Sunday, January 26, 2020

Sustainable Land Development

Sustainable Land Development The increasing demand of the land for housing due to different push and pull factors like: rural-urban migration, population growth and natural disaster, expectation of job and urban facilities, most of the cities and the governments are facing many challenges to relocate the urban poor and low income groups in planned and environmentally safe areas (Paudyal, 2006). On the other hand, the people who are living in squatter settlements are deprived from the security of land tenure, land development rights and land use rights (Pugh, 2000). Therefore, they are far from the facilities provided by the government and consequently suffering from the poor environmental conditions such as lack of water, sanitation, health facilities and education (Atterhà ¶g, 1995). However, land is one of the single un renewal natural resource and it is related to basic necessity such as food and shelter for living beings (Palmer et al., 2009). Therefore, sustainable land development to meet the basic need f or shelter in urban area of developing and under developed counties cannot be achieved without change in the land rights and condition of the land ownership such as change in geometry, area, land use, location (Muller, 2004). The government and the private organizations are the main land developing agencies to facilitate developed land plots in the land market through the urban management methods, process and techniques (Larsson, 1997). These methods might be compulsory or voluntary depending upon the legislation of the government (Hebbert, 1994; Turk et al., 2010). One of the non-compulsory or voluntary urban land development method is the Land Readjustment (LR) and LR is based on self-financing project and win –win strategy (Archer, 1986; Muller, 2004). It is used to readjust the irregular boundaries of the land plots with infrastructure and utility facilities (Doebele, 1982; Hong et al., 2007; Lemmen et al., 2012; Muller, 2004). LR projects are introduced by the central government, local governments, municipalities, private organizations and public agency with the participation of land owners and tenants. In 1902, Germany had initiated LR as a method for converting agricultural land to urban lan d with the enactment of land transfer law called Lex Adickes. Later on from 1954, LR technique has been adopted for disaster recovery in Japan under the Land Readjustment Acts 1954 and about 30% of the urban land were developed using this technique. Besides land use conversion and disaster recovery, LR has been used in Europe, Asia and America as urban renewal, development of new urban cities and prevention of spotted settlements (Atterhà ¶g, 1995; Yomralioglu, 1993). In spite of the popularity and advantages of the LR technique, there exist several problems that relates to the principles of land governance such as security, equity and participation (Turk, 2008). Therefore, the assessment of the governance principles in different aspects of the governance such as policy, process and structure is necessary for efficient and sustainable urban LR. Moreover, it is important to review the LR in the case of squatters to find out whether it is possible to relocate the squatters in developed and environmentally safe area based on participatory approach (UN-HABITAT, 2013a). Principally, LR projects are fully dependent on the consent of users (land owners) to use their land for infrastructure development and for cost recovery of the project. For instance, almost 30 % of Japanese urban land has been developed by LR technique but there was considerable disagreement by the small land owners with argument that the LR technique has favoured large landowners. The refore, about half of the municipalities have not used it at all (Atterhà ¶g, 1995). Similarly, the study on consensus among the land owners and multi-sectorial involvement in LR reveals that LR projects are fully dependent on the participation among the land owners, private sector and with the government (Hong et al., 2007). In addition to the participation, equity is other significant principle of the land governance for sustainable LR. Inequity in the distribution of the land resources causes different difficulties in building consensus and finally convert into violence, thus equity is measured by the value of the needs (Yomralioglu, 1993). Equity can be described in terms of input equity, process equity and output equity (Doebele, 1982). Input equity means the involvement of users (stakeholder; landowners are the entire users in LR project) in the policy formulation and planning. Process equity such as land contribution ratio and inclusive participation of users should be fair (Karki, 2004a; Turk, 2008). Output equity can be measured in terms of the benefit returned from the LR project through land value and urban facilities (Turk et al., 2010). Unfortunately, in Nepal, the Lands Act 1963 has made the restriction to maintain minimum parcel size to 80 m2. Because of this the land owner who are unable t o maintain the minimum parcel size as mentioned in the acts are forced to sell their land to the LR project and consequently they lose the sentimental value attached with their land and social relationship. However, good land governance is always supportive against the forced eviction (Karki, 2004a). Besides the equity, land tenure security is another principle to be assessed in LR. Land tenure security strengthens the relation between people and land (Simbizi et al., 2014). Insecurity in land tenure discourages the land owners to participate in land readjustment process. During the LR process temporary land owner is the land developer, who can restrict the transaction of the parcel by subdivision and physical changes on the land. On the other hand due to delay of the LR projects, land owners might be prevented from the land use rights. In Nepal, land ownership certificate and restriction free letter from the Land Revenue office are essential to get the financial credit from the bank but when land ownership certificate are submitted to the LR project it creates the problem to get the credit from the bank. Security of land tenure, in the case of the project handled by the private organizations is another challenge to convince the land owners about security of the land tenure and other use rights (Turk, 2007). To face these problems the network among inter-organizational and multi-sectorial stakeholder is necessary for sustainable LR (Mattingly, 1996). Acc ording to Sorensen (2005), when the governance actors are participated in a horizontal integration to meet common societal goal then such a network is called governance network. In the governance network the power among the governance actors is shared for sustainable urban development. On the other hand, for the case of the squatter settlers who are deprived from land tenure, equitable access to land for shelter; participatory LR with the application of good land governance is essential. Relocation of the squatters into land readjusted area can be possible by constructing social houses by the government, private sector and civil society groups through acquisition of the cost recovery land from LR project. PILaR- Participatory and Inclusive Land Readjustment approach could address many challenges of conventional LR through incorporating participation among the government, internal users (land owners), external users(squatter people), civil society groups, academia and private sector to support the squatters providing secure shelter (UN-HABITAT, 2012, 2013a; World-Bank, 2002). These aforementioned problems are closely related to the land governance. Thus, it is essential to assess the land governance principles such as land tenure security, participation and equity in different aspects of the governance such as policy process and structure for sustainable implementation of LR. It is also important to review the LR for the relocation of squatters into LR area to meet the need of basic shelter.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

