Regional Activity Center Research Articles

Imagine coastal sustainability

Since 2000 Coastal Area Management Programmes (CAMPs) supported by UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) and the Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC) have been engaging local communities in assessment of their coastal sustainability. The Methods used since 2000 have been based upon an evolving methodology which is now called Imagine.In 2010 The CAMP Levante de Almeria began. “Imagine the future of our coast” is the slogan selected for this project which is intended to turn this area of southern Spain into a sustainability laboratory. The CAMP Levante de Almeria project is a test and a practical demonstration of how to implement Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) concepts in Spain in compliance with the ICZM Protocol (the seventh protocol in the framework of the Barcelona Convention). CAMP acts technically, environmentally and socially as a means to design and implement new practices, relating these to vertical and horizontal coordination between local and regional administration and public participation in decision-making processes related to the coastal zone. The fundamental objective of the project is to achieve wide scale agreement on the sustainable development of the coast.Drawing upon the history of the various CAMP projects, this paper explores progress made so far in the application of the Imagine methodology in CAMP Levante de Almeria and, by contrasting it with summary observations emerging from earlier Imagine applications in Malta, Lebanon, Algeria, Slovenia and Cyprus draws conclusions on the value of engaging coastal communities in sustainability self-assessment.

ANALISIS EKONOMI PENGEMBANGAN KAWASAN BUNTAGO

Buntago Zone consists of Buntok, Tanjung and Tanah Grogot is the area each other adjacent and border on the Province Central of Kalimantan, South of Kalimantan and East of Kalimantan. Buntok is “Kawasan Andalan” in Barito Regency, Tanjungis one of the Local Activity Center (PKL) support zone for “Kawasan Andalan” Kandangan in Tabalong Regency, and Tanah Grogot is Capital city of Pasir Regency is Regional Activity Center (PKW) support zone for “Kawasan Andalan: Bonsamtebajam. The development plan of Buntago is expected to become acoordinating tool and also a basic preparation for inter sectoral and inter regional development programs. The usage of this plan is also to regulate interregional potencies in order to optimalize their contribution for the development of communityeconomic welfare. Buntago zone have the prospect to be developed mutual profit together with pre-eminent commodity palm coconut and rubber. The development plan of Buntago zone divided into two scenarios. Stage 1 is the scenario for themanagement of development basics (2006-2010) and stage 2 is the scenario of development growth acceleration (2011-2015). The need of investment projected for funding this development is over 25 billion IDR. The investment needed for funding in the stage 1 is amount of 7 billion IDR, and for the stage 2 is 17 billion IDR. In order to support the development of Buntago, the government is projected to give 80% of total budget needed in the stage 1 and 60% in the stage 2, while therest will be covered by private sector.

Conservation of Mediterranean habitats and biodiversity countdowns: what information do we really need?

Abstract The relentless increase in both human activities and exploitation of marine resources is a threat to marine habitats and species. For marine systems, several protection initiatives have been outlined over the past decade to significantly reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional, and national levels, and to establish representative networks of marine protected areas with the aim of protecting 10–30% of marine habitats. Reliable estimates of the total area occupied by each habitat are crucial to set adequate protection initiatives. Habitat mapping requires a sound habitat classification. Many classification schemes have been developed in different areas of the world, sometimes based on questionable criteria. A critical analysis of the most recent marine habitat classification list produced for the Mediterranean Sea from the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) showed that (i) 39% of habitats and associated species considered in the list are scarcely covered by scientific knowledge from Web‐based resources; (ii) 62% of the species/genera included in the list are primary producers; (iii) quantitative information about the geographical distribution of selected habitats and associated species is scant; and (iv) when available, information is largely unbalanced and biased towards the shallow western Mediterranean Sea. Improved inventories of marine habitats are needed to support accurate and consistent mapping activities. The combination of large‐scale mapping and sound habitat classifications will allow better estimates of biodiversity distribution, to reverse regional/global habitat loss rates through the achievement of conservation targets and deadlines that, for the moment, are systematically not met. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

EVOLUTION OF REGIONAL RESPONSE PREPAREDNESS IN THE WIDER CARIBBEAN THROUGH RAC/REMPEITC-CARIBE: ENHANCING A LONG TERM CYCLE

