Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e Telemática ; Nowadays, the technology to turn cities smart already exists. Smart Cities, as they are called, are capable to sense, analyze and react: sense through the set of sensors displaced along the city, as they are sensors either xed (for environmental monitoring) or moving (for instance, citizens with their smartphones). A notable case is Porto, which incorporates a mesh network with more than 600 vehicles (buses, taxis and garbage trucks), communicating in-between and enabling the passengers of the buses of the city major bus carrier to access freely to the Internet while commuting. A vehicular network like this has huge positive impact in the city mobility, which is one of the biggest concerns of the governmental institutions. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what can be done to improve mobility. By analyzing the data generated by the movement of the buses, it is possible to deliver a new set of tools that might be useful for the everyday life of the bus passengers and bus eet managers. From the passengers perspective, the utility can be brought by the introduction of smart schedules, which consists on delivering estimated time of arrival that is adapting itself to the city dynamics, through the evolution of the time, and that can be accessed directly from their smartphones. From the perspective of the bus eet managers, it is possible to deliver insights about the usual behaviour of their bus lines, giving openness for them to react to the new or abnormal city public transportation dynamics. This dissertation presents an approach for analyzing the data descendent from the vehicular network and how to use it to answer the previously addressed problems. Regarding the missing link between the GPS trace from the bus and the bus line that they are doing, a map-matching algorithm is implemented. That turns possible the computation of estimations and predictions of the bus' passing times. In what concerns prediction, three machine learning ensemble algorithms have ...
PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the experience of, and attitudes towards, work/life balance (WLB) by female and male senior managers in a major Irish organisation for which WLB is now a strategic corporate objective.Design/methodology/approachBoth quantitative and qualitative data were collected using an electronic questionnaire survey designed to obtain the views of female and male managers on strategies that would contribute to a better gender balance, promote diversity and raise leadership capacity in the organisation. Work/life balance emerged as a major issue in impeding the career progression of female managers. All female managers and a sample of male managers were surveyed. This paper concentrates on the responses of the two senior management grades below Executive Director on the issue and strategies to promote work/life balance. Additional qualitative data were drawn from interviews (with eight women and five men) and three focus group sessions with all male, all female and mixed gender groups.FindingsThe greatest obstacle to achieving WLB is seen as the "long hours" culture in which availing oneself of flexible options (e.g. working from home/reduced hours/flexitime) is incompatible with holding a senior management post. Many of the senior men have followed the "breadwinner" model by being able to delegate family and caring activities to their wives. This option has not been possible for the majority of women in senior posts. Hence, men seek WLB to resolve commuting/working time issues. Women want to avail themselves of more flexible arrangements for family/quality of life reasons. Both men and women in senior management recognise that their own careers would be seriously jeopardised by taking up WLB arrangements.Originality/valueIn the absence of role models willing to display any contrary behaviour there is a pragmatic need to align corporate policy and practice with prevailing and future family structures and demonstrate, by senior management example, how WLB can work and provide assistance for managers/staff who seek to avail themselves of it. WLB policies are not enough in themselves to ensure take‐up and acceptance. It will require trust, courage and a range of interventions to champion WLB, not just at management level.
