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Author: A. Y. T. Leung
Publisher:
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9789629370909
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book provides an understanding of the life-cycle of buildings, how they age, and what can be done when they become old. New dimensions are given in evaluating urban renewal and addressing how, through rejuvenation, the value of ageing buildings may be increased.
Author: Charlie Q. L. Xue
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2016-06-13
Total Pages: 356
ISBN-13: 9811010048
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book focuses on the transformation from colonial to global – the formation, mechanism, events, works and people related to urban architecture. The book reveals hardships the city encountered in the 1950s and the glamour enjoyed in the 1980s. It depicts the public and private developments, and especially the public housing which has sheltered millions of residents. The author identifies the architects practising in the formative years and the representatives of a rising generation after the 1980s. Suffering from land shortage and a dense environment, the urban development of Hong Kong has in the past 70 years met the changing demands of fluctuating economic activities and a rising population. Architecture on the island has been shaped by social demands, the economy and technology. The buildings have been forged by the government, clients, planners, architects, many contractors and end-users. The built environment nurtures our life and is visual evidence of the way the city has developed. Hong Kong is a key to East Asia in the Pacific Era. The book is a must-read for a thorough understanding the contemporary history and architecture of this oriental pearl. Endorsement: “Hong Kong sets an extreme example of hyper-density living. MTR’s Kowloon Station project offered my firm the unique opportunity to contribute to a new type of fully integrated three dimensional transport mega-structure, conceived as a well-connected place for people to live, work and play. Through Charlie Xue’s book, one can see how a compact city works and high density integrated development indicates a sustainable path for modern city making.” Sir Terry Farrell, CBE, Principal, Farrells "Well researched and refreshingly well structured, Charlie Xue's latest book comprehensively shows how Hong Kong's post-war urban architecture both tracks and symbolizes the former British colony's rise to success - a must read for architecture and culture buffs alike." Peter G. Rowe, Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. “An essential addition to the growing literature on Chinese architecture, the title of the book belies the full scope of Xue’s extensive history. Covering Hong Kong’s postwar transition from defeated colony to Pacific Age power house, Xue expertly traces the evolution of the city’s ambitious and innovative programs of integrated high density urban design and infrastructure, as well as changing architectural fashions. In a time when many Western governments have all but abandoned public housing programs, Xue’s book is a timely reminder of what can be achieved.” Professor Chris Abel, author of Architecture and Identity, Architecture, technology and process and The Extended Self.“/p>
Author: Andrew Y. T. LEUNG
Publisher: City University of HK Press
Published: 2015-10-29
Total Pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9629372398
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMemories are still vivid on the incident: on 29 January 2010, a five-storey building at 45J Ma Tau Wai Road, To Kwa Wan, Hong Kong collapsed, causing four deaths and two injuries. The tragedy has raised public concerns about the safety of many of Hong Kong's old and dilapidated buildings. Realising that the presence of ageing buildings lacking proper care and maintenance poses potential threats to residents and the public at large, since 2012, the Buildings Department has implemented the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) to carry out inspection and rectification works for buildings aged 30 years or above. This book, as a pioneer to review and examine the statistics and distributions of the aged buildings in Hong Kong, provides critical insights on the building decay and neglect problems. The statistical information highlighted in the book also serves to project the estimated number of aged buildings to be covered by the MBIS in the future, and the demand of professional workforce expected for the successful implementation of MBIS. The book is useful for the practising professionals in the building industry, such as surveyors, engineers and government officials. It is also an excellent reference for students and researchers in Surveying, Construction Management and related disciplines.
Author: Arthur James Wells
Publisher:
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 2744
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAuthor: Joseph Y. S. CHENG
Publisher: City University of HK Press
Published: 2005-11-01
Total Pages: 622
ISBN-13: 9629371138
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn analysis of the protest rally and subsequent events will certainly be of interest to the general public in the territory as well as to the international community who is concerned with the developments of Hong Kong. The editor has lined up a team of top experts in the territory to discuss the pertinent issues, and their contributions constitute the first authoritative volume on the historic event. The academic experts involved will examine a broad range of subjects; and it is hoped that the readers will have a comprehensive understanding of the significant issues facing Hong Kong at this stage while examining the protest rally on 1 July 2003.This volume will be of interest to university students and academic in public administration and political science. Media professionals interested in the current affairs in Hong Kong will also find it a handy source of reference. Published by City University of Hong Kong Press. 香港城市大學出版社出版。
Author: Jon Kher Kaw
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2020-02-13
Total Pages: 546
ISBN-13: 1464814937
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn every city, the urban spaces that form the public realm—ranging from city streets, neighborhood squares, and parks to public facilities such as libraries and markets—account for about one-third of the city’s total land area, on average. Despite this significance, the potential for these public-space assets—typically owned and managed by local governments—to transform urban life and city functioning is often overlooked for many reasons: other pressing city priorities arising from rapid urbanization, poor urban planning, and financial constraints. The resulting degradation of public spaces into congested, vehicle-centric, and polluted places often becomes a liability, creating a downward spiral that leads to a continuous drain on public resources and exacerbating various city problems. In contrast, the cities that invest in the creation of human-centered, environmentally sustainable, economically vibrant, and socially inclusive places—in partnership with government entities, communities, and other private stakeholders—perform better. They implement smart and sustainable strategies across their public space asset life cycles to yield returns on investment far exceeding monetary costs, ultimately enhancing city livability, resilience, and competitiveness. The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces discusses the complexities that surround the creation and management of successful public spaces and draws on the analyses and experiences from city case studies from around the globe. This book identifies—through the lens of asset management—a rich palette of creative and innovative strategies that every city can undertake to plan, finance, and manage both government-owned and privately owned public spaces.
