Economic Globalization and Global Sustainable Development Essay

Topic: To what extent is Economic Globalization an obstacle or an opportunity for Global Sustainable Development? Introduction: Globalisation refers to the growing link between nations resulting from an increase in trade people and ideas in one global market place. Globalisation is a concept that has its roots dating back to the ages of Karl Marx, Peter Dicken (2011). Globalisation has become a platform for many developed an developing nation to engage in trade and investment related activities. Cross border investments and international trades are the key elements of Globalisation. Globalisation was introduced in the global economy in mid 1980’s . Introduction of globalisation has resulted the companies to lower the costs especially in terms of transportation, communication and moreover to analyze the economic feasibility of the firms to setup different phases of their productions around the globe based on their economic feasibility. Globalisation has been focus area of research for academic scholars from mid 1980’s , Globalisation has been termed differently by different scholars. For some of the research scholars Globalization creates a positive technological, political or economic progress. For some of the scholars it creates a dominance of the developed nations over the developing nations. For some globalisation has changed the global business scenario in which the power of the state is defined by the power of firms. Globalisation has different types of features like economic, social, cultural, political and environmental features. Due to globalisation tremendous changes taken place in global trade and exchanges, and boundary less international integration which includes the international migration, currency exchange, transfer of technology and flow of ideas and information internationally. Globalisation  also initiates the change of industrial structures which help to increase the power, productivity, capacity and profitability of that firm. As a result of globalisation the internationalised enterprises depend on subsidiaries and strategic alliances which lead to the comparative and competitive advantage. The cultural taste and priorities also influenced by globalisation through global communication like email and internet. Taking the positive and negative side, challenges and opportunities, could say that globalisation has changed the world system and the trends which is more likely to be continued in future as well. This will result the higher flow of the goods, capital, culture, people, technology, invention and services. One of the benefits of globalisation is increase in production and efficiency. Due to competition among the markets may lead to improved division of labour. Competition among the markets also increase the production, output, higher wage level and better living standards. When considering the problems of equity and distribution it could be a burden to poor and developing countries that has to pay the burden of exclusion and marginalisation sharing the benefits of globalisation. So there is an essential of making market favour to the poor as well by decreasing the social barriers and help the poor countries to get along with the risks and shocks. Globalization has created a new potential for the development and wealth creations for the firms which can be analyzed based on different views mainly based on political, business and economist view. Political View: According to Ohmae 1995 and Scholte 2000 the idea about globalisation is bringing about the demise of sovereign national state as global forces undermine the ability of governments to control their own economies and societies. In the world of Politics Globalization is termed as the widening deepening and ease of access of the world interconnectedness and the issues or the outcomes of these issues is in the study of world politics. Business View: On a business perspective globalization refers to a wide range of business activities undertaken across national borders. Globalization has favoured  lot of business activities and drawn attentions of many business executives. According to Al-Rodhan 2006, Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, course, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities for business across national boundaries. Globalisation helps in declining in restrictions for the business to selling their products in other countries other than the home country. There by helping business to sell their products internationally and lower prices according to consumer affordability. Economist view: An economist view globalisation is defined as an economic interdependence of geographically distinct people. According to Heron (2008) explains that Globalisation is about movement of goods, resources and enterprises across national boundaries seeking cheaper resources to maximize profit and efficiency† The economic view of globalisation is closely linked to the political view. Political aspect of a country helps to facilitate the changes in the economic process of the country. Pons and cons of economic globalisation: Globalization can create conflicts at different levels, especially when the counties that benefit from globalization have been richer countries of OECD. There has been a wide range of economic disparities especially in case of income. Mainly with many of the Asian developing nations joining the club of richer countries and poorer countries of Africa and Latin American and some of the European nations going poorer. The problem of distribution of income remains the main challenge of Globalization. There are also many challenges that rooted