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How can local governments in the absence of national regulations or incentive schemesmotivate private owners of post-war mass-housing for investments into ambitious retrofittingfor energy efficiency? The million-program houses’ lifecycle currently makes renovationsnecessary and this would be an excellent opportunity to realize an upgrading of their energyefficiencystatus. Private owners do however show no inclination to do so. An intertwinedarray of barriers towards energy-efficient renovation is explored in this study, while it seeks tofind out which new drivers are needed to overcome these barriers and create an intrinsicmotivation for the owners to undertake the anticipated investments. In an exploratory casestudy, these points are investigated in the context of the exemplifying case of the Bygga omDialogen project in Malmö, Sweden.Bygga om Dialogen, is reframing the situation of investments into energy-efficiency in abroader socio-economic context and thrives to create new drivers pushing the owners toundertake the investments via the tools of strategic niche management and reflexivegovernance. This study explores how a strategic niche management and reflexive governancecan be used to motivate a variety of stakeholders to scrutinize and reconsider theirassumptions of the renovation-business-case and how this can stimulate the owners to activelycontribute to the establishment of a new, innovative, cross-sectoral approach seeking torealize energy-efficient investments in the context of holistic sustainable development in theneighborhood of Lindängen. Additionally it is explored how strategic niche management canbe used to deal with the contextual, strategic and institutional uncertainties that the establishednetwork is facing. Ideally the vision of mutually realizing energy-efficient renovations as partof an inclusive socio-economic upgrading of the neighborhood, could act as a building blockand exemplifying case for similar neighborhoods nationwide- or even all over Europe.

Denna uppsats har sin utgångspunkt i hållbar stadsutveckling - med särskild inriktning på socialhållbarhet - och studerar konsekvenser av den segregerade staden Malmö. I fokus stårbostadsområdet Almgården och dess betydelse som kontext för barns identitetsarbete ochsocialisering. Med utgångspunkt i teorier om socialt hållbar stadsutveckling, boendesegregation,grannskapseffekter, samt barns socialisering och identitetsarbete ges en förståelse förbostadsområdets betydelse för barns uppväxtvillkor. Uppsatsen innehåller en nulägesbeskrivning ochhållbarhetsanalys av Almgården som kontext, baserad huvudsakligen på intervjuer med boende ocholika företrädare för den kommunala verksamheten i området. Sammantaget indikerar situationenpå Almgården sämre förutsättningar för god hälsa och välfärd och medför faktorer som kan påverkabarns uppväxtvillkor negativt. Ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv är den centrala utmaningen på Almgårdenatt motverka brister i jämlikhet och delaktighet. I uppsatsen görs bedömningen att så kan ske genomatt stärka individer och deras anknytning till området och genom att stärka tilliten och förtroendetinom bostadsområdet och gentemot det omgivande samhället och därmed stärka den kollektivaförmågan. En del av uppsatsen är en förstudie till ett projekt, som är tänkt att bidra till ökad socialhållbarhet i Almgården. För att ta vara på barnens perspektiv på Almgården, på barns villkor, och påett sätt som samtidigt stärker barnen föreslås projektet Communityteater Almgården. Projektet kanbidra ytterligare till förståelsen av bostadsområdets betydelse för barn och ungdomarsförutsättningar samtidigt som det har en gynnsam effekt för den sociala hållbarheten på Almgården. / The focus of this master’s thesis is socially sustainable urban development and investigates theimplications of segregation in the city of Malmö. It focuses on the neighborhood of Almgården andits significance as a context for children's identity and socialization. Theories of socially sustainableurban development, housing segregation, neighborhood effects and children’s socialization andidentity making contribute to enhance our understanding of the neighborhood’s importance forchildren's living conditions. The thesis includes a presentation and a sustainability analysis of thecurrent situation in Almgården, mainly based on interviews with residents of Almgården andrepresentatives of the municipal administration. Overall the situation in Almgården indicatesrelatively poor conditions for good health and well-being which may affect children's living conditionsand development in a negative way. From a sustainability perspective, the key challenges inAlmgården would include promoting equality and inclusion, for example by strengthening theindividuals and their identification with the neighborhood, and promoting the collective efficacy bybuilding trust and confidence among neighbors and towards citizens in adjacent neighborhoods aswell as towards the municipal administration and its staff. The thesis also includes a feasibility studyproposing the project Community Theatre Almgården. While giving voice to the children ofAlmgården and supporting a socially sustainable development of the neighborhood, the project mayalso contribute to improve our knowledge of neighborhood effects on children’s living conditions.

For the description logic EL, we consider the neighborhood relation which is induced by the subsumption order, and we show that the corresponding lattice of EL concept descriptions is distributive, modular, graded, and metric. In particular, this implies the existence of a rank function as well as the existence of a distance function.

