British Academy ‘Cities & Infrastructure’ Programme Projects Workshop

Posted on June 23, 2018 by Rashid Faridi

joentwistle's avatar(Dis)Connected Infrastructures & Violence Against Women (VAW)

On 19 June, project Co-Investigators Dr Joanne Entwistle and Dr Don Slater attended the British Academy workshop meeting. This was an opportunity to report back on the progress of our fieldwork to date in Delhi and Trivandrum as well as to hear about the progress of the other grant holders.

To this end, the morning and early afternoon was spent on progress updates, sharing preliminary findings and discussing some of the challenges of fieldwork abroad. Many of these challenges are logistical – acquiring visas, transferring money between partner institutions, for example – while others were methodological and intellectual.

One issue that kept recurring was how to incorporate gender into fieldwork. Since our project is the only one explicitly focused on gender and infrastructure, we lead the way in much of this discussion. In break-out groups in the afternoon, gender was highlighted as one key concern; a focused discussion was dedicated…

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How to prepare your smartphone for travel

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Rashid Faridi

Are you about to take an exciting trip soon? Don’t forget to bring your smartphone with you. Here are some useful tips on how to prepare your phone for the upcoming trip abroad.

How to prepare your smartphone for travel

Going on an adventure quest, do not forget to prepare your smartphone to avoid possible problems from the rain to hackers. Here are some tips from Snappy Essay on how to prepare your smartphone for your trip.

 Physical protection

In an uncharted territory, anything can happen. Today, your smartphone may slip out of your hands and fall on the asphalt, and tomorrow it may get in the rain. The simplest accessories will help you keep the efficiency of the device:

  • The cover protects against falls and mechanical damage.
  • Toughened glass on the screen will protect the display from scratches.
  • Waterproof handbag can be used to put the phone when it rains.

External battery

Even if you don’t plan to leave civilization, you still need an additional power source because in an unfamiliar city you will constantly use GPS-navigation and maps.

If you are to fly, it is important to know the rules of transport of batteries, which are guided by the carrier company.

Access Protection

Someone may get access to your smartphone and all the data on it. It can happen not only when your smartphone is stolen. Even if leave it on the bed in the hostel, someone may get access to your phone. Therefore, protect access to the device using a screen lock: set the PIN or pattern.

If the smartphone has biometric authentication tools, then it’s time to use them. Fingerprint scanner allows you to configure the unlock by fingerprint.

Public Wi-Fi networks

The best friend of the traveler is free Wi-Fi in cafes, airports, and railway stations. In general, free Wi-Fi can be found everywhere but not every network will be protected, and some may even be deployed by hackers to steal your data through dummy websites. Therefore, the first thing to do is make sure that you are connecting to the correct network. Usually in public places, there is a sign with the name of the network and the password. If you do not have one, ask the employees what Wi-Fi network you can connect to.

However, this is not all, because, as it has already been said, a Wi-Fi network may not be encrypted, which means your traffic is still under threat: it can be intercepted by any schoolboy with a smartphone and a set of specific applications. What to do? Configure a virtual private network (VPN). The bottom line is that you create a separate encrypted channel to use the internet through it.

 Roaming

Study the conditions, under which your provider offers roaming, and connect the service that suits you. This will allow you to stay in touch with the homeland and not go broke.

Local SIM card

Arriving in another country for a long time or planning a long trip, for example, around Europe, it is best to buy a local SIM-card. It will not work for calls to the homeland but it will be great for the mobile internet. However, do not rush to buy it at the airport. Most likely, you will be offered a universal option for the traveler, with packages of internet traffic, minutes, and SMS-messages.

Do not be lazy to get to the provider’s office and explore all the offers. The best option is simply an internet package that will immediately open access to WhatsApp, Snapchat, Skype, etc. If you suddenly need to call within the country, then just buy the minutes.

SIM-card for travel

If you travel a lot to different countries, the universal SIM-cards for travelers will save you. Calls and SMS with such options will be cheaper but the cost of the internet can vary significantly depending on the country.