because of the interdependence of the economies. The local economic crises and fluctuations of one country started affecting the economies of the other countries. One of the main examples being the financial crisis of Asia started in Thailand in 1998 and spread to other south east Asian nations and international financial systems. This was one of the biggest examples of financial vulnerability in the financial systems due to globalization. Recent subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent economic recessions was one of the main examples of the inter connectedness  of countries due to globalisation. These have also led to economic warfare and even military actions in some cases. However on analyzing the recession of 2009 event though there has been a wide hit in the growth of GDP in many countries the economies of china and India showed a strong positive sign and maintained a sturdy GDP growth which was a big blow to all the critics of globalisations. Globalisation has been rise since the end of cold war. Developed economies as seen a wide jump in there GDP during these periods. But off late the scenario has changed the there has been a wide jump in the GDP of developing nations like India and China. Increase in Foreign Investments can be used as one measure of growing economic globalization. There has been a huge inflow of FDI into the developing economies of Asian countries. The specialisation of companies and people in creating goods and services in a globalized economy through global trade contribute to the highest prosperity but can lead to monotony because Globalisation creates monotony in production allocating production levels to the most suited regions. For example production of rice in a region would cause the soil to become in fertile and creates an ecological imbalance. Another impact of globalization is the impact on sovereign countries, they have lost control over their economies and the power has moved to the developed nations, multinationals and international financial institutions. This highlights the fact that national sovereignty has been systematically undermined by the effects of globalisation. This impact had a greater effect on the poorer and developing countries, Leading to an increasing cynicism among political elites and their citizenries. This has led for an increase in national sentiments, populism and protectionism among the citizens which in turn led to political movements against globalisation. The impact of globalisation can also become a scapegoat especially in case of failure of national policies like causing high unemployment and undermining social welfare during different phases of development. Globalisation has also created a great source of regional disparities which in turn has led to initiation of many warfare and destabilisation in many regions. For example they have created ethinic irredentism, violence and regional conflicts like wars from Iraq to Afghanistan to horn of Africa. The interconnectedness of globalisation has also led to evolution of terrorism , environmental impacts  like global warming etc. How globalization impacts sustainable development? Globalisation is featured by both endogenous factors and exogenous factors i.e. Its is influenced by factors like the rise in technology as well as the decision making of the governments like the foreign trade liberalisation. According to Pearce and Barbier (2000) sustainable development contains three main components environment social and economic development. Globalization has impacted this entire factor. The recently published framework by OECD for sustainable development contains four main factors. Wider use of Markets: They suggest increasing the scope of expanded use of market based approach to provide signals to internalise markets and social externalities in an efficient manner. On the environment side this is likely to involve more use of environmental taxes and subsidies. Strengthen decision Making Process: Sustainable development can be achieved at all levels by coordinating and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of policy interventions. In other words this also states that the governments should integrate environmental and social policy needs into sectors and bring in transparency in policy design implementation Harness Science and Technology: Scientific advancements and technology are one of the major forces underlying in increasing productivity and living conditions of people. This imply that there is a need for the governments to spend more on the researches and technology enhancements. Manage Links to the Global economy: The developing countries should be more a major player in the global economic activities and international trade and investment flows are major concerns of sustainable development. Trade and Investment flow need to be as compatible as possible with society’s environmental and social policy objectives. The increasing interconnectedness both on the selling as well as on the market with the introduction of globalization has led to a sharp increase in the division of labour and a focus on the competencies of every individual at all the levels. Multinational companies restrict to good and services offered at high quality at lower prices. The global trading of goods and services has led to a worldwide increase in production. According to world bank production of goods and services increase by 45% during the past decade due to the introduction of globalisation, The growth data mainly indicates from the developing economies like China, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. Especially in case of china with its huge population in manufacturing sector has