Public open space (POS) within a city acts as an important breathing and recreational space for the urban population within a proximate distance by providing economic, social, psychological and environmental benefits to human settlements. In a city like Hong Kong (HK) adopting economic-centred development, land is be maximized for monetary use especially under land scarce due to topographical constraint. Hence, compact development is resulted especially in urban areas. Past study had found that the proportion of open space zoning undergone a downward trend across the territory as time moves on and a gap was observed between planned and actual open space provision (Tang and Wong, 2008, p. 261). On the other hand, some POS were created within residual development land in the urban area which are of poor locational quality. Taken into account of early POS provision inefficiency, the government sees the opportunity in gradual neighbourhood decay as a mean to encourage POS provision within new private developments. This idea originated as a planning policy since 1980s which tries to overcome shortcomings of POS provision in districts by means of requiring or encouraging POS provision within private developments. However, while this policy contains certain benefits, it is not without issues and problems from the design, social, economic, institutional and policy point of view. This dissertation therefore aims to examine POS provision within URA redevelopment projects in HK where district renewal is one of the sources of newly built private developments containing POS provision. The study aims to find out POS contribution, performance, as well as to unravel potential benefits, issues and concerns associated with the provision, given existing context of regulatory policies and operational guidelines. The term "URA redevelopment projects" used in the dissertation, covers a longitudinal review of all completed projects containing POS provision that were taken place between the Land Development Corporation (LDC) and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) period, in which the URA was established to supersede and continue with the LDC's renewal work in 2001 due to organizational inefficiency. The study hopes to give implications on future POS provision within URA redevelopment projects so as to enhance POS functionality and usability through policy, development control and governance perspectives. There are a total of 25 redevelopment projects containing POS provision during the LDC and the URA period, out of which 16 of them are completed by the end of June 2014. The study found that the spatial location of the completed and future POS provision among the redevelopment projects positively correlates with local open space (LOS) and district Open Space (DOS) deficit spatially. Among the completed projects, POS performance varies in aspects of functionality, aesthetic value, privacy, accessibility etc. In considering POS provision on top of planned requirement, additional floor spaces are also granted for several cases without maximizing the efforts in enhancing POS use value. Furthermore, some cases also demonstrate potential uncertainty in POS provision and rights of entry. Overall speaking, policy aims are partially meet. By means of employing planning, economic as well as institutional perspectives in analysis, performance variations are attributed to factors like, economic values, planning requirements, lease conditions as well as policy and governance inefficiencies. Based on the above, the dissertation gives recommendations on providing guidance that are crucial to improving POS provision and planning within future redevelopment projects. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

It has been observed that many older people after retirement would like to visit various green open spaces in the city to exercise, social and doing different leisure activities (Lam, et. al., 2004; Wong, 2009). However, although there are 40% of land area in Hong Kong are recognized as Country Parks and well managed by the government, with the rapid urban development with enormous high-rise buildings has turned Hong Kong in a “concrete forest”, only few decent open spaces can be found in the metropolitan area. With the continuous growing aging population, there is a need for us to review whether the important urban open spaces can meet the needs of changing population. The goal of the dissertation aims at find out the existing problems in planning and design of public open space and find out the needs of the elderly, so that better public open space can be provided to suit the elderly’s expectation. The analysis is therefore divided into two parts by reviewing on the planning and management of public open space framework and the outcome of provision and distribution of open spaces, as well as finding out the use pattern and expectation from the elderly on public open space. Based on the findings of this project, recommendations are provided for the planning and management authority to improve the existing public open spaces in order to suit the needs and expectations of the elderly. It includes a better cooperation between different departments to carry out a more comprehensive open space strategy and better design of open spaces on external linkages and internal landscape and facilities provision. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

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We study the role of correlations with the environment as the source of non-Markovian quantum evolutions. We first focus on the impact that correlations with the environment can have on the dynamical map that evolve the system. We expand the set of initial states of a system and its environment that are known to guarantee completely positive reduced dynamics for the system when the combined state evolves unitarily. We characterize the correlations in the initial state in terms of its quantum discord. The induced maps can be not completely positive when quantum correlations including, but not limited to, entanglement are present. We discuss the implications and limitations of the Markov approximation necessary to derive the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation. A generalized non-Markovian master equation is derived from the dynamical map of systems correlated with their environment. The physical meaning of not completely positive maps is studied to obtain a consistent theory of non-Markovian quantum dynamics. These are associated to inverse maps necessary to establish correlations and they give rise to a canonical embedding map that is local in time. This master equation goes beyond the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation. Non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics can be be studied within this theory. Through out this discussion, the general dynamics of two interacting qubits is used as an example for illustrations. / text