The amount of mobile traffic

If you decide to do without the SIM-card of a traveler, and couldn’t buy a local card, disable the auto-synchronization in your smartphone, otherwise, once you get off the plane, the balance of your account can go to zero. Also, make sure that the traffic-saving feature is turned on in the browsers.

Downloading content

The best way to save traffic and stay protected is to go online as rarely as possible. To do this, download on your smartphone all the data that you need. For example, Chrome browser allows you to save pages for offline viewing, Google Maps allows you to select and download a map area, and TripAdvisor allows you to download the database for some cities. This will also help if, for some reason, your smartphone suddenly refuses to go online, and there won’t be any Wi-Fi networks nearby.

 

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Amazon launches an Alexa system for hotels

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Rashid Faridi

Amazon launches an Alexa system for hotels

Amazon launches an Alexa system for hotels


— Read on techcrunch.com/2018/06/19/amazon-launches-an-alexa-system-for-hotels/

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Urban Morphology: Gentrification for Better and Worse

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Rashid Faridi

Gentrification is the phenomenon when more wealthy people moving into lower-income communities. They often faces opposition, sometimes for the wrong reasons. It is important to consider all benefits and costs when formulating urban development policies.

During  last century, most North American cities experienced urban disinvestment, often called “white flight,” as middle-income households moved to suburbs, leaving concentrated poverty in many urban neighborhoods. it affected population patterns of the continent and created a number of problems, both for impoverished urban communities and for suburbanites living in sprawled, automobile-dependent areas. An increasing number of households now recognize the benefits of urban living, which is attracting more people, businesses, and investment into lower-income urban neighborhoods. While urban redevelopment seems good and desirable, the same phenomena is also called gentrification, which is generally considered undesirable, and some groups actively oppose.

Is urban redevelopment good or bad? On one hand, urban redevelopment can provide significant benefits to the new and existing urban residents. On the other hand, gentrification can impose risks and costs to vulnerable communities. It is important to consider all of these impacts when formulating urban development policies. This column attempts to provide a comprehensive assessment of them.

Gentrification Benefits

Let’s start with benefits. Living in an urban neighborhood improves accessibility and mobility options ; that is, it reduces the distances residents must travel to reach services and activities (education, employment, shopping, recreation, etc.) and tends to offer better walking, cycling, taxi, and public transit services than in suburban, automobile-dependent areas. Urban living reduces the time and money residents must spend on travel, plus the external transport costs motorists impose on others, including traffic and parking congestion, parking subsidies, collision risk, and pollution emissions. In addition, the provision of public infrastructure and services (utilities, roads, emergency response, schools, etc.) tends to be more efficient  in compact urban areas, allowing them to be cheaper and better. Because urban neighborhoods are generally very walkable, residents tend to be fitter and healthier ( not necessarily in Asian Cities).

Urban redevelopment can improve residents’ economic opportunity by increasing local employment options and reducing poverty concentration. It can be noted here that urban poverty is different from rural poverty. Urban neighborhoods have much better job access than suburbs. Urban redevelopment increases neighborhood business activity, which increases local economic development and employment. This can increase the number and variety of businesses in a neighborhood, for example, supporting a grocery or hardware store, that benefits existing residents. This is particularly beneficial to lower-income residents who rely on walking, cycling, and public transit, and so depend on neighborhood services.

Gentrification Costs

There are potential risks and costs to existing lower-income and minority residents that can result if more affluent households move into their neighborhood.

The most obvious risk is that increased demand by wealthier households can drive up housing prices.

If the number of lower-income consumers declines while rents increase, neighborhoods might lose businesses that sell lower-priced goods, such as cheap cafés and used clothing stores. However, this may be offset if increased demand (more total customers) makes local businesses more successful overall.

Opposition to gentrification can also reflect fear of community change. Many urban neighborhoods have distinct cultural identities and strong connections among local friends, businesses, and institutions. Lower-income residents might fear disrespect from more affluent and educated neighbors. Fear of cultural change can be reduced if communities maintain a strong identity, for example, by establishing a neighborhood name and deciding how public facilities are designed and community institutions are managed.

If we take the case of Asia, In Delhi, India gentrification is evident in some old areas. It can be read here in detail.

Source(s) and Link(s):

Planetizen

Ethnoburbs

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