) and Fuzzy C-Means Clustering (FCM) as a DM tool for segmentation of customers (retailers), based on an updated RFM model. For this purpose, the most important criteria to evaluate retailers from the in depth literature survey and experts' opinion are added to the traditional RFM model. In addition, in order to make the model more efficient, FGMADM approach, in this paper, Fuzzy Group Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (FGSWARA) is used to weight KPIs. Then, FCM is applied to segment customers, based on their purchase behavior (RFM scores). A case study in one of the most famous Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies in Iran illustrated the applicability of the proposed model.
Pedagogical Agent Gestures to Improve Learner Comprehension of Abstract Concepts in Hints
Authors: Martins Igor , de Morais Felipe , Schaab Bruno , Jaques Patricia
Published: May 2018

In most Intelligent Tutoring Systems, the help messages (hints) are not very clear for students as they are only presented textually and have little connection with the task elements. This can lead to students' undesired behaviors, like gaming the system, associated with low performance. In this paper, the authors aim at evaluating if the gestures of an animated pedagogical agent to explain hints related to equation solving improves the students' understanding of these help messages. With this goal, they developed an animated pedagogical agent that uses gestures coupled with messages to explain hints in an algebra tutor. The authors performed a qualitative pilot study with four students to verify the impact of using gestures by the animated pedagogical agent on the comprehension of the hints, using two different versions of the system. The difference between these versions was the availability of gestures by the agent. The results showed that students understood the hints provided by the agent more correctly when they were coupled with agent's gesture. Furthermore, they also preferred using the tutor version with gestures.
Intelligent Transportation Systems
Authors: Narayanaswami Sundaravalli
Published: May 2018

“Intelligent Transportation systems” is what everyone wants to know about, and about which very little is available as know-how. ITS technologies and monitoring systems are quite popular and reasonably well deployed in developed countries, particularly the roadways and airways. ITS holds a greater promise than ever before, as both availability of niche technologies and demand for more efficient transportation systems have increased multi-fold in recent years. Of late, there are huge railway projects all over the world that spans through several techniques, such as light / heavy rails, monorails etc. Apart from the social benefits that can be envisaged, these projects are genuine examples of public-private partnerships along with global business operations. Many of these projects demonstrate a classy trend of moving towards automation of operations of very large scales. Few agent architectures are discussed in brief in this chapter.
Long-Term and Short-Term Traffic Forecasting Using Holt-Winters Method
Authors: Raikwar Aditya R. , Sadawarte Rahul R. , More Rishikesh G. , Gunjal Rutuja S. , Mahalle Parikshit N. , Railkar Poonam N.
Published: May 2018

The need of faster life has caused the exponential growth in No. of vehicles on streets. The adverse effects include frequent traffic congestion, less time efficiency, unnecessary fuel consumption, pollution, accidents, etc. One of most important solution for resolving these problems is efficient transportation management system. Data science introduces different techniques and tools for overcoming these problems and to improve the data quality and forecasting inferences. The proposed long-term forecasting model can predict numerical values of effective attributes for a particular day on half-hourly basis, at least 24 hours prior to the time of prediction. The proposed forecasting model for short-term analysis will be having access to data as close as 30-minute difference from the time of prediction. Our proposed solution has integrated use of Holt-Winters (HW) method along with comparability schemes for seasonal approach.
Default Probability Prediction of Credit Applicants Using a New Fuzzy KNN Method With Optimal Weights
Authors: Keramati Abbas , Yousefi Niloofar , Omidvar Amin
Published: May 2018

Credit scoring has become a very important issue due to the recent growth of the credit industry. As the first objective, this chapter provides an academic database of literature between and proposes a classification scheme to classify the articles. The second objective of this chapter is to suggest the employing of the Optimally Weighted Fuzzy K-Nearest Neighbor (OWFKNN) algorithm for credit scoring. To show the performance of this method, two real world datasets from UCI database are used. In classification task, the empirical results demonstrate that the OWFKNN outperforms the conventional KNN and fuzzy KNN methods and also other methods. In the predictive accuracy of probability of default, the OWFKNN also show the best performance among the other methods. The results in this chapter suggest that the OWFKNN approach is mostly effective in estimating default probabilities and is a promising method to the fields of classification.
Data-Driven Customer Centricity
Authors: Boujena Othman , Coussement Kristof , de Bock Koen W.
Published: May 2018

