“Global floods and extreme rainfall events have surged by more than 50% in the past decade and recent studies show that they are occurring four times higher than in 1980” (Neslen, 2018). At the same time, the urban population is rising. Today, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas and it is estimated to increase to 70% by 2050 (United Nations, 2018). This expansion of urbanized areas is correlated with the increase of impermeable surfaces that, in case of extreme weather events, are not able to drain the water efficiently. The rainfall-runoff is channelled from roads, parking lots, buildings, and other impervious surfaces to storm drains and sewers that cannot handle the volume. The high ratio of impermeable surfaces and the increased extreme rainfall events cause severe environmental, social, economical problems in urban areas. Merely technical and engineering solutions are no sufficient, therefore a new approach that can maintain and adapt the natural water cycle inside the urban areas is needed. Ecosystem services and resilience thinking have become key principles in adaptation strategies at different levels, from international policies (e.g. Sustainable Development Goals) to local actions (e.g. Copenhagen adaptation plan 2015) and design (e.g. climate resilient San Kjeld in Copenhagen). In this scenario, the design approach of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) aims to promote resilience at the local level by managing stormwater, encouraging the defence of the aesthetic value of green and blue areas. WSUD is a multidisciplinary approach that involves water management, urban planning, architecture, and landscape design. The main idea of WSUD is that sustainable stormwater systems should be beautiful, meaningful, and educational (Echols, 2007). This master thesis explores the concept of Water Sensitive Urban Design and its application in the cities of Copenhagen, Malmö and Rotterdam. The case study of PHVision in Heidelberg, Germany, is analysed from the concept of WSUD. Design improvements are suggested stemming from the analysed European examples and the theoretical background.

This thesis is about the rights and liabilities arising under English and Chinese law in respect of the carriage of dangerous cargo. It is noted that the danger in dangerous cargoes was not necessarily something in the goods themselves, but might well lie in the way they were packaged, looked after or transported. Accordingly, the responsibilities and liabilities of the various parties with regards to the carriage of dangerous cargoes are usually intertwined and complex. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and evaluate the dangerous cargoes liabilities in English and Chinese law, by providing suggestions for existing problems in each country based on three sources: contract, tort and statute. Moreover, the chain of causation and concept of remoteness has particular importance in order to establish liability and decide which type and what amount of damage is recoverable. This thesis compares both countries’ liability regimes and how to secure compensation for its victims, and the restoration of the environment, with reference to the EU Environmental Liability Directive and relevant international conventions. The author draws her final conclusions from four important issues: (1) the meaning of dangerous cargo, the packing and handling; (2) the scheme of liability; (3) the channelling of liability; and (4) the type of recoverable damage.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Esta investigación estudia las transformaciones morfológicas de las ciudades desde la óptica de la Memoria. Para poder aprehender dichas transformaciones y sus pautas de comportamiento el estudio se centra en ciudades que hayan sido sometidas a eventos de destrucción violenta y no programada, y que por ello hayan tenido la necesidad de recomponer sus estructuras. Así, la emergencia permite estudiar un proceso que por naturaleza suele ser continuo y lento. Para ello se seleccionó un grupo de ciudades dentro de un amplio catálogo, asegurándose que la destrucción hubiera afectado sus cascos centrales, como contenedoras de su Memoria y que compartieran un espacio temporal y físico (el de Europa en la segunda posguerra) que les hiciera partícipes de una discusión disciplinar común.Para dotar de objetividad a este estudio, se usa el término recomposición con preferencia al de reconstrucción partiendo de la hipótesis de que la estructura de la ciudad, en estas circunstancias, es organizada nuevamente, mientras que reconstrucción puede sugerir la restitución de la ciudad a un estado previo, lo cual no siempre se corresponde con la realidad.En ese sentido, la investigación se ocupa del papel que desempeña la Memoria histórica de la ciudad en los procesos de recomposición urbana, reconociendo su carácter instrumental como herramienta creativa y su peso específico en la toma de decisiones.Como consecuencia de lo anterior, en el capítulo primero se establece la necesidad de examinar las ciudades recompuestas a la luz de aquello que se copia, se transforma y se omite de su Estado Previo, a fin de determinar el verdadero papel de la Memoria en las transformaciones derivadas de los procesos de recomposición. Desde esta perspectiva se agrupan en tres las posibles estrategias de actuación, a saber: Estrategias Autorreferentes; Estrategias Refundadoras; y Estrategias Emancipadoras.A partir del segundo capítulo, la investigación alterna tres capítulos descriptivos/analíticos (capítulos pares) donde se exponen las operaciones desde las estrategias mencionadas, comparándolas entre sí; y dos capítulos (impares) en los que se estudia detenidamente aquello que se copia y aquello que se transforma en las ciudades recompuestas. Esta estructura pone de relieve dos ejes metodológicos complementarios en la investigación: el de las estrategias de recomposición y el de la dimensión transformadora de dicha recomposición; resaltando el papel de la Memoria en los instrumentos proyectuales y su incidencia sobre los elementos morfológicos y estéticos en los proyectos de recomposición. Del análisis de los casos seleccionados, se concluye que las estrategias denominadas autorreferentes reconocen en