(See also: Technology...; Transport; Urban development)
*NOTE: Some titles in these lists are not necessarily Open Access, but all are free (no fee for e-access)
SEE ALSO: "Building Science Fundamentals" (free viewing of online modules)
Building Information – Representation & Management
: Principles and Foundations for the Digital Era
(author: Alexander Koutamanis)
Publisher: TU Delft Open Publishing
Year of publication: 2022 [2nd edition]
This open access textbook goes beyond the surface to explain why *AECO digitization matters with respect to information. The book presents information in the framework of representation, introduces a semantic typology of data and connects process to information management, towards a coherent and transparent theory of building information for the digital era. [*AECO = Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations]
In contrast to other books on the same subjects, this is not a how-to guide. It does not tell you which software or policies to choose for representing buildings and managing the resulting information. Instead, the book argues that one should not start with these practical steps before fully understanding the reasoning behind any such choice. This includes the structure of information and of the representations that contain it, the purposes of managing information in these representations and the situations in which the representations are used. In a nutshell: how information relates to the cognitive and social processes of a specific domain. Without adequate reasoning that covers all syntactic, semantic and pragmatic aspects, adopting this software or that and implementing this policy or that simply subjugate information processing to some prescriptive or proscriptive framework that may be unproductive or inappropriate for the domain and its professionals.
To explain these foundations and principles, the book brings together knowledge from various areas, including philosophy and computer science. Its perspective, nevertheless, remains bounded by the application domain: external knowledge is not imposed on domain practices but used to elucidate domain knowledge. Building information has its own peculiarities, drawn more from convention than necessity, and digitization has yet to address such matters, let alone resolve them. General knowledge about information and representation is essential for developing approaches fit for the digital era. The approach advocated in this book is above all parsimonious: in a world inundated with digital information (Part I), one should not resort to brute force and store or process everything. On the contrary, one should organize information intelligently, so that everything remains accessible but with less and more focused effort.
Table of Contents:
PART I. DIGITIZATION
1. Digital information
2. Digitization in AECO
PART II. REPRESENTATION
3. Symbolic representation
4. Analogue representations
5. Building representation in BIM
PART III. INFORMATION
6. Data and information
7. Information management
PART IV. MANAGEMENT
8. Decisions and information
9. Process diagrams
10. Information diagrams
PART V. EXERCISES
11. Exercise I: Maintenance
12. Exercise II: Change management
13. Exercise III: Circularity for existing buildings
14. Exercise IV: Energy transition
15. Exercise V: Waste management
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Building Maintenance & Construction
: Tools and Maintenance Tasks
Publisher: University of Hawaii Manoa
Year of publication: 2018
Building Maintenance & Construction: Tools and Maintenance Tasks introduces and develops knowledge of basic building maintenance tools and materials, applied skills and techniques, industry health and safety standards, and preventive maintenance and troubleshooting practices required by employers for entry-level positions in the building trades and facilities maintenance fields.
Table of contents:
Part 1: Safety
· 1.1 First Aid & Personal Protective Equipment
· 1.2 Eye and Face Protection
· 1.3 Hearing Protection
· 1.4 Head Protection
· 1.5 Hand Protection
· 1.6 Respiratory Protection
· 1.7 Foot Protection
· 1.8 Tool & Shop Safety
· 1.9 Ladder Safety & Fall Protection
Part 2: Hand & Power Tools
· 2.1 Tool Choices and Applications
· 2.2 Measuring, Marking, Leveling & Layout Tools
· 2.3 Nails, Hammers & Pneumatic Nailers
· 2.4 Threaded Fasteners, Drivers, Pliers & Wrenches
· 2.5 Saws
· 2.6 Drills & Accessories
· 2.7 Grinders, Sanders, & Accessories
Part 3: Mathematics for Maintenance Techs
· 3.1 Required Math Concepts
· 3.2 Ohm's Law, Joules Law, and Series/Parallel Formulas
Part 4: Plumbing Systems
· 4.1 Piping & Fittings
· 4.2 Domestic Water Service
· 4.3 Drain, Waste, and Vent (DMV)
· 4.4 Valves & Prevention Devices
· 4.5 Faucets, Fixtures, & Fixture Drains
· 4.6 Plumbing for Appliances
· 4.7 Water Heating
Part 5: Electrical Systems
· 5.1 Electrical Safety
· 5.2 Electrical Tools & Testing Equipment
· 5.3 Electrical Terminology & Lighting
· 5.4 Conduit, Boxes, & Wiring
· 5.5 Fuses & Breakers
· 5.6 Receptacle & Switch Wiring
· 5.7 Outdoor Wiring Considerations
Part 6: Maintenance Management Systems
· 6.1 Maintenance Categories
· 6.2 Work Order Process
· 6.3 Parts and Material Resources
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Buildings for Education
: A Multidisciplinary Overview of The Design of School Buildings
Publisher: Springer
Year of publication: 2020
This open access book presents theoretical and practical research relating to the vast, publicly financed program for the construction of new schools and the reorganization of existing educational buildings in Italy. This transformative process aims to give old buildings a fresh identity, to ensure that facilities are compliant with the new educational and teaching models, and to improve both energy efficiency and structural safety with respect to seismic activity. The book is divided into three sections, the first of which focuses on the social role of the school as a civic building that can serve the needs of the community. Innovations in both design and construction processes are then analyzed, paying special attention to the Building Information Modeling (BIM) strategy as a tool for the integration of different disciplines. The final section is devoted to the built heritage and tools, technologies, and approaches for the upgrading of existing buildings so that they meet the new regulations on building performance. The book will be of interest to all who wish to learn about the latest insights into the challenges posed by, and the opportunities afforded by, a comprehensive school building and renovation program.
