Transit Oriented Development Tod Construction Essay

Transit Oriented Development Tod Construction Essay Transit-oriented development refers to a design of the area to maximize the access to so as the use of public transport to achieve sustainable transportation, and the sustainable transportation can help achieve sustainable society as a whole. Sustainable transportation is encouraged by promoting compact development around the major public facilities, improving the pedestrian walking experience, and increasing the accessibility to the public transit. It often incorporates the features to encourage transit ridership. TOD is a strategy to deal with dense population and it is a development to integrate with the transit system. A TOD neighborhood typically has a center with a transit station or stop of public transport, such as bus stop and railway station, surrounded by relatively high-density development with progressively lower density development spreading outward from the center. (Online wikipedia, 2012) High density population with mixed land use within short distance, TOD aims that people can access to place more easily with shorter time which would require less vehicle travel, save energy and emit less pollutants. Planning for compact growth of an area, rather than letting it sprawl out, has the potential to greatly increase the quality of the environment. It prevents problems of traffic congestion and the environmental degradation associated with urban sprawl. TOD contains specific features that are designed to encourage public transport use and differentiate the development from urban sprawl. Examples of these features include (Renne, 2009) the neighborhood is designed for cycling and walking, with adequate facilities and attractive street conditions. The streets have good connectivity and tracffic calming features to control vehicle traffic speeds, such as narrow streets. Mixed-use development is found that includes shops, schools and other public services, and a variety of housing types and prices, within each neighborhood. Efficient parking management to reduce the amount of land devoted to parking compared with conventional development and to take advantage of the parking cost savings associated with reduced automobile use. Transit stops and stations are convenient, comfortable and secure. (New urbanism) Implementation As discussed by Newman (2009), some strategic planning frameworks are needed as a set of policy tools to help implementing TOD. He suggests four strategic planning tools (Newman, in Curtis, 2009, p. 13): 1. A strategic policy framework that asserts where centers need to occur and at what kind of density and mix; 2. A strategic policy framework that links centers with a rapid transit base, almost invariably electric rail; 3. A statutory planning base that requires development to occur at the necessary density and design in each center, preferably facilitated by a specialized development agency, and 4. A public-private funding mechanism that enables the transit and the TOD to be built or refurbished through a linkage between the transit and the centers it will service. An area is created based on a set of urban design standard and zoning guidelines with a dense population and transit system. Increasingly, regional planning techniques are being used to control and shape of growth into compact, high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods, villages, towns, and cities, forming a hierarchy. Compact development provides sufficient population and demand to support transit system with a dense network coverage. TODs generally are located within a radius of 400-800 meters or up to 15-minute walk from a transit stop, it increases the location efficiency so people can walk and bike to take transit as it is considered as an appropriate scale for pedestrians. By improving the pedestrian walking experience and increasing the accessibility to the public transit, more people will take public transit and reduce the flow of automobiles. The area becomes an attractive and cohesive mixed-use area with commercial, retail and residential uses as self-sustaining. Many cities have faced the challenges of getting the right residential density because the density tends to be very low. Especially in the North America where people often rely on driving vehicles as their main transport mode, the higher-density residential development near transit system can limits the negative impacts to the environment. But TOD is suitable in Hong Kong, given the high density of population, it is able to support the development in transit system and develop the transit network into a comprehensive coverage with high accessibility. Hong Kong as an example of TOD Hong Kong has a total land area of 1098km2 and a population of 7 million in 2012. (Census Statistics Department, 2012) The land supply is scarce and residential use is dense. Worse still, large proportion of the land is hilly. While a certain portion of the land has been designated as country parks and catchment areas for reservoirs, much of the land are not feasible for development. With the rapid economic development, urban area in Hong Kong expands in a uncontrollable manner to the countryside which can be regarded as urban sprawl. This has created lots of unpleasant problems. To control urban sprawl and better utilize the limited land resource in Hong Kong, new towns are developed to relocate the soaring population and design them into a self-sustaining community with mixed land use. New town development with TOD is an appropriate planning strategy to deal with the dense population in Hong Kong. In early 1970s, the government implemented the New Town Development Programme in which new towns were planned to be served by railway linking to the urban area, for example, the New Towns such as Tai Po and Fanling in Northeast served by East Railway. Since the introduction of the Third Comprehensive