el estado previo de la ciudad los argumentos esenciales para la nueva ciudad, buscando la reproducción estética de un pasado celosamente seleccionado, sin que por ello desistan de modernizar sus estructuras. Mientras que las estrategias refundadoras, fieles a las vanguardias más actuales, aprovechan la destrucción como un detonante para plantear una ciudad ajena a su pasado, operando, entonces, como auténticos laboratorios urbanos, promoviendo transformaciones radicales. Sin embargo, en ambas aproximaciones conviven la Transformación y la Memoria en dosis que hacen difusos sus límites, y que dan pie a compromisos entre la Memoria, que recuerda lo conocido, y la utopía, que representa lo deseado. Estos compromisos son los que caracterizan al grupo de estrategias denominadas emancipadoras. Igualmente se concluye que aquello que se copia suelen ser particularidades ligadas a la percepción estética de la ciudad, privilegiándose, por medio de esa acción, una imagen y una especialidad enriquecidas con una iconografía que busca reproducir una estampa del pasado, más que la reproducción idéntica de la ciudad destruida. De otra parte, también se concluye que mientras lo que se copia actúa sobre los elementos que albergan la Memoria visual y espacial de la ciudad, aquello que se transforma lo hace enmarcado dentro de tres de los elementos primordiales de la morfología urbana: La urbanización, la edificación y la parcelación. Así las mayores transformaciones se dan sobre elementos potencialmente modernizadores de la ciudad, aquellos que son capaces de innovar en la forma de vivir.Finalmente, la pertinencia de esta investigación en su relación con la recomposición de ciudades devastadas por causas naturales o provocadas por el hombre, desgraciadamente queda demostrada a diario. Adicionalmente, también la presente investigación permite comprender la capacidad de transformación urbana desde la instrumentalización de la Memoria en situaciones menos violentas. / This research studies the role that memory plays in the morphological transformations of cities. In order to understand those transformations and their processes, this study focuses on cities that have experienced violent and unexpected processes of destructions, followed by a "recomposing" process in a so called "state of emergency", instead of on a piecemeal and continuous process of transformation that cities normally go through.Given that historical districts are largely responsible for the city's memory, a group of cities have been selected as case studies, based on the criteria that their historical cores were heavily destroyed during Second World War.Instead of using the term reconstruction, which can lead to the idea of restitution of previous states, we believe that it has been necessary to define a new term: "Recomposition". This term refers to a process by which the preexisting city's inner structure has been (or requires to be) reorganized entirely. Thus, Urban Recomposition can be understood as a decision making process heavily fed by historical (collective) memory, a human capacity that plays an instrumental role for creativeness in any recomposing course of action.Consequently, we examine cities that have copied, transformed, and disregarded their previous conditions, in order to determine the role that memory has played in their recomposing processes. Accordingly, three sets of strategies have been identified: First, "Self-referenced Strategies" that recognize in the city's previous condition the essential arguments for recomposing the city; second, "Re-founding Strategies" that benefit from destruction to create a brand new city; and third, "Emancipating Strategies" that, based on pragmatism, conciliate modernization and memory. From the Second Chapter on, this document alternates descriptive/analytic chapters (even chapters) with two other chapters (odd chapters). The even chapters describe and compare operational procedures of each strategy, and the odd chapters study what has been copied and what has been transformed in the recomposed cities selected. This structure provides for two complementary research methodologies: one that leads to the characterization of the recomposing strategies themselves, and the second that analyzes the transformative dimension of those strategies. In both cases, there is a special emphasis in understanding the role of memory in shaping courses of action carried out, as well as the role of memory over the decision-making-processes on morphological and aesthetic components selected in each recomposing project.The cases analyzed provides for the following conclusions: (i) as mentioned earlier, the "Self-referenced Strategies" recognize in the city's previous condition the essential arguments for recomposing the city, trying to reproduce "past" aesthetics carefully selected while introducing modern construction components and processes; (ii) the "Re-founding Strategies" follow state-of-the-art ideas and trends, benefit from destruction to create a brand new city, and therefore providing for factual urban laboratories in which drastic transformations take place; (iii) flanked by both set of strategies-in a see-sawing tension between memory (familiarity) and transformation (utopia), operates the "Emancipating Strategies".Commonly, what is copied is related to singular detailing associated with an aesthetic perception of the city as it was, favouring an iconographic image that tends to reproduce an impression of how the city looked like in the past rather than an identical copy of the previous conditions. Furthermore, what gets copied is usually related to visual spatialities, and what gets transformed is frequently framed within the following three categories: urban layouts, building constructions, and lot definition, which in turn provide for modern and innovative ways of living. Unfortunately, the significance of recomposing of devastated cities due to natural or human causes is tested every day at the present time. In this respect, the ultimate goal of this research is to provide a framework for understanding the effectiveness of urban transformations, when Memory is incorporated as a key component of the analysis, and implementation processes; hopefully in less violent situations.