met the majority of demand from the western world. Developing countries like India which was once a British colony mainly exporting Tea and cotton has become a global player in the international markets. The economic power revelations are drifting away from strong holds of developed countries like US and EU states to developing nations like China Inda Brazil etc. Globalization has helped to reduce poverty World Bank estimates reveal that number of people who lived on less than one dollar a day decreased from 2.5 billion in 2004 to 260 million in 2007. This was mainly due to the poverty reduction in countries like India and China. At the same time we could see that there is wide increase in income difference The anti-globalisation and the debate One of the main challenges faced by globalisation is that it requires grater participation efforts among the developed countries and the poorer countries and the developing nations. Joint efforts are required for creating new political structure and restructuring existing structure in order to bring a sustainable economic globalisation. This is not an easy effort for the governments as it require a better clarity and transparency in our economic systems, appropriate accountability and above all a vast reserve of political will. The main challenges remain with distribution of income and equally distributing the gains of globalisation, In short the governments can choose two side approach to bring in a sustainable economic development. Firstly by developing or improving the policies for domestic policy   among developed nations and secondly by improving the systematic use and advancement in technology. This approach would especially help the economies of developing countries because they are more susceptible to global capital volatility. This would help them to rely less on foreign inflow of capital and generate wealth within the economy. According to Dani Rodrik (2009). has emphasised the centrality of locally financed investment for the success of small, open developing economies, and hence there is a need for them to increase private and public savings. Public spending among developing countries can, therefore, play a socially and economically efficient Conclusion: Globalisation posses a deep reaching roots and also a force that helps to influence the direction of the nation. The aim of the globalisation is to remove all the difficulties and privatize all the resources and services. There are few factors that influenced the globalisation that includes the sophisticated communications, transportation technologies and services, migration and immigration and people started moving from places to places, a level of economic activity that helps to grow the market by combining the industrial markets and these international agreements helps to reduce the cost of doing business in foreign countries. Through this process of globalisation the world economy has integrated and increased. This integration helps to advance the trading of goods and services, the capital flow and made it easy for the migration of people across the world there by bringing in a sustainable economic development.. In 1980’s this word have been used when the internet and technology helped to increase, and faster the business across the world. For sure the globalisation has positives effect universally but there were protest against the WTO regarding the hazards of globalization. There were many anti globalisation movements like the consumer boycotts on the goods produced by multinational companies. In Short it can be concluded that market liberalisation by itself does not solve all the problems, it has caused severe damages to poor nations. Globalisation is the key the factor in today’s business world. The new era of Globalisation brings in new challenges and opportunities. I believe sustainable economic development can be achieved only by more   participation from all the levels of the economy. It is advisable to consider all the factors like environmental factors, Employment factors when taking business decision regarding globalisation in an economy. Scientific use of technolo gy and bringing a clear transparency in government governance would help the economy to bring in a sustainable economic development. References: Aggarwal, Raj, Colm Kearney and Jenny Berrill, â€Å"Defining and Classifying MNCs in International Business: Implications for Research Design and Strategy† Adams Jan 1997, Globalisation trade and the environment . In Globalization and Environment : OECD Acker, Joan. 2004. â€Å"Gender, Capitalism and Globalisation † Critical Sociology 30 (1): 17-41 Connell, R. (2005). Change among the gatekeepers: Men, masculinities and gender equality in the global arena. Signs: journal of women in culture and society , 30(3), 1801- 1825. Clark, I., Globalization and Fragmentation : International Relations in theTwentieth Century (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997) Freeman, Richard B. (2006), â€Å"People Flows in Globalization† Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring, p. 145-170. Friedman, Milton, Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press,Chicago, 1982), p.133. Germaine, R., ed., Globalization and Its Critics (London: Macmillan, 1997). Gill, Stephen, â€Å"Economic Globalization and the Internationalization ofAuthority: Limits and Contradictions,† Geoforum, 23 (1992), 269. Hall, Nigel 2002 Globalisation and Third World Poverty, paper presented to New Zealand Association of Social Workers annual conference, unpublished Moghadam, Valentine. 1999. â€Å"Gender and Globalisation: Female Labor and Women’sMobilization.† Journal of World Systems Research V(2): 367 -388

