Local Authority Plans Research Articles

Technical and economical study of a Stand-alone Wind Energy System for Remote Rural Area Electrification in Algeria

The present work is the investigation of a specific SWES. This system is designed to provide enough power for domestic use that satisfies a single household’s demand and allows a certain level of autonomy. The whole work is based on simulation. Models are elaborated to simulate the power source (wind turbine), a storage battery, the electrical load and the relevant meteorological conditions, in addition to other items that are needed to represent the SWES satisfactorily. MATLAB/SIMULINK software is used for the whole system simulation. Focus is put onto the power source and battery. The load situated in various climatic zones of Algeria is represented as a power demand that needs be satisfied. Finally, the economic analysis has resulted in the calculation of the installed total cost, kWh cost, and the actualized total cost for the wind energy source. The simulation results indicate that the coverage provided by the wind/battery system depends on the wind turbine nominal power. It depends also from the local wind speed distribution As far as the economic results are concerned, it appears that the cost of the energy produced by the wind/battery system is very high (1.3-4$/kWh) compared to those corresponding to conventional installations (0.4$/kWh). This, however, is not to be considered as a negative determinant factor since the local authorities plan to manufacture renewable energy equipment locally and, by doing so, cancel the effects of subsidizing the local fossil fuels on the imported machines costs, which will in turn be favorably reflected on renewable energy costs.

Estimating county-level vaccination coverage using small area estimation with the National Immunization Survey-Child

The National Immunization Survey-Child (NIS-Child) provides annual vaccination coverage estimates in the United States for children aged 19 through 35 months, nationally, for each state, and for select local areas and territories. There is a need for vaccination coverage estimates for smaller geographic areas to support local authority planning and identify counties with potentially low vaccination coverage for possible further intervention. We describe small area estimation methods using 2008-2018 NIS-Child data to generate county-level estimates for children up to two years of age born 2007-2011 and 2012-2016. We applied an empirical best linear unbiased prediction method to combine direct estimates of vaccination coverage with model-based prediction using county-level predictors regarding health and demographic characteristics. We review the predictors commonly selected for the small area models and note multiple predictors related to barriers to vaccination.

Review of UK Inland Waterways Transportation From the Hydrodynamics Point of View

There are approximately 7,000 miles of inland waterways in the UK, many of them built during the 18th and 19th centuries principally to transport bulk materials. These waterways provide numerous benefits to society and the economy. However, they have untapped potential for freight transport which could be released to provide more efficient solutions compared to other modes of transport. In addition to providing solutions to reduce emissions from land or air transportation, inland waterways also bring environmental and public health benefits to local communities. Therefore, these blue-green spaces should play a central role in government and local authority planning. This article explores some of the issues which prevent full use of inland waterways transportation from being achieved from the hydrodynamics point of view. Specifically, the concepts and ideas underpinning vessel operation are reviewed and discussed in detail in this article. It is shown how hydrodynamic concepts can inform public policy to maximise the efficiency of transportation from inland waterways.

PLACE MARKETING IN PLANNING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Research background: Municipalities, as part of the public sector, have to use various methods to achieve their goals, including the ones that are indispensable for successful entrepreneurship. Local authorities plan, manage and control events of public importance. These activities must be in line with national policies and accepted in their development documents. It is logical for municipalities to formulate and communicate their strategies and spatial development perspectives to the public. The improvement of a sustainable development strategy is especially important because the administrative-territorial reform was completed in 2021. After this latest reform, the boundaries of districts, management and distribution of funding were changed significantly. Today several towns and communities have developed their marketing strategies, and each municipality has public relations or development departments that take care of the image of the area.Purpose of the article: The aim of this study is to analyse the importance of local marketing in the current sustainable development strategies of individual districts. Tasks of the research are to describe the essence of local marketing, to study the peculiarities of strategic planning in local governments, to analyse the current sustainable development strategies of Cesis, Valmiera and Smiltene counties in connection with local marketing and to draw conclusions on the research results.Methods: The work uses a monographic research method, analysis of scientific literature, analysis of regulatory enactments, a logically constructive method - for the formation of judgments and analysis of results, a method of synthesis - to combine elements into a single system.Findings Value added: As a result of the study, the importance and impact of place marketing on the regional planning process was identified.