Customer relationship management (CRM) is becoming a very hot topic nowadays in academia and business environments. Indeed, companies are constantly searching for new innovative ways to create or maintain their competitive advantage. Due to the recent advances in Internet and technology, CRM predictive analytics is becoming an important tool in the toolset of the marketer. It is the practice of using the huge volumes of historical customer data to predict future customer behavior. This chapter introduces the reader to the shift towards a data-driven customer centricity approach, where marketers act upon what they know, rather than upon what they think.
Polish Firms' Innovation Capability for Competitiveness via Information Technologies and Social Media Implementation
Authors: Kavoura Androniki , Koziol Leszek
Published: May 2018

This chapter examines the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as innovative tools and the use of Social Media (SM) by Polish medium and small sized companies. The chapter aims to present the scope and importance of the use of Information Technology (IT) and SM in the process of companies' functioning and management. Presentation of the results of empirical research is another important aim. Companies' assessment of IT tools and SM's effective use as a prerequisite to improve the company performance is also examined. This is an exploratory study based on a sample of 166 southern Polish firms and it adds to the scant literature on firms' internal IT capabilities to support SM. The paper makes a theoretical and practical contribution in that it brings forth the emerging theme of IT resources that small and medium-sized enterprises adapt to their processes. It further examines the SM use from these firms based on the IT technology they implement as a whole. Managerial implications for marketers are provided since findings illustrate the tendency from small and medium-sized Polish companies not to implement ICTs and SM to a full extent and they could further incorporate SM in the firms' advertising and communication campaigns. Limitations and further research are discussed.
End User Perspective of E-Learning Using LMS-Like Systems
Authors: Costello Robert
Published: May 2018

In literature, e-learning plays an important part in improving the needs of learners and educators, as well as other stakeholders and institutions. However, this research indicates that e-learning is often used as a repository for uploading academic materials, without taking into consideration characteristics of the learner. This investigation examines a variety of techniques adopted from e-learning, adaptive learning and User Modelling to suggest improvements within industry. Throughout the paper, there will be a strong influence on how future PLEs should be designed and tailored to challenge the end users' perception of on-line education to meet the future needs of the learner, the educator and the institution. Focusing on future trends would allow developers to encapsulate learners motivational and learning needs. These aspects would enable designers to improve usability, functionality and reliability. PLEs are not just a collection of applications tailored towards personalisation, they are significantly more important than that. These systems are designed to be a functioned application/platform/management-system that promotes and encourages Personalised Learning. The research found within the case studies have shown that concepts of PLEs have contributed towards the learners' experience.
Review of Business Intelligence and Intelligent Systems in Healthcare Domain
Authors: Cebeci Halil Ibrahim , Hiziroglu Abdulkadir
Published: May 2018

Business intelligence and corresponding intelligent components and tools have been one of those instruments that receive significant attention from health community. In order to raise more awareness on the potentials of business intelligence and intelligent systems, this paper aims to provide an overview of business intelligence in healthcare context by specifically focusing on the applications of intelligent systems. This study reviewed the current applications into three main categories and presented some important findings of that research in a systematic manner. The literature is wide with respect to the applications of business intelligence covering the issues from health management and policy related topics to more operational and tactical ones such as disease treatment, diagnostics, and hospital management. The discussions made in this article can also facilitate the researchers in that area to generate a research agenda for future work in applied health science, particularly within the context of health management and policy and health analytics.
Survey of Unknown Malware Attack Finding
Authors: Sethuraman Murugan Sethuraman
Published: May 2018

Intrusion detection system(IDS) has played a vital role as a device to guard our networks from unknown malware attacks. However, since it still suffers from detecting an unknown attack, i.e., 0-day attack, the ultimate challenge in intrusion detection field is how we can precisely identify such an attack. This chapter will analyze the various unknown malware activities while networking, internet or remote connection. For identifying known malware various tools are available but that does not detect Unknown malware exactly. It will vary according to connectivity and using tools and finding strategies what they used. Anyhow like known Malware few of unknown malware listed according to their abnormal activities and changes in the system. In this chapter, we will see the various Unknown methods and avoiding preventions as birds eye view manner.
Ideas on the Future of Intelligent Web-Based E-Learning
Authors: Kose Utku
Published: May 2018