Author: Stephen Leacock
Publisher: New Canadian Library
Published: 2010-08-03
Total Pages: 274
ISBN-13: 0771094140
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis celebrated collection of sketches sparkles with Stephen Leacock’s humour and shines with the warmth of his wit. The comical E.P., star of the title essay, “My Remarkable Uncle,” is a classic Leacock character. He is president of a railway with a letterhead but no rails, and he heads a bank that boasts credit but no cash whatsoever – all of which trouble E.P. not in the least. My Remarkable Uncle, a wonderful smorgasbord of mirth served up by a master of comedy, includes several essays, a short story, a political parable, and personal reflections on a dizzying array of subjects. Here, in rich abundance, are the inspired nonsense and the unerring eye for human folly that have made Stephen Leacock Canada’s most celebrated humorist.
Author: United Nations Human Settlements Programme
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-05-23
Total Pages: 346
ISBN-13: 1136554750
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Challenge of Slums presents the first global assessment of slums, emphasizing their problems and prospects. Using a newly formulated operational definition of slums, it presents estimates of the number of urban slum dwellers and examines the factors at all level, from local to global, that underlie the formation of slums as well as their social, spatial and economic characteristics and dynamics. It goes on to evaluate the principal policy responses to the slum challenge of the last few decades. From this assessment, the immensity of the challenges that slums pose is clear. Almost 1 billion people live in slums, the majority in the developing world where over 40 per cent of the urban population are slum dwellers. The number is growing and will continue to increase unless there is serious and concerted action by municipal authorities, governments, civil society and the international community. This report points the way forward and identifies the most promising approaches to achieving the United Nations Millennium Declaration targets for improving the lives of slum dwellers by scaling up participatory slum upgrading and poverty reduction programmes. The Global Report on Human Settlements is the most authoritative and up-to-date assessment of conditions and trends in the world's cities. Written in clear language and supported by informative graphics, case studies and extensive statistical data, it will be an essential tool and reference for researchers, academics, planners, public authorities and civil society organizations around the world.
Author: Xueping Zhong
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 2010-07-31
Total Pages: 233
ISBN-13: 0824860667
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSerialized television drama (dianshiju), perhaps the most popular and influential cultural form in China over the past three decades, offers a wide and penetrating look at the tensions and contradictions of the post-revolutionary and pro-market period. Zhong Xueping’s timely new work draws attention to the multiple cultural and historical legacies that coexist and challenge each other within this dominant form of story telling. Although scholars tend to focus their attention on elite cultural trends and avant garde movements in literature and film, Zhong argues for recognizing the complexity of dianshiju’s melodramatic mode and its various subgenres, in effect "refocusing" mainstream Chinese culture. Mainstream Culture Refocused opens with an examination of television as a narrative motif in three contemporary Chinese art-house films. Zhong then turns her attention to dianshiju’s most important subgenres. "Emperor dramas" highlight the link between popular culture’s obsession with emperors and modern Chinese intellectuals’ preoccupation with issues of history and tradition and how they relate to modernity. In her exploration of the "anti-corruption" subgenre, Zhong considers three representative dramas, exploring their diverse plots and emphases. "Youth dramas’" rich array of representations reveal the numerous social, economic, cultural, and ideological issues surrounding the notion of youth and its changing meanings. The chapter on the "family-marriage" subgenre analyzes the ways in which women’s emotions are represented in relation to their desire for "happiness." Song lyrics from music composed for television dramas are considered as "popular poetics." Their sentiments range between nostalgia and uncertainty, mirroring the social contradictions of the reform era. The Epilogue returns to the relationship between intellectuals and the production of mainstream cultural meaning in the context of China’s post-revolutionary social, economic, and cultural transformation. Provocative and insightful, Mainstream Culture Refocused will appeal to scholars and students in studies of modern China generally and of contemporary Chinese media and popular culture specifically.
Author: Neil Smith
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2005-10-26
Total Pages: 348
ISBN-13: 1134787464
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhy have so many central and inner cities in Europe, North America and Australia been so radically revamped in the last three decades, converting urban decay into new chic? Will the process continue in the twenty-first century or has it ended? What does this mean for the people who live there? Can they do anything about it? This book challenges conventional wisdom, which holds gentrification to be the simple outcome of new middle-class tastes and a demand for urban living. It reveals gentrification as part of a much larger shift in the political economy and culture of the late twentieth century. Documenting in gritty detail the conflicts that gentrification brings to the new urban 'frontiers', the author explores the interconnections of urban policy, patterns of investment, eviction, and homelessness. The failure of liberal urban policy and the end of the 1980s financial boom have made the end-of-the-century city a darker and more dangerous place. Public policy and the private market are conspiring against minorities, working people, the poor, and the homeless as never before. In the emerging revanchist city, gentrification has become part of this policy of revenge.
