scholarly journals Multipurpose Census Methodology to Assess Urban Forest Structure in Hong Kong

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 366-378
Author(s):  
C.Y. Jim

Surveys of urban forests in the compact city environment of Hong Kong were initiated in 1985 and regularly updated thereafter. Roadside trees were evaluated first in a tree census and reported in this article followed by urban parks, public housing estates, and special habitats such as old stone walls or special specimens such as heritage trees. The survey method aimed at collecting comprehensive data to echo both tree conditions and tree–environmental interactions. Detailed information was gleaned, with the help of well-trained assistants, on tree sites, tree growing space, tree structure, and tree defects and disorders. A field record form was designed, pilot-tested, and refined to solicit responses to multiple choices or direct measurements to minimize subjectivity and errors in data recording and entry. The study also identified potential planting sites, registering suitability for tree growth, site characteristics, and dimensions. Data fields were designed to be quantitative or convertible to ordinal ranks to facilitate statistical analysis. Locations of trees and planting sites were marked on large-scale maps to permit spatial analysis. Besides statistical analysis, community ecology attributes and custom-designed indices were used to assess urban forest structure. The multipurpose method could be appropriately adjusted for use in other compact city areas.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3271
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Izabela Baruk

The aim of this article was to identify the role of good mutual relationships with offerors for final purchasers, as well as define the meaning of the perception of offerors in the scope of listening to purchasers’ opinions and profiting from purchasers’ readiness to cooperate for the specificities of the prosumeric activity. A deep analysis of the world literature was used to prepare the theoretical part of this paper. The results of this analysis confirm the existing cognitive gap and research gap regarding mentioned aspects, including energy market. Empirical studies were conducted to reduce identified gaps. The survey method was used to collect primary data. The collected data were subjected to quantitative analysis, during which statistical analysis methods and tests were applied (Pearson chi-square independence test, V-Cramer factor analysis, Kruskal–Wallis test (KW), and exploratory factor analysis). The results of the statistical analysis and testing allowed the three research hypotheses formulated to be checked. Between the significance of good relationships with offerors and their perception, a statistically significant dependence was identified for all groups of offerors. The perception of offerors was a feature differentiating respondents’ opinions about the significance of good relationships with offerors for the two following groups: producers and traders. Additionally, the perception of offerors was a feature differentiating forms of prosumeric activity of respondents only for three interpurchase behaviors. The results obtained have a visible cognitive and applicability value. They contribute to the theory of marketing, as well as possibly facilitating the formation of good mutual relationships between offerors (including offerors of energy) and final purchasers as key partners cooperating with offerors in the marketing process. The approach presented in this paper has not been studied and analyzed so far, either in theoretical or in practical terms. This fact confirms its originality and value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 532-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommy Lau ◽  
Man Lai Cheung ◽  
Guilherme D. Pires ◽  
Carol Chan

Purpose The abolishment of the wine tax in Hong Kong has led to increased wine consumption and increased demand for wine-related professionals, such as sommeliers. Yet the importance of sommeliers’ value-adding performance in the context of upscale Chinese restaurants has not been examined. To address this gap, the SERVQUAL framework is adopted to examine the influence of sommeliers’ service quality (SQ) on customer satisfaction (CS) and loyalty in the context of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach The survey method is used to collect data from 302 units of the population of interest, partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the links between constructs. Findings Four of the seven dimensions of sommeliers’ service quality, namely, empathy, tangibles, credibility and assurance, have a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, whereas the impact of perceived value and responsiveness on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is positive but only marginally significant. Reliability has a weak and non-significant impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications Examining a small number of upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong limits generalisation of the findings to other contexts. Replication of the research in different contexts will enhance generalizability. In terms of implications, the discussion highlights the importance of sommeliers’ service performance on customers’ SQ perceptions SQ, CS and loyalty, all of which are important variables for restaurateurs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of the influence of the quality of sommelier’s SQ on CS and loyalty in upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Given the lack of attention to this service role in the literature, the study contributes theory from which further understanding can develop.


2006 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 811-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunchung Park ◽  
Nobuko Sugimoto ◽  
Matthew D. Larson ◽  
Randy Beaudry ◽  
Steven van Nocker

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-202
Author(s):  
Wangqiong Ye ◽  
Rolf Strietholt ◽  
Sigrid Blömeke