Phu Quoc tourism: potential and orientation for development post Covid-19 pandemic

With a favorable location and diverse natural and cultural resources, Phu Quoc city of Kien Giang province has immense potential for tourism development. Phu Quoc is one of the localities with the biggest number of tourist arrivals and the highest revenue from tourism in the Mekong Delta. However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Phu Quoc tourism faces many difficulties in implementing the pre-set plans. Using a systematic review of the literature to synthesize the information dealing with tourism resources, impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on tourism performance and recovery plans of local authorities, the article analyzes the potential and current status of tourism development of Phu Quoc. Interviews with researchers and travel agencies’ representatives also add some ideas to the proposals for the orientation of tourism development in the new context. Integration to regional and international market, promotion of regional interlinkage and travel demands and new trends of tourism are crucial factors recommended for the development of tourism on Phu Quoc island.

How do local authority plans to tackle obesity reflect systems thinking?

A whole systems approach to tackling obesity has been recommended by Public Health England for several years. This qualitative study aimed to investigate whether systems thinking is reflected in local authority plans and strategies to tackle obesity, using the leverage points for intervention in a complex system, as a framework. We sought to identify obesity strategies/plans for Southampton and 19 other local authority comparators (based on children's services and Office for National Statistics data). A healthy weight strategy was available for 10 local authorities and a qualitative document analysis was undertaken. The policy actions proposed in the plans were coded against the leverage points for intervention in a complex system and themes were developed to characterise interventions in each category. A majority of actions included in the plans were categorised as 'Numbers, Constants and Parameters' which reflect downstream measures. However, there were examples of actions that could act on higher leverage points. In addition, some local authority plans included interventions that could act on 10 of the 12 leverage points suggesting incorporation of systems thinking. Some local authority plans to tackle obesity do reflect systems thinking when viewed through the lens of the leverage points for intervention in a complex system. Interventions at higher leverage points should be prioritised by public health decision-makers, especially in a climate of competing agendas and limited resources.

Water marginality in rural and peri-urban communities

Water supply in an increasing number of rural and peri-urban communities can be described as marginal i.e. subject to failure, becoming unaffordable or increasingly difficult to access. A range of common factors contribute to water marginalisation or access bias. Firstly, communities may be poorly served by formal water infrastructure by being on the margins of urban settlements. Secondly, where water infrastructure exists, this may be prone to failure as local municipalities and water utilities with limited capacity and resources struggle to maintain a widely dispersed system. Thirdly, when local water systems fail, they are often not repaired quickly, if repaired at all. This results in people, often with very limited resources having to obtain water from far distances or having to pay someone to transport water to them in order to meet their basic water needs. Thus, where water supplies are unreliable, unaffordable and difficult to access, geography, urban settlement patterns, the choice of water distribution systems, and the management capacity result in water marginality.This paper investigates water marginality in communities in rural and peri-urban areas in South Africa. It utilises surveys and interviews of communities, the local authority, water and urban planning officials, to understand the nature of this marginality, and investigates the key contributory factors. This forms the basis for recommendations on how access and marginalisation challenges can be addressed. The paper provides valuable insights on how, and why, water marginality occurs, and proposes strategies for sustainable solutions. As climate change and rural-urban migration accentuate water marginality, the study offers important and timely insights in an area that urgently requires further research.

COVID-19 pandemic in Panama: lessons of the unique risks and research opportunities for Latin America.

ABSTRACTThe Republic of Panama has the second most unequally distributed wealth in Central America, has recently entered the list of countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has one of the largest testing rate per inhabitant in the region and consequently the highest incidence rate of COVID-19, making it an ideal location to discuss potential scenarios for assessing epidemic preparedness, and to outline research opportunities in the Region of the Americas. We address two timely important questions: What are the unique risks of COVID-19 in Panama that could help other countries in the Region be better prepared? And what kind of scientific knowledge can Panama contribute to the regional and global study of COVID-19? This paper provides suggestions about how the research community could support local health authorities plan for different scenarios and decrease public anxiety. It also presents basic scientific opportunities about emerging pandemic pathogens towards promoting global health from the perspective of a middle income country.

