Provide a critical appraisal of the sustainability challenges facing Glasgow, overview of the current strategies and policies guiding its approach

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ENGINEERING AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Sustainability and the Built Environment

Coursework 1

Brief for the report

You have been commissioned as a Sustainability Consultant to provide guidance to a developer called (Caledonian Eco-towns) who are seeking to establish a future development plan for a neighbourhood scale residential development within the Glasgow City Council area. They are a company based in Glasgow, and are looking to grow their local development portfolio and view a market opportunity by establishing a reputation for delivering sustainable residential projects. They see Glasgow City Council as forward thinking in relation to sustainability (reflected in Sustainable Glasgow Strategy and City Development Plan) and as a city with plenty of development of opportunities in a variety of contexts and scales.

You have been selected given your knowledge of the sustainability policy and planning context, and your familiarity with three high profile sustainable projects within the UK and Europe which you can draw lessons from. You are commissioned to provide a report which scopes out initially three high level options for a potential development project which respond to the sustainability challenges faced in Glasgow, then drawing on the lessons of three high profile sustainability projects to identify the best option around which to develop a set of guidelines to a future development plan identifying a potential site, and also a strategy for its development which seeks to reflect the principles of sustainable development which reflects the local context and is commercially viable.

Your report should be split into three equal sections:

  1. Provide a critical appraisal of the sustainability challenges facing Glasgow, overview of the current strategies and policies guiding its approach to towards a sustainable city, establishing the current/ future opportunities for residential developments within the city. To aid this discussion please draw on the themes such as environmental manifestation, land use and density, development patterns, infrastructure, economics and society, and sustainable construction. The appraisal should establish three high level options to consider for a residential development within Glasgow.
  2. Following a critical evaluation of three pioneering developments, establish lessons which will help you shape your development proposal. The three pioneering developments: 1) Vauban in Freiberg (Germany), 2) BEDZED (South London), and 3) Northwest Bicester (Oxfordshire) each display similarities but also different approaches in terms of budget, size, approach to technology, and commercial model. The evaluation should take the form of a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis for each, with discussion focusing on the key lessons which you will take forward to inform your neighbourhood development and to help you identify which of the three high level options to prioritise.
  3. Identifying a specific location within the Glasgow Council area, develop a set of guidelines to shape the future plan for neighbourhood scale development including recommendations on the nature of the site sought (greenfield or brownfield), the type of site (city centre, inner city, suburban), density levels, infrastructure, degree of engagement with sustainability principles (strong or weak module; Haughton’s models), design and construction, and the business model you intent to follow to ensure it is commercially viable. Ensure to make your guidance reflective of the local context outline how it is reflective of the cities sustainability challenges and future plans, and needs of the market.

Background to the three Eco-towns

There are recordings available for each of these as part of the lectures.

Freiburg

Vauban district of Freiburg is a neighbourhood to the south of the city centre, Germany. It was built as “a sustainable model district” on the site of a former French military base with construction beginning in 1998. In the year 2001 the first 2000 residents moved in and since then it has been developing and is recognised as one of the pioneer urban developments based around the principles of sustainability. It has influenced many urban planners with its focus on density, but also its establishment of innovative infrastructure solutions. It has had many successes, but has also helped us understand better sustainable living through its shortcomings.

BEDZED

The BedZED was the UK’s first Eco-development at a neighbourhood scale and has acted as the premier demonstration project in the UK for the development of low carbon living in residential environments since its completion in 2002/3. The aspiration was to try and take big steps towards delivering sustainability as opposed to the incremental steps often seen in projects of this time but despite acting as a successful demonstration project on many levels and informing government policy it has had many critiques arguing that it tried too much innovation in one project and has seen many criticise its eventual cost. It has gone on to influence new developments in the UK such as North West Bicester which have reflected a more commercial interpretation.