Transport Study in 1999, the Government began to take a proactive role in integrating land use and railway development. Railway would form the backbone of the future passenger transport network. Railway stations would synchronize with land use development and become the hubs for transport interchanges. Some places were chosen to develop into new towns as the first planning tool mentioned above. New towns are designed to house a dense population with the sufficient provision of public facilities such as schools and shopping malls, and mixed land use. The new towns are developed into densely-populated area, we can know from the figures shown in the table below. New towns Time of development Population (in persons) Population density (persons/km2) Tsuen Wan 1959 774000 32300 Sha Tin 1973 630000 18000 Tuen Mun 1973 488500 25710 Tseung Kwan O 1982 350000 34800 Tin Shui Wai 1987 270000 63000 The buildings in new town are high rise and constitute a number of estates to concentrate the people, so stops and stations can be built to link them up and for more efficient transport. The housing estates are in various types, including public housing, private housing and so on at different price as choices to the residents. Cycling and walking lane are designed to improve the pedestrian experience and increase the accessibility to the public transit. Mixed land use with public facilities are developed based on the threshold of the goods and services to provide, many lower order goods and services can be found to make new towns self-maintaining, such as daily necessities and primary and secondary education. For example, Tin Shui Wai is a new town with many high rise buildings to house a very high density of population with the transit system of light railway among itself, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, and West railway connected to urban areas. For the second planning tool, the area is designed with a transit base. The compact growth of new towns can support every station of railway system and develop as a TOD neighborhood. Each new town is accessible nowadays by different lines in mass transit system. http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/getting_around/images/MTR_routemap_510.jpgLook at the map of MTR, we can see most of the area can be reached by taking railway. The railway network is dense and covers most of the dense populated area in Hong Kong. Populous area in daytime, Mongkok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Central, populous area in nighttime, Tin Shui wai, Tuen Mun and Shatin, all are linked by the railway system. The distance between every station is close, people can take railway to any destinations, and the walking distance from home to the stations is not long, within the radius of 15-minute walk. The development of transit system and the new towns should be synchronized, the new town development was failed in the past decades when the land use and transit development were not synchronized. Tseung Kwan O line (completed in August 2002) and Ma On Shan Rail (completed in 2004) were constructed after two areas have been densely populated, the inaccessibility hinders the development of two places. These are the examples of the lack of co-ordination between the land use development and transit system. The third and fourth tools are the development in a center is preferably facilitated by a specialized development agency or funded by public or private mechanism. It can be illustrated by the example of Taikoo Shing as one of the first successful TODs was Taikoo Shing by Swire Properties Limited (Swire). The development started in 1970s when the MTR Island Line was not yet in operation. When the Island Line started to operate in 1985 plus the opening of the East Harbour Crossing Tunnel in 1989, Swire realized the land use development is profitable from MTR system. In order to capture the impacts of mass transit system, development in Taikoo Shing has been diversifying in land use with retail, office, commercial and residential functions, and leisure amenities, such as a large shopping mall called City Plaza. As a result of the New Town Development Programme, a major railway in the New Territories has linked with the Hong Kong Island line; more housing developments including private housing grew along the major railway arteries. The closer distance to the MTR stations, the denser the residential development. And as the population increases, development also expands to meet the demand. TODs are thus well developed in Hong Kong. Benefits of TOD More intensive mixed-use development allows an increase in walking and bicycling within the neighborhood, when a transit connection is added to the mix then auto-free travel to other parts of the metropolitan area become more feasible. Less automobile use means less consumption of fossil fuels, less air pollution, and lower the spending on transportation. (Reconnecting America) When the characteristics of a particular place are recognized as supportive of lower personal transportation costs, the monetary benefits can be captured by both individuals (in the form of greater mortgage borrowing power) and the community (in the form of lower development costs stemming from reduced need to build expensive parking). In short, transit-oriented development can be a central part of a development paradigm that is more environmentally and socially sustainable, and that contributes to higher quality of life. Moreover, existing historic neighborhoods are being preserved and enhanced by the proximity of more diverse housing, shopping and entertainment choices, and the increases in traffic are minimal. Conclusion The railway transit system is under extension and Hong Kong population is surging, believing that Hong Kong is continue to develop at a fast pace. The development of TOD is beneficial to Hong Kong in the sense that sustainable transportation can be achieved.

