A political boundary divided the City of Shenzhen in 1978. The southern portion is designated as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), while the northern region remains a part of hinterland China. The divide creates a geographical and psychological chasm in the administrative and ontological existence of Shenzhen. The locals dubbed this border “the Second Line”. The Second Line and SEZ were a part of Chairman Deng Xiaoping’s open and reform economic policies in 1978. The SEZs were designated areas along the southeast coast of China for the socialist state’s experimentation with global capitalism. After years of wars, revolution and repression of the individual pursuit of capital, Shenzhen underwent extraordinary urban and economic development, growing from clusters of villages holding 300 000 residents to a megalopolis of more than a million in one decade. The Second Line drove uneven urban and economic growth in the Shenzhen SEZ. The radical speed of development and opportunities brought workers from rural areas of China. They made up the economic and urban substructure of the city, but were excluded from urban social welfare. Shenzhen’s industries rooted in instability and disposability of labour discouraged the settlement of the floating population. The thesis proposal conceptually commemorates the site of the Second Line, and pays homage to its crucial role in the urban and economic formation of Shenzhen. At the urban scale, it acts as a public infrastructure, providing a framework for interface between the segregated territories of the city. The social housing component of the proposal is an architectural response and challenge to policies that allow for the migration of rural workers without provisions for everyday life. The proposal subverts the divisive ideology of the boundary through inhabitation, and creates a space of dwelling on the Second Line.

A political boundary divided the City of Shenzhen in 1978. The southern portion is designated as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), while the northern region remains a part of hinterland China. The divide creates a geographical and psychological chasm in the administrative and ontological existence of Shenzhen. The locals dubbed this border “the Second Line”. The Second Line and SEZ were a part of Chairman Deng Xiaoping’s open and reform economic policies in 1978. The SEZs were designated areas along the southeast coast of China for the socialist state’s experimentation with global capitalism. After years of wars, revolution and repression of the individual pursuit of capital, Shenzhen underwent extraordinary urban and economic development, growing from clusters of villages holding 300 000 residents to a megalopolis of more than a million in one decade. The Second Line drove uneven urban and economic growth in the Shenzhen SEZ. The radical speed of development and opportunities brought workers from rural areas of China. They made up the economic and urban substructure of the city, but were excluded from urban social welfare. Shenzhen’s industries rooted in instability and disposability of labour discouraged the settlement of the floating population. The thesis proposal conceptually commemorates the site of the Second Line, and pays homage to its crucial role in the urban and economic formation of Shenzhen. At the urban scale, it acts as a public infrastructure, providing a framework for interface between the segregated territories of the city. The social housing component of the proposal is an architectural response and challenge to policies that allow for the migration of rural workers without provisions for everyday life. The proposal subverts the divisive ideology of the boundary through inhabitation, and creates a space of dwelling on the Second Line.

