We use a GIS-based agent-based model (ABM), named dynamic ecological exurban development (DEED), with spatial data in hypothetical scenarios to evaluate the individual and interacting effects of lot-size zoning and municipal land-acquisition strategies on possible forest-cover outcomes in Scio Township, a municipality in Southeastern Michigan. Agent types, characteristics, behavioural methods, ...

The use of form-based codes for commercial signage regulation, as an alternative to conventional zoning codes, is a growing conversation with planners, designers, lawyers and the sign industry. The purpose of this study is to address a knowledge gap in the conversation—how different signage code applications impact users’ aesthetic perceptions of urban streetscapes. This study evaluates aesthet...

This paper describes peculiar qualitative effects occurring in texture appearance, resulting from the manipulation of the amount of textural microelements. Keeping fixed the textural local properties, the increase of microelements’ number produces a texture aspect more homogeneous and denser. Conversely, patterns filled by a small number of elements exhibit a more salient subparts’ articulation...

Shifting markets can cause unexpected, stochastic changes in rural landscapes that may take local communities by surprise. Preferential siting of new industrial facilities in poor areas or in areas with few regulatory restrictions can have implications for environmental sustainability, human health, and social justice. This study focuses on frac sand mining-the mining of high-quality silica san...

In the State of New Jersey, two rural preservation tools are paramount: (1) Zoning that sets a floor on the size of residential lots; and (2) the outright acquisition of open space or its development rights by government and nonprofit entities. The present study explores the effects of these two policies on the number of building permits issued across 83 municipalities in northern New Jersey. T...

Although the compartmentalization of poultry industry components has substantial economic implications, and is therefore a concept with huge significance to poultry industries worldwide, the current requirements for compartment status are generic to all OIE member countries. We examined the consequences for potential outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the British poultry industry...

most formidable of all competitors. Japanese companies do not plan or design for their local market but rather for the larger world markets. They realize that they must export to survive. Japan has even developed an expertise in the exporting of entire plants, amortized by the revenues generated in the marketing of products to mature economies. Currently, a Japanese builder is constructing a pe...