With the outstanding improvements in technology, the number of e-learning applications has increased greatly. This increment is associated with awareness levels of educational institutions on the related improvements and the power of communication and computer technologies to ensure effective and efficient teaching and learning experiences for teachers and students. Consequently, there is a technological flow that changes the standards of e-learning processes and provides better ways to obtain desired educational objectives. When we consider today's widely used technological factors, Web-based e-learning approaches have a special role in directing the educational standards. Improvements among m-learning applications and the popularity of the Artificial Intelligence usage for educational works have given great momentum to this orientation. In this sense, this chapter provides some ideas on the future of intelligent Web-based e-learning applications by thinking on the current status of the literature. As it is known, current trends in developing Artificial Intelligence-supported e-learning tools continue to shape the future of e-learning. Therefore, it is an important approach to focus on the future. The author thinks that the chapter will be a brief but effective enough reference for similar works, which focus on the future of Artificial Intelligence-supported distance education and e-learning.
Need of Intelligent Search in Dynamic Social Network
Authors: Sonkar Shailendra Kumar , Bhatnagar Vishal , Challa Rama Krishna
Published: May 2018

The user of dynamic social network does not require irrelevant and vast amount of information during a search. A need of an intelligent search is required to get the reduced, filtered and relevant information that is achieved using an intelligent information retrieval and web mining. In this paper, identification and description of facts related to needs of an intelligent search in dynamic social network has been done by the authors after the deep and thorough study conducted on several journal and conference papers that are scattered on different electronic databases globally. The usage of intelligent agent for effective information retrieval from the social network site is a very emerging area and it will help the users to find the relevant and concerned information quickly and efficiently. The findings of the authors will help researchers and scholars who are already working in this area to get the relevant information in the direction of future research.
Sustainable Urban Development
Authors: Boccella Nicola , Salerno Irene
Published: May 2018

The concept of participation in sustainable urban development practices is actually more and more popular in Europe and all over the world. In parallel, there is a rapid growth of urban design and planning projects including local communities in urban development planning activities. According to such concepts, this chapter, starting from the description of the results of field and desk researches carried out by ‘La Sapienza' University of Rome and related to communities involvement strategies currently available in Europe, describes and analyses a case study based on a concrete application of theoretical and methodological approaches, and two more cases of possible application of an integrated methodology. All the projects described concern the city of Rome.
Recommendations for Natural Resources Conservation in the Influence Areas of Cities
Authors: Niţă Mihai Răzvan , Niculae Mihăiţă Iulian , Onose Diana Andreea , Pătroescu Maria , Vânău Gabriel Ovidiu , Ciocănea Cristiana Maria
Published: May 2018

As urban development has become an increasing problem, urban planning is required to integrate social and economical needs with the sustainable use of natural resources. Since the urban development is favoured by the amount and diversity of the natural resources (land, mineral resources, green areas, aquatic surfaces) available in the area of influence of the cities and its negative externalities aren't limited inside the urban limits the conservation of those resources became an important issue in the scientific circles. Lately planners have been using GIS techniques and remote sensing, based on international and local databases, in finding the most probable scenarios and the best available solutions in order to promote a sustainable development of urban areas. Four models of natural resources conservation have proved effective in the influence areas of cities: protected areas, yellow-green belts, regional parks and oxygen generating surfaces. The establishment and management of these can be better realised by GIS techniques, because of their efficiency and ease of use, the suitability and general availability of data.
Attaining Sustainable, Smart Investment
Authors: Leanza Eugenio , Carbonaro Gianni
Published: May 2018

This paper presents a research agenda focusing on the role of smart, socially inclusive, sustainable cities in furthering the balanced, equitable development of the European economy. In order for cities to play this role it is necessary to start from a vision of the city as a system of interlinked assets, and from the need to manage these assets in a sustainable way using a methodology broadly based on the principles of corporate finance. This research agenda aims to span areas of expertise and policy dimensions that are often fragmented, in order to lead to improved diagnostics and strategic investing. In Europe, this vision of the city and of the urban management process will enable better bottom-up policy delivery, and address the challenges facing the European economy by facilitating the adaptation of European city systems to diverging spatial growth patterns, youth unemployment, ageing populations, migration patterns, and increasingly sharp financial divergences among different territorial systems.
Urbanization in Ghana
Authors: Cobbinah Patrick Brandful , Erdiaw-Kwasie Michael Odei
Published: May 2018