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Cities and Affordable Housing
: Planning, Design and Policy Nexus
Publisher: Routledge
Year of publication: 2021
This book provides a comparative perspective on housing and planning policies affecting the future of cities, focusing on people- and place-based outcomes using the nexus of planning, design and policy. A rich mosaic of case studies features good practices of city-led strategies for affordable housing provision, as well as individual projects capitalising on partnerships to build mixed-income housing and revitalise neighbourhoods. Twenty chapters provide unique perspectives on diversity of approaches in eight countries and 12 cities in Europe, Canada and the USA. Combining academic rigour with knowledge from critical practice, the book uses robust empirical analysis and evidence-based case study research to illustrate the potential of affordable housing partnerships for mixed-income, socially inclusive neighbourhoods as a model to rebuild cities.
Cities and Affordable Housing is an essential interdisciplinary collection on planning and design that will be of great interest to scholars, urban professionals, architects, planners and policy-makers interested in housing, urban planning and city building.
Keywords:
Landscape art & architecture
City & town planning - architectural aspects
Urban & municipal planning
Urban communities
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Collapsing Structures and Public Mismanagement
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
Year of publication: 2022
This open access book is about mismanagement of public agencies as a threat to life and limb. Collapsing bridges and buildings kill people and often leave many more injured. Such disasters do not happen out of the blue nor are they purely technical in nature since construction and maintenance are subject to safety regulation and enforcement by governmental agencies. The book analyses four relevant cases from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Germany. Rather than stressing well-known pathologies of bureaucracy as a potential source of disaster, this book argues, learning for the sake of prevention should aim at neutralizing threats to integrity and strengthening a sense of responsibility among public officials.
Reviews:
“In what is certain to become an indispensable book on public failures, their origins, and consequences, Wolfgang Seibel builds piece-by-piece a unique contribution to the study of rare events and the search for resilience in public policy. Bridges and buildings are perhaps the best real-world synonym for rational design and deliberation; proper construction and maintenance is the first and primary goal of entire professions. This book demonstrates how accidents happen, how social processes are fundamental to their occurrence, and how learning and inference about their causes is a core public management function. Along the way, Seibel masterfully musters evidence from a multitude of sources to painstakingly document both bridge and building failures and the organizational pathologies that accompany them. This is a must-read for those who want to better understand such 'black swan' events and the search for resilience.”
--(Andrew B. Whitford, Professor at the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia, USA)
“A must read for practitioners and scholars, Wolfgang Seibel's latest book provides profound insight in the intersection of public administration mismanagement and the absence of responsible leadership. Through a series of devastating cases, he provides a forensic analysis of how and why disasters occur, showing us what happens when we ignore warning signs and fail to act. His work challenges us all to step up, embrace a more strategic approach to learning, and prevent these catastrophic disasters from happening. An exceptional contribution to the field.”
--(Janine O’Flynn, Professor of Public Management, The Australia and New Zealand School of Government, Australia)
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Comparative Approaches to Informal Housing Around the Globe
Publisher: UCL Press
Year of publication: 2020
This book brings together historians, anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, urban planners and political activists to break new ground in the globalisation of knowledge about informal housing. Providing both methodological reflections and practical examples, they compare informal settlements, unauthorised occupation of flats, illegal housing construction and political squatting in different regions of the world. Subjects covered include squatter settlements in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, squatting activism in Brazil and Spain, right-wing squatting in Germany, planning laws and informality across countries in the Global North, and squatting in post-Second World War UK and Australia. The volume’s global approach is found not only in the variety of topics but in the origins of its authors, who between them contribute specialist knowledge from Africa, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, North and South America, and Eastern and Western Europe. Bringing together such a wide range of authors and subjects demonstrates the power of comparative research to open up new perspectives. By comparing, for example, toleration of informal housing in Hong Kong and Paris, squatting in the Netherlands and communist East Germany, or slums in nineteenth-century Europe and twentieth-century Africa, the chapters connect different contexts in path-breaking fashion.
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Constructing Low-rise Confined Masonry Buildings
: A guide for builders and architects
Publisher: Practical Action Publishing
Year of publication: 2018
SEE ALSO: How to Build Safer Houses with Confined Masonry: A guide for masons
This practical guide addresses the needs of small-scale contractors, technicians, government staff, architects as well as non-governmental organizations involved in post-disaster reconstruction. The guide has been written with users with various professional backgrounds in mind, including a workforce with little formal training. As a consequence this guide not only shows the practical detailing of confined masonry construction, but also offers a wealth of basic information on good construction practices in general.
