Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Veins Of The City, Daniel Lewis

Capstones

Hurricane Sandy reminded New Yorkers that the city is as defined by its rivers and bays as by its parks and skyscrapers. This project looks at the history of New York's waterways: how they were designed, how artists, engineers, and residents are working to adapt to a changing climate, and how the solutions may once again make the water part of everyday life.

Primary Health Centres And Patients Satisfaction Level In Haripad Community Development Block Of Kerala, India, Pankaj Roy

Pankaj Roy

Giscience Driven R&D: Interdisciplinary Gist Group At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Marie Urban

Purdue GIS Day

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is the largest DOE multi-research facility in the US and is located in Oak Ridge, TN. One of the signature strengths of ORNL is Computational Science and Engineering and the Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) group contributes to that strength as part of the Computer Sciences and Engineering Division (CSED) within the Computer Sciences Directorate. The GIST group is at the forefront of High Resolution Population and Social Dynamics research and development resulting in innovative products such as LandScan Global (population distribution at 30 arc seconds) and now LandScan HD (population distribution at 3 …

Persepsi Konsumen Terhadap Prioritas Perbaikan Infrastruktur Pasar Tradisional (Studi Kasus : Pasar Perumnas Klender), Bernardhus Wishman Siregar

Jurnal Kebijakan Ekonomi

everal studies have found that consumer in Indonesia has shifted their preference from traditional to modern market, due to a better service provided by modern market retailer for its consumer. Focusing on consumer perceptions, this research tries to see the consumer assessment for traditional market's service and infrastructures using the gualitative approach in Pasar Perumnas Klender. Finally, this research found that improvements in infrastructure is necessary in order to meet the consumer needs.

Disrupting Infrastructure: Social Media And Accessing Digital Publics, Carolyn K. Grant

Open Access Theses

This thesis investigates infrastructural barriers to effecting change through social media participation. Though social media is said to hold "democratic potential" by enabling open access to the digital public sphere, in reality it is often still the most privileged voices that get heard. Even in success cases of the power of social media like the Arab Spring, situational contexts lead to particular infrastructural access points that are not universally transferable, and still tend to favor mainstream perspectives. Barriers to amplifying marginalized voices include inadequate systems for digital memory and sharing algorithms that promote the visibility of the already visible. These …

The Politics Of Transportation Megaprojects, Patrizia Christa Nobbe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Large infrastructure investment decisions, especially for mega-projects defined as costing more than one billion U.S. dollars, are largely based on complex, unclear and non-transparent decision criteria. The project's specific context and a variety of actors and interests add to the complexity of the decision processes. All projects deviate, to a certain degree from a "rational" decision-making process, are politically motivated and subject to multiple interests. Cost-benefit analyses are conducted for about half of the projects. In this work I hypothesize that the politics of project decision-making is comparable across countries, relative to their nature, form of involvement and impact on …

Ordem E Progresso: The Programa De Aceleração Do Crescimento, Developmentalism And Democracy In Brazil, Grant Burrier

Political Science ETDs

The dissertation analyzes the developmental state and public policy in Brazil, exploring the extent to which the policymaking process is rationalized or politicized. Specifically, I look at these issues in the multi-year infrastructure project, the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC). Brazil has a long history of clientelism and pork barrel spending. At the same time, the rise of developmentalist leaders has undermined these historical legacies and encouraged the implementation of more rationalized economic policies. In order to function properly, a developmental state requires rationalization and most scholars have assumed that authoritarian, one party states would provide the necessary insulation. …

Assessment Of Policies For Innovative Financing In Infrastructure Systems, Ali Mostafavi, Dulcy Abraham, Charlene Sullivan

Infrastructure System-of-Systems (I-SoS ) Research Group

Infrastructure systems are drivers of the economy in the nation. A dollar spent on infrastructure development yields roughly double the initial spending in ultimate economic output in the short term; and over a twenty-year period, and generalized ‘public investment’ produces an aggregated $3.21 of economic activity per $1.00 spent [1]. Thus, formulation of policies pertaining to infrastructure investment and development is of significance affecting the social and economic wellbeing of the nation. The aim of this policy brief is to evaluate innovative financing in infrastructure systems from two different perspectives: (1) through consideration of the current condition of infrastructure in …

Purdue Libraries Graduate Student Services Task Force, Nastasha E. Johnson, Hal P. Kirkwood Jr, Pete Pascuzzi, Judith M. Nixon, Benjamin D. Branch, Maribeth Slebodnik, David Scherer, Lisa Zillinski

Libraries Faculty and Staff Creative Materials

This is a findings report generated by a Purdue University Libraries Learning Council Task Force on graduate student services.

