Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science

A procedure based on the assignment problem formulation and the paradigm of compromise programming is presented to aid in the determination of ‘compromise assignments’ of land-development types to parcels of land in the vicinity of hazardous facilities, which minimize risk to human health while maximizing land-development benefits. The basic procedure is described and illustrated with a hypothetical example, special cases and treatment of goal trade-offs are discussed, and a case-study application of the procedure is presented. The proposed approach provides a simple land-development decision aid tool which addresses the question of trade-offs between risk and development benefits; it can accommodate other decision criteria as well as alternative preference structures of the decisionmakers; and it applies to similar multiple-criteria decision problems.

The viewshed operation is integral to a number of modern geographic information systems. From a digital elevation model of an area, it derives a new coverage which shows those areas which are visible from one or more locations, and which is coded as a binary image: 1 indicating those areas which are visible, and 0 those which are not. For various reasons this representation has been shown to be insufficient and it has been suggested elsewhere that the probable viewshed is a more realistic alternative. In this paper the use of the probable viewshed in planning visible areas is explored. This involves a discussion of combining probable viewsheds by union, intersection, and weighted average. The data products thus derived are examined and it is shown that the analysis of probable viewsheds gives much more information about the nature of the viewable area, which in turn enables a more thorough approach to planning the use of viewable areas.

Taiwanese traditional architecture has been classified as belonging to the Southern style of Chinese architecture. Owing to geographical and climatic conditions, and to its own history, Taiwanese architecture has diversified from mainstream Chinese architecture. This diversification has given rise to styles of buildings that were (and are) quite distinct from their Chinese origin. The authors begin with a comparison of Taiwanese and Chinese traditional architectures highlighting their differences. The authors go on to describe the different systems used for measuring key dimensions in Taiwanese traditional buildings, and the procedure for their determination.

Critical realism as a philosophy of science has received some renewed attention, particularly with applications in urban and regional studies. The debates on planning theory in the 1970s and 1980s set a backdrop against which the relevance of critical realism for urban and regional planning may be seen. Elements of a realist critique of planning philosophy, theory, and methodology were asserted. Yet, until recently, critical realism has received scant attention in planning research, compared with the attention it has received in geographical research. In this paper a brief exposition of critical realism as a method of social research is given, with examples of applications in urban and regional contexts. The paper is concluded with a discussion of the implications of critical realism for urban and regional planning theory.

In this paper, the arguments used in the literature pro and contra congestion pricing are analysed. Although it is a first-best instrument in theory, it is argued that the assumptions needed to arrive at this conclusion oversimplify reality. In practice, congestion pricing is a second-best instrument with some advantages over other second-best instruments, but it will also give rise to numerous problems, as discussed in the paper. These problems will be illustrated with the Dutch attempts to implement an electronic road-pricing system.

Some research issues relating to congestion pricing have been overlooked in the past. In the first instance, the behavioural side (motorists' responses) of congestion pricing has not been paid much attention. In general, it is argued that individuals are aiming to maximise utility (or minimise travel time). However, there seems to be an increasing recognition that this assumption does not properly describe reality. Second, the impact of the compensation scheme—used to compensate drivers who are worse off under congestion pricing—on the behavioural responses should be analysed more carefully in future work. This scheme might partly reverse the behavioural responses induced. Third, the welfare-generating properties of simple schemes should be looked at in future work. Fourth, given the potential opposition, we conclude that a cordon system, in which the price is dependent on the time of the day, is currently the most attractive option for pursuing a land of congestion pricing. A cordon system might increase the individual's awareness of the costs of mobility during congested periods and be the first step towards more sophisticated pricing systems.

In this study, Rapoport's concept of choice and game theory was used in order to understand the trade-offs home buyers make when choosing an affordable house. Cost is a constraint on a home buyer's choices. When people have constraints on their choices, what is most critical is what they eliminate and in what order. The attributes eliminated first are the least important to buyers; the attributes that are present in all new houses, including the least expensive, are the most important. Fifty model houses featured in The Milwaukee Journal over an eighteen-month period were analyzed. The objective was to learn how the more expensive houses differ from the less expensive houses. Size is the most important predictor of cost but even the least expensive houses are like all the others in that they have three bedrooms, one larger than the other two; two bathrooms, one with a special relationship to the bigger bedroom; two separate eating areas and a two-car garage. They are unlike the other houses in that they do not have a separate living room and family room, a fireplace, dormers and bay windows, natural materials on the exterior, elaborate plumbing fixtures such as a whirlpool bath, and extra storage space in the garage. These findings have significance for the planning and design of affordable housing because they indicate what is most important to the home buyer.

In this paper I address some of the criticisms levelled at CAD researchers who invoke hermeneutical theories, in particular the hermeneutics of Martin Heidegger. The paper serves as an introduction to some of the lively debates surrounding hermeneutical theory as they pertain to technical studies.