Most World countries are currently facing an important transformation in demographic structure due to the overall ageing of the population, additionally in the recent years an extreme increase of mobility, both physical and economical, has been observed, drastically increasing migration flows and accelerating the transformation of demographics. The changes in demographics are one of the primary sources of uncertainty for infrastructure developers and policy makers; different demographics have different behaviours and requirements, affecting the demand for infrastructure, services, housing, and impacting differently the social security system. Thus it is essential to understand the mechanisms and quantitatively assess the future evolution of demographics, accounting for the sensitivity to multiple interdependent factors in a holistic way. Typically the impact of demographics on infrastructure is assessed based on projections of past trends. This approach is not sufficient to predict effects of demographic change on infrastructure, since not accounting for changes in behaviour, due for example to ageing or changes in household structure. Recently, agent-based simulations are being used, but being computationally demanding are often limited to the observation of individual elements of behaviour at small scale. In the course of this work for the first time ever, a fully-coupled, high-resolution (1 meter), continental-scale agent-based model for population, dwellings, and jobs has been developed. The interlinked models are designed to run on a GPU framework, allowing for fast computations, making it possible to simulate the whole EU in less than 1 hour per simulated year. The results show how in Switzerland and EU migration is the primary driver for changes in demographics. Difference in demographics strongly affect development of housing within urban agglomerations, while young immigrant population contributes to the support of social security for Switzerland: if the annual immigration rates are limited to 50% of today's rate, the social security system will become insolvent by 2027. Impact of different population densities are also observed in relation to public transport and disease transmission, the studies show also the effect of densification on commuting patterns and time, increasing up to 20% where new urban centres are established. Finally the simulations of the whole European population in the context of Brexit shows the re-distribution of migration flows towards UK, France, and Germany, while simultaneously future migration will decrease by 38%, posing important challenges in terms of infrastructure, support for social security and availability of workforce. In general, it is clear why today's concerns related to immigration revolves towards overcrowding, but in future migrants will become a valuable asset to provide for social security support and workforce for most European countries. Thus, it is important to focus on the typology of migrants and favour the creation and growth of new families, to make the future more sustainable with respect to demographic ageing. In conclusion, it has been demonstrated how agent-based models can be an effective, reliable, and sensitive tool for the assessment of multi-scale infrastructure and policies performances. The flexibility and consistency of the outputs required by the holistic framework allow for extensive case studies, while the GPU-acceleration broke the traditional limits of these models, allowing for detailed continental-scale simulations.
Als Buchbeitrag in englischer und französischer Sprache: Land-use Resources and Transport, in: European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT): Sixth International Symposium on Theory and Prac-tice in Transport Economics, Madrid, 22nd - 25th September 1975, Transport and the Economic Situation, Topic 3, OECD: Paris 1976, S. 193-242. https://doi.org/10.1787/2311827x Les Ressources en Espace et les Transports, Sixieme Symposium International sur la Theorie et la Pratique dans l'Economie des Transports, Madrid, 22-25 Septembre 1975, Les Transport et la Situation Economique, Theme 3, OECD: Paris 1976, S. 233-286. https://doi.org/10.1787/23118296 ; Raum und Verkehr sind zwei Seiten derselben Münze. Raum- und Siedlungsstrukturen prägen Verkehrsverhalten, und Verkehrsverhalten verändert Raum- und Siedlungsstrukturen. Deshalb ist eine integrierte Sicht unverzichtbar. Für Verkehrswege nimmt der Verkehrssektor Grund und Boden in Anspruch und nutzt darüber hinaus erhebliche Flächen durch Verkehrslärm und Schadstoffemissionen mit. Zugleich schafft er zusätzliche Grundfläche durch die Anbindung von Bauten über und unter Terrain und durch Geschossflächenzahlen größer 1. In der heutigen Phase verkehrspolitischer Neuorientierung ist damit erhebliches Konfliktpotential verbunden, das brisante Forderungen der Umwelt-, Konsum-, Sozial- und Systemkritik begründet. Kritische Fragen betreffen den möglichst sparsamen Umgang mit Grund und Boden für Verkehrsbauten, die Mehrfachnutzung durch ihre Über- und Unterbauung, den gesellschaftspolitisch "richtigen" Bodenpreis, verkehrsinduzierte Nutzungsänderungen von Flächen und bisher unbefristete Nutzungsrechte nach Flächenerwerb. Ähnliche Lücken weist die gegenwärtige Verkehrstheorie bei den ökonomischen, sozialen und ökologischen Folgen von Erreichbarkeitsänderungen auf. Dies gilt für differenzierte Entwicklungschancen von Unternehmen, Wirtschaftszweigen und Regionen durch Verkehrsinvestitionen, für