Projektet syftar till att analysera och nyttja lokal infrastruktur på landsbygden i koppling med utvecklandet av ett nytt hybridprogram baserat på Folkets Hus-rörelsen. Att kombinera den lokala strävan efter att odla hemma och att leva en mer hållbar livsstil tillsammans med ytor för rekreation och mathandel är ett av programmets största fokus. Genom att använda en strategisk placering i ett växande stadsområde utan tillräckliga ekonomiska tjänster men en nära anslutning till tåglinjer kan projektet utnyttja infrastrukturen för att påverka ett stort område men också svara på behovet av dagligvaruhandel. / The project aims to analyze and utilize local infrastructure on the countryside in connection with the development of a new hybrid programme based on the Folkets Hus-movement. Combining the local desire to cultivate crops and live a more sustainable lifestyle with spaces for recreation and purchasing food is one of the main focuses of the programme. In using a strategic placement in a growing urban area without sufficient economic services but a close connection to train lines the project can utilize the infrastructure to affect a wide area but also answer the need for grocery shopping.

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Alongside the proliferation of large water infrastructure projects such as dams and storage reservoirs, the pursuit of desalination materialized at a moment when an unwavering belief in the power of technology to shape the future existed, when international scientific collaboration increased, and when political concerns about water as a limited resource accelerated. Its potential as a new, untapped source of fresh water for municipal, agricultural, and industrial purposes carried promises of modernization and development, and especially appealed to governments looking to develop, diversify, and decentralize sources of supply. Yet, while initially hailed as a cheaper and more flexible alternative to centralized infrastructure, desalination ended up requiring the same major investments in capital and energy. It also portended a set of similar environmental impacts. By the early 1970s, the pursuit of desalination ground to a halt owing to government cutbacks and a lack of institutional support, as priorities changed from finding new sources of fresh water to protecting already-existing water sources from contamination. This dissertation presents a multilayered view of desalination thought and practice in the 1950s and 1960s: national, intergovernmental, and transnational. A loosely allied group of scientists, politicians, and officials firmly believed in the potential of desalination, and constituted examples of the midcentury “hydronaut”: a person who considered existing water scarcity as one of the most important impediments to future economic growth and prosperity, and approached the quest for water with a sharp sense of mission. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, hydronauts in the United States, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Chile, the United Kingdom, and within the United Nations system considered desalination as a new and innovative strategy to achieve interrelated policy objectives, all with the ultimate goal of creating a new source of fresh water free of the impediments created by water variability and availability, and able to compete with more conventional sources of supply. While not as successful or visible as the proliferation of dams, the pursuit of desalination in the 1950s and 1960s nonetheless illustrates that the hydraulic paradigm took hold in different and multiple forms. As governments, stakeholders, and development partners looked to confront water-related challenges from the supply side, and aimed to maximize the efficient use of water resources through new technological interventions, desalination offered an alternative means to transmit ideas about national identity, development strategies, economic progress, technological prowess, and the material realities of water itself. By uncovering how several countries and international organizations imagined the potential of desalination, and tried to jumpstart its widespread adoption, “Pipe Parity” complicates and adds additional layers to understandings of the development era. / 2027-06-30T00:00:00Z

There is a trend in modern society to build roundabouts. The main reason that can be found is because of the safety benefits a roundabout has compared to other intersections. The safety benefit does however not include all perspectives, it has been noted in different studies that the cyclists have many accidents when the intersection is a roundabout. How can a roundabout be more safe for cyclists and other unprotected road users, that is the question this paper focuses on. This paper also focuses on the decision making when it comes to roundabouts. When it comes to safety the most important decisions is how the roundabout is designed.  There are nine interviews that have been important for the method of this paper, those interviews have been with people that have different roles in the decision making for the design of a roundabout. The result of these interviews is that the safest way to protect cyclists and pedestrians from traffic is to make sure they never cross paths, this is usually done with tunnels underneath the road. When it is not possible to make tunnels and the unprotected road users have to pass the traffic, then raised crossroads is the best way to protect because of the lowered speed on traffic. This paper also takes up the perspective of road workers and the importance of maintenance of the roads.