Table of Contents:
1. Why use confined masonry?
2. General rules for building with confined masonry
3. Confined masonry step by step
4. Foundation
5. Vertical and horizontal tie reinforcements
6. Walls
7. Completing the vertical ties
8. Reinforcement of openings
9. Ring-beams (tie-beams, horizontal ties)
10. Free-spanning beams
11. Slabs
12. Stairs
13. House extensions
14. The shop window problem
15. Retaining walls in stone masonry
16. Pitched lightweight roofs
17. Quality Assurance
Reviews:
“A very much-needed publication to promulgate confined masonry as a far safer alternative to both unreinforced masonry and RC frame and masonry infill construction -- especially in earthquake-prone areas. It is a practical construction guide that communicates clearly and simply. Further, it is comprehensive in its coverage, and shows readers in a step-by-step sequence how to build not only confined masonry walls, but all the other elements necessary for a confined masonry building. Very well illustrated with several hundred drawings and photographs, the book is ideal for masons, builders, construction supervisors and architects. It deserves wide circulation.” --(Andrew Charleson, Associate Professor, School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington)
“This is a unique guide which illustrates the construction process of low-rise confined-masonry buildings, and provides invaluable information on good construction practices in a user-friendly, but also comprehensive manner. This publication will be a vital resource for a variety of users interested in promoting and practising confined-masonry construction in earthquake-prone regions of the world.” --(Dr Svetlana Brzev, Chair, Confined Masonry Network, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute)
SEE ALSO:
How to Build Safer Houses with Confined Masonry: A guide for masons
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Construction Contracting
: Business and Legal Principles
(author: Stuart H. Bartholomew)
Publisher: Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries at Virginia Tech
Year of publication: 2022 [2nd edition]
Exceptionally practical and authoritative, this introduction to construction contracting as it applies to typical, every-day situations explains “theoretical” ideas in terms of what really happens in practice. Construction Contracting: Business and Legal Principles, 2nd edition emphasizes the more common case law holdings and industry customs that help avoid troublesome legal issues during the completion of a project.
Table of Contents:
Interface of the Law with the Construction Industry
Contract Formation, Privity of Contract, and Other Contract Relationships
The Prime Contract - An Overview
Prime Contract - Format and Major Components
Owner-Construction Contractor Prime Contract "Red Flag" Clauses
Labor Agreements
Purchase Order and Subcontract Agreements
Insurance Contracts
Surety Bonds
Joint-Venture Agreements
Bid and Proposals
Mistakes in Bids
Breach of Contract
Contract Changes
Differing Site Conditions
Delays, Suspensions, and Terminations
Liquidated Damages, Force Majeure, and Time Extensions
Allocating Responsibility for Delays
Constructive Acceleration
Common Rules of Contract Interpretation
Documentation and Records
Construction Contract Claims
Dispute Resolution
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Construction Safety Pocketbook for South Africa
(author: Fidelis A. Emuze)
Publisher: SunBonani Scholar
Year of publication: 2020
Construction is one of the oldest activities known to mankind, yet it is an industry where the health, safety and wellbeing of people are often at risk. While South African construction safety laws and regulations are up-to-date, the accidents, injuries and fatalities at construction sites remain a challenge.
This pocketbook, which is based on the 2014 Construction Regulations, serves as a handy reference guide addressing the most common hazards facing construction workers.
(Note: Also available in Sesotho and Afrikaans).
Table of Contents:
Introduction
General
Management and Supervision
Fall protection and working at heights
Work using a rope
Underground digging
Working in large areas of water
Construction vehicles and moving plant
Stacking and Storage
Good housekeeping
Welfare facilities
Handling of equipment
About the author:
Fidelis A. Emuze (PhD) is Professor and the Head of Department of Built Environment at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), South Africa. Dr Emuze’s primary research interests are: lean construction; health and safety; and sustainability. He is a National Research Foundation (NRF) C-Rated and funded researcher who has published more than 200 research outputs.He is the editor of two recent volumes published by Routledge, namely, Value and Waste in Lean Construction and Valuing People in Construction; and co-editor of Construction Health and Safety in Developing Countries, also published by Routledge. Dr Emuze also serves on the editorial advisory board of several international journals, including the ISI-indexed journal entitled, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineering – Municipal Engineers; he is a member of the ‘Association of Researchers in Construction Management’; and he serves on the board of the ‘Engineering, Project, and Production Management Association’ (EPPM Association). He is also the international coordinator of the task group: ‘CIB TG59 – People in Construction’.
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Different Strategies of Housing Design
Publisher: IntechOpen
Year of publication: 2019
As one of the largest consumers of energy, the housing sector and its unconscious occupants' activities negatively affect the environment. Architects and engineers have a major role in resolving the associated problems while maintaining comfort for occupants. Also very important are environmental education and awareness of appropriate environmental development in designing activity and selecting building materials and products. There are different architectural strategies that are aimed to achieve a low-energy built environment. Determining the needed strategy according to function, economy, and occupant comfort and affordability is the crucial step. This book helps the reader to achieve a sustainable development without destruction of the resources while maintaining a growing universal awareness of protecting the living and non-living environment.
Table of contents:
1. Introductory Chapter: Healthy and Affordable Housing Strategies
2. Effects of Street Geometry on Airflow Regimes for Natural Ventilation in Three
Different Street Configurations in Enugu City
3. Fundamentals of Natural Ventilation Design within Dwellings
4. Comprehensive Strategy for Sustainable Housing Design
5. Social Innovation and Environmental Sustainability in Social Housing Policies:
Learning from Two Experimental Case Studies in Italy
6. Socioeconomic Influences on Affordable Housing Residents:
Problem Definition and Possible Solutions
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Faecal Sludge and Septage Treatment
: A guide for low and middle income countries
Publisher: Practical Action Publishing
Year of publication: 2018
Many middle- and low-income countries are experiencing rapid urbanization, which creates a need for services, including sanitation. While some areas in some towns and cities are sewered, most people, especially the urban poor, continue to use various forms of on-site sanitation. These require periodic emptying and the material removed from them must be treated before reuse or discharge to the environment.