Assessment of Inland Passenger Water Navigation in Bydgoszcz-Torun Functional Area and its Development Concept

The article presents a brief analysis of functioning and development of passenger inland navigation in the functional area of Bydgoszcz and Toruń cities, as one of possible forms of urban ecological recreation. These forms are successfully used in some towns of Western Europe and are additional tourist attractions for visitors and also for the city residents. They offer another form of transport to be used by passengers who travel around the city. The functional area of the analyse towns is considered to be a Metropolitan Area of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship and is situated in the central part of Poland. The authors have made a profound analysis of strategic and planning documents for the country and for the analyse area in terms of the passenger water transport development directions. Bydgoszcz-Toruń Functional Area (B-TOF) is characterized by a unique, on a global scale, connection of two water trails, that is, E-40 and E-70 making up the so called Bydgoszcz Water Node which increases tourist attractiveness of the area. Toruń also plays a very important role in the region and is its main tourist attraction. Its historical medieval urban area was entered in 1997 into a List of World Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. Having in mind the results of analysis of the current water passenger transport potential within BTOF it has been found to be worth developing. Extension of water connection in Bydgoszcz has been proposed as well as launching a water tram connection in Toruń. Moreover, a concept of water ways development on the remaining territory of the B-TOF has been presented. The planned water connections require determination of localizations for new water marinas. These localizations depend on the plans of local authorities as well as the infrastructure and territorial conditionings. All new localizations have been precisely characterized in terms of their construction, modernization and maintenance. It was also necessary to make appropriate prognoses of potential passenger currents. The prognoses have been performed for three separate social-economic development scenarios: optimistic, stable and regressive within three timescales, that is, 2020, 2025 and 2030. For this purpose, a simulation transport model, developed by the workers of the Department of Road Engineering and Transport, has been used. The article includes yearly costs of functioning and maintenance of Bydgoszcz and Toruń Water Tram and costs of the planned investments. Also the costs of tourist rest areas construction and maintenance have been calculated. Implementation of the proposed solutions will involve significant financial means. However, this kind of investments do not have to be profitable as they are meant to improve the tourist offer of Bydgoszcz-Toruń Metropolitan Area. They are supposed to improve the image of these towns in terms of ecology, sustainable forms of transport and attractive way of spending leisure time by citizens and visitors. It needs to be mentioned that recently the interest in water transport means has been systematically rising which can contribute to promotion of this ecological form of travel and boost its development.

How tall buildings affect turbulent air flows and dispersion of pollution within a neighbourhood.

The city of London, UK, has seen in recent years an increase in the number of high-rise/multi-storey buildings ("skyscrapers") with roof heights reaching 150m and more, with the Shard being a prime example with a height of ∼310m. This changing cityscape together with recent plans of local authorities of introducing Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) led to a detailed study in which CFD and wind tunnel studies were carried out to assess the effect of such high-rise buildings on the dispersion of air pollution in their vicinity. A new, open-source simulator, FLUIDITY, which incorporates the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method, was implemented; the simulated results were subsequently validated against experimental measurements from the EnFlo wind tunnel. The novelty of the LES methodology within FLUIDITY is based on the combination of an adaptive, unstructured, mesh with an eddy-viscosity tensor (for the sub-grid scales) that is anisotropic. The simulated normalised mean concentrations results were compared to the corresponding wind tunnel measurements, showing for most detector locations good correlations, with differences ranging from 3% to 37%. The validation procedure was followed by the simulation of two further hypothetical scenarios, in which the heights of buildings surrounding the source building were increased. The results showed clearly how the high-rise buildings affected the surrounding air flows and dispersion patterns, with the generation of "dead-zones" and high-concentration "hotspots" in areas where these did not previously exist. The work clearly showed that complex CFD modelling can provide useful information to urban planners when changes to cityscapes are considered, so that design options can be tested against environmental quality criteria.

