‘Eco-city’ to ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’: a concerted approach in the coastal city of Puri, India

The need for environmental and urban planning reached a critical point in the year 2007, when one-half of the world's population could be defined as living in cities. Urbanisation in India is also increasing at a fast rate. Urban chaos in India, emanating from the continuous ignorance of fragile ecosystems, calls for the reshaping of existing cities as ‘eco-cities’. The ‘eco-city’—a well-known concept in the western world—is new to the Indian context. While western connotations of eco-cities should not be discarded outright in the context of India, core concerns vary significantly for obvious reasons. Recognising two facts—firstly, eco-city development is altogether a fresh approach to human settlement development in India, and, secondly, the manifold increase in the vulnerability of cities—this paper discusses documented good practice, reinforcing evolution towards the eco-city vision. Lessons drawn from the examples cited are further deconstructed in the light of their contribution to urban risk reduction, which provides direction to appreciating the ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’ concept in Puri, a coastal city in India. Further, this paper attempts to unravel existing community-based practices in Puri, which are boon to the local environment and invariably reduce disaster risk. These seemingly modest neighbourhood initiatives symbolise immense societal wealth, which can be calibrated appropriately for reducing urban environmental risk as well. This paper also illustrates how a ‘disaster resilient eco-community’ approach is inevitable in the present and future contexts not only to preserve sustainable development gains but also to secure human well-being.     

广州地铁鹭江站施工安全技术体系研究

城市地铁工程主要穿越城市商业区和居民聚居区 ,施工过程中的安全技术问题可能对地表环境产生严重影响 ,甚至诱发地面塌陷等灾害发生。笔者结合广州地铁二号线鹭江站的施工实践 ,研究了城市地铁工程的施工安全技术 ;探讨了地铁车站施工安全监测中的维护桩变形、土体变形、支撑结构的受力状况、地下水水位、地下管线沉降和位移监测的实施细则 ;突出了对折返线施工过程的监测 ;研究了施工安全保障技术方法体系 ;对施工现场安全技术、施工工艺安全技术进行了深入分析 ;明确了基坑开挖、洞室掘进、空中作业等不同类型的施工场地和人工挖孔、爆破、模筑混凝土、钢支撑安装、防水层施做等各种施工工艺的安全保障技术方法 ;建立了安全施工和安全管理措施方法体系。     

城市火灾扑救调度指挥过程的Petri网模型研究

在经典Ｐｅｔｒｉ网理论的基础上,发展了一类有色非自主Ｐｅｔｒｉ网方法,用以建立城市火灾扑救调度指挥过程的仿真模型,并通过实例,对火警出动等级判断规则及按火警出动等级调派车辆规则进行了初步仿真研究。     

上海市防灾救灾系统管理存在的问题及对策

对上海当前防灾救灾系统管理中存在的问题进行了分析，并且提出了相应的对策，对上海及其它城市的防灾救灾系统管理体系的改进与完善有一定的借鉴作用。     

城市防灾救灾组织机构设置的研究

本文首先阐明了合理的组织机构在城市防灾工作中的作用，然后通过对典型城市防灾救灾组织机构现状和问题的分析，提出防灾救灾组织机构设置的原则，构造了城市防灾救灾组织机构的改进型矩阵模式，并分析了该模式的特点和实施步骤。     

ALAWAT: A spatially allocated watershed model for approximating stream,sediment, and pollutant flows in Hawaii,USA

The Ala Wai Canal Watershed Model (ALAWAT) is a planning-level watershed model for approximating direct runoff, streamflow, sediment loads, and loads for up to five pollutants. ALAWAT uses raster GIS data layers including land use, SCS soil hydrologic groups, annual rainfall, and subwatershed delineations as direct model parameter inputs and can use daily total rainfall from up to ten rain gauges and streamflow from up to ten stream gauges. ALAWAT uses a daily time step and can simulate flows for up to ten-year periods and for up to 50 subwatersheds. Pollutant loads are approximated using a user-defined combination of rating curve relationships, mean event concentrations, and loading/washoff parameters for specific subwatersheds, land uses, and times of year. Using ALAWAT, annual average streamflow and baseflow relationships and urban suspended sediment loads were approximated for the Ala Wai Canal watershed (about 10,400 acres) on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Annual average urban suspended sediments were approximated using two methods: mean event concentrations and pollutant loading and washoff. Parameters for the pollutant loading and washoff method were then modified to simulate the effect of various street sweeping intervals on sediment loads.     

The town scheme approach to urban conservation in England and Scotland

The Town Scheme approach to urban conservation is being used increasingly as a major method of repairing historic buildings in conservation areas. A Town Scheme involves a long‐term financial and administrative partnership between the various levels of government. An annual budget made up of equal contributions from central government and the participating local authority is used to finance a multi‐year programme of repairs. Owners can apply for grants which are usually for 40 per cent of approved costs, and repair work must relate to the original structure and architectural details of an approved list of historic buildings. Town Schemes by themselves cannot totally transform the environmental quality of conservation areas, and the most successful schemes are part of wide‐ranging renewal and enhancement projects.     

A training consultancy for an Ethiopian I.D.A. urban programme evaluated

The author contributed to a short ‘in service’ course for staff engaged on a World Bank upgrading project for Ethiopian housing. The project includes both the building of new houses by self‐build co‐operatives on the periphery of Addis Ababa, and the upgrading of a dense inner city area in conditions of acute deprivation. The paper is a highly personal account of the author's impressions of the value of such initiatives.     

Development of synthetic criteria for the ecological evaluation of woodlots and woodlot units

Different criteria have been proposed for the rapid ecological evaluation of wooded areas. It is difficult, however, to determine the criteria most likely to yield results similar to those that would be obtained through detailed surveys and exhaustive evaluation. In order to identify such synthetic criteria, data from a detailed evaluation of Montreal Urban Community woodlots were studied with the help of multivariate analysis. This detailed evaluation was undertaken at two levels—woodlot unit and the woodlots themselves—using 16 different criteria.At the woodlot unit level, area and abundance indices of shade intolerant species in the tree layer could be used as synthetic criteria, while at the woodlot level the ecological value of the constituent units stand out as the first synthetic criterion. These results are compared with criteria proposed in the literature, and the use of multivariate analysis in ecological evaluation is briefly discussed.     

On the Performance and Applicability of Nonlinear Two-Equation Turbulence Models for Urban Air Quality Modelling

It is well known that the commonly used k- turbulence models yield inaccurate predictions for complex flow fields. One reason for this inaccuracy is the misrepresentation of Reynolds stress differences. Nonlinear turbulence models are capable to overcome this weakness while being not considerably more complex. However no comprehensive studies are known which analyze the performance of nonlinear turbulence models for three-dimensional flows around building-shaped structures. In the present study the predictions of the flow around a surface-mounted cube using three nonlinear two-equation turbulence models are discussed. The results are compared with predictions of the standard k- turbulence model and wind tunnel measurements. It is shown that the use of nonlinear turbulence models can be beneficial in predicting wind flows around buildings.