Faecal Sludge and Septage Treatment confronts the urgent need to treat increasing volumes of faecal sludge and septage in the rapidly expanding towns and cities of the global south. It discusses the urban contexts that influence treatment requirements and overall septage treatment processes. It examines the options and design approaches at each stage of treatment, from reception, through preliminary treatment, solids – liquid separation, anaerobic and aerobic treatment of the separated liquid and solid fractions to systems to render treated products suitable for reuse in either agriculture or as a fuel.
The book provides straightforward guidance on the options for faecal sludge treatment and the choices between those options. All concepts and approaches are clearly explained so as to make the book accessible to a non-specialist readership.
Faecal Sludge and Septage Treatment is essential reading for planners and engineers working in local government; specialist central government departments; NGOs and consulting firms working on the planning and design of septage treatment plants; researchers and students studying urban sanitation.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
1.1 The challenge of urban sanitation
1.2 The purpose and intended readership of this book
1.3 Definitions and meanings
1.4 The need for treatment
1.5 The sanitation service chain
1.6 The objectives of faecal sludge and septage treatment
1.7 Key indicators and measures
1.8 How this book relates to other publications
1.9 Structure of book and brief description of contents
1.10 References
2. Faecal sludge and septage treatment in context
2.1 Faecal sludge and septage treatment as part of the sanitation chain
2.2 Options for faecal sludge and septage disposal
2.3 Private and public needs and the importance of demand
2.4 Legislation
2.5 Institutional structures, systems and capacities
2.6 Resources – Finance
2.7 Other external factors that influence treatment choices
2.8 Potential changes in faecal sludge and septage management
2.9 Summary of faecal sludge and septage treatment context
2.10 References
3. Planning for Improved Treatment
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Overview of treatment plant planning and design process
3.3 Preliminary assessment
3.4 Develop consensus on the need for faecal sludge and septage treatment
3.5 Determining the planning area, the plant service area and location
3.6 Load assessment
3.7 Assessment of hydraulic loading
3.8 Technology choices
3.9 Summary on improved treatment planning
3.10 References
4. Introduction to treatment processes and technologies
4.1 Treatment objectives
4.2 Dealing with high strength, partly stabilised faecal sludge and septage
4.3 Introduction to treatment units and their functionss
4.4 Co-treatment with wastewater
4.5 Decision making guidance for technology selection
4.6 Summary and Key Takeaways
4.7 References
5. Planning and designing for effective operation
5.1 Taking account of the operational context
5.2 Institutional influences on operational capacity
5.3 Common operational problems
5.4 Best design practices to mitigate common operation problems
5.5 Summary and Key Takeaways
5.6 References
6. Faecal sludge and septage receiving and preliminary treatment
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Receiving Facilities
6.3 Preliminary Treatment
6.4 Partial digestion
6.5 Equalization
6.6 Summary and Key Takeaways
6.7 References
7. Solids - liquid separation
7.1 Introduction to solids – liquid separation
7.2 Sludge Drying Beds
7.3 Anaerobic Ponds
7.4 Settling Thickening Tanks
7.5 Gravity Thickeners
7.6 Decanting drying beds
7.7 Mechanical presses
7.8 Summary and Comparison of Technology Options
7.9 References
8. Liquid Treatment
8.1 Introduction to liquid treatment processes
8.2 Anaerobic treatment
8.3 Additional biological and aerobic treatment
8.4 Pathogen reduction and polishing
8.5 Other common wastewater technologies not recommended for liquid stream of septage and faecal sludge treatment
8.6 Co-treating liquid stream of septage and faecal sludge with wastewater
8.7 Summary and comparison of technology options for liquid treatment
8.8 References
9. Solids Treatment with Focus on Dewatering
9.1 Introduction to solids dewatering
9.2 Technologies for dewatering
9.3 Summary and Key Takeaways
9.4 References
10. Additional Treatment for Solids Disposal and Safe Enduse
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Preconditions for solids end use
10.3 Treatment options
10.4 Drying
10.5 Thermal processes
10.6 Other processes
10.7 Summary and Key Takeaways
10.8 References
Reviews:
‘In the developing world’s rapidly growing cities, safe management of sanitation is of ever growing importance. As universal sewerage still remains a (pipe) dream for many, it is widely recognized that we must improve the effectiveness of non-networked sewerage options for the many, to complement sewerage access for the few. To address this neglected but crucial part of the urban sanitation system, Kevin Tayler’s Faecal Sludge and Septage Treatment is a timely resource that provides practitioners with much-needed technical support to diagnose, plan and manage FSM services.’ -- Dr Darren Saywell, Director, Water Services, AECOM International Development, USA
‘The urgency in providing safe acceptable sanitation to millions of people in the global South requires a different mind-set to traditional approaches. The rapid urbanization, lack of dependable water and electricity supply add to the challenges. This publication is a valuable contribution to the body of technical guidance for sanitation professional and students in developing countries. I see it as becoming the standard text for all sanitation courses in the global South.’ -- Professor Chris Buckley, Pollution Research Group, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
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Fundamentals of Infrastructure Management
(authors: Donald Coffelt and Chris Hendrickson )
Publisher: [Carnegie Mellon University]
Year of publication: 2017 (revised 3rd version, 2019)
The text draws examples and discusses a wide variety of infrastructure systems, including roadways, telecommunications, power generation, buildings and systems of infrastructure. We have found that some common fundamentals of asset management, analysis tools and informed decision-making are useful for a variety of such systems. Certainly, many infrastructure managers encounter a variety of infrastructure types during their professional careers. Moreover, due to the functional inter-dependencies of different infrastructure systems, it is certainly advantageous for managers of one infrastructure type to understand other types of infrastructure. For example, roadway managers rely upon the power grid for traffic signal operation.