A public interface for the infrastructure of Hartbeespoort Dam Water sustains all living things on this earth and has a huge impact on the natural environment. Water is the most valuable natural resource on this earth. It is vital to humans' existence. It is why we have evolved to the point that we are now and if we do not appreciate it, it will be our demise. Water has the ability to adapt and change as different natural systems interact with it, it allows a constant balance to remain. Humans have broken the delicate balance of water supply and demand, detrimentally affecting the natural systems that support us. Since the start of the industrial era our cities have grown at an exponential rate. The development of cities has impacted negatively on natural systems. This has led to a concomitant disconnection between man and nature and has divorced humans from an understanding of the role and importance of natural water systems. . We have forgotten the positive effects that we experience when directly engaging with water as we live in environments often far from nature; rarely experiencing it fully. Our physical control of natural resources has led to a physical disconnection and under appreciation of these precious resources. This project aims to reconnect man and nature to create a new paradigm where humans value our natural resources and, in particular, water. A re-appropriation of water infrastructure through an architectural interface that fulfils cultural, social and economic functions to create a positive recreational space that celebrates water and its importance in our h eritage. T he intention is to c reate a p roductive infrastructure that facilitates exchanges between site, existing infrastructure and the user. / n Publieke skeidingsvlak vir die infrastruktuur van die Hartebeespoort Dam omgewing. Water onderhou alle lewe op aarde en het 'n groot impak op die natuurlike omgewing. Water is die belangrikste natuurlike hulpbron op die aarde en is van die uiterste belang vir die mens se voortbestaan. Dit is hoekom ons die punt bereik het waar ons nou is. Dit sal ons ondergang beteken as ons dit nie bewaar en waardeer nie. Die mens het die delikate balans van aanvraag en watervoorsiening versteur tot nadeel van die natuurlike sisteme wat ons onderhou. Sedert die begin van die industriele tydperk het ons stede eksponensie?l vergroot. Die ontwikkeling van stede het 'n negatiewe impak gehad op ons natuurlike omgewing. Dit het gelei na 'n gepaardgaande diskonneksie tussen mens en natuur en het die mens se begrip van die rol en belang van natuurlike waterbronne negatief be?nvloed. Omdat ons in omgewings woon v?r verwyder van water en dikwels van die natuur kom ons nie direk met water as lewensmiddel in ons omgewing in kontak nie. Ons fisiese beheer van natuurlike bronne het gelei tot die skeiding en onderwaardeering van hierdie kosbare bronne. Die doel van die projek is om mens en die natuur bymekaar te bring en 'n nuwe paradigma te skep waar die mens sy natuurlike bronne, en in die besonder water, waardeer. 'n Nuwe benadering tot waterinfrastruktuur deur 'n argitektonise wisselwerking wat kulturele, sosiale en ekonomiese funksies bymekaar bring om 'n positiewe onspanne ruimte te skep waar die belang van water as 'n erfenis vier, is nodig. Die doel is om 'n produktiewe infrastruktuur te skep wat uitruiling tussen die terrein, die huidige infrastruktuur en die gebruiker bymekaar bring. / Mini Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / Unrestricted

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Yes / Exploring innovative cellular architectures to achieve enhanced system capacity and good coverage has become a critical issue towards realizing the next generation of wireless communications. In this context, this paper proposes a novel concept of Universal Intelligent Small Cell (UniSCell) for enabling the densification of the next generation of cellular networks. The main motivating factors behind the proposed small cell concept are the need of public infrastructure reengineering and the recent advances in several enabling technologies such as spectrum awareness, adaptive beamforming, source localization, new multiplexing schemes, etc. In this paper, first, we highlight the main concepts of the proposed small cell platform. Subsequently, we present two deployment scenarios taking into account of both technical and business aspects. Then, we describe the key future technologies for enabling the proposed UniScell Concept and present an use case example with the help of numerical results. Finally, we conclude this paper by providing some interesting future recommendations.

Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional and Community Planning / Jason Brody / From start to finish, implementing large public infrastructure projects, like a park, can be challenging. Funding shortages, public opposition, and physical limitations are all potential problems that can halt a project’s development. This study explores the complexities of implementation by using a proposed park designed by the Kansas City Design Center as a case study for examination. The visioning process, or first stage of implementation, is explored by examining the factors that influenced the design. Through interviews, this report then examines how the actors and processes of project implementation work together or against each other in project development. Applying the learned knowledge of implementation to the proposed park of the Kansas City Design Center presented multiple challenges, as well as opportunities for the park. After understanding implementation and its application to the Rail Park, three main strategies are proposed to move the Kansas City Design Center’s proposed park past the visioning stage. The three strategies are: to collaborate between actors, garner public support, and project phasing. General conclusions about implementation in this study found that there will be challenges and not all can be anticipated, but it is important to plan for those that can be. Being flexible and persistent to move a project forward is necessary in order to accommodate stakeholders’ concerns and unforeseen problems. Knowledge of implementation and its complexities will assist actors, developers, and students to advance visions into reality.

