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Books in Social sciences

The Social Sciences collection forms a definitive resource for those entering, researching, or teaching in any of the many disciplines making up this interdisciplinary area of study. Written by experts and researchers from both Academic and Commercial domains, titles offer global scope and perspectives.

Key subject areas include: Library and Information Science; Transportation; Urban Studies; Geography, Planning, and Development; Security; Emergency Management.

Homelessness to Hope

  • 1st Edition
  • April 16, 2024
  • Uday Chatterjee + 4 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 4 0 5 2 - 5
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 4 0 5 3 - 2
Homelessness to Hope: Research, Policy and Practices on Global Perspectives brings together stories, observations and critical appraisals that have emerged out of interdisciplinary studies spanning the global North and South. It explores how diverse accounts on homelessness and homeless people are situated within the structural-institutional arrangements of the developing and developed worlds. Through its comparative framework, the book offers a broader understanding of the multiple ways in which homelessness is experienced, perceived, and addressed. The book uses cross-cutting theoretical framings (such as resilience, wellbeing, social-ecological systems, sustainability, urban planning, institutions, gender) and emerging discourses on homelessness to complement current empirical findings.In addition, it provides insights on diverse concepts, meanings, perceptions, identities, and values concerning homelessness across rural and urban settings to promote a comprehensive understanding. In doing so, the book critically addresses the limits of contemporary discussions on homelessness, eviction, and poverty. Broadly, the book's authors explore the causations and processes of homelessness to shed light on physical, social, ontological, territorial, and cognitive facets of homelessness at both local and regional contexts across the world. Furthermore, the book lays a strong focus on viable transitions through identifying, comparing, and advocating for inclusive, collaborative, actionable measures and policies.

Landscape Evolution of Continental-Scale River Systems

  • 1st Edition
  • Volume 24
  • March 14, 2024
  • James W. Sears
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 3 0 4 - 6
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 3 0 5 - 3
Landscape Evolution of Continental-Scale River Systems: A Case Study of North America's Pre-Pleistocene Bell River Basin provides a detailed case study and complete analysis of this continental-scale North American paleo-river system. The book uses detrital zircon provenance data to link incision of the Grand Canyon to deposition of its erosional products in a giant drowned delta in the Labrador Sea, in the context of sedimentary source-to-sink processes and Plio-Pleistocene continental drainage changes. The case study describes the tectonic changes in this continental-scale paleo-river system, with global implications, and contrasts this system to other continental-scale river systems around the world.This book is a valuable reference for postgraduate students, academics and researchers in the fields of geology, fluvial geomorphology and other geosciences. Readers will be able to use this detailed case study to better understand the implications for how active tectonics of headwaters regions influence delta deposition in continental-scale river systems around the world.

The Metaverse and Smart Cities

  • 1st Edition
  • February 28, 2024
  • Zaheer Allam + 1 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 2 3 5 1 - 8
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 2 3 5 0 - 1
The Metaverse and Smart Cities: Urban Environments in the Age of Digital Connectivity explores the intersection between the rapidly growing metaverse and the future of cities. The metaverse is a virtual world that is increasingly gaining attention as a new frontier for human interaction and commerce. At the same time, cities are undergoing significant transformation as they face challenges such as population growth, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Urban planners and city administrators will find valuable insights on how the metaverse can be integrated into the planning and development of smart, sustainable, and future cities.The book begins with an introduction to the concepts and technology of the metaverse as well as its history. It then sheds light on the current and future challenges and opportunities that the metaverse presents to cities and the quality of life of urban dwellers. It delves into the ways in which the metaverse can change cities, both in terms of their physical and virtual environments, and the impact it can have on the lives of those who live in them. It brings together the latest research and perspectives from experts in the fields of virtual reality, urban planning, and sustainability, to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of this rapidly evolving field.

Managing Airport Corporate Performance

  • 1st Edition
  • February 27, 2024
  • Dimitrios J. Dimitriou + 2 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 9 1 0 9 - 8
Managing Airport Corporate Performance: Leveraging Business Intelligence and Sustainable Transition provides a comprehensive and up-to-date resource that explores the integration of business intelligence (BI) techniques in management practices of airport operators. The book sheds light on how BI can play a pivotal role in enhancing corporate performance, strategic decision-making, and operational efficiency within the aviation industry. It uniquely explores the relationship between intelligent and effective management practices in airport operations and the achievement of corporate performance objectives in the aviation industry.This book showcases the practical applications of BI in the airport operators' context by providing a contemporary and holistic review of the strategies, best practices, and challenges involved in managing airport operations based on BI to drive corporate performance. Additionally, it recognizes the increasing focus on sustainability and the need for airport operators to align their operations with environmental considerations, corporate social responsibility, and economic viability.

Digitally Disrupted Space

  • 1st Edition
  • February 15, 2024
  • Anastasia Panori
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 4 1 5 0 - 8
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 4 1 5 1 - 5
Digitally Disrupted Space: Proximity and New Development Opportunities for Regions and Cities develops an analytical framework of the key structural elements in relation to the digital space and its impact on existing spatial interactions at a regional and urban level. The book puts forth the argument that the digital space is a new form of space acting complementary to existing spatial structures and creating novel interactions between and/or within them. It explores how digital space enhances connected intelligence by combining knowledge-intensive activities, cooperation between organizational and institutional actors, and smart environments of knowledge creation and diffusion.Academics and researchers will find insights into how cities and regions can adopt this new developmental paradigm; how to organize connected intelligence within regional and urban environments; and how to sustain productivity, resilience and inclusion through the use of digital space. Digital transformation managers in the public sector and entrepreneurs in private organizations can leverage the opportunities offered from this transition process, not only by identifying actions and strategies for boosting their productivity, but also for making them more resilient during socio-economic, environmental and health crises.

