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This book advocates a fresh approach to planning that anticipates, rather than reacts to, the changes in climate currently in process. Today’s spatial planning procedures rely on historical evidence instead of preparing for factors that by definition lie in the future, yet which are relatively uncontroversial: shortages of water, sea level rise and rises in average temperatures being but three examples. Arguing for more flexibility, the contributors view ‘complexity’ as the key to transforming the way we plan in order to better equip us to face uncertainties about our future environment.
This book shows that the problem of climate adaptation, which is described in social planning terms as ‘wicked,’ is at odds with the contemporary practice of spatial planning. The author proposes a new adjusted framework which is more adaptable to unpredictable, wicked, dynamic and non-linear processes. The inspiration for this new method is the behaviour of swarms: bees, ants, birds and fish are capable of self-organization, which enables the system to become less vulnerable to sudden environmental changes. The framework proposed in Swarm Planning consists of these four elements: Two levels of complexity, the first being the whole system and the second its individual components. Each of these has different attributes for adapting to change. Five layers, consisting of networks, focal points, unplanned space, natural resources and emerging occupation patterns. Each layer has its own spatial dynamic, and each is connected to a spatial scale. Non-linear processes, which emerge in different parts of the framework and include emerging patterns, connectedness and tipping points among others. Two planning processes; the first, ‘from small to large’ works upward from the slowest changing elements to more rapidly-changing ones. The second, ‘on the list of partners’ addresses each layer from networks through emerging occupation patterns. Swarm Planning applies this framework to a series of pilot studies, and appraises its performance using criteria for an adaptive landscape. The results show that the use of the Swarm Planning Framework reduces the vulnerability of landscapes as well as the impact of climate hazards and disasters, improves response to unexpected hazards and contains adaptation strategies. “This book is a must for planners in government and the private sector as it outlines the concept, strategies and techniques for swarm planning. It is also an important guide for policymakers looking to engage communities in a dialogue about the adaptation planning process.” Professor John Martin, La Trobe University “The ultimate value of the book lies in encouraging the planning community to consider options that go far beyond those offered by business-as-usual planning methodologies developed for a set of operating conditions that are fast becoming obsolete. As such it makes an important and much needed contribution to the field.” Assistant Professor Dr. Chrisna du Plessis, University of Pretoria
Sustainable Energy Landscapes by Sven Stremke,Andy van den Dobbelsteen Pdf
In the near future the appearance and spatial organization of urban and rural landscapes will be strongly influenced by the generation of renewable energy. One of the critical tasks will be the re-integration of these sustainable energy landscapes into the existing environment—which people value and want to preserve—in a socially fair, environmentally sound, and economically feasible manner. Accordingly, Sustainable Energy Landscapes: Designing, Planning, and Development focuses on the municipal and regional scale, where energy-conscious interventions are effective, and stakeholders can participate actively in the transition process. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge in the exciting new field of sustainable energy landscapes. It bridges the gap between theory and fundamental research on the one hand, and practice and education on the other. The chapters—written by experts in their fields—present a selection of interdisciplinary, cutting-edge projects from across the world, illustrating the inspiring challenge of developing sustainable energy landscapes. They include unique case studies from Germany, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Austria, Italy, and the United States. The editors and team of contributing authors aim to inspire readers, providing a comprehensive overview of sustainable energy landscapes, including principles, concepts, theories, and examples. The book describes various methods, such as energy potential mapping and heat mapping, multicriteria decision analysis, energy landscape visualization, and employing exergy and carbon models. It addresses how to quantify the impact of energy transition both on landscape quality and energy economy, issues of growing importance. The text infuses readers with enthusiasm to promote further research and action toward the important goal of building energy landscapes for a sustainable future.
Spatial Entropy and Landscape Analysis by Fivos Papadimitriou Pdf
This is the first book on spatial entropy in the scientific literature. It links spatial entropy with landscape analysis, landscape diversity and geo-information. It gives all the essential tools that a researcher needs in order to study the spatial entropy of physical as well as artificial landscapes (created with artificial life, swarm intelligence etc). This book explores the fascinating world of the interplay between spatial entropy, spatial information, self-organization and emergence and gives geographers and landscape scientists several alternative mathematical methods to study them, i.e. Shannon's formula, measures from non-extensive thermodynamics, from directional statistics and network theory. An essential book for researchers in landscape analysis and geo-informatics.
This book presents the latest research on resilience strategies around the world. Research such as this is necessary to create new ideas and to evaluate established ones in an effort to make communities more adaptable and to increase people's survival and quality of life while living with the reality of climate change. The book offers definitions of resilience and various ways of measuring it, since resilience is still a concept in transition. It also describes general strategies for increasing communities’ resilience at multiple levels, then dives into specific dimensions of resilience, tying it to energy infrastructure and systems and public health.
Interchanges of Insects between Agricultural and Surrounding Landscapes by B.S. Ekbom,Michael E. Irwin,Y. Robert Pdf
The chapters in this book were developed from some of the lectures presented at a sym posium at the XX International Congress of Entomology held in Florence, Italy in August 1996. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss the impact of evolving modern agricultural landscapes on the insect species, of both economic and ecological importance, that utilize that habitat. Agricultural policy, to some extent, influences the choices that farmers make and thereby the shape of the agricultural landscape. In order to move toward more sustainable agro ecosystems future policy makers will have to consider the history of land use, consumer demands for both environmentally sound and affordable products, and the conservation of biological diversity. I would hope the information contained in this book will help stimulate discussion about the consequences of policy decisions on our agricultural landscapes and their insect inhabitants. I thank all the speakers from the symposium and in particular those that have been able to contribute chapters to this book. There have been many delays, most due to circumstances beyond anyone's control. I would like to express my appreciation to Gloria Verhey and Patrick Dumont for taking care of the book in these final months. CHAPTER I INTERCHANGES OF INSECTS BETWEEN AGRICULTURAL AND SURROUNDING LANDSCAPES BARBARA EKBOM Department of Entomology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden 1.
Urban planning practice will undergo significant changes in the upcoming decades, due to major changes and challenges the world has to deal with, such as loss of biodiversity loss, climate change impacts, agricultural transformation, water management issues and health. The way the urban professional has to relate to this new order is explored in this book by collecting a series of conversational chapters with local, regional, national and international experts in the fields of urban planning and design, urban and building development, building and construction industry, architecture, governments and academia. The unification of a desirable future with real world processes such as economic and decision-making practice is key. Moreover, the attitude of the future urban professional will more and more shift from an expert in a specific field to a communicative advisor in complex processes.
One important change in the Brazilian policies is the Pacification. In recent years the government has invested in creating safer and more livable favelas. This generally starts with creating a UPP, a police post at a central location, from where the safety is maintained. Once this has been established the PAC, the government organisation for accelerating urban development in the favelas, starts to make plans to improve the quality of life in the favela: drinking water, electricity, sewage system and other basic systems. It is essential to include the growth of food in their policies. Secondly, the discourse in urban agriculture shifts from the early stage in which every initiative is interesting, food production is a social activity and an estimated contribution to sustainability, towards the question how much food is actually produced within the city boundaries. Analyses show that the amount produced is very little. The follow-up question is how more food could be produced in the city? This is obviously also a matter of space. Current urban concepts do not offer enough space for food production and this implies new concepts need to be found. In the context of the favelas these new spaces need to be found on roofs.
Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape by Christopher S. Wood Pdf
In the early sixteenth century, Albrecht Altdorfer promoted landscape from its traditional role as background to its new place as the focal point of a picture. His paintings, drawings, and etchings appeared almost without warning and mysteriously disappeared from view just as suddenly. In Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape, Christopher S. Wood shows how Altdorfer transformed what had been the mere setting for sacred and historical figures into a principal venue for stylish draftsmanship and idiosyncratic painterly effects. At the same time, his landscapes offered a densely textured interpretation of that quintessentially German locus—the forest interior. This revised and expanded second edition contains a new introduction, revised bibliography, and fifteen additional illustrations.
Recent Advances in the Theory and Application of Fitness Landscapes by Hendrik Richter,Andries Engelbrecht Pdf
This book is concerned with recent advances in fitness landscapes. The concept of fitness landscapes originates from theoretical biology and refers to a framework for analysing and visualizing the relationships between genotypes, phenotypes and fitness. These relationships lay at the centre of attempts to mathematically describe evolutionary processes and evolutionary dynamics. The book addresses recent advances in the understanding of fitness landscapes in evolutionary biology and evolutionary computation. In the volume, experts in the field of fitness landscapes present these findings in an integrated way to make it accessible to a number of audiences: senior undergraduate and graduate students in computer science, theoretical biology, physics, applied mathematics and engineering, but also researcher looking for a reference or/and entry point into using fitness landscapes for analysing algorithms. Also practitioners wanting to employ fitness landscape techniques for evaluating bio- and nature-inspired computing algorithms can find valuable material in the book. For teaching proposes, the book could also be used as a reference handbook.
Innovations and Developments of Swarm Intelligence Applications by Shi, Yuhui Pdf
The natural social behavior of large groups of animals, such as flocks of birds, schools of fish, or colonies of ants has fascinated scientists for hundreds of years, if not longer, due to the intricate nature of their interactions and their ability to move and work together seemingly effortlessly. Innovations and Developments of Swarm Intelligence Applications explores the emerging realm of swarm intelligence, which finds its basis in the natural social behavior of animals. The study and application of this swarm behavior has led scientists to a new world of research as ways are found to apply this behavior to independent intelligent agents, creating complex solutions for real world applications. Worldwide contributions have been seamlessly combined in this comprehensive reference, providing a wealth of new information for researchers, academicians, students, and engineers.
Swarm Intelligence by Russell C. Eberhart,Yuhui Shi,James Kennedy Pdf
Traditional methods for creating intelligent computational systems have privileged private "internal" cognitive and computational processes. In contrast, Swarm Intelligence argues that human intelligence derives from the interactions of individuals in a social world and further, that this model of intelligence can be effectively applied to artificially intelligent systems. The authors first present the foundations of this new approach through an extensive review of the critical literature in social psychology, cognitive science, and evolutionary computation. They then show in detail how these theories and models apply to a new computational intelligence methodology—particle swarms—which focuses on adaptation as the key behavior of intelligent systems. Drilling down still further, the authors describe the practical benefits of applying particle swarm optimization to a range of engineering problems. Developed by the authors, this algorithm is an extension of cellular automata and provides a powerful optimization, learning, and problem solving method. This important book presents valuable new insights by exploring the boundaries shared by cognitive science, social psychology, artificial life, artificial intelligence, and evolutionary computation and by applying these insights to the solving of difficult engineering problems. Researchers and graduate students in any of these disciplines will find the material intriguing, provocative, and revealing as will the curious and savvy computing professional. * Places particle swarms within the larger context of intelligent adaptive behavior and evolutionary computation. * Describes recent results of experiments with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm * Includes a basic overview of statistics to ensure readers can properly analyze the results of their own experiments using the algorithm. * Support software which can be downloaded from the publishers website, includes a Java PSO applet, C and Visual Basic source code.
New Advancements in Swarm Algorithms: Operators and Applications by Erik Cuevas,Fernando Fausto,Adrián González Pdf
This book presents advances in alternative swarm development that have proved to be effective in several complex problems. Swarm intelligence (SI) is a problem-solving methodology that results from the cooperation between a set of agents with similar characteristics. The study of biological entities, such as animals and insects, manifesting social behavior has resulted in several computational models of swarm intelligence. While there are numerous books addressing the most widely known swarm methods, namely ant colony algorithms and particle swarm optimization, those discussing new alternative approaches are rare. The focus on developments based on the simple modification of popular swarm methods overlooks the opportunity to discover new techniques and procedures that can be useful in solving problems formulated by the academic and industrial communities. Presenting various novel swarm methods and their practical applications, the book helps researchers, lecturers, engineers and practitioners solve their own optimization problems.