The primary objective of this thesis is to analyse the public private partnership (PPP) framework for infrastructure development in developing countries across the six regions of the world. The thesis utilises the World Bank's private participation in infrastructure (PPI) dataset for the period 1980–2014, and examines three thematic areas. The first comprises of an exploratory analysis of the PPI dataset. The second research area focuses on the relationship between countries' attractiveness for PPPs and the characteristics of the countries, including: macroeconomic and market; fiscal constraints; regulatory and governance; and experience in PPPs, by utilising the Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial and Cragg's Double Hurdle models in an attempt to model private investors' decision to engage in PPPs as separate participation and consumption decisions. The third research area employs the methodology of survival analysis to investigate the risk of failure of PPP projects based on the allocation of residual facility ownership between the partners. The thesis's primary contributions include the utilisation of a wider and more informative range of econometric methodologies which have not been previously applied to the PPI dataset, and for the first time also, provides a framework to select an appropriate structure for PPPs that will enhance project survival. A key finding of the thesis is that private investors prioritise macroeconomic and market variables, such as price stability over regulatory and governance variables, such as corruption, in their determination as to which country to engage in PPPs. Contrary to previous research, corruption was found to be of no consequence to private investors who wish to engage in PPPs even for developing countries. Another key finding is that PPP projects which confer residual ownership on the public sector have lower risk of failure than those for which such ownership is conferred on the private sector. Evidence also suggests that the size of the project and the participation of multilateral institutions in PPPs also affect the risk of project failure.

To promote higher air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Californian government is investing heavily in developing public charging infrastructure to meet its electric vehicle adoption goal of five million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030. This thesis investigates the effect of public charging infrastructure availability on electric vehicle adoption at the zip code level in California. The analysis considers other factors that may influence electric vehicle adoption such as education level, income, commute time, gas prices, and public transportation rate. The findings suggest that public charging infrastructure availability does significantly positively correlate with electric vehicle registrations. Linear regressions were run using data from the U.S Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center, IHS Markit vehicle registration data, and the US Census Bureau. The findings support continued investment in public charging infrastructure as a means of promoting electric vehicle adoption.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / Este trabalho estima a elasticidade produto-capital pÃblico para economia brasileira no perÃodo entre 1950 a 2005, considerando a ocorrÃncia de uma possÃvel mudanÃa estrutural provocada pela acentuada reduÃÃo da taxa de investimento do setor pÃblico nas ultimas dÃcadas. A quebra estrutural na relaÃÃo de longo prazo entre as variÃveis à acomodada por uma mudanÃa no componente determinÃstico do vetor de cointegraÃÃo. O teste para instabilidade do vetor de cointegraÃÃo confirma a ocorrÃncia desta mudanÃa. Com base neste resultado estima-se o vetor de cointegraÃÃo por MÃnimos Quadrados DinÃmicos permitindo uma mudanÃa estrutural no componente determinÃstico seguindo a metodologia proposta por Carrion-i-Silvestre e Sansà (2005). As elasticidades produto capital pÃblico estimadas sÃo inferiores as usualmente encontradas na literatura brasileira. / This paper estimates the elasticity product-public capital to the Brazilian economy during the period 1950 to 2005, considering the possible occurrence of a structural change caused by the sharp reduction in public sector investment in recent decades. The structural break in long-term relationship between variables is accommodated by a change in the deterministic component of the cointegrating vector. The test for instability in the cointegrating vector confirms the occurrence of this change. Based on this result it is estimated the cointegration vector Dynamic Least Squares allowing a structural change in the deterministic component following the methodology proposed by Carrion-i-Silvestre and Sans (2005). The elasticities product-public capital estimated are lower than those usually found in the literature.

In this dissertation, I visit areas of government spending that are core to human development and economic growth, and have equity and efficiency considerations. In the first essay, I examine the relationship between education and air pollution. How pollution affects education is typically studied through the health aspects of pollution exposure, and its subsequent effects on academic performance. This essay proposes a financing channel of pollution’s impact on education outcome. School districts with better air quality are endowed with higher tax base, and can generate more resources. Panel fixed effect analysis for a group of metropolitan school districts in the USA suggests that decrease in air pollution increases property tax revenue per pupil in the district. The second essay investigates the incidence of broad-based energy subsidies, and whether poor households could gain from targeted transfer programs financed by savings from reform. I analyze the tariff differential subsidy program in Pakistan, and find that the subsidy is regressive. I conduct a CGE exercise and find that reducing energy subsidy and redistributing savings to poor households, would improve poor household’s welfare. The third essay studies how public infrastructure capital affects growth in developing countries. The relationship between infrastructure and economic growth is widely studied in developed country context. This study contributes to literature by estimating output elasticities with respect to public infrastructure capital stock for two developing countries – Mauritius and Bangladesh. Estimated output elasticities are mostly positive for both countries, which suggests that public infrastructure stimulates economic growth in developing countries.