The Real Case for Driverless Mobility

  • 1st Edition
  • January 24, 2024
  • Alain L. Kornhauser + 1 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 3 6 8 5 - 3
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 3 6 8 6 - 0
The Real Case for Driverless Mobility: Putting Driverless Vehicles to Use for Those Who Really Need a Ride explores solutions for providing mobility for the unserved/underserved, including those who cannot drive themselves, afford transport alternatives, or who live in areas where neither public nor private transport is offered. The book synthesizes the career-long activities of the authors and the Princeton SmartDrivingCars Summits and assesses whether cars without drivers can deliver an affordable and more effective alternative to mass transit and taxis.A high percentage of the residents in many U.S. cities are poor, and the jobs that remain are often not easily reached by public transit systems which struggle to deliver a minimum level of service with their limited budgets. The SDC Summits were initiated in 2017 by Alain Kornhauser to attempt to address this problem. This book presents the problem and the proposed solution in a form that can be used by a wide audience and help build a constituency, both for the proof of concept and for an eventual implementation in many cities and towns in North America and other parts of the world.Professionals, investors, researchers and students alike will find this book a valuable exploration of how driverless technology can be applied to personal transport that can be used by a large sub-group of the population who are not currently served by automobile transport and are poorly served by public transport solutions.

Urban Risk Management in China

  • 1st Edition
  • January 23, 2024
  • Jianping Sun
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 8 6 4 2 - 4
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 8 6 4 3 - 1
Urban Risk Management in China: Principles, Methods and Practices discusses the management of urban risk, the practical application of risk prevention, and the practice of control in the industry. Urban risk management is an emerging and interdisciplinary research field, and this book meets the urgent need to identify, analyze, and summarize urban risks and management difficulties that are experienced worldwide, especially in metropolitan cities. With rapid and large-scale urbanization, China's urban management experience in facing a series of comprehensive challenges provides a helpful way forward for urban planners around the world.This book clarifies the concept of urban risk, which includes urban land use, housing, infrastructure construction, economic and social development, and environmental protection, with an aim of analyzing the obstacles to urban risk management, forming a cognitive framework, organizing the practice of urban risk management, and finally forming a workable urban risk management system.

XAI Based Intelligent Systems for Society 5.0

  • 1st Edition
  • November 29, 2023
  • Fadi Al-Turjman + 4 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 5 3 1 5 - 3
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 5 7 8 4 - 7
XAI Based Intelligent Systems for Society 5.0 focuses on the development and analysis of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)-based models and intelligent systems that can be utilized for Society 5.0—characterized by a knowledge intensive, data driven, and non-monetary society. The book delves into the issues of transparency, explainability, data fusion, and interpretability, which are significant for the development of a super smart society and are addressed through XAI-based models and techniques. XAI-based deep learning models, fuzzy and hybrid intelligent systems, expert systems, and intrinsic explainable models in the context of Society 5.0 are presented in detail.The book also addresses—using XAI-based intelligent techniques—the privacy issues intrinsic in storing huge amounts of data or information in virtual space. The concept of Responsible AI, which is at the core of the future direction of XAI for Society 5.0, is also explored in this book. Finally, the application areas of XAI, including relevant case studies, are presented in the concluding chapter. This book serves as a valuable resource for graduate/post graduate students, academicians, analysts, computer scientists, engineers, researchers, professionals, and other personnel working in the area of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and intelligent systems, who are interested in creating a people-centric smart society.

Dynamics and Stochasticity in Transportation Systems Part II

  • 1st Edition
  • November 15, 2023
  • Giulio E Cantarella + 2 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 1 9 7 9 - 5
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 1 9 7 8 - 8
Dynamics and Stochasticity in Transportation Systems Part II: Equations and Examples goes beyond theory and mathematical models to give readers a practical understanding of dynamic and stochastic assignment modeling approaches in transportation systems. After an introduction in Chapter One, following chapters present recent advances, reviews of contents of the corresponding chapters in Giulio Cantarella’s previous book, discussions on numerical examples, comprehensive summaries, and final remarks. Readers will appreciate the fully discussed numerical examples, applications to real cases, review of recent developments and other materials not easily available in the literature, including long proofs. This book bridges mathematical theory with operational needs in a way that no current book does with practical, real-world cases and examples. Academics, researchers, and instructors as well as professionals, practitioners, and consultants will find this a valuable resource for solving network equilibrium problems in transportation systems analysis.

The Marketing of Academic, National and Public Libraries Worldwide

  • 1st Edition
  • October 24, 2023
  • David Baker + 1 more
  • English
  • Paperback
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 4 3 5 - 7
  • eBook
    9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 3 4 3 6 - 4
The Marketing of Academic, National and Public Libraries Worldwide: Marketing, Branding, Community Engagement enables readers to learn about the most up-to-date trends, as well as hands-on practices and marketing tactics taken directly from 48 highly seasoned marketing and community engagement librarians around the world, namely in Africa, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Hong Kong, Latvia and Qatar. Via a series of in-depth and semi-structured interviews, this book provides insights into successful marketing strategies librarians can use to encourage donors and patrons to understand that their libraries are a great choice for fulfilling information needs, recreational interests, intellectual pursuits, and more.This book contains 45 interviews with academic, national and public librarians from 19 different countries and territories. So many voices! The focus is on the librarians themselves who have played an important role in the marketing and branding of libraries and have designed the processes to engage communities. What is intriguing to the reader is just how far the attitudes and perceptions of librarians affect the salience and achievements of any marketing practice in the library. These attitudes and perceptions fall out of the interview conversation and onto the page." International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies