Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-221).

The central topic of this thesis is parking functions. We give a survey of some of the current literature concerning parking functions and focus on their interaction with other combinatorial objects; namely noncrossing partitions, hyperplane arrangements and tree inversions. In the final chapter, we discuss generalizations of both parking functions and the above structures.

The central topic of this thesis is parking functions. We give a survey of some of the current literature concerning parking functions and focus on their interaction with other combinatorial objects; namely noncrossing partitions, hyperplane arrangements and tree inversions. In the final chapter, we discuss generalizations of both parking functions and the above structures.

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Since their introduction by Konheim and Weiss, parking functions have evolved into objects of surprising combinatorial complexity for their simple definitions. First, we introduce these structures, give a brief history of their development and give a few basic theorems about their structure. Then we examine the internal structures of parking functions, focusing on the distribution of descents and inversions in parking functions. We develop a generalization to the Catalan numbers in order to count subsets of the parking functions. Later, we introduce a generalization to parking functions in the form of k-blocked parking functions, and examine their internal structure. Finally, we expand on the extension to the Catalan numbers, exhibiting examples to explore its internal structure. These results continue the exploration of the deep structures of parking functions and their relationship to other combinatorial objects.

As more and more cooperation between government and private sector in public projects, the government is making a further promotion of private participation in public parking lot construction to improve the problem of parking supply exists in our city. This task needs strict project delivery procedure, objective and professional pre-work, but most cases in Taiwan, financial feasibility is private investor¡¦s greatest doubt because of lacking related analysis precisely. That is why there are very few parking lots invested and built by non-government sector. After integrating the ways and processes of private participation in public construction, this study will review the executive deficiency and propose improvement strategy from Taipei¡¦s experience in promotion of parking lot built by private sector. In addition, a currently running parking lot will be involved in case study to illustrate the financial feasibility of BOT. From the result of analysis, it is infeasible through BOT to construct parking lot. It must increase the rate and take some useful measures to make BOT feasible. If it is impossible to raise the parking fee, in order to get the problem resolved, the parking lot should be constructed by government and operated by private sector.

The time consuming, tedious, and, sometimes, never ending search for a parking spot is a matter of common experience. We present an innovative approach to parking monitoring systems that only requires sensors at the entry and exit points of a street segment in an open environment such as a city downtown (as opposed to a closed environment such as a parking garage/lot). It can be trivially understood that using this set-up we can determine the number of vehicles present in a given street segment at any given time. However, the bigger issue is to closely estimate how many of those vehicles are parked or en route. We present an algorithm by which we can have a practical estimate of parked cars without introducing any more sensors. We further present a self-stabilizing system that can be implemented for fault tolerance and a few other methods to mitigate errors that may accrue over time. Our approach is based on the assumption that drivers do not care about the exact location of the parking spot, as long as they know the “street segment” where parking is available. For example, just letting the users know of available parking on 7th street between Red River and Brazos gives them enough information to easily find a parking spot. This type of information would most likely be shown on a map. Once the driver reaches the correct street area, it is easy to locate an empty parking spot. Finally, to test and evaluate our approach, we developed and deployed an embedded system using ultra-sonic sensors, and a Microsoft Bing Map application with the said user interface, along with an interoperable web service that can provide parking information to any third party application. / text

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

This is about acting from a situation, a place, its conditions and its actors. It is an attempt to understand the ongoing transformations of the city of Umeå, to grasp how it functions and gain the knowledge to be able to act within and suggest new possible futures. By looking at Umeå and the current situation with the parking lot as an index, a tool, a laboratory, and a possible new common, new ways of building the city while living within it will be suggested. The non place of the parking lot with its singular purpose is part of the mechanisms that makes our city, at the same time it is the effect of this city making and it is also a great place to start a change of such system. The 2.5x5 meters that makes a parking lot is small in comparison with the city, and even more so in comparison with the country or the world, but the size also makes it possible to grasp, touch and inhabit. The smallness makes it seem rather innocent and without much importance but the power lies within its multiplicity. A change within a parking lot might not be much, but the possibility of spreading throughout the city and the world makes the parking lot a very powerful place. Since humans can sometimes be creatures of habit, I believe that it is extremely important to keep on questioning the way we inhabit the world together. Widely spread and accepted habits can start acting like dysfunctional natural laws steering us in a direction we might not have chosen if alternatives were presented to us. By investigating and testing the possibilities of such a bland and unquestioned place as the parking lot, I am looking to find glimpses of alternative ways of making the world while living it.

Parking, a seemingly mundane topic, have a huge impact on peoples right to the city. This thesis aims to explore the effects of the regulatory space created by parking norms and policies within the urban landscape. Parking is in this thesis identified as an active form, drawing from the work of Keller Easterling. Being controlled and regulated at the municipal level, parking is a question of local politics. This opens up possibilities for reorganizing parking as a tool for planning and place-making. By rewiring the organization of parking, from an individual property into a cooperative infrastructure, parking becomes a platform for generating local communities in the mid-sized Swedish city.