Pestel and Porters Tesco

PESTEL provides an analysis into the external business factors which may effect the company performances. It can be used on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis to analysis the macro environmental effects on a company. POLITICAL-EU Free trading laws promoting trade between western and eastern European resulting in expansion of tesco retail outlets ECONOMIC-Economic recession has affected consumers buying behaviors. Consumers buy essential commodities however the demand for luxury has decreased.Consumers spend less time eating out and spend more time eating in, in order to cut down on cost. SOCIAL-The majority of the uk population is made up of retired people who spend less on food and eat less. Consumer attitude changing to become more healthy. Increase in demand for organic foods. Increase in UK ethnicity population has lead to a wide range of food items available in store TECHNOLOGICAL-Increase in population access to internet has caused an increase in Online grocery shopping. Loyaty programs has enabled tesco to analyze consumers spending habits.Mobile technology allowing convenient shopping on mobile devices. Self service tills makes buying quicker for customers ENVIRONMENTAL-Incentives to re-use bags and be more environmentally friendly. Recycling center’s available at tescos. Carbon foot print data available on some products. Greener living scheme which advices customers on environmental issues such as how to reduce food waste and carbon foot print when preparing meals LEGAL-Increase in VAT rate will affect the non-food sector of tescos. Increase of minimum wage of over 21s (from 6. 08 to 6. 9) impacts operating costs. PORTERS 5 forces allows the analysis of the competitive environment. SUBSTITUTE of PRODUCTS and services-Low threat of substitute for food products as tescos provides quality goods at low prices Substitutes- indirect- pubs offering food, local marketss or shops, on line suppliers New COMPETITORS – Low rate of competition from new entrants into the market because it takes a huge investment and a new business pathway to capture customers however lidl, aldi have come in to the market capturing a new market with lower prices.Marks and spencer offer food at the high end of the market Old COMPETITORS – High rate of competition from other food retail stores such as asda, Morrison, Sainsbury’s and waitros in the form of price, promotions and retaining customer loyalty. Competitors Sainsbury etc compete as a traditional competitor for market share BARGINING POWER OF BUYERS High bargaining powers of buyers in the supermarkets, high.We have lots of choice as to where we shop. Tesco have to keep on their toes to be competitive. When I take the DLR to work however the buyer has no power, no choice, so prices go up BARGINING POWERS OF SUPPLIERS – suppliers to supermarkets have little power and get squeezed by the big boys. they have to supply at a lower price, will not get paid by tesco until it suits tesco.

Paragraph Writing Essay

When writing an assignment for my class, I would use what I learned from class. In other words, I will take the tips and strategies that I have learned from the reading and videos in class as the steps to take when writing an assignment. The first step I take when writing for an assignment is to find a topic that interests me. After finding a topic, I will research my topic to get a better understanding of what I am writing. Then I will start my Pre-writing, by organizing my thoughts in an outline form, to help identify my topic sentence, important facts, ideas and a conclusion for my essay. When I have my outline complete, I can start a rough draft from my thoughts and ideas I used to create my outline. With this step, I can construct my rough draft to form an essay that is informative and interesting to my readers. From there, I will begin revising my rough draft. I will do this by going back over my draft to find to see if my ideas supports my thesis statement and that my paper makes sense. The last step in my writing process is editing. Editing gives me the opportunity to look over what I have written, re-read, and I check for spelling and grammar issues. Taking the above steps in writing helps me to finish my final draft and help improve my academic and professional writing in the future.

Criminal Investigation (Arson) Essay

What are the similarities and differences between an arson investigation and a bombing investigation? Arson is the intentionally setting of fires to property, persons, and vehicles. Bombing can be defined as the offense of using a projectile, or explosive weapon to cause alarm, panic, danger, or death. There are many similarities and differences between the investigation of a bombing and the investigation of arson. The similarities to conducting an investigation for arson or bombing is as follows: 1) secures the scene upon arrival, have authorities evacuate the area and keep people from contaminating the crime scene further. 2) Notify the proper authorities or investigators to respond to the scene. 3) Begin the process of eliminating any accidental possibilities. 4) Begin to observe the structure, person, or object damaged by the fire or explosion and attempt to locate the point of origin. 5) Observe if any physical issues caused the damage. 6) Begin to collect and process the evidence. 7) Back track and make sure all information is taken and processed before leaving the scene. Be sure during the entire investigation we are using our senses and interviewing any credible witnesses. There are numerous differences when investigating an arson or bombing. Normally a bombing situation is going to be more chaotic, and have the possible for more causalities. During a bombing investigation, many other agencies including federal, local, and state agencies will deploy teams and personnel to assist. Bomb dogs and Bomb technicians will arrive on scene and control the security cordons for the scene. Many different groups and personnel will have certain jobs and duties to perform in order for the scene to become clear. During any bombing investigation a secondary (explosive) device needs to be discovered before any time of physical investigation can begin. After the scene is cleared a further investigation can began. During an arson investigation, the local Arson investigator will normally control the scene upon arrival and complete the arson investigation. Very  seldom do federal authorities become involved unless the arson occurs to federal property. Generally Arson investigations are not a chaotic and time sensitive as the bombing investigation. Arson investigations are filed through police and the fire department at most agencies. As shown there are many similarities and differences between an Arson investigation and a Bombing investigation. Both investigations are important and represent direct threats to our country, citizens and property.