Urbanization, in theory, should result in human advancement by stimulating socio-economic development. However, recent studies indicate that African urbanization tends to compound urban poverty, stall socio-economic development, and disrupt urban functionality. Unfortunately, African urbanization is expected to intensify in the foreseeable future with the continent expected to become home to about 1.3 billion of the global urban population by 2050.This current and expected increase in African urbanization has implications for urban governance, and how this phenomenon is managed will largely determine the future of urban Africa. This chapter examines the contours of African urbanization using Ghana as a case study. An analysis of past and recent urbanization patterns and causes in Ghana is presented. The chapter further explores urban governance implications associated with Ghana's urbanization and suggests policy reforms which may help address the growing depressing implications of urbanization in Ghana and Africa at large.
The Smart City and Its Citizens
Authors: Capra Carlo Francesco
Published: May 2018

Smart cities are associated almost exclusively with modern technology and infrastructure. However, smart cities have the possibility to enhance the involvement and contribution of citizens to urban development. This work explores the role of governance as one of the factors influencing the participation of citizens in smart cities projects. Governance characteristics play a major role in explaining different typologies of citizen participation. Through a focus on Amsterdam Smart City program as a specific case study, this research examines the characteristics of governance that are present in the overall program and within a selected sample of projects, and how they relate to different typologies of citizen participation. The analysis and comprehension of governance characteristics plays a crucial role both for a better understanding and management of citizen participation, especially in complex settings where multiple actors are interacting.
Algorithms-Aided Sustainable Urban Design
Authors: Lima Fernando T. , Kós José Ripper , Paraizo Rodrigo Cury
Published: May 2018

This chapter is part of a research on algorithmic approaches to sustainable urban design. It focuses on the use of computational tools to provide quick and dynamic assessment while planning and discussing interventions in urban areas. The objective is to address the use of algorithmic systems to formulate effective strategies for sustainable urban projects, guided by Transit Oriented Development (TOD) principles. TOD is an urban development model that considers geometric principles and measurable parameters for designing sustainable cities. It advocates the creation of mixed-use neighborhoods within walking distance to a variety of transportation options and amenities, so that basic urban needs are easily accessible. In addition to establish a theoretical framework connecting algorithmic-parametric concepts and geometrical features of TOD, this chapter describes an experimental employment of algorithmic models working on TOD principles, in order to enhance a systematic and dynamic testing and subsequent argumentation for sustainable urban projects.
Smart Cities and Internet Technology Research for Sustainable and Inclusive Development
Authors: Marouli Christina , Lytras Miltiadis D.
Published: May 2018

The concept of smart cities has recently emerged to highlight the significance of innovation and information technologies in urban planning. In this chapter, after a discussion of different conceptions and important dimensions of smart cities, a wealth of information technologies that have been used in cities for a variety of services is presented. The authors advocate that smart urban solutions should be designed within a smart cities vision and strategic plan, defined by people's needs. They propose an integrated strategic policy making model for smart, sustainable and inclusive cities and they make recommendations for policies and education for smart cities. The special character of public and private spaces, the significance of everyday life, the pivotal role of open governance and meaningful citizen participation, as well as the balance between the desired surveillance for efficient resource management and freedom and creativity have been highlighted as challenges that should inform the design of smart urban solutions and future research on smart cities.
Smart Planning
Authors: Anttiroiko Ari-Veikko
Published: May 2018

This chapter discusses the ability of new technologies to support collective intelligence. The technology trend brought into the spotlight is Web 2.0 because it has a great potential to contribute to the refined understanding of planning issues. Such an application field can be called Collective Intelligence 2.0 with crowdsourcing as its characteristic process. This chapter discusses how such an intelligence and crowd-sourced knowledge can be utilized in smartening up urban planning. Crowdsourcing has been experimented in urban planning since the late 2000s, most notably in the forms of wikiplanning, participatory sensing, and co-creation. By combining theoretical insights and empirical evidence, this chapter concludes that Web 2.0 tools can be used to increase various forms of social and collective intelligence and, especially when the precondition of citizen-centered open planning culture is met, have undeniable potential to smarten up urban planning.
Infrastructure Governance at Sub-National Level
Authors: Buyana Kareem , Lwasa Shuaib
Published: May 2018