Intergenerational Equity: Treatment of Infrastructure in New Zealand Local Government Financial Planning

AbstractThis paper examines how local government authorities plan and financially provide for infrastructure while considering the needs of current and future communities. In New Zealand the Local Government Act 2002 provides a mandate for local authority planning through the requirement to publish Long Term Council Community Plans (LTCCPs). Our content analysis of the LTCCPs, annual plans and annual reports of five New Zealand local authorities reveals that these local authorities make conscious decisions about infrastructure that reflect concern for matters of intergenerational equity. They do so despite problems in relation to valuation, depreciation, deferred maintenance and financing of infrastructure assets.

Comparative Analysis on Bicycle Network Plans of Local Authorities

Comparative Analysis on Bicycle Network Plans of Local Authorities

Complete control

Regeneration has for several years been the favoured term of developers and local authorities for house building programmes in London. Regeneration promises new homes in rejuvenated neighbourhoods. This article tells of how such promises were instead used to lever the residents of one south London council estate, the Heygate, from their homes, leaving the benefits of regeneration for the more affluent to enjoy. It is also a case study of how private developers profit from regeneration, without building homes that most people could actually afford to either rent or buy, and how they evade a local authority's planning requirements for affordable housing by means of secret financial reports, so-called ‘viability assessments’. Finally it briefly recounts how some local communities are starting to challenge this so-far unchallenged power that puts developer profit above the need for truly affordable housing.

MANAGING BUILDING CHECKIST PLANS USING BUSCLIS

This paper presents the software namely Building Submission Checklist System (BUSCLIS). It has been developed to manage the submission of building checklist plans process in the construction industry. BUSCLIS helps to simplify the management for acquiescence data of building plan approval for the Local Authority (LA) and Country Planning in Malaysia through the web based system. BUSCLIS facilitates user through the computerization forms, which provides fast, efficient and effective service to the engineer, architect and contractor. Relevant and timely information manage by sophisticated BUSCLIS with the database management system MySQL. Keywords: BUSCLIS, RAD, building plan, ICT, construction industry.

Study of Autonomous Wind Energy Systems with Battery Storage (AWESBS) for Mountainous Rural Area Electrification in Algeria

This paper presents a simulation investigation of a specific AWESBS basing on MATLAB/SIMULINK software. The considered household load is situated in Bouzaréah in Algeria. An economic analysis has been also considered. As simulation results, it is observed that the coverage provided by the wind/battery system depends on the wind turbine nominal power. It is observed also that it depends on the local wind speed distribution as far as the economic results are concerned. It appears that the cost of the energy produced by the wind/battery system is very high (1.2 - 2.5 $/kWh) compared to those corresponding to conventional installations (0.4 $/kWh). This, however, is not to be considered as a negative determinant factor since the local authorities plan to manufacture renewable energy equipment locally and, by doing so, cancel the effects of subsidizing the local fossil fuels on the imported machines costs, which will in turn be favorably reflected on renewable energy costs.

Changing Urban Governance in New Zealand: Public Participation and Democratic Legitimacy in Local Authority Planning and Decision-Making 1989–2014

Enhancing democracy was a paradoxical aspect of the neo-liberal-inspired public sector reforms that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s in many Western liberal democracies. The so-called ‘New Zealand model’ of public management, which attracted international attention, formed the backdrop of significant reforms of local government and planning legislation which transformed urban governance in New Zealand. Environmental decision-making was devolved to regional and city/district councils, along with new requirements for public participation in both planning and local government legislation to foster accountability. At the time, these new public participation provisions received international acclaim. However, legislative, economic, social and technological change has exposed deficiencies in statutory public participation in local authority planning and decision-making. This article reviews developments over the past quarter century in participatory planning provisions and considers the implications for urban governance. Connections are highlighted between the changes in New Zealand and the broader shifts in public participation that have been observed internationally as a result of the impact of neo-liberalisation and further developments in public management (including post-new public management). The article concludes by discussing the challenges associated with fostering participatory planning and public participation in contemporary urban governance arrangements shaped by neo-liberal policies focused on austerity and efficiency.

