Issues and Ideas in Urbanism

  The birth of traffic calming dates back to the 1960s when car ownership and car use increased significantly (Jhasz & Koren, 2016). Road congestion became a constant problem in most cities especially in Western Europe. It began as a grassroots movement. Angry Dutch residents took back their space used for roads and spread obstacles to force cars to maneuver through the area at a much slower pace. They turned streets into “woonerven” or “living yards”. This idea was to show that the space should be shared by residents and vehicles. The government took note and over the next decade they endorsed the idea.  Laws and regulations were changed to permit “woonerven” designs in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, England, France, Japan, Israel, Austria, and Switzerland. By 1990, there were more than 3,500 shared streets in the Netherlands and Germany, 300 in Japan, and 600 in Israel. (Traffic Calming: State of the Practice) The primary function of traffic calming measures became to shi...

Historically, decentralization was first mentioned in the 1800s, by Alexis de Tocqueville when he wrote that the French Revolution began with “a push towards decentralization”. In 1863 retired French bureaucrat Maurice Block wrote an article called “Decentralization” for a French journal which reviewed the dynamics of government and bureaucratic centralization and recent French efforts at decentralization of government functions. [1] Since the 1980s decentralization and globalization are topics in most European and developing countries (the World Bank Premnotes, 2001; BiZa, 1980). Decentralization has been a main emphasis worldwide in the debate on governance for more than a decade. It is seen as a means to improve governance and reduce the level of degradation resulting from poverty. The definition of decentralization means diverse things to different people and it is not so much a theory as it is a common and variable practice in most countries to mainly achieve an assorted arr...

  The concept of walkability is related to how friendly an area is to pedestrian walking, shopping, living, and the benefits it includes for a community as a whole (Florida, 2014) . Creating walkable communities is essential to urban planners because it helps in the fight to reduce environmental issues such as the emission of greenhouse gases while encouraging physical activity as a means of transport for citizens (Eunyoung, C, 2012). Promoting walkability in cities is necessary for the improvement of human health and the economic benefits that would ensue. Cities are promoting the development of walkable communities as a means of improving social life, health, and economics by design ing with sustainability in mind (Glanz & Tang, 2012). Despite these merits, walking has been disregarded in car-oriented urban environments (Kolody, 2002). Cars, developed in the early 1900s, have increasingly become an integral part of human activity and often function as the primary mode of...

 #cityplanning #urbandevelopment #cities  Place more emphasis on density, walkability, environmental impact and diversity. 

  Several technological advances have eliminated, supplanted, or altered the more traditional forms of information provided by libraries. For example, recorded thought in the form of a book, monograph, or newspaper is at the very core of what a library has traditionally provided its users. This material is now available in new forms and accessible in new ways. The content and services of libraries have already changed greatly in the last few years as existing information has been converted to electronic form and made available online as with the University of Guyana Library which launched its online services in 2011 and 2012, and on Intranets in corporate libraries in Guyana. Many institutions in Guyana and even other countries will continue to make progress in digitizing existing content to free up shelf space and make more information available to more people outside.   As electronic information continues to grow, printed material no longer is regarded as the gold standa...

  What is Walkability The concept of walkability in urban planning originates from the transportation literature and has been used widely within urban planning, transportation, and public health research (Sarjakoski, Santos, & Sarjakoski, 2016). In essence, walkability has to do with how conducive an area is to walking (Fitzsimons, Nelson, Leyden, Wickham, & Woods, 2010). Within the last fifteen years, walkability has been developed as a concept for urban design. It refers to how much the area can be considered pedestrian-friendly with respect to various community characteristics such as residential density, street connectivity, land use mix, and access to local destinations (Sarjakoski, Santos, & Sarjakoski, 2016). It is also evaluated by environmental characteristics such as the presence of sidewalks, green spaces, and street lights (Kawachi, Takao, & Subramanian, 2013, p. 135). A connected and accessible street pattern contributes to better walkability (Sarjako...

Texting while driving means the act of composing a text, social media message, or any form of using the web while driving. Accidents while texting and driving occur regularly in Guyana, and the issue of texting while driving is becoming even more problematic. This new trend in drivers is hazardous and is considered an alarming distraction. A driver that engages in the active use of their cellphone while driving combines all three types of distraction – visual, manual, and cognitive. Texting takes at least five seconds to complete, which is long enough for a motor vehicle to cover the length of a football field while driving at 55 mph. Dangers of Texting While Driving For many young drivers, there is a compulsive urge to respond to a phone call or read a text message that they received while driving. Receiving pleasant messages sends a signal to the brain that makes you feel happy. This form of distracted driving doesn’t feel dangerous, and most drivers will defend...

What is Globalization? Most research available has been focused mainly on urban land use planning with an emphasis on city aesthetics administration, the need for conservation, and preservation of the city's natural and cultural resources (Oduwaye, 2013). Unfortunately, there has been an absence of research on the relationships between the city land-use pattern and global economic policies (Oduwaye, 2013).   Globalization and some economic perceptions or thoughts have been the new way of development for the world. Globalization can be said to be an attempt to incorporate all countries in one commercial unit, possibly without governments or borders (Peter & van Kempen, 2000). The term globalization can also mean 'international integration.' It is a process through which the diverse world unifies into a single society. Globalization has been taking place since history began, and it has resulted in the formation of a globalized network and spatially concentrated human ...