This thesis investigates how risk can be seen within urban planning, with a particular focus on the Swedish civil defense shelter system. The research is conducted as a case study, with methods based on interviews with affected actors together with documents and reports regarding the Swedish shelter system. Thereof the main empirical data are collected as of interviews. The interviews set out to find how responsibilities within the civil defense shelter system are viewed and how this, in turn, affects urban planning. By doing this the specific risks associated with a refurbished civil defense shelter system are analysed from interviews, official documents, and reports as well as laws. With the analysis, it is concluded that Sweden’s civil defense, and especially the shelter system, were something that was a huge political endeavor and built up from the end of World War II until the 1990s. At the beginning of the 2000s civil defense was disbanded in Sweden, but shelters were still to be maintained by property owners and municipalities. And the disbandment took place over just a few years until it was decided to refurbish Sweden’s civil defense in 2015. This see-saw of events is argued to have led to vague guidelines for municipalities and property owners as to what to do with, and how to care for existing shelters. Something that the interviewed actors also pointed out. Shelters are argued to be put in place as a response to the risk of an armed attack on the civilian population. The shelter system and its accompanying regulations are argued to have an effect on planning practices as well as actors throughout the whole society. Further on it is argued that the decentralisation process that has taken place in the Swedish society and led to a more communicative way of planning clashes with civil defense questions in urban planning. As decisions regarding civil defense and its shelter system is a matter of national interest and therefore surpasses any other interests and are therefore argued to be more in line with rational planning.

No description available.

The ancient art of ‘origami’ has recently become the source of inspiration for engineers to create structures that can unfold from a compact state to a fully deployed one. For instance, researchers have currently adopted origami designs in various engineering disciplines, including aerospace engineering, robotics, biomedical engineering, and architecture. In particular, architects have been interested in designing origami-inspired rigid walled structures that can be deployed as disaster-relief shelters. This type of design has three main advantages: transportability, constructability, and rigidity. Although there has been increased interests in deployable structures, limited research has been conducted on evaluating their structural performance, specifically the mechanical performance of the hinges that allow for the rotation of the rigid panels. To address the limitation, this thesis proposes a novel design of hinge connections for rigid origami structures. The hinges utilize snap fit connections to allow for the structure to achieve and maintain a locked state once unfolded without the need for any additional connections. Prototypes of the hinge design were fabricated using a 3D printer and their flexural strength was experimentally and computationally studied. It was concluded that the design could resist typical flexural loads for residential structures, and future research should be performed to minimize deflection.

No description available.

Understanding how species respond to anthropogenic changes and why species respond in the way that they do can help focus conservation planning. Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) are a freshwater species of increasing conservation concern that are suspected to have declined due to loss of forest cover. However, quantitative evidence of land use effects on hellbenders is lacking. I used a multilevel approach to understanding whether hellbenders respond to land use by examining physiological indices, demographics and patterns of species occurrence as endpoints. My study area included two major river drainages in Virginia which mark a largely understudied portion of the species' range. In Chapter I, I described hellbender distribution and tested the hypothesis that hellbenders would be more likely to occur in heavily forested landscapes. Surprisingly, hellbenders occupied a relatively wide land use gradient (range = 50-90% forest in an upstream catchment) and current land use was an unreliable predictor of occurrence. In Chapter II I examined hellbender abundance and demographics at a subset of study sites stratified across a land use gradient. Abundance of sub-adult/adult hellbenders increased as forest cover increased in collective upstream riparian areas, primarily as the result of increased recruitment of new adults to local populations (rather than increased apparent survival of adults). Populations in lesser forested areas were declining and composed largely of relatively old adults, indicating that land use can lead to changes in hellbender distribution given sufficient time. In Chapter III, I examined three indices of physiological condition (body condition, hematocrit and leukocyte profiles) in hellbenders captured across a land use gradient. I found evidence suggesting low reproductive success may explain reduced recruitment in areas of low forest cover and evidence suggesting hellbender endocrinology during the breeding season may vary with land use. In Chapter IV I examine efficacy of artificial shelters as a monitoring tool and demonstrate their potential as tool to further our understanding of mechanisms underlying demographic responses of hellbenders to land use. I synthesize my findings in Chapter V and conclude that loss of forest cover in riparian areas poses a formidable threat to hellbender population viability in Virginia. / Ph. D.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Chong Ho Wang Alex. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2005-2006, design report." / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 37). / Acknowledgements --- p.P.3 / Prefece --- p.P.4 / Chapter 01 --- Intoduction --- p.P.5 / Chapter 02 --- Research study --- p.P.6 / Chapter 03 --- Thesis design --- p.P.18 / Bibliography --- p.P.37