The text features discussions and materials covering the following infrastructure management related topics:
Introduction to Infrastructure Management,
Importance of Infrastructure,
Goals for Infrastructure Management,
Role of Infrastructure Managers,
Organizations for Infrastructure Management,
Asset Management Process,
Inventory,
Inspection and Condition Assessment,
Deterioration Modeling,
Decision Making and Forecasting from Condition Assessment,
Regression Models,
Markov Deterioration Models,
Artificial Neural Network Deterioration Models,
Failure Rates and Survival Probabilities,
Fault Tree Analysis,
Optimization and Decision Making,
Performance,
Usage, Budget and Cost Functions,
Short Run Cost Functions for Infrastructure,
Life Cycle Costs, Long Run Investment Decisions and Cost Functions,
Decision Analysis and Monte Carlo Simulation for Investment Decisions, Interdependence & Resiliency,
Contract and Workflow Management,
Commissioning New Facilities,
Benchmarking and Best Practices.
In addition, the text examines in some detail the following infrastructure systems:
Roadway Infrastructure,
Building Infrastructure,
Water Infrastructure,
Telecommunications Infrastructure,
Electricity Power Generation Infrastructure,
Base, Campus,
Park and Port Infrastructure.
This list is certainly not exhaustive, and in fact, the various strategies, techniques and tools expressed in the text can be readily extended to virtually any infrastructure system.
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A Handbook of Management Theories and Models for Office Environments and Services
Publisher: Routledge
Year of publication: 2021
This book focuses on the role of workplace management in the organization and the tasks that workplace management needs to consider. The 18 theories that are presented in this book and applied to workplace research, discuss management aspects from the organization’s perspective, or dive deeper into issues related to people and/or building management. They all emphasize that workplace management is a complex matter that requires more strategic attention in order to add value for various stakeholders. The final chapter of the book describes a first step towards integrating the presented theories into an interdisciplinary framework for developing a grand workplace management theory.
This is the second title in the series ‘Transdisciplinary Workplace Research and Management’.
Keywords:
Action regulation theory; Activity theory; Alignment; Asset management; Attractive quality theory;
Behavioural economics theories; biophilia hypothesis; business continuity planning;
Corporate real estate; Corporate real estate asset management; CREAM; CREM; CREM branding; CREM Maturity model; decision making theories; disaster management;
Ecological Systems theory; Evolutionary psychology theories;
Facilities management; Flourish theory; FM; Hospitality theory;
Information space; Knowledge Creation theory; Lean; Life-span theory of control;
Management; Management models; Management theory; Managing people and buildings
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Housing and Human Settlements in a World of Change
Publisher: Transcript Publishing
Year of publication: 2020
The challenge of housing is increasingly recognised in international policy discussions in connection to the processes of migration, climate change, and economic globalisation. This book addresses the challenges of housing and emerging solutions along the lines of three major dynamics: migration, climate change, and neo-liberalism. It explores the outcomes of neo-liberal »enabling« ideas, responses to extreme climate events with different housing approaches, and how the dynamics of migration reshape the urban housing provision in a changing world. The aim is to contextualise the theoretical discourses by reflecting on the case study context of the eleven papers published in this book.
With forewords by Raquel Rolnik (University Sao Paulo) and Mohammed El Sioufi (UN-Habitat).
Table of contents:
FOREWORDS
Foreword
Foreword
Introduction: Housing and Human Settlements in a World of Change
PART I: HOUSING IN THE NEOLIBERAL PARADIGM
Chapter 1: Indonesian Housing Policy in the Era of Globalization
Chapter 2: Let's Get Down to Business – Private Influences in the Making of Affordable Housing Policies
Chapter 3: Mutual Aid, Self-Management and Collective Ownership
PART II: HOUSING AND MIGRATION
Chapter 4: Understanding the Housing Needs of Low-Skilled Bangladeshi Migrants in Oman
Chapter 5: Between Need for Housing and Speculation
Chapter 6: Influence of Migrants' Two-Directional Rural-Urban Linkages in Urban Villages in China
Chapter 7: Urban Environmental Migrants
PART III: HOUSING AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Chapter 8: Heat-Stress-Related Climate-Change Adaptation in Informal Urban Communities
Chapter 9: From the Hyper-ghetto to Statesubsidised Urban Sprawl
Chapter 10: Learning From Co-Produced Landslide Risk Mitigation Strategies in Low-Income Settlements in Medellín (Colombia) and São Paulo (Brazil)
Bio Notes
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In the footsteps of giants
: Exploring the history of South Africa's large dams
Publisher: Water Research Commission of South Africa
Year of publication: 2012
[From the Author's Note, by Lani van Vuuren:]
This glossy, full colour 340 page publication takes the reader on a journey through the history of South Africa’s largest dams, starting with the traditional attitudes and indigenous knowledge around water resources prior to European settlement and ending with a glimpse into the future of dam building in the country. It explores the reasoning behind the construction of these massive structures, the laws that guided their development, and the people and institutions that made them possible. Woven in between are the tales behind some of the country’s most iconic dams and dam engineers.