Science and Materials for construction and the built Enviroment Essay

Science and Materials for construction and the built Enviroment - Essay Example Its strength and durability make it a great choice for structures exposed to high amounts of stress, such as weather, heat, large amounts of applied force and constant usage† (LaRoche, 1999). Modifying the chemical structure of the alloy permits steel to have enhanced and multiple uses. It has many other benefits apart from construction of roads and buildings, such as building of ships, cars and every other means of transport. It can literally be said that steel is unconstrained in its possible benefits. It is a major element in the construction of home appliances, automobiles, and shipping containers and various other machines. 2. Copper It is a thin wired metal with a high-level of thermal and electrical conductivity. It is used as a conductor of electricity and heat, a building material, and as a constituent element in various metal mixtures. The low stiffness of copper describes its huge electrical conductivity and, therefore, also high thermal conductivity, which is the se cond most important feature among pure metals at room temperature. This is since the resistivity to electron transport in metals at room temperature frequently derives from dispersion of electrons in thermal atmosphere of the network, which is comparatively nullified in case of a soft metal. â€Å"The maximum permissible current density of copper in open air is approximately 3.1?106 A/m2 of cross-sectional area, above which it begins to heat excessively† (Phillip, 2006). Electrical conductivity is a vital property in electrical wiring technique. Copper has the maximum electrical conductivity ranking among all non-precious metals. A distinctive combination of high strength and high ductility enables copper to be perfect for wiring systems. In electrical systems, high thermal conductivity is necessary for dispersing waste heat, mainly at terminations and links. It is also necessary for dropping energy consumption appropriate to the creation of waste heat. 2. Aluminum Aluminum i s a metal similar to copper, steel, brass, zinc, lead and titanium. It can be dissolved, radiated, created and developed like the aforementioned metals and it also conducts electric current. The strength and durability of an aluminum mixture differs generally, not only accordingly of the elements of the specific mixture, but also as a result of heat treatments and production procedure. Aluminum is a tremendous heat and electricity conductor and in association to its weight, it is approximately twice as high-quality a conductor as copper. This has led to aluminum being the main generally applied material in main power transmission approach. 3. Timber Timber is light, strong and reliable form and timber construction is easy and secure than steel or concrete construction material. Good featuring, coating and protection ensure that goods produced from timber are durable. Though many buildings become outdated and are destroyed long before the ending of their usual lives, timber construct ion properly planned and preserved could have an imprecise life. The input to extended life provides security from weather, insects and decomposers, with the help of fixed design featuring, surface coating systems, collection of durable types, and stabilized treatment procedures. The flexibility and strength property is â€Å"due to the (abundance) of interlocked fibers to provide strength. The direction and structure of the cells also effects the strength of the timber, straight grained

International marketing-country of origin, foreign and domestic Essay

International marketing-country of origin, foreign and domestic consumer predispositions - Essay Example The study will highlight varied internationalization, country of origin and consumer disposition effect related to the marketing plan of Grazia, a leading Italian fashion brand. Finally, the study would also highlight the impact of country of origin and brand positioning effect of apparels produced by leading Italian fashion companies. Country of Origin Effect The country of origin effect would constitute of differences between internationalization and international control strategies that can be due to varied national origins rather than the variations in the marketing environment (Harzing and Noorderhaven, 2000).The differences in the market dynamics and the cultural differences is a contributing factor for the increase in the country of origin effects. The national culture and the upbringing of the customers play an important role in determining the purchasing behaviour (Costa, Krutulyte and Grunert, 2006). In this context, the management of Grazia would try to assess the fashion requirements of the European common people and manufacture stylish and comfortable dresses as per customer preferences. Firstly, it has been noticed that the European people prefer Italian brands over the international brands (Greta and Lewandowski, 2013). The position of Grazia is quite strong in the European apparel industry and hence, the management will utilize this opportunity effectively to retain its marketing position strongly. The management of Grazia will try to create a unique marketing plan, which will also helps in attracting potential investors for the company. The most common trend among the European people is to understand and wear clothes of latest fashion. The company will try its utter best to manufacture comfortable and fashionable clothes at affordable prices to cater to the needs of the European customers. The varied clothing line will also be available in small retail stores throughout the European region. Apparels are regarded as one of the basic fashion nece ssity for European customers. The clothing line manufactured by Grazia is regarded as one of the most coveted fashion products in the entire Italian region (Tronconi, 2012). Much is contributed to the effective marketing strategies and the country of origin effect of the apparel industry. Domestic & Consumer Predisposition Consumer disposition or brand positioning will help the company to attain its market position by accomplishment of goals and objectives. Consumer disposition occurs highly with the high involvement of varied range of goods and services. This would lead to frequent purchase of apparels and also to the positive brand positioning of Grazia. This would also include strong advertising effectiveness, which will be measured by the consumers purchase intentions and impact attitude. The main objective of the brand positioning plans of Grazia would be as follows: To create awareness among the potential consumers who do not have the slightest hint about the varied types of c lothing line manufactured by Grazia To create preferences among the undecided Provide reinforcement among the positive predisposed Conversion of negatively predisposed items into positive items The main objective of Grazia would be to create a niche in the Italian apparel industry and also increase its profitability. In this context, one of the main objectives of Grazia would be to manufacture clothing line from high quality Italian yarn and sell these at an