Boliden är ett gruv- och smältföretag som producerar bas- och ädelmetaller och har verksamhet i Sverige, Finland, Norge och Irland. Företaget bedriver arbete inom prospektering och har flertalet underjordsgruvor dagbrott, anrikningsverk och smältverk. En av dessa underjordsgruvor är Renströmsgruvan som ligger några mil utanför Skellefteå. Gruvan består av malmkroppar som bryts med olika metoder. En av dessa malmkroppar är Simon som bryts med igensättningsbrytning och skivpallbrytning med återfyllning. Innan brytningen påbörjades i Simonmalmen genomfördes ett antal förstudier för att hitta en brytningsmetod och en förstärkningsplan som passar malmkroppen och bergmassan. Skivpallbrytningen i Simonmalmen har pågått sedan 2020 och hittills har arton skivpallar tagits. Området är uppbyggt av tvärgående skivpallar, malm och ventilationsstigar samt fältorter som används som transportsträcka. Hittills har ingen uppföljning och jämförelse mellan studierna och utfallet från brytningen utförts. Syftet med detta arbete är att utvärdera skivpallområdet, hitta skillnader och likheter mellan det nuvarande stadiet och förstudien. Mer specifikt ska följande delar utvärderas: Geometri av malmkroppen Bergförhållanden Skadezon Över- och underberg Återfyllning (cementstabiliserat gråberg, CRF) Förstärkning Kostnad för området (brytning och återfyllning) och produktivitet Ovanstående punkter har utvärderats då de har en betydande roll för resultatet, produktionen och planeringen av området. Målet med studien är ge rekommendationer för fortsatt drivning för att kunna förbättra brytningen i området. Synliga skador på bergförstärkningen är låg och de uppkomna skadorna går att anknyta till kontaktytorna mellan bergarterna och bergkvalitén. Dessa bidrar till en oplanerad tunnelprofil och uppsprickning. Mängden överberg är mer än vad som uppskattades i förstudien, vilket troligtvis beror på en sämre bergkvalitet i verkligheten än vad som uppskattades i förstudien. Förstärkningen som rekommenderades i förstudien är förstärkningsplanen som används i dagsläget. Den rekommenderande betongtjockleken för området underskrids, men inga större skador har uppkommit på grund av detta. Återfyllningen som används är gråberg för de sekundära skivpallarna och cementstabiliserat gråberg (CRF) för de primära skivpallarna. CRF:ens hållfasthet påverkas av sprängningen och av gråberget som ligger i botten av återfyllningen (gråbergslimpa). En för låg hållfasthet påverkar mängden fyllinblandning i skivpallarna. I förstudien beräknades det med en konstant driftkostnad för området vilket inte är utfallet, kostnaderna är varierande och beror på hur mycket tillredning som sker i malm och gråberg. Den största skillnaden mellan beräknade kostnader och utfall är kostnaden av CRF:en. Den främsta rekommendationen för fortsatt drivning är att se över förstärkningen som är i tvärorterna efter pelarna. Detta då rekommenderad betongtjocklek underskrids, men inga stora skador har uppkommit som följd. Då det är kontaktytorna och bergkvalitén som påverkar drivningen mest bör dessa tas i beaktning vid planering av skivpallarna och förstärkning. Man bör undvika att preparera de primära skivpallarna med för mycket gråberg i sulan. Då detta bidrar till en mindre stabil återfyllning som leder till utfall av CRF.

Homelessness is a layered issue, not only limited to social justice, but also impacting architectural and urban planning concerns. Treated as an identity rather than a temporary condition, many cities fail to address the complex variety of external factors which contribute to homelessness. The result often being budget-driven shelters congregated in already resource deficient, low income areas. The misconception that homelessness only happens in a city's poorest areas is rooted in prejudice and functions to only further prevent the same types of developments seen in more desirable neighborhoods. With a specific socioeconomic climate and disparity in Orlando, Florida, Parramore presents itself as an opportune place to provide a central downtown sanctuary that additionally will provide greater access to necessary services for the adjacent neighborhoods. A study of queer theory and ergonomics were an integral part of the design process. The former primarily concerned with the development of queer spaces from illicit "underground" safe havens of refuge built out of a necessity to exist freely in space (a precursor to present-day DIY culture) to now transparent, integrated queer spaces existing almost indifferently to the naked eye. The emergent idea being that together, the community campus is intended as an accessible series of places, rather than a singularly defined one / Master of Architecture / Homelessness is a social issue which affects everyone. There is a long history of intolerance towards the homeless which is evidenced by discriminatory policies that prevent the homeless from existing in the public and/or stress a homeless individual's ability to access the necessary services needed to escape homelessness. Current housing assistance for the homeless are often limited by inconsistent access to services (e.g. healthcare, counseling, job assistance, etc.), traditional living arrangements, availability, accessibility, and budget-driven designs. Additionally, the social stigma around homelessness is counterproductive to a critically vulnerable group of people's recovery and re-assimilation into society. Supporting the development and design exploration of services such as permanent supportive housing is beneficial because it is a model focused on embedding users into the community through thoughtful and holistic design. (i.e. a housing assistance service which places chronically homeless individuals into market-rate apartments or similar residential dwelling; usually centrally located and/or connected to necessary services). Another important aspect of this thesis is exploring non-traditional sites for such projects as it is equally as important for city's to reassess the opportunity to renew areas lost to discriminatory planning. This thesis references various ideas, philosophies, and design strategies borrowed from similar vulnerable groups to establish connections and create a roadmap for how the architectural intervention will be developed for the specific user group and site context. It is my hope that this optimistic reimagining of lost spaces as sites for supportive housing and community can help redefine what and who homelessness is and shed light on how services could like moving forward into the future.