South Africa is home to some of the leading dam builders in the world, and many engineering innovations were developed here. While some engineering aspects are included in the book, this has been kept to a minimum so as to keep the publication relevant for a wider audience. Other remarkable publications have been published on the engineering aspects of South African dams, most notably the South African National Committee on Large Dams’ (SANCOLD’s) Large Dams and Water Systems in South Africa, published in 1994, which does much more justice to this aspect of dam history. [...]
While appreciating the role that dams play, we are not denying the mistakes of the past. Most of South Africa’s dams were built in a different milieu, at a time when human rights were often ignored and the importance of a sound aquatic environment was neither comprehended nor appreciated. There are many arguments for and against the construction of dams, and it is not the aim of this publication to either condone or condemn the actions of the past. Rather, the book aims to salute achievements and record mistakes so that we can avoid them in the future. [...]
The construction of large dams might have slowed drastically in South Africa, but the country has not yet reached the end of this era of dam-building. It is the hope of the author that as we move forward any decision to build new dams will be inclusive, transparent and negotiated, with full recognition of the alternatives that exist. In the words of former Water Affairs Minister Kader Asmal: “Water is not for fighting over. Water is for conserving. Water is for bathing. Water is for drinking. Water is for sharing. Water can be our catalyst for peace.”
[From an interview with the author, published in Infrastructure News in June 2012:]
The author of the book, Lani van Vuuren, who is the editor of The Water Wheel magazine, says her research took her on a nationwide tour to meet the people involved in the construction of South Africa’s dams.
“The book actually started as a series of water history articles in The Water Wheel. I first wanted to see how people would react to the articles, and what the demand for such a book would be. My first history article was on the Hartbeespoort Dam, which was originally completed in 1924, and it appeared in the May/ June 2008 edition of the magazine. I have been researching dam-related history for four years,” explains Van Vuuren. On a lighter note she points out that she realised she had been working too long on the book when the staff at the national library began greeting her by her first name every time she walked through the door!
“The book has confirmed to me that, just like other people working in the water sector, engineers are hard-working, passionate people. Every dam project they tackle they do so in the hope that it will make a real difference to people on the ground. Without our extremely sophisticated water resources infrastructure network, this country would not have been able to develop."
[Source: https://infrastructurenews.co.za/2012/06/27/the-history-behind-south-africas-large-dams/ ]
Comments by the CEO:
“The book tells us that we should not rely on one solution. While we have this wonderful legacy of building largescale infrastructure, our future lies in using that same ingenuity and innovation that helped us be a dam-building giant in the world to apply similar kinds of paradigms and know-how in the areas of water conservation and water demand management. ' Footsteps' organises to pitch a series of questions about our water past, our water present and our water future that we would like researchers to examine further." -- WRC CEO, Dhesigen Naidoo
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Running to Stand Still
: Politics and Path Dependency in South Africa’s Municipal Electricity Sector
(author: Theo Covary)
Publisher: Unlimited Energy (Pty) Ltd
Year of publication: 2021
The electricity supply crisis that gripped South Africa in 2007 impacted heavily on economic productivity, political stability, and every citizen.
To date, all attempts to understand how the country’s Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) has evolved focus narrowly on Eskom. This approach has become increasingly limited over the last 15 years as the national utility continues to spiral deeper into operational failure. Yet, commentators and analysts have paid little attention to Municipal Electricity Undertakings (MEUs) – the utilities responsible for distributing electricity at municipal level – which started operating two decades before Eskom was formed in 1923.
Through a detailed historical account, Running to Stand Still shows how MEUs have contributed to the country’s broader ESI. The book disentangles the complex linkages that have developed between Eskom, MEUs, and the three spheres of government. In doing so, it examines two fundamental but diametrically opposed government objectives. First, the ideal of having financially self-sufficient municipalities that in reality are over-burdened and have to rely heavily on revenue from electricity distribution to cross-subsidise their operations. And second, to have a national utility that generates electricity at the lowest cost to provide the country’s energy-intensive economy with a competitive advantage.
These path-dependent practices have endured for more than a century and have cemented institutional lock-in that blocks much-needed sectoral reform. This is aptly demonstrated through the case study of the country’s most powerful financial centre and largest MEU, Johannesburg, which is currently in a state of crisis.
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Structural Analysis and Renovation Design of Ageing Sewers
: Design Theories and Case Studies
Publisher: De Gruyter Open Poland
Year of publication: 2016
In Japan, as a large number of sewer lines approach and exceed their design service life, rehabilitation of these ageing sewers to ensure their safe operation and upgrade their functions gains urgence. In this pioneering work, Z. Shi, M. Nakano and Y. Takahashi present a systematic treatment of structural analysis and renovation design of ageing sewers as semi-composite pipes, including testing and construction guidelines.
The concept of a semi-composite pipe and the application of fracture mechanics of concrete in numerical modelling are the two distinctive features of the established design theories, which have been employed for sewer renovation in Japan for more than 20 years, with the total length of renovation construction now exceeding 700 km. The leading authors have engaged in designing the renovation of ageing sewers since the mid 1990s, and the book will become a valuable reference work for sewer engineers worldwide, and academics and students in civil, urban and architectural engineering departments.