Strategic Asset Management In The City Of Hamilton: An Analysis Of The Integration Of Strategic Planning And Management Elements Into Municipal Infrastructure Asset Management Programs, Brent Kittmer

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines which elements of strategic planning and strategic management are associated with improved organizational performance and how these elements are practically implemented in a municipality’s asset management program. The four key elements of strategic planning and management identified include: developing formal plans and using planning tools; setting goals and implementing performance measurement systems; internal and external stakeholder involvement; and linking the strategic process to the organization’s budget. A qualitative case study of the City of Hamilton’s asset management program was completed to describe how these strategic elements are practically implemented. The findings reveal that each of the key …

Producing Population Health: Collective Action Requires Infrastructure, Incentives & Evidence, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Population health improvement strategies are collective action problems that require targeted infrastructure, incentives, and information to succeed. Research on collective action problems and solutions in public health and other spheres of practice offer insight for the successful scale and spread of population health innovations.

Family-Friendly Las Vegas: An Analysis Of Time And Space, Diana Tracy Cohen

Occasional Papers

This paper explores the rise and fall of the “family-friendly” Las Vegas marketing era. Through analysis of casino advertisements, internal and external building infrastructure, and qualitative in-depth interviews with industry insiders, this work investigates the city’s reinvention of the early 1990s. Key factors that set the stage for the emergence of targeted family marketing are identified, addressing why this advertising approach ultimately did not sustain. Unique marketing case studies are identified throughout.

Google Books As Infrastructure Of In/Justice: Towards A Sociotechnical Account Of Rawlsian Justice, Information, And Technology, Anna Lauren Hoffmann

Theses and Dissertations

The Google Books project is germane for examining underappreciated dimensions of social justice and access to information from a Rawlsian perspective. To date, however, the standard account of Rawls as applied to information and technology has focused almost exclusively on rights to access and information as a primary good (Drahos 1996; van den Hoven and Rooksby 2008; Duff 2011). In this dissertation, the author develops an alternative to the standard account--the sociotechnical account--that draws on underappreciated resources available within discussions of Rawls' work. Specifically, the author focuses on the importance of Rawls' basic structure argument and the value of self-respect--two …

Unifying Systems For Population Health: Infrastructure, Incentives & Evidence For Collective Action, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This presentation, part of the SBM Presidential Symposium on Aligning Family, Clinical, and Community Systems, reviews the collective action problems that are commonly encountered in implementing multi-sector population health improvement strategies, and examines research on ways of using public health strategies and infrastructure to overcome these problems.

Rail Track Infrastructure For Enhanced Speed - Analysis Design And Construction Challenges, Buddhima Indraratna, Sanjay Shrawan Nimbalkar, Jayan Sylaja J S Vinod

Buddhima Indraratna

Rail is one of the largest transportation modes offering freight and passenger traffic in rapidly developing nations, including India. Conscious efforts to improve productivity, modernization and technology upgrading have led to an impressive growth in railways. Large-scale physical modeling, sophisticated numerical modeling and full-scale field monitoring often provide significant knowledge to better understand track performance and to extend the current state-of-the-art in design. A series of large-scale laboratory tests were conducted to establish relationships between (i) ballast breakage and train speed, (ii) ballast fouling and strength and (iii) interface strength and geogrids. Comprehensive field trials were carried out on instrumented …

Charting A New Course For The Colorado River: A Summary Of Guiding Principles, Colorado River Research Group

Books, Reports, and Studies

[4] p. : color illustrations ; 28 cm.

The Budget Will Be Big On Infrastructure But We Need More Than Just Roads, Garry Bowditch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The Abbott government is preparing to give Sydney's WestConnex road project a A$2 billion boost in this week's federal budget, part of a broader $10 billion infrastructure package aimed at boosting productivity and private sector investment. Congestion in Sydney continues to escalate with gridlock on roads impacting passenger and freight logistics. The persistence of this situation reflects poorly on project selection and asset management processes, along with distortions that have arisen from poor interactions between the Commonwealth and the states. Reform is urgently needed where there is less focus on ribbon cutting and more use of well-targeted "pinch point" interventions. …

How To Attract Foreign Firms To Do Australian Infrastructure, Garry Bowditch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Australia's two biggest construction companies, Leighton and Lend Lease, control a significant share of construction - up to 75% in cases such as major rail projects. The recent Productivity Commission draft report on public infrastructure found their combined "market shares would appear sufficient to allow them to exercise market power to inflate prices and/or profits". At the same time, the Commission noted that no evidence exists to support such a proposition. A more important unanswered question remains - what conditions are necessary to attract foreign firms to help Australia deliver cheaper, faster and better infrastructure? Looking abroad for solutions can …

The Cradle Of Globalization : The Iroquois, Eisenhower, And Conflicts Over New York State Infrastructure Development During The 1950s, Kwinn H. Doran

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

Does The Quality Of Electricity Matter? Evidence From Rural India, Ujjayant Chakravorty, Martino Pelli, Beyza Ural Marchand

Ujjayant Chakravorty

This paper estimates the returns to household income due to improved access to electricity in rural India. We examine the effect of connecting a household to the grid and of the quality of electricity, defined as hours of daily supply. The analysis is based on two rounds of a representative panel of more than 10,000 households. We use the district-level density of transmission cables as instrument for the electrification status of the household. We find that a grid connection increases non-agricultural incomes of rural households by about 9 percent during the study period (1994-2005). However, a grid connection and a …