Is Apple Inc the Most Innovation Organization Essay

Is Apple Inc the Most Innovation Organization - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Apple Inc is one of the most reputed American multinational organizations that develop and designs varied types of consumer electronics, personal computers, and computer software. Its head office is in Cupertino of California but it excellently controls the entire globe with its inventive product lines iPad, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, Mac Computers and many others. Due to which, the total revenue and total equity increased by US$ 170.910 billion and US$ 123.549 billion by the year 2013. However, such a reputed image and position is attained by the organization of Apple Inc mainly due to its numerous innovative hardware, software’s and varied internet presentations to its customers so as to fulfill their requirements. Only then, it becomes successful in amplifying its brand value and market share to a significant extent among many other rival players such as Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Acer, HP, Lenovo etc. Other than this, the organizati on of Apple Inc always desired to offer best computing practice to its target customers through its high-quality products, services, and techniques so as to position itself as the dominant one, in this segment. Bargaining power of the customers: the bargaining power of the customers is extremely high. This is mainly due to the presence of numerous rival players as well as substitute products. Moreover, as the technology is advancing at a fast rate, the demand and desires of the customers are also advancing rapidly and so in order to retain its image and dominance, the organization of Apple Inc tried to offer varied types of inventive product lines such as I-phone, Ipad, Ipod etc. Introduction of these product lines proved extremely effective for the organization that amplified its market share, which is presented below. Bargaining power of the suppliers: the power of the suppliers is moderate as they had to obey the rules and regulations of the recognized organizations like Apple In c, Microsoft, Dell etc and had to offer the best quality of raw materials to their products. So that the reputation and loyalty of the brand organizations like Apple Inc remains extremely high within the minds of the customers.

How College Algebra is used in the Nursing Field Essay

How College Algebra is used in the Nursing Field - Essay Example Across the globe, the numbers provide lots information to be used by the medical professionals. Moreover, it is quite reassuring when the public realizes that the nurses who serve them have a strong and proper training in mathematics (linear algebra) and how it is applied in medicine. Nursing being a social science, it requires more than the usual attention to the bedside caring methods. This is a profession that requires a strong foundation in mathematics, precisely linear algebra. The basic algebra formulas and calculations enable a nurse to perform all their duties that can range from the care of patients to the aiding doctors. This paper is meant to the how a professional nurse can apply the algebraic knowledge in every aspect of day to day duties. It will discuss the medication bit of the profession, the medical data collection and analysis tools, the working equipment, various specialties and the laboratory or the lab interpretations. Beside this, the paper is going to discuss the aspect of prescriptions, the possible proportions and ratios, the patient’s body mass indices and the CAT scans that all apply the linear algebra concept and knowledge (Elliot & Joyce, 2005). To start with, as a professional nurse, i will apply linear algebra in administering the rightful medication which requires some mathematical concepts or rather ideas in the calculation of the correct dosage like the intravenous amounts of fluids and the size of pills. Regularly, nurses administer medication which is prescribed by doctors for respective patients. Most of these medications have a number of guidelines that include the amount of dosage such as the milligrams per kilogram. Thus, the nurses must figure out the amount of medication in milligrams required by a patient, depending on how they weigh. If a patient mass is weighed in pounds, a nurse has to convert the required ratios to kilograms and find the right milligram amount for the medication or prescription. In medicine , there is a big difference between the mg/Ibs and the mg/kg. Thus, it is imperative that a professional nurse understands how to convert these weight measurements accurately. Moreover, there are some instances where a nurse must determine the duration of a prescription. For instance, if a patient has to take a medication such as a single pill thrice a day for duration of one month, a nurse has to calculate the number of pills which will be sufficient for this period. These calculations have to be done mentally with accuracy and speed. Moreover, while administering medication, I will consider the amount of time a medication lasts in the human body since most medication decreases by specific percentages over time; say by ten percent (10%) in every hour. Thus, these percentages will have to be expressed in rational numbers or rather fractions; 1/10. The constant decrease in the ratios creates a geometric series or rather a geometric sequence. Therefore, if the medication given to the patient is a pill of 100mg, the drug decrease in the body each hour will be expressed as 100, 10, 1, 1/10, 1/100, †¦ From this sequence, the amount of medication in the body of a patient after say five hours is close to zero. Thus, the sequence of the above numbers gives a geometric series due to the common ratio of 1/10. So, I will use this idea to decide on how often a patient can take a particular prescription. As a nurse I will