The thesis discusses the differences and the role of the traditional centers of international trade. It is conducted through comparative analysis of the two ports in the open and closed economy - Rotterdam and Alexandria. In the first chapter, that is based on the theoretical and analytical frame, are specified the relevant facts and empirical findings in the field of international trade, centers of the international trade and maritime transport. The second chapter named Characterization and comparison of national economies deeper investigates the environment in which are the selected ports located. Chapter three and four deal with the Rotterdam respectively Alexandria in the detail view consisting of a historical context, profile and description of the port, the commodity structure, current development, future plans, related industrial regions and areas. The last chapter contains a comparison of the Rotterdam and Alexandria, including SWOT analysis.

Memoria de título para optar al grado de licenciado en ciencias jurídicas y sociales. / El presente trabajo estudia el contrato de volumen, consagrado por primera vez en un convenio internacional en las Reglas de Rotterdam elaborado por la CNUDMI. Se desarrolla el concepto, requisitos y efectos del contrato de volumen en el convenio mencionado. En base a la historia de la ley de las Reglas de Rotterdam se determinan las fuentes utilizadas en la redacción de este instrumento internacional. Las fuentes legales que emanan del estudio de los trabajos de redacción de las Reglas de Rotterdam son el derecho estadounidense, derecho francés, derecho escandinavo, formatos tipo y derecho alemán. Además tenemos presente la doctrina nacional. Como método de estudio se han contrastado las fuentes entre ellas. Se encontraron dos enfoques ante el contrato de volumen, primero, su tratamiento en el derecho estadounidense como contrato de servicio y, segundo, las demás fuentes utilizan el paradigma de los contratos de explotación de naves para establecer su contenido, resolver controversias judiciales y/o consagrarlo en sus legislaciones nacionales. Al presentar el segundo enfoque, planteamos los elementos, naturaleza jurídica y características de este contrato. Ya determinado el contenido del contrato de volumen, se concluye analizando si la regulación del contrato de volumen en la Reglas de Rotterdam es apropiada o no

Ces dernières décennies ont été marquées par une accélération des échanges mondiaux. Le transport maritime du fait de son coût peu élevé a contribué à ce développement. En effet, aujourd’hui près de quatre vingt dix pourcent des marchandises transportées dans le monde le sont par voie maritime. L’augmentation des volumes échangés et la capacité des navires ont fait augmenter les risques d’incidents et du même coup la responsabilité de tous les acteurs des contrats maritimes de transport de marchandises. La responsabilité du chargeur, qui a été longtemps restreinte à un simple cas excepté libérant la responsabilité du transporteur, prend son essor. Elle s’autonomise autour de la construction d’un régime général et spécial qu’il convient de mieux ordonner. A cet égard, l’étude comparative des expériences sino-françaises dans le domaine des responsabilités du chargeur fait apparaître de nombreuses disparités et différences de traitement. Les Règles de Rotterdam s’inscrivent dans cette perspective en consacrant ce phénomène. Elles prennent en considération de nouveaux types de chargeurs tels que le chargeur documentaire afin de mieux s’adapter à la réalité de l’opération de transport. Les risques d’atteinte à l’environnement par des marchandises dangereuses sont aussi pris en compte. Mais contrairement à la responsabilité du transporteur, la responsabilité contractuelle et délictuelle du chargeur est illimitée. En attendant une ratification des Règles de Rotterdam, la liberté contractuelle constitue un moyen intéressant pour le chargeur de limiter sa responsabilité dans le respect des dispositions d’ordre public ou de ses obligations impératives. / Recent decades have seen an acceleration of world trade. Due to its low cost, maritime transport has contributed to this development. Indeed, nearly ninety percent of goods transported in the world are seaborne. The increase in trading volumes and vessel capacity have increased the risk of incidents and thereby the responsibility of all actors in maritime carriage of goods contracts. The responsibility of the shipper, which has long been restricted to a simple except case releasing the carrier’s liability, is now taking off. This new autonomy, built around general and special ratings, should be better organized. In this regard, the comparative study of Chinese and French experiences in the responsibility of the shipper reveals many disparities and differences in treatment. The Rotterdam Rules follow the recent trend by taking into account new types of shippers, such as the documentary shipper, in order to better adapt to the reality of transport operations. The risks to the environment due to hazardous goods are also taken into account. But unlike the carrier's liability, the shipper’s liability and tort are unlimited. Pending the Rotterdam Rules’ ratification, contractual freedom is an interesting way for the shipper to limit his liability and tort in the respect of safety law or imperative obligations. / 国际间交换近数十年来加速了，海上运输的低价格，助长了他的发展，的确现在几乎百分之九十的国际货物运输都靠海运。由于交换的批量和船的容量增加，使得事件的风险和海上运输合同的各方责任提高了。托运人的责任长期以来限制在一个例外, 让承运人的责任释放。托运人的责任浮现，他的存在是建立在普通制度和专门制度中，需要更好的理清。在此情况下，中法海商法经验的比较，在托运人的责任上显出许多的差距和不同的待遇。在透视中 «鹿特丹规则»呈现了此现象。他考虑到新的托运人的类型，譬如提单托运人为了更符合实际运输的实现，被危险货物造成环保损害的风险,也算在内。但是不比承运人的责任，托运人的合同责任和侵权责任是无限的。在等待«鹿特丹规则»的批准之下，自由合同是一个有意思的办法, 为了限制托运的责任，需要遵守治安法和托运人的必需义务。