African American Musuem Essay

The African Museum in Philadelphia is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans. Opened during the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, the AAMP is located in historic Philadelphia, a few blocks away from the Liberty Bell. Charles H. Wesley was a noted African American historian, educator, and author. He was the fourth African American to receive a Ph. D. from Harvard University. An ordained minister, Wesley’s distinguished career included 40 years of leadership with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1976, he served as Director of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia, now known as the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Programs The African American Museum that is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has some interesting education programs. These education programs focus on arts, culture, and heritage education. They place a major emphasis on the interests of the students, educators, artists, historians, scholars, and community organizations. These programs offer diversity with scheduling. The programs explore various African forms of cultural expressions. In these programs there are literary performances, hands on demonstrations, workshops, and storytelling performances as well. The African American Museum in Philadelphia feels its programs can be a vital link between the permanent and visiting collections for the many communities they serve. Exhibitions The exhibitions in the African American Museum in Philadelphia can some to be pleasing to the eye and stimulating to the mind. According to the African American Museum of Philadelphia these exhibitions invoke a deep collection of emotion ranging from pride and passion to excitement and enthusiasm. When visitors enter the museum they will come to Gallery 1, which includes a interactive timeline, images draw from historical record, that spans 100 years of history. In Gallery 2 there are full size video projections in which visitors can in engage in them. Once they are activated, a monologue about life in Philadelphia will begin. Some other aspects of the exhibit include an experience where you can walk the streets of Philadelphia through a large scale map, which is located between galleries 1 and 2 .

Friday, January 10, 2020

Conflicts and Communication Essay

Communication is a very key role in any type of relationship whether it be business, personal or intimate. When we enter into any type of relationship one needs to have the skills to communicate effectively and make sure that the complete message gets portrayed to the receiver. When one does not communicate effectively, the result causes interpersonal conflict. In the movie â€Å"Hitch† it involves two individuals, Will Smith and Eva Mendes, who meet and begin to enter into the beginning stages of a relationship. There is certainly an attraction, both physically and due to a common interest in things. Through hesitation and Mendes declining Smith numerous times, she finally agrees to go out with him and it turns out that they seem to be quite compatible. Through their friendship they begin to develop an intimate relationship with one another. Through this whole process Mendes has been very open and honest about things that are important to her and things that are private to her as well. It seems that Smith is doing the same thing, however it turns out that he is withholding very important information that should be shared with her. The main interpersonal conflict in this movie would be due to Smith not communicating to Mendes that he is the â€Å"Date Doctor†. Mendes has a major issue with this because she had a very good friend who was dumped and she placed the blame on Smith for this situation When she finds out what his true profession is, she become irate and storms off and refuses to speak to him or listen him. This instance caused an instant dissolution of their relationship. There was an issue, but instead of communicating it out loud or discussing it, quite the opposite happened. In our text, Sole states that, â€Å"Resentments, suspicions and other problems occur when people do not communicate or behave in ways that are consistent with the relationship the other person things has been established, and people tend to pay the most attention and to respond forcefully when the communication does not match their expectations† (Sole, 2011). Towards the end of the movie, they finally are able to communicate to each other on the same level and they work things out. In my opinion, all tension could have been resolved and the relationship could have been restored from the get-go if Smith and Mendes would have truly communicated and would have been completely honest and transparent about their lives and the things that they do and that they are involved in. Obviously, it is easier said than done. Another thing that should have been avoided would be assuming things that are really not true. â€Å"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place† (George Bernard Shaw). This quote really sums up the main point and resolution to problems and issues with intrapersonal communication. Never be so blinded by the things that you are hiding from individuals you are developing relationships with and never assume that they understand things you, as the speaker, have not completely portrayed.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The Stoat Essay - 612 Words

The Stoat Discuss the theme of death as portrayed in the short story the stoat by John McGahern. B1 - The students mother die, how she dies and why B2 - Death of Ms. MaCabe dream to marry the student father B3 – Death of the students father dream of marrying Ms. MaCabe The story of â€Å"The Stoat† begins and ends with death. In the beginning of the story we read about a rabbit’s jugular vein being cut by a stoat. The stoat is stalking the rabbit to kill him and drink his blood. The student is playing golf in the grass when he hears a cry and runs to see a rabbit trembling and bleeding. The student kills the rabbit in one stroke. We do not know whether he was trying to ease the pain of the rabbit and killed him or he did it just for†¦show more content†¦The student even felt disturbed when he would see his father holding hands with Miss McCabe but he did not show any disapproval because it was his father’s dream to marry Miss McCabe. Miss McCabe would go for a hot bath and a massage, every afternoon because she was suffering from Arthritis. One evening, a uniformed bellman came from the hotel to tell that Miss McCabe had suffered a heart attack in the salt baths. He also said that the doctors have seen her and she is resting in her hotel room and wished to see the studet’s father. The student’s father goes to see her but comes back very agitated. Miss McCabe is still dreaming to marry him and her head is full of plans while the student’s father does not want to marry her anymore because he fears that she is going to die soon. The father decides to abandon her and packs everything and asks his son to leave with him. But the son wants to leave the next day to his uncle in Dublin. The story ends with the death of the student’s father and Miss McCabe dream of marrying eachShow MoreRelated Reread Prayer Before Birth Essay1009 Words   |  5 Pagespreparing to enjoy that experience? 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