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Sustainable Property Management
Publisher: Virginia Tech Department of Apparel, Housing & Resource Management (in association with Virginia Tech Publishing)
Year of publication: 2023
(Or https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/sustainablepropertymanagement/ )
Sustainable Property Management is a 150-page, peer-reviewed open textbook intended for students majoring in property management and real estate at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It can be incorporated into an existing property management operations course or used for a stand-alone course focused on sustainable property management. Although sustainability, as used in the real estate context, is about preserving the environment, it is about more than that. In sustainable property management, sustainability encompasses three spheres—environmental, social, and economic. Sustainable property management is about reconciling these three spheres throughout the operations and maintenance phases of the building lifecycle in such a way that a balance is achieved between economic development and the protection of environmental and social resources.
This textbook explains how ecologically sustainable concepts may be implemented throughout the property management operation functions while also considering the other spheres of sustainability. It also incorporates the theme of sustainable building practices as a human science as well as a building science by highlighting motivations and impacts to various stakeholders. The author draws on industry examples to illustrate these concepts and provides many experiential activities through which students can apply these concepts.
Table of contents:
Introduction
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Instructor Resources
List of Abbreviations
Ch. 1: Introduction to Sustainable Property Management
Ch. 2: The Three Spheres of Sustainable Property Management
Ch. 3: Stakeholder Motivations for Sustainable Property Management Practices
Ch. 4: Sustainable Building Maintenance and Repair Practices
Ch. 5: The Intersection of Sustainable Property Management and Risk Management
Ch. 6: Integrating Sustainable Practices into Marketing and Leasing
Ch. 7: Financial Evaluation of Sustainable Building Initiatives
Ch. 8: Human Health Considerations
Glossary
Index
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Sustainable Sanitation for All
: Experiences, challenges and innovations
Publisher: Practical Action Publishing
Year of publication: 2016
Great strides have been made in improving sanitation in many developing countries. Yet, 2.4 billion people worldwide still lack access to adequate sanitation facilities and the poorest and most vulnerable members of society are often not reached and their specific needs are not met. Moreover, sustainability is currently one of the key challenges in CLTS [Community-Led Total Sanitation] and wider.
WASH [water, sanitation, and hygiene] practice, subsuming issues such as behaviour change, equity and inclusion, physical sustainability and sanitation marketing, monitoring and verification, engagement of governments, NGOs and donors, particularly after open defecation free (ODF) status is reached, and more. Achievement of ODF status is now recognised as only the first stage in a long process of change and sanitation improvement, with new challenges emerging every step of the way, such as how to stimulate progress up the sanitation ladder, how to ensure the poorest and marginalised are reached, or how to maintain and embed behaviour change.
There have been several useful studies on sustainability that have highlighted some of these different aspects as well as the complexities involved. This book develops these key themes by exploring current experience, practices, challenges, innovations and insights, as well as identifying a future research agenda and gaps in current knowledge. Describing the landscape of sustainability of CLTS and sanitation with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and through examples from Africa and Asia, the book captures a range of experiences and innovations from a broad range of institutions and actors within the WASH sector, and attempts to make recommendations and practical suggestions for policy and practice for practitioners, funders, policy-makers and governments.
Table of Contents:
Figures, tables, and boxes
About the editors
Acronyms and abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Foreword / Robert Chambers
1. Going beyond open defecation free / Naomi Vernon and Petra Bongartz
Mapping the territory
2. Sanitation in Bangladesh: revolution, evolution, and new challenges / Suzanne Hanchett
3. Building environments to support sustainability of improved sanitation behaviours at scale: levers of change in East Asia / Nilanjana Mukherjee
4. Strengthening post-ODF programming: reviewing lessons from sub-Saharan Africa / Ann Thomas
Physical sustainability
5. CLTS and sanitation marketing: aspects to consider for a better integrated approach / Twitty Munkhondia, Warren Mukelabai Simangolwa and Alfonso Zapico Maceda
6. User-centred latrine guidelines – integrating CLTS with sanitation marketing: a case study from Kenya to promote informed choice / Yolande Coombes
7. Sanitation infrastructure sustainability challenges case study: Ethiopia / Hunachew Beyene
8. The long-term safe management of rural shit / Jamie Myers
Post-ODF engagement and monitoring
9. Beyond ODF: a phased approach to rural sanitation development / Andrew Robinson and Michael Gnilo
10. Roles and responsibilities for post-ODF engagement: building an enabling institutional environment for CLTS sustainability / Samuel Musembi Musyoki
11. Who is managing the post-ODF process in the community? A case study of Nambale sub-county in Western Kenya / Elizabeth Wamera
12. Tools for embedding post-ODF sustainability: experiences from SNV Nepal / Anup Kumar Regmi
13. Certification of open defecation-free status: emerging lessons from Kenya / Lewnida Sara
How to ensure equity and inclusion
14. Promoting choice: smart finance for rural sanitation development / Andrew Robinson and Michael Gnilo
15. Putting the hardest to reach at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals / Sue Cavill, Sharon Roose, Cathy Stephen and Jane Wilbur
16. Leave no one behind: equality and non-discrimination in sanitation and hygiene / Archana Patkar
How to transform social norms
17. Purity, pollution, and untouchability: challenges affecting the adoption, use, and sustainability of sanitation programmes in rural India / Aashish Gupta, Diane Coffey, and Dean Spears
18. Using social norms theory to strengthen CATS impact and sustainability / Therese Dooley, Louise Maule and Michael Gnilo
19. Conclusion: gaps in knowledge and further research needed / Naomi Vernon and Petra Bongartz
Reviews:
“CLTS [Community-Led Total Sanitation] was an unpredicted phenomenon that changed the way governments, civil society and external agencies approach improving sanitary conditions for the poor; and brought hope to a depressing era of neglect and stagnation in sanitation thinking. But it appeared CLTS had a fatal flaw in that the use of often hastily built household latrines doesn’t always last. This timely book brings together experiences from Asia and Africa to examine how to sustain the transformed mind-set, the facilities triggered by CLTS and the new patterns of defecation behaviour, which changed age-old traditions, now made more treacherous by population growth. The book tackles the next frontier: how to utilize the power of CLTS to create permanent facilities and improved service levels. The volume captures experiences and analysis which sorely need to be understood and built upon if we are to induce the much-delayed sanitation revolution that transformed life in Europe.” -- Piers Cross, Senior Advisor to Sanitation and Water for All, former Global Manager of the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program.
