The selection of any land-use plan requires judgement by the decisionmaker(s). The role of the analyst is to improve the information available to the decisionmaker(s). If the planning problem is represented by a mathematical model, then methods of generating alternative solutions by manipulating...

Cross-national research is a reflection of international relations, which arose with the creation of national states and their proliferation, in association with the industrial process, since the nineteenth century. It implies spatial comparisons, but comparative research now increasingly...

Abstract. In this paper some aspects of the theory of qualitative calculus are addressed, namely, those aspects dealing with qualitatively determinate relationships. A review is given of major literature which deals with the problem of determining the direction of change of the endogeneous...

In this paper the authors describe the application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to energy-policy formulation. The objective is to develop policies for a 'low energy' scenario for China. The authors explain how China can achieve its goal of quadrupling the gross value of industrial and...

Forecasting is essential in all planning activity; yet there are serious conceptual and methodological issues to be faced, particularly where public policymaking is involved. Forecasting methods in planning have varied widely from unsystematic and highly subjective scenario writing to the...

Three archetypal building forms, termed the pavilion, street, and court are evaluated and compared in terms of their thermal performance when they are realised as non-air-conditioned buildings in a hot climate. Techniques for calculating the solar exposure of buildings are reviewed, and a new...

A number of multivariate geometric models [unfolding, nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS), and the additive clustering model (ADCLUS)] were fitted to the data from a previous paper to examine questions relating to the nature of the attributes of the experience of churches (dimensions versus...

This paper begins with a short review of various approaches to validation proposed in the modeling literature. It then discusses three alternative views of models: (1) the concept of model in mathematical logic, (2) the conventional (empiricist) view of models in the social sciences, and (3) an...