North West Bicester

In 2007 the UK Government announced plans to develop four designated eco-towns to new guidelines under Planning Policy Statement 1. In 2011 it was revealed that only North West Bicester would continue to be developed in line with these guidelines and a master plan was established and then approved with construction starting in April 2014 on an examplar phase for 393 homes. The aim for the UK’s first Eco-town was to establish a new sustainable community that is vibrant, resilient and truly integrated. The master plan for 6,000 inhabitants on agricultural land to the north west of the town of Bicester was developed in line with the Governments Planning Policy Statement 1 which called for eco towns to be zero carbon, adapted for climate change, reflect lifetime homes, green transport, green infrastructure, net gain for biodiversity, water efficient and promote quality. A key focus for the Eco-town is not only around promoting ecological health but also with a strong focus on community and economic development. The examplar phase sought 40% green space with 119 affordable homes, 274 private homes, a primary school, eco-pub and community centre with £6 million from Home and Community Agency, reflecting amongst other aspects an energy centre with district heating and housing built to zero carbon standards. Many have argued that Bicester when compared to the other three proposed eco-towns enjoyed a clear advantage in terms of its location beside transport infrastructure and its connectivity. Located in Oxfordshire in England the site is near junction 10 of the M40 motorway which has been adjusted to accommodate the development.

North West Bicester seeks to promote innovation in design and construction, but based on traditional architectural influences which are deemed to be commercially sympathetic. The development team is represented by A2Domainion who have brought Willmott Dixon as prime contractor, with a range of consultants and specialists including BioRegional Development Group as sustainability consultants who have applied their One Planet Living Principles which were established following their evaluation of the completed BEDZED.

Submission details

It is important that the report is well structured, easy to read, and demonstrates a good level of background research with emphasis placed on your own analysis. Key to this report is your ability to interpret the available information around the case studies and critically appraise in the context of the literature, policy agenda and best practice relating to sustainable development. Background research will be required for this coursework to obtain available information about Glasgow, the case studies, but a lot of emphasis is placed on your interpretation and what you think. You are encouraged to write in the style of a consultant’s report, but to align with academic requirements such as Harvard Referencing Style. Care should be taken not to use your word count up by repeating lots of content from the developer’s/ Council website. A bit of background is needed, but clever use of tables can help you remove words from the count.

The report should fall around 2,500 words (10% leeway either side) and should be fully referenced using the Harvard style.  The reference list and words used in tables is not included in the word count.

Submission date for coursework is Tuesday 10th March 2021,

 Consider the strengths and limitations or the tensions and benefits.

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Consider the strengths and limitations or the tensions and benefits. Also, use only the top journals as a reference

Identify the key skills and traits a strategic thinking leader should have and provide rationale for your choices.

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Refer to the article “A New Model of Strategic Thinking Competency” from the University Library.

Write a 1050- to 1400-word paper in which you do the following:
Identify the key skills and traits a strategic thinking leader should have and provide rationale for your choices.
Use the skills you identified to develop a questionnaire with a maximum of 5 questions using a 5-point Likert Scale and include a Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet/questionnaire in your assignment. You can evaluate yourself against this questionnaire and include a graph such as a spider or radar graph.
Include at least 7 references to support your position on strategic leadership skills. All references must originate from scholarly, peer-reviewed sources.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment as a Word document (and the questionnaire as a spreadsheet .

Visit and evaluate both Wal-Mart webpages provided and summarize its efforts for CSR and ethics.

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an important part of business for many of today’s companies. Many times, however, its CSR efforts are overshadowed by publicized ethical dilemmas. Wal-Mart is a great example of this. They have a webpage devoted to their CSR efforts: Global Responsibility. (Links to an external site.) Wal-Mart also has a page devoted to Ethics & Integrity. (Links to an external site.) The other side of the Wal-Mart coin, however, contains a slew of ethical issues including claims about labor law, discrimination, etc.

Visit and evaluate both Wal-Mart webpages provided and summarize its efforts for CSR and ethics.

Do you feel the CSR/ethics strategies Wal-Mart employs benefit the community, or do you feel it is more of a ploy to make itself look better? Explain and support your conclusion.
How does Wal-Mart ensure equitably of CSR globally? Does Wal-Mart’s CSR violate foreign companies’ laws or ethics? Justify and support your response.
Write an essay of at least 250 words, double-spaced, with proper reference citation per current APA guidelines. Ensure you have a cover page, introduction, body, and conclusion for your essay.

Describe your goals (i.e., what career/job would you ultimately like to have, or if you are in your dream job, use that job). What is it about this career or job that makes it so desirable?

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To develop a comprehensive self-portrait that will be useful in understanding and developing yourself as a person and manager.