“At last, after decades of neglect, the world seems to be waking up to the greatest challenge of the 21st century; sanitation for all. But, as this book points out, declaring millions of villages open defecation free is just a start, we need to maintain the gains, deal with the faecal sludge, resolve problems of menstrual and hand hygiene, and see sanitation businesses spread around the world. It’s time for critical thinking, which is just what this book provides; a state of the art check-in on the problems that we face and the solutions that have been found around the world. Every sanitation practitioner, indeed anyone interested in sustainable approaches to public health, needs to read this thoughtful book.” -- Val Curtis, Director of the Environmental Health Group at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
“This book is a necessary and valuable addition to the sanitation literature, identifying what we have learned from 15 years of working on understanding community preferences, and addressing constraints in demand, supply and the enabling environment.” -- Jan Willem Rosenboom, sanitation expert.
“This book puts forward a mix of innovative thinking based on experience and evidence that is useful and relevant whether working with communities on programmes or with governments on policy.” -- Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Unicef.
“This publication provides evidence on community-led total sanitation and it is essential we learn from it.” -- Hilda Winarta, independent consultant, formerly Regional WaSH Specialist for Plan International Asia Regional Office.
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Upgrading Informal Settlements in South Africa
: A partnership-based approach
Publisher: UCT Press
Year of publication: 2016
Informal settlements are a pressing urban challenge in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Intervention and investment are needed, not only to improve material conditions, but also to combat social and political exclusion and marginalisation.
What would a progressive upgrading agenda for informal settlements entail, and how could it be achieved? This has been widely debated in South Africa and internationally. In Upgrading informal settlements in South Africa: A partnership-based approach, the editors argue that approaches which are participatory and incremental offer possibilities which are both radical and attainable. This agenda departs substantially from conventional housing delivery models, requiring a reassembling of policies, programming, practices and – most importantly – power.
The 26 chapters of this book are written by researchers and practitioners from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, and explore various aspects of participatory and incremental upgrading. They cover a wide range of topics, from alternative infrastructure technologies to redesigned fiscal frameworks. Together, these chapters articulate an agenda as contested and complex as informal settlements themselves.
This book documents, synthesises and reflects on a strong body of innovation and reflection that can inspire policy-makers, practitioners and researchers to continue to improve and transform approaches to upgrading informal settlements in South Africa and beyond.
Contents page:
Preface and acknowledgements
Notes on contributors
Introduction
1. Upgrading informal settlements in South Africa: An introduction
2. Informal settlement upgrading: International lessons and local challenges
Section I—Grappling with Informality and Upgrading: The City Scale
3. Pressures on practice: How ‘RDP housing’ and other factors have shaped informal settlement upgrading in eThekwini municipality
4. The ‘other half ’ of the backlog: (Re)considering the role of backyarding in South Africa
5. Enhancing the voices of the poor in housing
6. Adopting an incremental approach to informal settlement upgrading: The Johannesburg experience
7. ‘Public structure’: A starting point for incremental upgrading
8. An uneasy symbiosis: Mining and informal settlement in South Africa, with particular reference to the Platinum Belt in North West Province
Section II—Partnerships, Actors and Capabilities
9. Creating ‘urban commons’: Towards a sustainable informal settlement upgrading paradigm in South Africa
10. ‘Development from within’: Advancing a people-centred, partnership-based model for informal settlement development in the City of Johannesburg
11. Who needs partnerships? An informal settlement upgrading partnership framework
12. Incremental slum upgrading in Nairobi, Kenya: What can South Africa learn?
13. Visualising process and the actors of change: Settlement upgrading in Duncan Village, East London
14. Rethinking incremental urbanism: Co-production of incremental informal settlement upgrading strategies
15. Facilitating state-community interfaces: The role of NGOs as intermediaries in participatory informal settlement upgrading processes in South Africa
16. Navigating hostile territory? Where participation and design converge in the upgrade debate
Section III—Tools, Instruments and Methodologies
17. Slum upgrading: Community groups as principled agents
18. The role of the fiscal framework in shaping the informal settlement upgrading agenda
19. Using planning tools to enable informal settlement upgrading: Identifying future opportunities for South African cities
20. Courts as a site of struggle for informal settlement upgrading in South Africa
21. Between a shack and an RDP house: Managed land settlement
Section IV—Implications for Urban Transformation
22. From resilience to transformation: Towards a strategic approach to upgrading informal settlements
23. Strategic upgrading: Lessons from international critical practices
24. South Africa’s emerging national urban policy and upgrading agenda
25. Conclusion: Reflecting on informal settlement upgrading experiences in South Africa
Index
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