No description available.

Stockholm is a vibrant and attractive city. Surveys show that the residents in Stockholm are happy with their lives. It has also been proved that Stockholm is a highly socio-economic segregated city.Suburbs that are well known as segregated precarious residential areas in Stockholm, are Botkyrka, Tensta, Husby, Skärholmen, Rinkeby, and others. These suburbs were built during the 1960s-1970s as a part of Sweden’s Million Programme housing. Most of the residents are immigrants, and these areas are stigmatized as dangerous locations, it has been proved that non-European migrants face higher segregation than the European ones. These peripheries have mutual characteristics: they suffer from segregation, bad reputation, stigmatization, criminality, mistrust, and a high unemployment rate.Unfortunately when immigrant women; who used to live under patriarchal-male dominant oppressing societies, moved to democratic multicultural societies, found themselves in a stage of transition.

This thesis studied the relationship between current event knowledge and the ability to construct a mental map of the world. It was hypothesized that participates with more current event knowledge would demonstrate better mental mapping abilities. The study was designed using two activities recommended for 12th graders by Geography for Life, National Geography Standards 1994, and the theory of spatial familiarity (Kitchen, 1994b; Gale et al., 1990, Golledge & Spector, 1978). One hundred-twenty eight students drawn from two courses offered at Virginia Tech completed a participant profile questionnaire, a current event quiz, drew a map of the world outlining the seven continents, and located and labeled 27 cities on a world map. Using ATLAS GIS the sketch maps and place locations were digitally transformed and scored for accuracy. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze current event knowledge, place location ability, and sketch mapping ability. Using Spearman rank correlation, the relationship between current event knowledge and mental mapping abilities was assessed at a number of levels. Results indicate that participants with a stronger understanding of current events tended to create a more accurate mental map of the world. That is, place location accuracy and drawing accuracy correlated with current event knowledge. However, similar to previous research (Cross, 1987; Helgren, 1983; Muller, 1985) place location knowledge outside of North America and Western Europe was poor. The results of this thesis offer baseline data that can be used for future research to study the effectiveness of the national standards set forth in Geography for Life. / Master of Science

How are the neighborhoods of Aspudden, Telefonplan and Älvsjö perceived by the local population? And what role does transport infrastructure play in the construction of these neighborhoods? With modern-day planning ideals focusing on sustainable mobility and human-centered living environments, this thesis examines the subjective perception of the physical landscape and how neighborhoods are felt and experienced. By conducting qualitative mental mapping interviews, I aim to highlight and comprehend landscapes of everyday life. As this thesis studies what is considered important for the subjectively defined and constructed neighborhoods, and also what elements the neighborhoods consist of in terms of transport infrastructure and how these are perceived, a larger understanding of what qualities an area possess or lacks can be given. In relation to this thesis’ theoretical framework, I argue that mental mapping interviews provide good knowledge on how a neighborhood is constructed, both physically and socially. The created maps are compared to topological landscapes where focus is put on certain highlighted elements put in relation to each other, making neighborhoods flexible. Additionally, the results also point to the importance of transport infrastructure and of how it contributes to a mobile understanding and creation of neighborhoods. Large emphasis is put on the delineating characteristics of large-scale transport infrastructure but equally much on how the neighborhood is constructed through the relationship to other geographical locations. This thesis therefore contributes to the research field by shedding light on subjective understandings of the neighborhood impacts of transport infrastructure.

This thesis project aims to contribute knowledge to the field of user experience design in games by examining the relationship between presence and wayfinding in games in order to determine how one might design wayfinding systems that simultaneously facilitate player navigation and create a sense of presence. Based on examining and comparing existing literature on wayfinding and presence in games, and by analyzing existing games that accomplish the aforementioned dual purpose, I formulate a set of hypothetical design principles for presence-creating wayfinding design. The validity of these principles is then put to test by creating and testing a digital prototype where participants are tasked with navigating a virtual space. The testing of the practical application of these principles reveals them to be largely viable, demonstrating the viability of designing wayfinding solutions for games that simultaneously facilitate presence.

No description available.

Urban areas worldwide, including Stockholm, face increasing environmental challenges such as rising temperatures and heatwaves exacerbated by climate change and urban heat island effects. In response, nature-based solutions (NBS) have been proposed as a planning tool for enhancing urban resilience. However, evidence on the fine-scale effectiveness of NBS in addressing extreme events, such as heatwaves remains limited. Furthermore, the inclusion of subjective measures to enrich objective measures for increased NBS benefits and thermal comfort assessments is needed. This study investigates the cooling effectiveness of NBS, hence strengthening the resilience of the Stockholm Royal Seaport against heatwaves. Mental mapping interviews were used to explore residents' and expert advisors' perceptions of the cooling effects of NBS. Key findings reveal the significant cooling effects of large natural areas such as parks and waterbodies, notably the Royal National City Park. However, smaller NBSs, while contributing to the green aesthetic and climate regulation of the neighborhood, were not perceived by residents as cooling. The study emphasizes the importance of the proximity and size of NBS to residential areas and highlights the subjective nature of neighborhood boundaries that influence residents' perceptions of NBS cooling effects. A comparison of residents’ and advisors’ perceptions reveals differences between theoretical expert and experience-based knowledge. These differences highlight the need for participatory planning processes that have the potential to complement advisor knowledge with resident perception and contribute to user-based planning. Overall, the study contributes to understanding the role of NBS in urban resilience, advocates for participatory approaches to urban planning, and demonstrates the value of mental mapping in capturing nuanced community perspectives for future planning efforts by revealing experiential knowledge that may remain hidden in a dialogue.