ABSTRACT RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe is a United Nation'S Regional Activity Centre, established in 1994 by the International Maritime Organization and the United Nations Environment Program for the Caribbean Sea. The Centre exists to assists countries in the Wider Caribbean region and Latin America to prevent and respond to major oil pollution incidents. While developing a systematic approach to capacity building, resulting in comprehensive regional projects including the Caribbean Islands Regional OPRC Plan and the Central America CAOP Project (design to establish a Central America Regional OPRC Plan), the constant interaction of the Centre within the region with the various cultures of response preparedness, regularly raises the following questions:– How to improve a standard, constant, and effective system for capacity building in regards to contingency planning?– How to improve the co-operation between the regional partners?– How to define a better mechanism for funding? The analysis of the last ten years activities developed by the Centre shows the alternation of established priorities developed under the objectives of the strategic plan for enhancing regional response preparedness. Key components for the definition of a long term development cycle, required to build capacity, and enhance regional co-operation, are identified. The elements to stand out are:– the development of a constructive succession in the activities thematic;– a time frame of 5 years to complete a cycle for a regional centre with RAC/REMPEITC characteristics;– the key role of metrics to assess priorities for the cycle;– the need of a common overview of the process to facilitate co-operation / co-ordination;– the need of sustained commitment. The identification of those parameters allow a regional centre to clarify the status of national contingency planning for governments, establish the extent of training and exercises needed in the region and most importantly, facilitates the synchronization of resources and support between stakeholders.

Regional activity centre surveys gold coast, Queensland

The Strategic Planning section of the Gold Coast City Council with the assistance of Trimap Pty Ltd have developed a GIS‐based system which enables urban planners and economists to assess the performance of major retail/ commercial centres in the city This approach to centre evaluation has provided Council with vital information in its preparation for the new Activity Centre Strategy but it has also received a very positive response from various external stakeholders, such as local business operators and marketing professionals, to improve their competitiveness and business strategies. This paper will present readers with the methodology used in this project and provide examples how this GIS application is currently being utilised for activity centre planning.

San Diego, California, Trolley's New Green Line

In July 2005, San Diego, California, Trolley officials and riders celebrated completion of the light rail system's eighth extension. The 6-mi (9.7-km) Mission Valley East project closed the gap in the 53-mi (85.3-km) system and provided service to San Diego State University (SDSU). The project allowed for the introduction of the 19-mi (30.6-km) Green Line, which operates between Old Town and Santee on existing, new, and shared tracks. The Green Line is distinctive in a number of ways. It is a nonradial corridor that does not serve downtown San Diego. It directly serves the 35,000-student SDSU campus and surrounding community through the system's first tunnel and underground station. In addition, the line links a variety of regional activity centers along Mission Valley's intense residential and employment corridor. In fall 2005, the Metropolitan Transit System and the San Diego Association of Governments conducted two surveys and a passenger count to help understand more about who rides the Green Line, why they ride it, and where they are going. Survey results indicate that the Green Line has changed the composition and riding habits of transit users, resulting in high proportions of school trips, increased frequency of transit use, high numbers of choice riders, and high percentages of prepaid fare use. The Green Line has increased transit trips at SDSU by over 350%. The surveys also prompted plans for improvements, including operating later night service, pursuing station modifications that would allow the Green Line to extend into downtown, and considering partnerships with SDSU to expand the college semester pass program.

Cleaner production measures in small-scale slaughterhouse industry – case study in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The goal of this project was to demonstrate to Bosnian and Herzegovinian industries that significant reductions in water use, wastewater discharge and pollution load can be obtained at little or no cost and that efficient use of resources and reduction of waste generation at source are clearly preferable compared with the end-of-pipe wastewater treatment. The project was performed on a small-scale slaughterhouse industry “Sahbaz” using a methodology prescribed by the Regional Activity Center for Cleaner Production from Barcelona and the Ministry of Environment of Spain. Upon detailed diagnosis of the industrial process and waste flows generated, the opportunities for environmental improvement were identified and CP measures were recommended and implemented. In the first three months of project implementation the amount of water saved and BOD reduced was 32 percent while salt consumption was reduced by 40 percent. Total annual net savings resulting from the application of selected measures were 669 €/year.