The rapid urban development has impacted a great loss of natural landscape in the U.S in recent years. In the process of urbanization, the population has moved from the city centers to the edges of the Metropolitan or the newly developed suburbs as much as 62% until 2000. The annual conversion rate of undeveloped land to developed land between 1982 and 1992 was 1.4 million acres per year while it accelerated later in only five years between 1992 and 1997 to 2.2 million acres per year. Among all the development one of the most common was the Enormous shopping mall in suburban districts which are the collections of a vast range of retail corporations in response to the growing consumerism. In support of the gigantic malls, more service infrastructures were built as in the multi-storied parking garages, surface parking, HVAC. Currently, the total number of malls in the U.S is approximately 116,000. The downside of the development has been observed as rapid as it has grown. As in 2014, nearly 3% of all the malls in the United States were considered to be "dying" (40% or higher vacancy rates) and nearly one-fifth of all malls had vacancy rates considered "troubling" (10% or higher). The sudden deterioration was caused because of several factors such as the socio-economic change of the demography in the urban context, the change in the spending habit of the consumers (i.e. spending for experience rather than goods), Rise of the E-commerce, etc. While the dying circumstance continues, these vast and trapped places have nothing but negative impacts in the urban environment as being wasteful land, blocking the visual connectivity through places, clogging the pedestrian flow, contributing to the heat island effect. Thus the problem is evoking to rethink a sustainable design approach. This thesis will first generate an adaptive master plan for the future, in a specific site as the result of investigating the socio-economic issues that forced the mall site to be vacant. After projecting the master plan, the architectural project will be proposed which will prioritize the physical and social development of the context. Educating people regarding the redevelopment of the community and the sustainable way of living are the key features of the project. The new project will be considered an iconic community asset that would serve the neighborhoods. / Master of Architecture / The rapid urban development has impacted a great loss of natural landscape in the U.S in recent years. In the process of urbanization, the population has moved from the city centers to the edges of the Metropolitan or the newly developed suburbs as much as 62% until 2000. To serve the resettled population new services have been developed at the outskirts of the cities. Among all the development one of the most common was the Enormous shopping mall in suburban districts which are the collections of a vast range of retail corporations in response to the growing consumerism. In support of the gigantic malls, more service infrastructures were built as in the multi-storied parking garages, surface parking, HVAC. Currently, the total number of malls in the U.S is approximately 116,000. The downside of the development has been observed as rapid as it has grown. As in 2014, nearly 3% of all the malls in the United States were considered to be "dying" (40% or higher vacancy rates) and nearly one-fifth of all malls had vacancy rates considered "troubling" (10% or higher). The sudden deterioration was caused because of several factors such as the socio-economic change of the demography in the urban context, the change in the spending habit of the consumers (i.e. spending for experience rather than goods), Rise of the E-commerce, etc. This thesis will explore the strategy for reintegrating the troubling mall sites within the urban fabric. The thesis will first generate an adaptive master plan for the future, in a specific site as the result of investigating the socio-economic issues that forced the mall site to be vacant. After projecting the master plan, the architectural project will be proposed which will prioritize the physical and social development of the context. Educating people regarding the redevelopment of the community and the sustainable way of living are the key features of the project. The new project will be considered an iconic community asset that would serve the neighborhoods.

This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape.

The purpose of this research is to examine the life of a courageous woman who pioneered in the development of social organizations for the elevation and betterment of the Black community in the early twentieth century in Atlanta. The research will show how Mrs. John Hope, a black woman, struggled against a hostile and racist society in an effort to help build a respectable and healthy black community in the city of Atlanta. This research was executed by the careful examination of primary sources, such as speeches, letters, newspapers, minutes and Mrs. Hope's memoranda presently found in the Neighborhood Union Collection located in the Atlanta University Trevor Arnett Library Archives. Oral history, a new innovation in the field, is also used in the effort to present a biographical profile of this outstanding pioneer. The historical method of analyzing, categorizing, collecting, and communicating evidence and and documents are used in the presentation of this information. It is the researcher's intention to show that Mrs. John Hope was instrumental in pioneering in the idea of self-help and community building in Black Atlanta. The research also examines the activities of Mrs. Hope as a prototype of the black woman's role in the struggle for black survival and dignity.

This thesis examines the work of reformer Lugenia Burns Hope and her community organization, the Neighborhood Union, as a case study to unpack scholarly characterizations of black elite uplift strategies during the early 20th century. The Neighborhood Union was established in 1908 in Atlanta by Hope and women from the community to build stronger neighborhoods and to combat the deleterious effects of the 1906 Race Riots and Jim Crow laws. Neighborhood Union settlement houses provided basic and extracurricular services, including kindergartens for working mothers, vocational classes, and lecture series. The organization’s exceptional, multi-class leadership structure enabled members of the black poor and working classes to lead their own projects with the assistance of Neighborhood Union resources. Hope’s background provides evidence against broad generalizations of the black elite as paternalistic, and her vision of creating democratic communities that diminished class barriers provides a counter narrative to characterizations of clubwomen and the black elite as engaging in respectability politics in their social work. Understood within its historical and sociopolitical context, Hope’s life and work also challenge mainstream narratives of the Progressive Era and the Social Gospel movement.