The Public-Private Partnership (P3 or PPP) model has been proposed as an alternative delivery system to address funding shortage problems associated with large-scale projects. Appropriately allocating and managing risks among project participants is critically important for a P3 project's success. This thesis focuses on one of the tools to manage revenue risk, the revenue guarantee, where a guarantor compensates a concessionaire with a predetermined amount of revenue in the event of a revenue shortfall. It is a form of real option—specifically a put option if a premium is paid for the downside protection or a collar option if potential upside revenue is traded for the protection. Previous research has explored the purpose and valuation of revenue guarantee options. This study focuses on the feasibility of utilizing a guarantee in US P3 highway projects through preparatory study and field investigation. In the preparatory phase, the work examines existing revenue risk management methods and how revenue guarantee options supplement them while also proposing an implementation framework. Additionally, it discusses a new option type,a collar option, including its concept, benefits, applicability, and valuation. In the field investigation phase, the preparatory work is synthesized into interview protocols that are used to seek market perspectives on revenue risks and revenue guarantee feasibility. Twenty people representing government officials, concessionaires, financial advisors and lending institutions were interviewed. The interview results indicated that a revenue guarantee shows promise as a viable tool, and the government should be willing to provide one. The decision to utilize a revenue guarantee depends on funding method selection, a public agency's institutional capacity, and the effectiveness of alternative risk mitigation approaches. Suggestions for implementation, such as applicable projects and a guarantee triggering criterion, are also provided. / Ph. D.

In the early 1980's, the decline in the U.S. infrastructure was highlighted by a report entitled America in Ruins: Beyond the Public Works Pork Barrel. A series of reports followed trying to assess the condition of the infrastructure. One of these reports, Fragile Foundations, assigned grades to the various infrastructure systems and concluded that "the quality of America's infrastructure is barely adequate to fulfill current requirements and insufficient to meet the demands of future economic growth and development." This research develops a framework to account for the impact of deferred highway maintenance and/or construction on user and non-user benefits. This will aid the decision-making process and help guide the effective use of scarce financial resources. The framework proposes the concept of a Comprehensive Level of Service for highways using a combination of both maintenance (Level of Operation) and capacity (Level of Availability) indicators. Highways, like equipment, are affected by deterioration and obsolescence, obsolescence being the inability to function as designed. Deterioration, defining the physical level of service, comes from the aging of physical materials over time. Obsolescence, defining the functional level of service, comes from increased usage. Together, they result in overcrowding, congestion and increased economic costs to both users and non-users. A mathematical model is developed that allows simulation of the impact of deferred highway maintenance based on the concept of a Comprehensive Level of Service. System dynamics is the simulation methodology utilized as it allows incorporation of social, technical, economic and political issues into a laboratory setting to analyze change. The framework, permitting evaluation of the future implications of current policy decisions, is demonstrated through scenario analysis. The scenarios include an analysis of various highway maintenance investment levels and of the trade-off between highway maintenance and highway improvement. These scenarios demonstrate the impact of maintenance and construction investments on a highway system through a user and non-user benefit analysis. / Ph. D.

The politics of knowledge in the age of the internet is concerned with many overlapping elements. From the reimagining of research in relation to the new infrastructures to the development of new technologies and their social, cultural, ontological, and epistemological implications, here the politics of knowledge centers around questions of information technology infrastructures in late capitalism, the control society, and reflexive modernization. As these social and political theories operate across academic disciplines and organizational systems, new formulations of knowledge production arise such as transdisciplinary research. Transdisciplinary research can be considered as a model for knowledge production that is still capable of recognizing the shared and processual nature of knowledge that operates contrarily to the objectified and commodified understanding of knowledge in late capitalism. Using critical analysis centered in considerations of reflexivity and the control society, I argue for the possibility of alternative cyberinfrastructures for the e-sciences and virtual learning environments as systems of cultural reproduction. These alternatives privilege constructions of science understood as creative, social, and processual following the findings of actor-network theory and the theories of Deleuze and Guattari. Finally, I argue that we are co-constructing a politics of knowledge within and through the infrastructures that we are building, and within these politics there is a conception of the practices of science and research that could be informed by a reconsideration of social theories of technology and our contemporary social and political theory in relation to the development of future technologies and future ways of understanding those technologies. / Ph. D.

The intention of this paper is to argue a position for the use of floodplain linear parks as a means of urban flood mitigation. Current approaches often focus on protecting existing and future structures via the use of costly-engineered solutions such as dams and floodwalls. My argument is that the same money can be used to restore the floodplain by removing such structures and establishing a park system that will serve as a valuable public amenity, while allowing flooding to occur with minimal damage produced. In the long run, such a park will provide a greater return on the investment than other potential solutions. A discussion of the "Proximate Principle" will describe how this works. From an environmental perspective, the importance of such a park will be discussed by placing it in the context of the green infrastructure concept, which is essentially an umbrella term for ongoing efforts to better integrate human and natural systems. Three case studies are presented that demonstrate examples of such park systems and the effects they had on local economies and communities. These studies begin demonstrating the social connotations for such a project as well. Throughout this paper, ties are made to the city of Roanoke, Virginia (where the project portion of this thesis takes place) to demonstrate the relevance of floodplain linear parks to the city. All arguments made are supported by a conceptual floodplain park plan for the city of Roanoke. / Master of Landscape Architecture