Reflective Journal Teaching Essay

At the end of an Early Years session, we expect the children to be seated on the carpet for their parents to collect them. One of the children was finding it very difficult to co-operate, and continued to move around the classroom, walking and running, picking up toys and making noise. I asked the child to sit down but receive no response. I then asked again for her to sit down and began to move towards her in a way that indicated I was likely to sit her down myself. At that point the child giggled and ran away from me quickly, shouting loudly and refusing to come to the carpet area I felt it was very important the child sat down, with no toys in her hand, and I was concerned other children would copy her behaviour. I felt embarrassed to be under the child’s control! The child seemed to be enjoying this and I did not feel confident at all and immediately regretted trying to move towards her. However I had done so because I felt I imperative all the children were ready quickly as we were running a little late for the end of the session, and the class teacher had already gone to open the door to let the parents in! . I believe I should have acted in a more adaptable manner. I could have considered an alternative way to encourage her to sit where she should be. In Dewey’s publication How We Think (1910) Dewey draws the readers attention to routine action and reflective action, where routine action is largely pre set guidelines, not giving consideration to individual circumstances. Reflective action is considering the individual situation and adjusting as necessary (1910). I should have reflected on the situation as it were happening. The child could have been quickly pacified with a small activity- perhaps helping me to tidy the books away – whilst this is not common practice, it would have still achieved her quietly remaining on the carpet until her parent arrived. I needed to adjust the pre-set guidelines to the individual situation. Dewey also believed we should draw on past experiences whenever possible (1910) and I will consider this in the case of this child. A small adaptation of the rules to meet her needs would be in everybody’s best interests. Allowing the child to have an item or engage in a quiet activity at certain times could encourage a more positive response from her while she settles into the school environment. I will continue to keep a reflective journal so I am encouraged to think more independently and learn to become adaptable. I feel reflecting on experiences and learning from what happens – and seeing the outcome when I put ideas into practice – will help me to grow in confidence and become more effective Practitioner. It will prevent me from being becoming unable to develop individual responses to unique situations. It is imperative that we learn to reflect on our actions. If we don’t, we will simply be Turned into low level operatives†¦while remaining blind to large issues of the underlying purposes and results of schooling (Griffiths and Tann, Ripples in Reflection 1991:100).

