Technology Roadmap: Energy efficient building envelopes

Posted on: 17 January 2014
By: mackene
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) has launched a new publication which presents detailed strategies and actions to transform the way buildings are constructed by 2050. Key elements include the increased deployment of existing building materials and practices, the introduction of existing solutions to developing markets, and the development of new technologies with higher performance and lower cost. The building envelope, also known as the building shell, fabric or enclosure, is the boundary between the conditioned interior of a building and the outdoors. The energy performance of building envelope components, including external walls, floors, roofs, ceilings, windows and doors, is critical in determining how much energy is required for heating and cooling.

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On city size distribution: Evidence from OECD Functional Urban Areas

Posted on: 17 January 2014
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An increasing amount of empirical evidence documents that city-size distribution within a country follows a power law, often in the form of Zipf’s law. This paper provides new comparative evidence on city size distribution across OECD countries. It uses a database where urban agglomerations are consistently identified across different countries, through an algorithm based on population density and commuting patterns. The paper investigates whether Zipf’s law fits well with data. A robustness check is carried out using a traditional administrative definition of cities. Results show that Zipf’s law describes well city size distribution not only at country level, but also at wider spatial scales. The law does not fit as well with the data when using a traditional administrative definition of cities.

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Urban climate adaptation and leadership: From conceptual understanding to practical action

Posted on: 17 January 2014
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The impacts of climate change are expected to create numerous challenges for cities. This report synthesizes key points raised in a series of discussions among “adaptation leaders” from fourteen cities around the world. Critical issues for urban adaptation that emerged from the discussions include the need for political commitment at multiple levels of government, information and data as a basis for understanding potential risks and vulnerabilities, meaningful and effective stakeholder engagement shaped by local contexts, and sustained financial and staff resources that are sensitive to urban variability. Further, the findings highlight how policy-makers and international organizations working with cities on issues of adaptation and resilience must support and facilitate processes of testing ideas, learning from experiences, and recalibrating as new information is obtained and lessons are learned.

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The effectiveness of port-city policies: A comparative approach

Posted on: 17 January 2014
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The relation between ports and their cities have evolved: it is no longer evident that well-functioning ports have automatically a net positive impact on the port-city. There are various trajectories and many ports and port-cities attempt to stimulate port-city development by a range of public policies. Yet, little is known about effectiveness of policies to promote performance of ports and port-cities. This paper aims at filling this gap, by assessing the effectiveness of port-city policies, within various policy areas including port development, port-city economic development, transportation, environment, research and development, spatial development and communication. This is done via a principal component analysis (PCA), based on a database constructed for the purpose of this paper with outcome variables and scores of policies for a set of 27 large world port-cities, that makes it possible to identify policies that are associated with effective policy outcomes and show patterns of related policy outcomes and policies.

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UNWTO Africa: Issue 1, December 2013

Posted on: 16 January 2014
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The World Tourism Organisation has launched its first quarterly newsletter on developments in Africa.

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This Big City

Posted on: 16 January 2014
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This Big City is an award winning online publication sharing ideas and encouraging discussion about sustainable cities since 2009. It explores urban trends, ideas and analysis.

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Box of Broadcasts

Posted on: 16 January 2014
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These videos provide guidance on how to make use of the Box of Broadcasts (BoB).

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EventsScotland: Celebrating 10 years

Posted on: 16 January 2014
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This publication highlights the role EventScotland and key partners have played in the development of the Scottish events industry over the past ten years.

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Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2014

Posted on: 16 January 2014
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Undertaken jointly by PwC and the Urban Land Institute, this report provides an outlook on real estate investment and development trends, real estate finance and capital markets, property sectors, metropolitan areas, and other real estate issues throughout the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

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Emerging Trends in Real Estate: Asia Pacific 2014

Posted on: 16 January 2014
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Undertaken jointly by PwC and the Urban Land Institute, this report provides an outlook on real estate investment and development trends, real estate finance and capital markets, property sectors, metropolitan areas, and other real estate issues throughout the Asia Pacific region. It reflects the views of 250 individuals who completed surveys or were interviewed as a part of the research process for this report.

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