La scène internationale se caractérise par des relations de diverses natures entre les États. Pourtant, en observant plus attentivement, on se rend compte que cette coopération prend des tournures non linéaires sous le prisme des considérations financières. En effet, le financement est devenu le dénominateur qui façonne les relations interétatiques. Le droit international de l’environnement en général, et le secteur des produits chimiques et des déchets dangereux en particulier, n’échappe pas à ce paradigme. L’essentiel des échanges internationaux a pour trame de fond, l’exploitation des ressources naturelles et le commerce. Or depuis la deuxième et la troisième révolution industrielle, l’homme a appris à extraire et transformer les minerais et à synthétiser de nouvelles molécules pour la fabrication de produits de toute sorte. La surexploitation des ressources naturelles a parallèlement généré des retombées environnementales indésirables en termes de pollution transfrontière et d’atteintes graves sur la santé humaine. Cet état de choses a progressivement conduit à l’adoption d’instruments juridiques internationaux pour en limiter ou éradiquer les effets. C’est dans ce contexte que sont nées les Conventions de Bâle, de Rotterdam, de Stockholm, et récemment, la Convention de Minamata sur le mercure. Ces quatre instruments juridiques forment le système légal dans le secteur des produits chimiques et déchets dangereux. Toutefois, l’efficacité de cet arsenal passe inévitablement par la mise en œuvre de ces conventions. Or force est de constater que les choses ne sont pas aussi faciles dans la pratique. Le principal point d’achoppement réside très souvent dans les questions de financement des surcoûts que leur application entraîne dans les pays en voie de développement. Qui doit payer? La réponse à cette question passe par l’explication et l’interprétation du Principe des responsabilités communes mais différenciées et l’analyse de l’efficacité des mécanismes de financement mis en place dans le cadre de chaque convention. Face à ces préoccupations liées au financement, la question qu’on peut se poser est celle de savoir si le régime juridique n’est pas la source du problème. De plus, quel est l'impact des tentatives de restructuration entamées depuis quelques années? Quelles améliorations peuvent être proposées? C’est à cet ensemble de préoccupations que cette thèse apporte des réponses. / The international scene is marked by different types of interstate relationships. However, upon close consideration, this collaboration takes on a non-linear appearance from a financial point of view. In fact, funding has become the common denominator that shapes interstate relationships. International environmental law, as well as the chemical industry - particularly the hazardous waste sector - do not escape this paradigm. The exploitation of natural resources and trade constitute the foundation of this vital area of international exchanges. Since the second and third industrial revolutions, man has learned to extract and transform minerals and synthesize new molecules in order to manufacture of all sorts of products. The overexploitation of natural resources has by the same token led to undesirable environmental impacts in the form of transboundary contamination and severe damage to human health. This state of affairs has gradually led to the adoption of international legal instruments with a view to limiting or eradicating the aforementioned effects. It was within this context that the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and, most recently, the Minamata Convention on Mercury were adopted. These four legal instruments form the legal structure in the chemicals and hazardous waste sector. However, the effectiveness of this arsenal involves the implementation of these conventions. But this is not as easy in practice. The main stumbling block is often the question of financing the additional costs that their implementation entails in developing countries. Who should pay? The answer to this question lies in the explanation and interpretation of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the analysis of the effectiveness of the financing mechanisms set up under each convention. In the face of these funding concerns, the question that can be asked is whether the legal regime is not the source of the problem. Moreover, what is the impact of the restructuring attempts initiated in recent years? What improvements can be proposed? It is to this set of concerns that this thesis provides answers.