Brazilian Independence

Brazilian Independence A critical review of â€Å"The Cambridge History of Latin America (From Idependence to c. 1870), By Leslie Bethell In this paper I will explain and highlight main arguments of Brazilian independence according to Leslie Bethell. The Brazilian independence was certainly not as violent as in the other Latin American countries and the independence was a final product of many events and influences.I will go through the economic situation Brazil was facing in terms of export and imports, followed by the installment of Portuguese Dom Joao in Rio de Janeiro, because of the Napoleon wars going on in Europe at the time and finally concluding on what finally gave Brazil independence in 1822. Economically, Brazil was major compared to its colonizer, Portugal. Brazil had the population the area and the natural resources to become a success, which they definitely was, but with a Portuguese exploitation of exports and population.Portugal was highly dependent on Brazilian exp orts and had a hard time providing Brazil with manufactured goods, an element Britain had a major role in. Brazil exported and still exports massive amounts of sugar to Portugal and later on, coffee and cotton became an important export, not to forget gold from Minas Gerais. It was basically hard for Portugal to justify the occupation of this new land of opportunities. The creation of a national identity that would help Brazilians to gain independence was definitely an important factor to the process.Some claim that the victory over the Dutch in 1654 was a major input and inspiration for the Brazilians. The Brazilian education and information system was although not on Brazilian territory and the minority of people that could afford it went to Europe for university. The economic, political and intellectual situation, led to massive criticisms due to the mercantile systems, its restrictions on trade, the heavy duty taxation on Brazil and also the high prices on manufactured goods wer e up for a beating.The reason why Portugal was able to hold on to Brazil was not because of military power and high oppressiveness as seen in other Latin American countries under Spanish rule, but because of the Portuguese crown Dom Joao and Portugals supply of stability in Brazil. The dissatisfaction should although not be exaggerated – the locals where in comparison much more involved with the formation and implementation of legislation just to mention one and Portuguese settlement had happened gradual, so prominent landowners were most likely first generation Brazilians, giving less incentives for rebellion and riots.All in all, Brazilians were better off than the other colonized countries in Latin America. Napoleon wars and moving Dom Joao With the Napoleon wars going on in Europe and many countries giving up their colonies, Brazil was kept in Portuguese hands. The Portuguese leader Dom Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, saw early on that Brazilian independence was just a matter of time. Therefore he suggested that regent Dom Joao should give up his residence in Portugal and move the apparatus to Brazil as a final option instead of being taken over by Napoleon.On August 12th 1807 Napoleon issued an ultimatum to the Portuguese foreign minister, he could either; close the ports to British ships, imprison all English residents and confiscate their property or face a French invasion. Britain backed the idea of leaving Portugal up and offered protection. For a while, Dom Joao tried to adopt anti-British policies, but already in November he learned that Generel Junot was marching on to Portugal with 23. 000 men. After the French troops entering Portugal Dom Joao made the decision of leaving Portugal.In late November the regent and an apparatus of 10-15. 000 people left for Brazil accompanied with British ships. The moving of the regent to Rio de Janeiro was a huge step for Brazil and their way to independence and the relationship between Portugal and Brazil was b etter than ever. The establishment of government in Rio de Janeiro ended the monopoly for Lisbon as an actor on exports and imports. Portugal no longer controlled Brazilian products and trade and Britain was the only country allowed to trade with Brazil until the ending of the Napoleon wars.The effects of having the regent in Rio de Janeiro, were great for Brazil. In 1808 the first printing press was published in Rio de Janeiro, furthermore books were released, libraries opened and probably most important; schools were opened which definitely contributed to the political awareness and intelligence. As a sum up on the movement, Brazil was now governed from Rio de Janeiro instead of Lisbon, and the relationship with Portugal was never really re-established. Later, after the liberation of Portugal, Dom Joao was expected back in Lisbon and British ships were sent to accompany they journey.Although Dom Joao had other plans and decided to stay and later on raising the Brazil to the status of Kingdom – thereby being equal to Portugal legally. In response to the decreasing colonial power a liberal-nationalsts opposition raised in Oporto and the Junta Provosoria was proposing a new constitution where the Cortes was to be elected for the Portuguese world. It became clear that the Portuguese intentions with Brazil were only to recapture Brazil and make it serve Portuguese interests. In general all the Portuguese attempts to lower the new status of Brazil and it’s political and economical opportunities were not successful.Trying to re-impose the heavy taxation and tariffs on Brazil only gave the Brazilians and even bigger incentive to gain independence. Independence Dom Pedro (son of Dom Joao) was the one to lead the process of cutting all cooperation with Portugal since the elites of Brazil came to the conclusion that it was not an option to keep doing so. This resulted in a combined elite front of Brazilian politicians, no matter political ideologies, to b attle the Cortes and they all swore allegiance to Dom Pedro.Brazilian politicians gained more and more confidence and in 1822 Dom Pedro received the last dispatches from Portugal revoking his decrees, charging his ministers with treason and demanding him back to Lisbon, he declared; â€Å"I proclaim Brazil forevermore separated from Portugal†. It although took some time to expel the last Portuguese men from Brazil. The Portuguese army ended up in Salvador, Bahia after being expelled from Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian army was huge in terms of numbers but were not strong enough to overtake the Portuguese that consisted of 2. 00 regular troops and a 1. 500 men militia. The Portuguese had a major naval squadron stationed in Bahia, and therefore being in total control over the sea. Therefore Dom Pedro asked for the assistance of Lord Cochrane, a super successful frigate captain who had already played a major role in the independence of Chile in 1818. In 1823 Cochrane gathered a 9 ship Brazilian naval squadron for the blockade of Bahia and it was probably more reputation than actual force that made the Portuguese evacuate Bahia on June 2nd. The last Portuguese troops leftBrazil in March 1824 and Cochrane afterwards went to Rio de Janeiro to receive the title of Marques de Maranhao. Conclusion: The Brazilian independence was as mentioned earlier a pallet of many events and actors influencing the Brazilian population as well as the Portuguese. Brazilian demography and population size was important, not to mention the British, who played a large role all the way as an external actor. The moving of the regent to Rio de Janeiro and the Cortes helpless attempt to regain the former status of Brazil was definitely another factor influencing.Portugal as a nation was a declining European economy with trade deficits without Brazil. Also Brazil was not ruled by Portugal in the military way, and Portugal was only supplying the social stability in terms of a legal system. Therefore it makes no sense in itself for why Brazil should be ruled by a minor state compared to them selves. In my opinion the movement of the regent was one of the major events leading a much more joint operation and giving the Brazilians the local identity that led them to finally gaining independence in 1822.

Introduction. The Accounting Industry Provides Unlimited

Introduction The accounting industry provides unlimited services at both an organizational and personal level. In recent years, the accounting industry has been subject to various trends. Some trends forecast improvement within the industry, while other trends may paint a different picture. The top trends in accounting services are: millennial involvement, fraudulent activity, and the use of artificial intelligence (Hoover s Inc, 2017). Young accounting professionals and investors alike are showing more interest into the accounting industry. Interest spans from millennials seeking investment services, to accounting graduates seeking work within the industry; both of which prognosticate a bright future. While fraudulent activity seems to†¦show more content†¦This type of technology would substitute the traditional format of shipping an item. This type of innovation attracts the millennials due to the ability to provide a service in minutes rather than days. It is to no surprise that mil lennials are used to technology and the ability to obtain things in the matter of minutes. However, when a company is able to offer a service based off of new technology, millennials show great interest. This type of interest is what has led to a surge in millennial investors. The accounting industry is embracing the influx of millennials in their workforce. This is being accomplished through internal changes. For example, offering flexibility and open lines of communication. Offering flexibility in the accounting industry was once unheard of. However, in recent years, accounting firms strive to offer a more equal work-life balance (McCarthy, 2016). Offering an equal work-life balance is an appealing incentive for young accounting professionals. This may include having a 40 hour work week, allowing an individual to work from home and offering flex scheduling. 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