unterschiedliche Mobilitätschancen begünstigter und benachteiligter Bevölkerungsgruppen und für die Folgen erleichterter Erreichbarkeit auf die Landschaft. Soziale Disparitäten und ökologische Wirkungen von Zersiedlung, Langstreckenpendeln und Zweitwohnungen rücken in den Vordergrund. Trotzdem scheitert jede konsequente Wachstumssteuerung noch immer an gegensätzlichen Ressortinteressen, Nutzenkollisionen und Bewertungsproblemen. Nur durch eine erhebliche Kurskorrektur ist zu verhindern, dass uns die Gestaltung unserer Zukunft aus der Hand genommen wird. Deshalb gehört die Integration einer langfristig und großräumig orientierten Raum-, Siedlungs- und Verkehrspolitik in einem Zielsystem gesamtwirtschaftlicher Entwicklung zu den Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. ; Spatial development and traffic are just two sides of the same coin. Land-use and settlement structures shape traffic behaviour and traffic behaviour changes land-use and settlement structures. Therefore an integrating perspective is indispensable. The transport sector occupies land for traffic routes and can free ride significant areas by traffic noise and emissions. Furthermore transport links create additional site area by connecting storeys above and under the terrain and by floor area ratios (FAR) bigger than 1. In the current reorientation of transport policy this contains a considerable conflict potential that raises critical political demands of eviromental critique, critique of consumerism, social criticism and the critique of the system. Critical issues affect the efficient and frugal handling of land, the multiple use of land areas by its overbuilding or underground constructions, the sociopolitical "right" price for transport areas, transport induced land use change and the current unlimited rights of use after acquisition of a lot. Similar gaps exist in current transport economics theory regarding economic, social and ecological effects of changes of accessibility. This applies to any development opportunities for enterprises, industries and regions by transport investments, for mobility opportunities of privileged and disadvantaged groups and for the - either positive or negative - consequences of easier access for the flora and fauna concerned. Social disparities and ecological effects of urban sprawl, long distance commuting and secondary residences are coming to the fore. Nevertheless any consistent attempt to control growth faces failure due to conflicting government interests, group interests and evaluation criteria. Only a major change of course will prevent the shaping of our future from being taken of our hands. The integration of regional, urban and transport policies, oriented towards the long-term and on as large a scale as possible, in a goal-system of societal development is one of the challenges of our time.
While urban areas in Canada generally experience relatively good air quality, exposure to outdoor air pollution still elicits considerable public health impacts. Recently, a growing body of evidence has emerged that specifically links traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) with health effects, including cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular mortality, respiratory disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes and lung cancer. This understanding of the importance of TRAP requires renewed focus on options to reduce population exposure, including integration with urban and transportation planning. The objectives of this document are: (a) to present an overview of the international scientific evidence linking TRAP exposure to adverse human health effects, highlighting Canadian studies and new research findings published since the completion of a critical systematic review of the literature (HEI, 2010); (b) to estimate the exposure of Canadians to TRAP and identify its potential public health implications in Canada; (c) to review current legislation and guidelines regarding urban planning, the built environment and traffic exposure; and (d)enumerate potential options to mitigate population exposure to TRAP. Canadian researchers have made important contributions to the body of evidence linking TRAP exposure with health effects, and findings from these studies have been highlighted and reviewed in detail. Recent Canadian published epidemiologic studies support the conclusions reached by the HEI panel in describing effects of TRAP exposure on respiratory heath, adverse pregnancy outcomes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Therefore, Canadian scientific data indicates that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is a significant public health issue in Canada. Spatial analysis of the number of Canadians living in proximity to major roads quantifies the scope of potential impact of TRAP as a public health concern in Canada. We applied the finding from the HEI (2010) literature review of roadway gradients to estimate TRAP exposure and found that approximately 10 million individuals (32% of the Canadian population) live within 100m of a major road or 500 m of a highway. In addition, recent research has estimated that approximately one-third of Canadian urban elementary schools are located in zones of high traffic proximity. These estimates highlight the large proportion of the Canadian population exposed to TRAP and confirm its public health importance. Four categories of exposure-mitigation options for TRAP are described: (1) Land-use planning and