Original thesis submitted in HTML and can be accessed at http://www.lib.usf.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-07252001-113744/unrestricted/default.htm / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 103 pages. / Thesis (M. Arch)--University of South Florida, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: My interest in the environment has led me to study the effects of space on people, both natural and man-made. This project explores how architects and designers can design spaces conducive to the healing process. The emphasis of this thesis is on my design methodology, with the hope that this project will help other designers in their struggle to create spaces that heal the body, soul and spirit. To develop this project, I chose a shelter for battered women as the building type. This shelter is theoretically located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Its main goal is to create an environment in which battered women can recuperate physically, emotionally and spiritually. In order to accomplish this, I first studied my personal responses to a variety of built, as well as, natural spaces. I used two types of case studies, one looking at spaces and the other looking at the building type. / ABSTRACT: Besides utilizing traditional building analysis, I also used literature to study space, since it allows me to study human's reaction to space.These helped to shed light on why or why not certain spaces fulfill the building's purpose. Later, through a series of art workshops with women at a local shelter, I was able to better understand the user. These workshops culminated in a collaborative art installation in which their reality and mine were combined. In addition, I researched other fields that are also trying to understand why we respond to space the way we do. Some of these fields are environmental psychology, sociology, behavioral studies, and art. Their findings led me to design flexible spaces that allow each woman to shape their own space, and spaces that appeal to all six senses. Following this exploration, I developed a program to meet the user's requirements. This program described a prototypical facility that embodies ideal conditions. / ABSTRACT: I then explored this program and its spatial requirements through physical models. A series of models interacting with the site gave birth to three design concepts. From these various schemes, a final design was selected and brought to the design development phase. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study sought to investigate governmental intervention in maintaining the victim empowerment centres of the Bohlabela Municipality in Mpumalanga. The issue is contemporary and as a social worker the author can confirm that this scourge still affects our society today and understanding government interventions is useful in terms of ensuring that they work as effectively as possible to assist citizens in the discharge of their mandate. The study uses a qualitative approach. Data collection was through interviews and a questionnaire which had open-ended questions. This research design had been chosen because it has allowed to give solid descriptions and narratives to come out from the real life experiences of social workers and victims of domestic violence as well as the challenges associated with the implementation of the victim empowerment programme. To that end, a phenomenological paradigm was adopted to achieve that ambition. The findings of the study indicate that there are acute challenges which the three centres face and these include a lack of funding, poor structure and poor marketing. The recommendations provided are intended to contribute to the centres’ viability and provide effective services in the communities in which they operate. To that end, there is a need for the government to deploy more resources such as funds, infrastructure, equipment and permanent staff as well as the establishment of permanent structures at these centres to ensure their effectiveness. Additionally, the study found that there is a need for intensive and extensive publicity and marketing of the Victim Empowerment Programmes and Victim Empowerment Centres to increase their visibility and ultimately accessibility. The study found that the centres should ideally be managed by an administrator with clinical staff, a nurse and a police officer and/or a member from the judiciary and the centres should be attached to either hospitals or police stations working at extended hours.

Lei Mei Yan Louisa. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 1997-98, design report." / Includes bibliographical references. / Introduction / Chapter 1.0 --- Background / Chapter 1.1. --- Historical / Chapter 1.2. --- Urban fabric / Chapter 1.3. --- Rural area / Project analysis / Chapter 20.0 --- Subject analysis / Chapter 2.1. --- Physical Conditions / Chapter 2.2. --- Preliminary Geo-technical Assessments of the Potential for Underground Space Development in Hong Kong / Chapter 2.3. --- Geologically / Chapter 2.4. --- Use of underground space in Hong Kong / Chapter 2.5. --- Studies for underground space development / Chapter 2.6. --- Conditions in underground space design / Chapter 2.7. --- Ground Condition / Chapter 2.8. --- Open space allocation in Hong Kong / Chapter 2.8.1. --- Evaluation of deficiencies / Chapter 2.8.2. --- Degradation of public open space / Chapter 2.8.3. --- Decentralized Open space / Chapter 2.8.4. --- Centralized Open space / Chapter 2.8.5. --- Lack of transitional area / Chapter 2.9. --- Hypothesis / Chapter 2.9.1. --- Conceptualization / Chapter 3.0 --- Site / Context analysis / Chapter 3.1. --- Site Criteria / Chapter 3.2. --- Site Analysis (macroscopic consideration) / Chapter 3.3. --- Site constraints (Sai Ying Pun & Sheung Wan) / Chapter 3.4. --- Site potential development (information from Land Development Corporation)- urban renewal strategy / Chapter 3.5. --- Constraints in codes and master plan / Chapter 3.5.1. --- Planning and Site Constraints / Chapter 3.6. --- Historical Background / Chapter 3.6.1. --- History and Records / Chapter 3.6.2. --- Geology of the existing site (King George Memorial Park) / Chapter 4.0 --- Client / users analysis / Chapter 4.1. --- Research organizational / Chapter 4.2. --- Bubble diagrams and spatial arrangement / Chapter 4.3. --- Schedule of Accommodation / Process / Description of the evolution of the final project / Chapter 5.1. --- Essential objectives / Chapter 5.2. --- The underground complex and its nodes / Chapter 5.2.1. --- Exploratory concepts / Chapter 5.2.2. --- Design Strategy and Senarios / Chapter 5.2.3. --- Urban design issues and goals / Chapter 5.2.4. --- Building design issues and goals / Chapter 5.2.5. --- Evolution of the building / Final Project / Chapter 6.1. --- The underground space strategy / Chapter 6.2. --- Underground complex and re-design air-raid precaution tunnels / Chapter 6.3. --- Nodes and urban linkage / Chapter 6.4. --- Lists of drawing files / Conclusion / Appendices / Chapter 8.1. --- Urban underground space design methodology- hypothesis / Chapter 8.2. --- Precedent Studies / Chapter 8.3. --- Bilbliography