Improved Solution Algorithm for Multicommodity Continuous Distribution and Assignment Model

Consider a city, with multiple regional activity centers (RACs), in which the locations of traveler demand are continually dispersed. The total demand generated from a particular location in the city is fixed, but the demands from this location to the RACs are subject to a distribution function with respect to the relative transportation cost to each RAC. We take into account the cost of transportation in characterizing travelers’ choices. The congestion effect is explicitly built into the model by using a flow- and location-dependent transportation cost function. The routing behavior of travelers in the city and the user equilibrium choices of RACs are modeled by constructing a spatial user equilibrium flow pattern. The problem is formulated as a combined distribution and assignment model. A solution algorithm that is improvement upon a previously adopted iterative algorithm between the distribution function for the choice of RAC and a mixed finite-element method for route choices is proposed to solve the resultant continuous problem. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the superiority of the improved algorithm.

Emerging Techniques for Urban Transportation Planning

Despite several decades of intense effort, urban transportation planning is in its infancy of development and refinement, as evidenced by the fast pace of new techniques and methodologies being proposed and developed. In this series of two special issues on urban transportation planning, the first issue @Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 128~4!, 2002# focused on reviews of recent methodological advances. This second issue covers emerging techniques that extend the boundries beyond the traditional four-step planning methodology. Some of these techniques are drawn from other fields of studies. Others introduce new dimensions to reconsider the problem. All in all, these approaches open up new possibilities and dimensions as well as make planning procedures more robust, thereby enabling the planning results to be applicable to a wider range of scenarios and for the longerterm future. Six papers are contained in this special issue. Drawing from business and organizational scenario planning techniques, the paper by Zegras, Sussman, and Conklin, ‘‘Scenario Planning for Strategic Regional Transportation Planning,’’ proposes a scenarioplanning framework for regional transportation planning. The study reviews the context of scenario planning for regional transportation planning, illustrates the approach through application to the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area, and concludes with findings, lessons learned, and future potentials and refinements of the approach. To improve the analysis of multicommodity demand and traffic patterns of a city with multiple regional activity centers, the paper by Wong, Zhou, Lo, and Yang, ‘‘Improved Solution Algorithm for the Multicommodity Continuous Distribution and Assignment Model’’ develops a new combined distribution and assignment model. A unique feature of this approach is that the dispersion of demand is modeled as a continuous function over space, in contrast to the traditional approach where demands are lumped at origin nodes or centroids. The study then proposes an efficient algorithm to solve the formulation. In the third paper, ‘‘Balance of Car Ownership under User Demand and Road Network Supply Conditions—Case Study in Hong Kong,’’ Tam and Lam propose a new concept for estimating car ownership. It considers the interactions between user demands and road network supply conditions, thereby factoring in the congestion effect to the estimation of car ownership on top of the traditional socioeconomic characteristics of the population. The paper then illustrates the approach through a case study in Hong Kong. Understanding users’ routing strategies is important, as it will lead to the design of more robust transportation networks. The paper by Bell, ‘‘Games, Heuristics, and Risk Averseness in Vehicle Routing Problems,’’ develops an approach for vehicle routing in networks with uncertain travel times. The study focuses on the case of freight carriers, wherein the dispatcher seeks a riskaverse routing and scheduling strategy. The writer formulates the problem with a game theoretic approach and solves it with a method of successive averages scheme. For low-density urban developments that render conventional transit services less competitive or cost-effective, perhaps only demand-responsive transit services are viable, if any at all. The paper by Khattak and Yim, ‘‘Traveler Response to Innovative Personalized Demand-Responsive Transit in the San Francisco Bay Area,’’ investigates the market for Personalized Demand Responsive Transit ~PDRT!. The study attempts to understand travelers’ willingness to use and pay for PDRT based on focus group meetings and a computer-assisted telephone survey. Such results are indicative for the planning of demand-responsive transit services. Finally, the paper by Ceder, ‘‘New Urban Public Transportation Systems: Initiatives, Effectiveness, and Challenges,’’ examines the major elements and challenges for the introduction of a new or an improved public transportation system. Drawing upon experiences in Europe and North America, the paper reviews the current state of practice and covers issues related to the use of public transportation services. The paper concludes by illustrating the case of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. These papers illustrate the range of research directions to improve the urban transportation planning process. Some focus on the methodological framework, others on broader and more connected considerations, better understanding of travelers’ choices, and issues that ought to be carefully considered in new initiatives or improvement schemes. We trust that, collectively, these two special issues serve to broaden the perspective on the new approaches for urban transportation planning. It is our hope that they will inspire and stimulate new research initiatives and efforts in this still evolving field.