Project Format:

Part 1
A. Describe your goals (i.e., what career/job would you ultimately like to have, or if you are in your dream job, use that job). What is it about this career/job that makes it so desirable?
B. Describe this career/job in detail. What duties are involved? What type of person is best suited for this position? Include personality attributes, etc. like those discussed in your self-assessments and class content. Be sure to do some research here (i.e., talk to someone who holds the position, research the job requirements, etc.)

Part 2
Describe the results from at least 10 of the various assessments and exercises done in and out of class. What did you learn about yourself? Did anything surprise you? What results did you expect/not expect to see? Explain. Do not include the actual printouts of your assessments in your report. Discuss only the assessments that you strongly agree with, that you strongly disagree with, those that surprised you in some way, or those that are applicable to the job you’re describing. Some of the assessments will indicate that you are in the middle range and may not be that interesting to you. You do not have to discuss these assessments.

Part 3
Describe how suited (or not) you are for the position described in Part 1. Explain why. Discuss where there are similarities and differences between yourself and the attributes needed for the position.

Part 4
Choose an area or two where there are differences between your attributes and those required for the job. Describe how you are going to try and alleviate those differences. Devise a plan, based on goal-setting theory, on how you can overcome them. For example, if you find that you cannot handle stress very well, and the position desired is highly stressful, describe how you can better deal with stress (i.e., attend a stress reduction class, etc.). Be specific about your plan. Outline it in such a way that you will actually be able to follow it. Include a timetable.

Critically evaluate the various modes of entry that are relevant to SEAT and recommend

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In the attached report, London had been identified as being the most attractive city for the product launch of the SEAT ‘Minimό’. SEAT has recommissioned your services to undertake further research into the city that had been recommended in the report. the report divided into :
1- 1. Apply the 5-Forces model to critically analyse the competitive environment of urban mobility provision in London city.

• Remember that you can present a summary of key points in a table or diagram.
• A SWOT analysis is not acceptable.

700 words

2. Apply the Value Chain model to identify which of SEAT’s internal value-adding activities will be most relevant in supporting SEAT to launch the ‘Minimό’ into london.

• Remember that you can present a summary of key points in a table or diagram.
• A SWOT analysis is not acceptable.

700 words

3. Critically evaluate the various modes of entry that are relevant to SEAT and recommend – with justification – the most suitable mode of entry that will enable the product launch of the ‘Minimό’ to be a success for the company.

• Remember that you can present a summary of key points in a table or diagram.

650 words

4. Provide a critical reflection on the extent to which you believe the SEAT ‘Minimό’ represents an example of creating shared value (CSV); support the answer with reference to relevant CSV literature.

; 650 words

Identify at least three major challenges that make it unique compared to a non-technical project.

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Based on your studies and/or experience, select a project which you consider to be a “technical project” and using the proper APA format. In this paper, explain:

What makes this project “technical?”
Identify at least three major challenges that make it unique compared to a non-technical project.
Briefly describe what management challenges you might expect compared to a non-technical project.
It is not expected that you will identify every characteristic of a technical project, but major elements you consider that differentiate it from a non-technical project. If you know someone working on a technical project, consider interviewing them. We can learn a lot from our peers in the field.

Properly cite at least 2 additional sources outside. Remember, this paper needs to be original to this class and in your own words. While outside sources are allowed, your paper should be overwhelmingly your own words. Papers with more than 10-15% citations will have points heavily deducted.

How would you manage this project differently from non-tech projects?

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congratulations! You have just been appointed manager of a complex, high risk, mobile app development project. This is the first time your organization is launching a project of this nature. Your boss wants you to develop it in a iterative manner. She wants a minimum working product in 45 days in the Apple “App Store” and Android “Play Store. ”

How would you approach this challenging project? What would be your first steps?
How would you manage this project differently from non-tech projects?
How would you make sure you meet your boss’s ambitious deadline without hindering quality?

What are the major technologies e.g. robots, artificial intelligence based services and blockchain?

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You just have this question with a one page paper.

What are the major technologies e.g. robots, artificial intelligence based services and blockchain? Why do they have potential to disrupt?

Discuss the types of planning that a university should engage in and the benefits and limitations that the plans would bring to the institution.

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Q1. Institutions that fail to plan are planning to fail. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your position.
Q2. Discuss the types of planning that a university should engage in and the benefits and limitations that the plans would bring to the institution.