transportation management; (2) Reduction of vehicle emissions; (3) Modification of existing structures; and (4) Encouraging behaviour change. Real-world implementation of policies and actions – within Canada and internationally – have been examined. These strategies tend to either reduce TRAP exposures uniformly (e.g. identifying and repairing high-emitting vehicles or making improvements to public transit), or reduce TRAP exposure spatially (e.g. separation of buildings and active transit infrastructure from busy roads, low emission zones, or the use of HVAC to reduce TRAP infiltration in buildings). In addition, the time-horizon within which a reduction in TRAP exposure is expected to take place following a specific action varies from less than a year to decades. It is recommended that municipal and local governments take these considerations into account when choosing which TRAP exposure-reduction measures to implement. Recommended approaches include the following, grouped according to the time-horizon of their expected impact. "Near-term" time horizon (months to years):• Install HVAC filter systems in buildings that house susceptible populations within 150m from busy roads (>15,000 AADT); • Limit heavy truck traffic to specific routes and times; • Target high emitting vehicles for retrofit or removal with inspection and maintenance programs; • Separate active commuting from busy roads (e.g. create bicycle routes on minor roads); • Implement anti-idling bylaws; • Implement traffic congestion reduction policies (e.g. tolls, parking restrictions, low emission zones, car-share programs, increased public transportation) to increase traffic flow (evidence suggests higher TRAP exposures with stop-and-go traffic). "Long-term" time horizon (years to decades): • Conduct integrated land use planning that incorporates health impact assessments (HIA's); • Site buildings that house susceptible populations (e.g. schools, daycares,retirement homes) at least 150m from busy roads (>15,000 AADT); It is likely that a bundle of complementary mitigation options will be required to protect the most susceptible sub-groups as well as those most highly exposed to TRAP, and to enable both near-term as well as long-term results. ; Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, School of ; Medicine, Faculty of ; Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of ; Reviewed ; Faculty
When envisioning the future of a territory, public authorities typically make an effort to anticipate changes in land-use and transport systems. These projections are based on the principle that different zones are complementary, as they have varying urban functions. These differences generate transport demand, which then leads to concrete transport flows. Land use and transport forecasts are often carried out independently despite the well-known interactions between these two domains. The Greater Paris Area has pursued a polycentric New Town policy for over a generation, seeking an optimal spatial distribution of human activities. These New Towns were located in "preferential urban growth" zones served by major transport infrastructures in hopes of increasing the urban region's geographic coherence and better managing transport demand by reducing congestion toward the centre city and increasing public transit's mode share. Nonetheless, recent analyses of land-use data and mobility behaviour reveal that Greater Paris still possesses a dominantly monocentric urban form. The New Towns remain dependent on central Paris, and the private car is still the favoured transport mode ; these areas never attained the degree of importance and centrality called for in the initial development plans. In order to verify the polycentric urban form's capacity to foster sustainable mobility, our thesis investigates two scenarios for urban development over the 2004-2030 period. Both involve increasing urban density, but this increase is spatially homogeneous in one scenario and more targeted in the other, with human activities clustered near urban subcentres. We carry out an integrated land-use and transport simulation, employing a supply and demand model from the Driea-IDF (Regional Direction for Infrastructure and Spatial Planning), as well as spatially focussed demographic projections based on the Omphale model from INSEE (the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies). In this way, we show that spatially channelling expected population growth before 2030 with the goal of increasing density could intensify urban centrality in the New Towns, leading to an increase in coherence (in terms of jobs-housing balance), a reduction in average commuting distances, a greater share of non-motorized transport, and transport network performance improvements. These effects are stronger in our targeted scenario than in the homogeneous case. Despite the challenges presented by population growth, it appears possible to maintain private transport modes' quality of service through changes in the structure of spatial interactions and transport requirements, in conjunction with planned road and transit development. Quality of service stabilization would require increased reliance on high-capacity urban trunk roads. In the targeted density scenario, traffic on the road network could even decrease in certain places, and capacity could then be reallocated to sustainable transport modes. Demographic change and transport quality of service can work together to both enhance secondary centres (improving accessibility through nearness) and increase the number of inhabitants capable of reaching a destination in a given amount of time, or the number of jobs accessible from residential areas ; Pour planifier le devenir d'un territoire, il est classique de projeter l'évolution de l'usage du sol et du système de transport. La projection est fondée sur le principe que les lieux d'activités, selon leurs fonctions urbaines respectives, sont en relations de complémentarité : cette complémentarité induit des besoins de déplacements, lesquels se concrétisent en des flux de transport. Souvent les projections sont réalisées de manière séparée par grand domaine, occupation des sols d'une part et transport de l'autre, or il y a des interactions. La politique polycentrique poursuivie depuis plus d'une génération en région francilienne part de cette volonté de répartition spatiale optimale des activités humaines avec la création des Villes Nouvelles. Leur localisation dans des zones préférentielles d'extension urbaine desservies par des axes structurants de transports devait apporter une cohérence d'ensemble à la région urbaine et contribuer efficacement à une meilleure gestion des flux de déplacements à la fois en termes de structure géographique, pour limiter la congestion en direction du centre, et de répartition modale en faveur des transports collectifs. L'analyse récente des données d'occupation des sols comme celle des comportements de mobilité tend à confirmer que l'Ile-de- France reste encore caractérisée par une forme urbaine à dominante monocentrique. Le niveau de masse et de centralité défini dans le schéma initial d'aménagement n'a pas été atteint pour les « centres urbains nouveaux », la dépendance au cœur de l'agglomération est toujours vérifiée, et la voiture particulière reste privilégiée comme mode de déplacement.Pour vérifier la capacité de la forme urbaine polycentrique à favoriser une mobilité durable, notre thèse prospecte deux partis d'aménagement pour la période 2004-2030, tous deux favorisant la densification de l'agglomération mais l'un de manière homogène et l'autre de manière ciblée, orientant davantage la localisation des activités humaines dans les grands pôles d'urbanisation. Dans cet objectif, nous avons simulé de manière intégrée l'usage du sol et les transports en mobilisant le modèle d'offre de transport et de demande de déplacements de la Driea-IDF, et une méthode de projection démographique spatialisée basée sur le modèle Omphale de l'Insee et ajoutant une focalisation par sous-ensemble territorial.Dans ces conditions, nous avons montré que l'évolution démographique prévue d'ici 2030, canalisée dans l'espace selon une logique de densification, devrait permettre un renforcement de la centralité urbaine dans les grands pôles d'aménagement que sont les Villes Nouvelles, avec une intensification de la cohérence urbaine entre les domiciles et les emplois, une réduction des distances moyennes entre domicile et travail, une proportion accrue de déplacements effectués par des modes non motorisés, et une amélioration de la performance territoriale des réseaux de transport. Ces effets seraient plus forts avec le scénario de densification ciblée qu'avec celui de densification homogène. Les transformations dans la structure des interactions spatiales et dans les besoins de déplacement, couplées au développement programmé des réseaux routiers et collectifs de transport, mais confrontées à l'accroissement démographique, sembleraient permettre de maintenir la qualité de service pour les modes individuels de transport. Le développement démographique et le maintien de la qualité de service en transport concourraient à améliorer non seulement les centralités secondaires donc l'accessibilité dans un cadre de proximité, mais encore les effectifs de population susceptibles d'atteindre une destination en un temps limité, ou le nombre d'emplois pouvant être visés depuis un lieu de domicile
When envisioning the future of a territory, public authorities typically make an effort to anticipate changes in land-use and transport systems. These projections are based on the principle that different zones are complementary, as they have varying urban functions. These differences generate transport demand, which then leads to concrete transport flows. Land use and transport forecasts are often carried out independently despite the well-known interactions between these two domains. The Greater Paris Area has pursued a polycentric New Town policy for over a generation, seeking an optimal spatial distribution of human activities. These New Towns were located in "preferential urban growth" zones served by major transport infrastructures in hopes of increasing the urban region's geographic coherence and better managing transport demand by reducing congestion toward the centre city and increasing public transit's mode share. Nonetheless, recent analyses of land-use data and mobility behaviour reveal that Greater Paris still possesses a dominantly monocentric urban form. The New Towns remain dependent on central Paris, and the private car is still the favoured transport mode ; these areas never attained the degree of importance and centrality called for in the initial development plans. In order to verify the polycentric urban form's capacity to foster sustainable mobility, our thesis investigates two scenarios for urban development over the 2004-2030 period. Both involve increasing urban density, but this increase is spatially homogeneous