Although infrastructure-dependent services are increasingly provided through subnationalised forms of authority, the current discourse largely focuses on financing challenges at national to regional scales. This macro outlook of infrastructure governance assumes that, once central government agencies have drawn partnerships with intergovernmental counterparts, followed by financing to subnational agencies, municipal authorities will be in a position to implement projects that respond to the differing needs of urban residents. This obscures the multi-layered nature of infrastructure governance at municipal level intercepted by gender differences in end-user needs across urban sectors. The chapter presents the challenges faced by Kampala city in Uganda, in the context of not only formalized infrastructure governance, but also non-statist forms of authority and informal practices that give center stage to the agency of men relative to women in altering local service provision dynamics to the benefit of their needs and expectations.
Operationalising Resilience Within Planning Practice
Authors: Doyle Aoife , Hynes William , Ehimen Ehiaze , Purcell Stephen M. , Coaffee Jon , Clarke Jonathan , Davis Peadar
Published: May 2018

Over the past decade the concept of ‘resilience' – broadly viewed as the capacity to plan, prepare, respond and recover from shocks or disturbances - has gained increasing attention within urban planning literature. Yet there remains ongoing debate around how this concept can be operationalised within planning policy and practice. This paper presents emerging findings from two EU funded projects – HARMONISE and RESILENS – which both seek to explore the development of e-tools and processes to equip planners with capabilities to assess and enhance the resilience of existing and future urban development projects. To date, the widespread development and optimisation of such tools (and subsequent exploitation of such functions) have been relatively limited in practice due to a poor understanding of resilience as a concept, and differing conceptualisations of ‘resilience' across cities and national borders. This paper examines some of the key practical challenges in this respect.
Participatory Environmental Planning Platform
Authors: Chun Soon Ae , Artigas Francisco
Published: May 2018

Natural and man-made disasters can pose various threats to the environment and humans. Proper environmental monitoring, early alerts, and response planning and execution are essential. Most government organizations adhere to top-down planning operations, issuing instructions and setting rules and regulations for people to follow. In this chapter, the authors propose a participatory environmental planning platform where environmental planning is based on the data from sensors and “human sensors” to shift from a government-centric to a participatory environmental monitoring and planning paradigm. This platform incorporates intelligent technologies to enhance environmental situation awareness, to promote participatory governance, and to allow citizens to participate in the plan execution; participation is done through local data sharing as necessary to create situation awareness and through a resource sharing provided by citizen volunteers. The authors present a prototype system that provides shared services for the regional municipal governments' environmental planning and response coordination.
Spatial Planning and Regional Growth
Authors: Korres George M. , Pavlogeorgatos Gerasimos , Kokkinou Aikaterini
Published: May 2018

Spatial Planning focuses on planning and management of space, as a core axis towards sustainable development, as well as balanced sustainable development, closely related with economic determining factors, such as productivity, economic environment, investments and competitiveness. This paper attempts to analyze spatial planning framework and its contribution towards sustainable regional development. More precisely, this paper analyses the case studies of the region of the North Aegean and South Aegean, especially the islands of Lesvos, Rhodes, and Crete.
Environmental, Social, and Economic Indicators of Urban Land Use Conflicts
Authors: Kucukali Ufuk Fatih , Kuşak Lütfiye
Published: May 2018

Due to the recent increase in population, urbanization in developing countries progressed to the outer fringes of the city and resulted in ecological and social problems. Especially land use conflicts resulting in such phenomena are characterized by pressures on the environment caused by ever-increasing anthropogenic factors subject to unplanned settlement, notably in heavily populated metropolitan areas. Despite the fact that Turkey is one of the countries, which this conflict intensively occurred. Studies on compliance of land use in Turkey with the zoning plans mainly consider socioeconomic indicators. This, in return, raises concerns over applicability and the rationality of the plans created. Three main indicators: environmental indicators, social indicators and economic indicators were selected and then estimated to retrieve the relative weights of the indicators was determined using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) pairwise comparison method. Weighted linear combination (WLC) was carried out in the study.