Folgende Dissertationsschrift setzt sich zum Ziel, den gegenwärtigen Diskurs über Europas Osten auf der literarischen Ebene zu untersuchen. Wie Hartmut Böhme zu Recht anmerkt, seien sich Reisen und Schreiben in ihrem Wesen sehr ähnlich. Während Reisen ein Er-Fahren der Welt bedeutet, kann Schreiben als Durchquerung der Sprachräume gelten. Die Bewegungen im Raum der umgebenden Welt und im Raum der Imagination und der Sprache führen dazu, dass die symbolischen Topographien neu kartiert und dadurch neue Orientierungen vermittelt werden können. Anhand der Prosawerke der jungen, nach dem Krieg geborenen Generation der deutschsprachigen SchriftstellerInnen, die mit der Selbstverständlichkeit der bipolaren Teilung der Welt aufgewachsen sind, wird untersucht, wie die literarische Karte Europas im gegenwärtigen literarischen Diskurs neu entworfen wird. Die Verfasserin argumentiert, dass es keineswegs die der Ost-West-Dichotomie immanenten Denkmuster sind, die die auf der literarischen Ebene vermittelte Wahrnehmung der Region prägen. Im Gegenteil, während die AutorInnen auf überraschend viele literarische Stoffe, Motive literarische Denkmuster zurückgreifen, bestätigen sie die Gültigkeit der These von Horst Steinmetz auch in Bezug auf die neueste deutsche Literatur: dass literarische Werke nicht nur auf die konkreten Aspekte der umgebenden Welt, sondern darüber hinaus auf literarische Traditionen reagieren, denen sie sich immer wieder, zum Teil im Widerspruch, und zum Teil unbewusst, eingliedern. / The following PhD-thesis aims to analyze the contemporary discourse on Eastern Europe which has been established in the most recent German-language prose works. Just as Hartmut Böhme stated, traveling and writing are both very similar. While traveling means exploring the world, writing can be experienced as a transition through the spaces of language. All these movements, either in physical space or in the sphere of language and imagination, lead to new mapping of symbolic topographies and can so convey new reference points. On the basis of the prose works of the young post-World War II generation of German-language authors who grew up with the overwhelming awareness of the bipolar division of the world, the thesis investigates how they re-map the perception of Europe. The author argues that these are not the traded patterns of perception referring to the East-West-Division which are being used in contemporary prose works. On the contrary, by making recourse to a surprisingly large number of topics, subjects and motives from the prior literary works, the new generation of authors seems to confirm the assumption of Horst Steinmetz in regard to the most recent literature – literary works react not only to the concrete aspects of the contemporary world, but also to the literary traditions, that they repeatedly and constantly refer to. They contradict or affirm, in an unconscious or considered manner, prior literary traditions.

The thesis studies feasibility of using mind mapping applications for IT project management. The main objective is the analysis of using mind mapping applications in the context of project management and finding the links between mind maps and components of project management. The thesis is divided into two parts -- theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part the author clarifies the mind mapping concept, how to create mind maps and the use of those. The relatively broad area of project management is introduced in the same manner starting with the main terms, brief overview of the project management methodologies and standards. The introduction further continues by describing individual project phases, their dimensions and provides examples of tools and techniques. The practical part consists of three chapters. In the first chapter the author analyses mind mapping SW applications, describes the mind mapping software market and explains the selection of an appropriate tool using multi criteria evaluation and using hands on experience with the tools. The second chapter demonstrates practical examples of project management topics with related instances of mental models and everyday activities where mind maps can be used. The last chapter describes a survey related to the awareness of mind mapping concepts which also gathers feedback about mind mapping application experience from IT project management professionals.

Western orientation of the interwar Czechoslovak foreign policy was based on a longterm effort to extricate the territory from a German sphere of influence and on the circumstances of its formation in 1918. A generally accepted narration about the friendship of France and Britain resulted in a deep mental shock after the messages about the signing of the Munich Agreement reached Czechoslovakia on the 30th of September 1938. Consequently, Czechoslovakia reoriented itself towards East. The aim of this diploma thesis is to capture this sudden turn through an analysis of the British image in selected Czech journals. Britain is in this regard examined as one of two most important interwar allies of Czechoslovakia. Discoursive analysis is applied to articles appearing in three periodicals, which represent three interwar ideological groups. Namely, the diploma thesis works with Lidove noviny, which were constructing an image influenced by the foreign policy orientation of the Castle, Venkov, which acted as a press agency of the most powerful political party, and Rude pravo, whose editorial line was comparatively noncomformist and thus represents a desirable alternative.