Power and Influence in Urban Planning: Community and Property Interests' Participation in Dublin's Planning System

Using local authority planning in Dublin as a case study. the extent and effectiveness of community and development interests' participation in policy formulation is examined. A primary locus is on the nature and timing of participation as a determinant of the relalive influence that each can exert over policy decisions. A critical distinction is drawn between formal and informal participation channels. The vast array of informal channels available to development interests can mean that they have little need to participate formally; thus a primary and secondary layer of influence on policy formulation can be distinguished. The primary layer is largely informal, on-going and pervasive. The secondary layer is formal, controlled and capable only of adapting rather than formulating policy. This supports the existence of an incontestable basis of planning policy that emerges from the primary layer of influence and reflects an inherent acceptance of the legitimacy of development interests' demands. As a consequence, questions are raised about the role of participation within a planning system which functions in support of capital.

Local Authority and Town Planning

Local Authority and Town Planning

The UNESCO Concept of Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage: Its Background and Marrakchi Roots

In 1998 UNESCO started a programme for the proclamation of ‘Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity’, a pre‐project for the new UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Jemaa el Fna Square in Marrakech was one of the first Masterpieces proclaimed by UNESCO in 2001. This paper examines the genesis and history of this new UNESCO concept of safeguarding intangible heritage. The Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo gave the decisive impulse for the new UNESCO concept in 1996 in order to safeguard Jemaa el Fna Square in Marrakech. Worrying that contemporary plans of local authorities would definitely change the character of the square and destroy its cultural traditions, Goytisolo asked UNESCO to proclaim the square as ‘oral heritage of humanity’. The wish to protect Jemaa el Fna Square on the one hand, and the existing Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage on the other, can be seen as two reference points for the new UNESCO concept.

Vinca landfill leachate characteristics prediction by the leaching method

Under the newly implemented waste management policy in European Union countries, sanitary landfilling constitutes the fourth and the least preferred of the alternative management options for the disposal of solid urban wastes. Landfills generate emissions over long periods, often longer than a lifetime. The longest lasting emission is leachate: leachate production and management is now recognized as one of the greatest problems associated with the environmentally sound operation of sanitary landfills. These liquid wastes can cause considerable pollution problems by contacting the surrounding soil, ground or surface waters and, are therefore considered major pollution hazards unless precautionary measures are implemented. Landfill leachate characterization is a critical factor in establishing a corresponding effective management strategy or treatment process. This paper summarizes leachate quality indicators, and investigates the temporal variation of leachate quality from municipal solid waste. The toxicity of leachates from the municipal solid waste landfill "Vinca" in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, was characterized using toxicity characteristics leaching procedures (TCLP). The "Vinca" landfill was established in 1978 as one of several municipal landfills. Since the 1990-ies the "Vinca" landfill has been the only operating landfill servicing the Belgrade Metropolitan area, the biggest city in Serbia, with 1,576,124 inhabitants in the larger-city area, and 1,273,651 inhabitants in the inner-city area. The total average amount of solid wastes deposited in the landfill is estimated to be 1100 tons/day. The landfill site is not lined and the tributary flows through the centre of the site-in some places directly under the mass of refuse. No consideration has been given to the protection of ground waters, surface runoff or drainage. Local authorities plan to expand the landfill by 0.4 km2 to a total of 1.3 km Chemical analysis was performed on the samples and the temporal variation of several parameters was monitored including pH, COD, chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, ammonia nitrogen, hardness, and heavy metals. The COD and pH were related to the biological activity within the landfill and the results indicated differences between the samples due to waste age. The concentrations of heavy metals, sulfates, nitrates, chlorides and ammonia nitrogen in the leachate were low, indicating their initially low amount in landfilled waste or their flushing with moisture contributing to a reduction in their concentrations.