AbstractAcademic resilience refers to students’ capacity to perform highly despite a disadvantaged background. Although most studies using international large-scale assessment (ILSA) data defined academic resilience with two criteria, student background and achievement, their conceptualizations and operationalizations varied substantially. In a systematic review, we identified 20 ILSA studies applying different criteria, different approaches to setting thresholds (the same fixed ones across countries or relative country-specific ones), and different threshold levels. Our study on the validity of these differences and how they affected the composition of academically resilient students revealed that the classification depended heavily on the threshold applied. When a fixed background threshold was applied, the classification was likely to be affected by the developmental state of a country. This could result in an overestimation of the proportions of academically resilient students in some countries while an underestimation in others. Furthermore, compared to the application of a social or economic capital indication, applying a cultural capital indicator may lead to lower shares of disadvantaged students classified as academically resilient. The composition of academically resilient students varied significantly by gender and language depending on which indicator of human capital or which thresholds were applied reflecting underlying societal characteristics. Conclusions drawn from such different results depending on the specific conceptualizations and operationalizations would vary greatly. Finally, our study utilizing PISA 2015 data from three countries representing diverse cultures and performance levels revealed that a stronger sense of belonging to a school significantly increased the chances to be classified as academically resilient in Peru, but not in Norway or Hong Kong. In contrast, absence from school was significantly associated with academic resilience in Norway and Hong Kong, but not in Peru.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupan Zhang ◽  
Yuichi Onda ◽  
Hiroaki Kato ◽  
Xinchao Sun ◽  
Takashi Gomi

<p>Understory vegetation is an important part of evapotranspiration from forest floor. Forest management changes the forest structure and then affects the understory vegetation biomass (UVB). Quantitative measurement and estimation of  UVB is a step cannot be ignored in the study of forest ecology and forest evapotranspiration. However, large-scale biomass measurement and estimation is challenging. In this study, Structure from Motion (SfM) was adopted simultaneously at two different layers in a plantation forest made by Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress to reconstruct forest structure from understory to above canopy: i) understory drone survey in a 1.1h sub-catchment to generate canopy height model (CHM) based on dense point clouds data derived from a manual low-flying drone under the canopy; ii) Above-canopy drone survey in whole catchment (33.2 ha) to compute canopy openness data based on point clouds of canopy derived from an autonomous flying drone above the canopy. Combined with actual biomass data from field harvesting to develop regression models between the CHM and UVB, which was then used to map spatial distribution of  UVB in sub-catchment. The relationship between UVB and canopy openness data was then developed by overlap analysis. This approach yielded high resolution understory over catchment scale with a point cloud density of more than 20 points/cm<sup>2</sup>. Strong coefficients of determination (R-squared = 0.75) of the cubic model supported prediction of UVB from CHM, the average UVB was 0.82kg/m<sup>2</sup> and dominated by low ferns. The corresponding forest canopy openness in this area was 42.48% on average. Overlap analysis show no significant interactions between them in a cubic model with weak predictive power (R-squared < 0.46). Overall, we reconstructed the multi-layered structure of the forest and provided models of UVB. Understory survey has high accuracy for biomass measurement, but it’s inherently difficult to estimate UVB only based on canopy openness result.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio RP Line ◽  
Ana P De Souza ◽  
Luciana S Mofatto

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Yingyi Zhang

<p>Parametric tools have been broadly implemented in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Recently, an increasing volume of research finds that parametric tools also have the capability to facilitate large-scale planning and urban design. Much of this research, however, focuses on parametric representation or environment simulation. There is insufficient research about using parametric tools to enhance urban regulation. Parametric tools can provide smart design procedures by integrating strategies, solutions and expressions in one system. They may allow alternative approaches to urban regulation that conventional tools do not process.  This research aims to create a parametric modelling system to aid urban regulation. The system offers a visualised coding interface to manipulate parameters and achieve interactive performance feedback at the early stage of urban regulation. Form-Based Code uses the modelling system in this research. It generates a specific morphology by controlling physical form with less focus on land use. With the rise of New Urbanism, Form-Based Code has been used in various American regulation projects. This research extends the application of Form-Based Code, adopting it for urban-peripheral environments outside of the USA. High-density cities where provide the volumetric morphology context is important for this work. Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong works as an experimental site.  The feasibility of parametric urban regulation is examined by developing a parametric modelling system for Form-Based Code in Hong Kong. Understanding the site’s form characteristics, the transect matrix of Form-Based Code is expanded by incorporating multi-layered zone types and regulating plans. Embedding the zones into parametric modelling software Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper 3D, a regenerative prototype works to create real-time scenarios responding to parameters, rules and geometry constraints. The results of parametric urban regulation are evaluated by both Form-Based Code standards and local urban regulation standards to assess its feasibility in context.  This research demonstrates that the parametric modelling system for Form-Based Code has both technological and implemental potential to work as an alternative approach to urban regulation, especially in complex developments. Form complexity is a reflection of sophisticated human-society systems and the sequential evolution of a dynamic morphology. Form-Based Code is enhanced by the parametric modelling system to describe and regulate form complexity in a logical manner. Additionally, although parametric Form-Based Code processing is based on the original Form-Based Code, it is not limited to that. Describing urban regulation with visualised models bridges specialists and the public in community demonstrations and code assembling. The parametric modelling system has a positive impact on resolving challenges, predicting outcomes, and applying urban regulation innovation to the volumetric morphology of high-density cities in Asia.</p>


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