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This paper presents a case study and analysis of changes in the organizational structure of the Open Learning Agency (OLA) of British Columbia in 1992. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Technology and Training, the Agency carries a five-fold mandate - in collaboration with universities, institutions, boards of school trustees and other agencies concerned with education, OLA is to: provide an educational credit bank for students; coordinate the development of open learning education; use open learning methods to provide educational programs and services; carry out research related to open learning education; and operate one or more broadcasting undertakings devoted primarily to the field of educational broadcasting. The central question of the paper is: How will OLA restructure to achieve its mandate and strategic direction? In particular, the paper examines the Agency's structure prior to reorganization, the internal and external forces acting upon it as seen through the eyes of its executive members and the key issues facing the organization, including the reasons which precipitated a review of the organizational structure in 1991. The structure prior to reorganization is analyzed and classified as an example of Mintzberg's (1989) innovative configuration. The paper also predicts an innovative configuration for the Agency's reorganized structure based upon Mintzberg's contingency and life cycle hypotheses. The reorganized structure (which came into effect May 1, 1992) is subsequently analyzed and agrees with the prediction. The method of investigation included interviews with executive members conducted approximately three months prior and three months after the reorganization, archival research and personal observation by the writer, an employee of the Agency. Mintzberg's (1983, 1989) conceptual framework of structural configurations provided a basis for analysis of the case study data. The paper concludes that the innovative configuration is an appropriate form for the organization in view of its mandate and strategic direction but notes that it is also a difficult configuration to sustain, subject to pressures for increasing bureaucratization and susceptible to internal and external politicization. The paper recommends that the Agency do its best to maintain the configuration by educating staff about its nature and resist pressures which might shape it into a more conventional, professional form. The paper further finds Mintzberg's framework descriptive and helpful in providing limited, broad understanding of the Agency, its issues and choices for change; however, factors which can have significant impact such as political pressure, personal idiosyncrasies of leaders and centralization of office sites make any detailed prescriptions for organizational change somewhat elusive.

In recent years the growth in demand for multimedia applications delivered over a network has been extensive illustrated by the phenomenal expansion of the World Wide Web in today's Internet. Increasing amounts of electronic information are presented in a multimedia format and delivered over networks, which generates increased traffic demands. In short, future networks will not only comprise multiple, interconnected data transport platforms but will also need to handle an increasing range of distributed multimedia services, delivered to a diverse user community that is increasingly becoming mobile.

This paper looks at the topic of immigration from a philosophical standpoint and concludes that an open border policy is morally obligatory. I first argue that immigration cannot act as a corrective to the problems of global poverty as many philosophers have suggested. I then look at two common defenses for restrictive borders, one resting on the cultural community and one on the political community, and conclude that these two defenses are inadequate. The fact that a restrictive policy is morally unjustifiable coupled with my argument that people ought to be able to enjoy a freedom of movement suggests that an open border policy is necessary.

Based on collaboration rather than competition, Open Source Software provides a new dynamic in the development and use of software systems. As such it has the potential to make a significant legal, social and economic impact on the industry. While its origins trace back to the start of the software industry, the recent success of the Linux operation system, Apache web server or the Mozilla Firefox Internet Browser provide impetus to the growth of interest in this movement. However, while a number of studies have been conducted on its development, few have provided empirical evidence of its adoption within the South East Asian context. This study aims to investigate factors leading to the adoption of Open Source Software in Singaporean Organisations. The research has found that the adoption of Open Source Software is driven by the perception of a cost advantage. The organisations interviewed have acknowledged cost as being one of their biggest concerns and top priorities. While costs were stated to be of major concern to the organisations, objective measures of cost such as Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return on Investment (ROI) were rarely used by the organisations studied. This perception of cost saving is found to be led by industry sources such as publications, conferences and websites. The next significant finding is the need for increased open source software skills in the industry. One of the major drivers of Open Source Software Adoption in the organisations is that they posses pre-existing skills in Open Source Software use. This enables them to better mitigate risk and to lower their training costs. The final principal finding is that Open Source Software appears to be used mainly in systems infrastructure applications. Organisations reported a large degree of satisfaction including increased stability, scalability and cost effectiveness. Issues remain with Open Source Software’s manageability, its quality of support and ease of use.

Zugl.: Heidelberg, Univ., Diplomarbeit, 2006 / Hergestellt on demand