In the sea trade, the traditional paper-based bill of lading has played an important role across the globe for centuries, but with the advent of advanced commercial modes of transportation and communication, the central position of this document is under threat. The importance of the bill of lading still prevails as does the need of the functions that this document served in the past, although in a changed format. In the recent past, the world has witnessed a lot of debate about replacing this traditional paper-based document with an electronic equivalent that exhibits all of its functions and characteristics, both commercial and legal. More specifically, unlike many rival travel documents, such as the Sea Waybill, a bill of lading has two prominent features, that is to say, its negotiability and its acceptability as a document of title in certain legal jurisdictions that are required to be retained in an electronic bill of lading so as to also retain the prominence of this document in the future landscape. This thesis is, however, more concerned about the legal aspects of adopting the electronic bill of lading as a traditional paper-based legal document as well as an effective legal document in the present age. However, the scope of this debate remains primarily focused on the USA and UK jurisdictions. In the course of this thesis, it is observed that, in the past, the bill of lading has been subject to a variety of international regimes, such as The Hague Rules and The Hague-Visby Rules, and presently efforts are being made to arrive at a universal agreement under the umbrella of The Rotterdam Rules, but such an agreement is yet to arrive among the comity of nations. On the other hand, efforts made by the business community to introduce an electronic bill of lading are much louder and more evident. The private efforts, such as the SeaDocs System, CMI Rules, and the BOLERO Project, etc., were, however, received by the fellow business community with both applause as well as suspicion. At the same time, there are a number of concerns voiced by the international business community on the legislative adoptability in national and international jurisdictions and the courts’ approach in adjudicating cases involving electronic transactions and these are making the task of adoption of electronic bill of lading in the sea-based transactions a difficult task. Therefore, in the absence of any formal legal backing from national and international legislations, these attempts could not achieve the desired results. In this thesis, the present situation of the acceptability of electronic transactions in general, and of the electronic bill of lading specifically, has also been discussed with reference to certain national jurisdictions, such as Australia, India, South Korea and China, in order to present comparative perspectives on the preparedness of these nations. On the regional level, the efforts made by the European Union have also been discussed to promote electronic transactions within its jurisdiction. All the discussion, however, leads to the situation where the level of acceptability of electronic bill of lading in the near future is found to be dependent upon the official efforts from the national governments and putting these efforts towards arriving at an agreement on Rotterdam Rules as early as possible. The other area of importance revealed in this thesis is the need for change in juristic approach by the courts while interpreting and adjudicating upon cases involving electronic transactions. On the whole, this thesis has provided a cohesive and systematic review, synthesis and analysis of the history of the bill of lading, its importance as a document of title, and attempts to incorporate its important functions within the fast-paced electronic shipping commerce of today. In such a way it has provided a valuable contribution to the literature by providing a comprehensive resource for jurists, policy-makers and the business community alike, as they work towards adapting the bill of lading so that it might be successfully applied in electronic form.

The master's thesis Witchcraft and Inquisition in literal and historical context of "El Crótalon" offers a look at displays od the Witchcraft in the literature of first half of the 16th century with special attention on classical Greek and Roman literal models. Furthermore, the thesis analyzes the influence of Erasmus'work and impact of the Reformation movement on intelectual panorama as well as on the popular opinion; it concentrates on the evolution of Witchcraft and its growing influence over the social life. It also studies how the changing caracter of the Witchcraft reflected in the literal activity of its times. Second part of the thesis is dedicated to religious aspects of the Witchcraft, its connection with heretical movements and persecutions by the Inquisition.