The main focus of this research is to critically evaluate the sustainability issues of Interest-free Micro–Finance Institutions (MFIs) in general and a recently developed micro finance model - Rural Development Scheme (RDS) of Islamic Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) in particular. Recently, in...

The book is a positive image of how cities can contribute not only to a better economic and social future but also a profoundly better ecological future. "Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems" shows how cities can begin to reintegrate into their bioregional environment and planned taking into...

This research, promoted by the Università della Svizzera italiana, Accademia di architettura di Mendrisio, through i.CUP (Institute for the Contemporary Urban Project) laid the ground for establishing an observatory of industrial buildings that would give special attention to their fall into...

A new form of regions` development is based on development of territorial entity and utilization of specific region unique in order to underline region positives and create maximum work opportunities. These forms include parks and clusters. They are factors of productivity and competetiveness...

Counter-urban movement is becoming more and more common phenomenon nowadays. Several countries have started loosing population; many other are facing tremendous loss of urban population. This paper has addressed the global and local challenges and issues of counter-urban movement and...

During the last 50 years in Greece growing demand for urban (residential and industrial) space has resulted in unplanned residential development and informal dwelling construction to the expense of agricultural and forest land uses. Despite the fact that the post-war challenge faced by the state...

This paper gives an overview of the urban planning management system in Los Angeles, United States. This system consists of institutional subsystem, legal subsystem, operational subsystem, and technical subsystem. The City of Los Angeles Planning Department carries out its urban planning...

Throughout the past half century, there has been a growing and persisting demand towards developing more integrated approaches to planning as a way to combat the notoriously complex and chronic urban problems. Cognizant of this need, this paper, while offering justification for such a planning...

The smart city infrastructure is the introductory step for establishing the overall smart city framework and architecture. Very few smart cities are recently established across the world. Some examples are: Dubai, Malta, Kochi (India), Singapore. The scope of these cities is mainly limited to...

The coexistence of different peoples and civilization in ‘Terra di Lavoro’ Caserta - Italy during the Middle Ages urged the Author to ask himself what role everyone of them played there. In particular from the analysis the reader can learn about the minority Hebraic ethnic groups of Danitis,...