in one scenario and more targeted in the other, with human activities clustered near urban subcentres. We carry out an integrated land-use and transport simulation, employing a supply and demand model from the Driea-IDF (Regional Direction for Infrastructure and Spatial Planning), as well as spatially focussed demographic projections based on the Omphale model from INSEE (the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies). In this way, we show that spatially channelling expected population growth before 2030 with the goal of increasing density could intensify urban centrality in the New Towns, leading to an increase in coherence (in terms of jobs-housing balance), a reduction in average commuting distances, a greater share of non-motorized transport, and transport network performance improvements. These effects are stronger in our targeted scenario than in the homogeneous case. Despite the challenges presented by population growth, it appears possible to maintain private transport modes' quality of service through changes in the structure of spatial interactions and transport requirements, in conjunction with planned road and transit development. Quality of service stabilization would require increased reliance on high-capacity urban trunk roads. In the targeted density scenario, traffic on the road network could even decrease in certain places, and capacity could then be reallocated to sustainable transport modes. Demographic change and transport quality of service can work together to both enhance secondary centres (improving accessibility through nearness) and increase the number of inhabitants capable of reaching a destination in a given amount of time, or the number of jobs accessible from residential areas ; Pour planifier le devenir d'un territoire, il est classique de projeter l'évolution de l'usage du sol et du système de transport. La projection est fondée sur le principe que les lieux d'activités, selon leurs fonctions urbaines respectives, sont en relations de complémentarité : cette complémentarité induit des besoins de déplacements, lesquels se concrétisent en des flux de transport. Souvent les projections sont réalisées de manière séparée par grand domaine, occupation des sols d'une part et transport de l'autre, or il y a des interactions. La politique polycentrique poursuivie depuis plus d'une génération en région francilienne part de cette volonté de répartition spatiale optimale des activités humaines avec la création des Villes Nouvelles. Leur localisation dans des zones préférentielles d'extension urbaine desservies par des axes structurants de transports devait apporter une cohérence d'ensemble à la région urbaine et contribuer efficacement à une meilleure gestion des flux de déplacements à la fois en termes de structure géographique, pour limiter la congestion en direction du centre, et de répartition modale en faveur des transports collectifs. L'analyse récente des données d'occupation des sols comme celle des comportements de mobilité tend à confirmer que l'Ile-de- France reste encore caractérisée par une forme urbaine à dominante monocentrique. Le niveau de masse et de centralité défini dans le schéma initial d'aménagement n'a pas été atteint pour les « centres urbains nouveaux », la dépendance au cœur de l'agglomération est toujours vérifiée, et la voiture particulière reste privilégiée comme mode de déplacement.Pour vérifier la capacité de la forme urbaine polycentrique à favoriser une mobilité durable, notre thèse prospecte deux partis d'aménagement pour la période 2004-2030, tous deux favorisant la densification de l'agglomération mais l'un de manière homogène et l'autre de manière ciblée, orientant davantage la localisation des activités humaines dans les grands pôles d'urbanisation. Dans cet objectif, nous avons simulé de manière intégrée l'usage du sol et les transports en mobilisant le modèle d'offre de transport et de demande de déplacements de la Driea-IDF, et une méthode de projection démographique spatialisée basée sur le modèle Omphale de l'Insee et ajoutant une focalisation par sous-ensemble territorial.Dans ces conditions, nous avons montré que l'évolution démographique prévue d'ici 2030, canalisée dans l'espace selon une logique de densification, devrait permettre un renforcement de la centralité urbaine dans les grands pôles d'aménagement que sont les Villes Nouvelles, avec une intensification de la cohérence urbaine entre les domiciles et les emplois, une réduction des distances moyennes entre domicile et travail, une proportion accrue de déplacements effectués par des modes non motorisés, et une amélioration de la performance territoriale des réseaux de transport. Ces effets seraient plus forts avec le scénario de densification ciblée qu'avec celui de densification homogène. Les transformations dans la structure des interactions spatiales et dans les besoins de déplacement, couplées au développement programmé des réseaux routiers et collectifs de transport, mais confrontées à l'accroissement démographique, sembleraient permettre de maintenir la qualité de service pour les modes individuels de transport. Le développement démographique et le maintien de la qualité de service en transport concourraient à améliorer non seulement les centralités secondaires donc l'accessibilité dans un cadre de proximité, mais encore les effectifs de population susceptibles d'atteindre une destination en un temps limité, ou le nombre d'emplois pouvant être visés depuis un lieu de domicile