Analysis of the UK Music Retail Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysis of the UK Music Retail Industry - Essay Example Music is a hobby for every one in five adults in the United Kingdom (UK). Music is a lifestyle for a large proportion of the UK people. Majority of the people in the UK listen to music everyday at home, at work and while enjoying their leisure in other places. The significance of music in a consumer lifestyle is emphasized by study results, which indicate that music access has been enhanced by new technology and other trends. Music retailers in the UK include Woolworths, Zavvi, HMV, EMI, Universal, Sony, and Warner (Key Note 2011, p1). Many of these retailers offer CDs, cassettes and vinyl. For a long time the â€Å"bricks and mortar† music retail shops dominated the UK market. However, there has been a sharp reduction in their market share over the past decade with online retailers like Amazon winning, from the brick and mortar shops, a recognizable share of the market. Several physical retails stores in the UK market have been forced to close some of their branches in view o f the various changes and challenges that have graced the market. The paper will highlight some of the changes that have been witnessed in the UK market and will provide a PEST analysis of the UK music retail industry. 1.2 PEST Analysis 1.2.1 Political Environment Control on copyright and recording places potential limitations on the formal distribution channels, for instance, downloading music online (Burt and Sparks 2003, p74). In other words, formal distribution channels have been affected by recording and copyright controls and laws. The present issue concerning the political environment in the UK involves VAT. The problem of Low Value Consignment Relief (a tax mechanism that allows retailers to utilize distribution channels in Channel Islands to sell goods at a low price in UK without the need to pay VAT) has been a thorny issue for the physical music retailers in UK. The music retailers feel that it will make bricks and mortar music shops be disadvantaged in terms of costs. Mu sic retailers’ fears have been increased with the recent move by the government to raise VAT to 20 percent from 17.5 percent (Cardew 2011, p1). 1.2.2 Economic Environment The relatively low cost of music media and devices indicates that there will be little recessionary pressure on sales and expenditures. The recent economic recession hugely affected consumer spending and resulted in revenue fall in the music industry by an average of 3.7 percent in 2009 (McMillan 2011, p5). While the recent recession saw a significant drop in sales of music albums and media between 2009 and 2010, the economic situation of UK has improved in 2011. This means that across the country, the level of disposable income has grown meaning that consumers may be willing to spend more on entertainment. â€Å"Bricks and mortar† music shops which operate with considerably high overheads tend to set higher prices for their products as noted by McMillan (2011, p6). 1.2.3 Social Environment Some of th e physical music retailers in UK have a popular image in the society meaning that they attract a wide range of customers. The population aged between 19 and 40 is heavily involved with and have varied tastes of music. It is important to note that while the younger generation is more comfortable with using high tech equipment such as computers, iPods, Shuffle flash disks and the likes, the older generation is more conservative and therefore prefer to us CDs, cassettes and vinyl players. What this means is

Solid Waste Management; Hazardous Waste Management (SLP) Essay

Solid Waste Management; Hazardous Waste Management (SLP) - Essay Example erable types of waste , but it is seen that (HHW) Household Hazardous Wastes are extremely toxic in nature which may be also be corrosive, flammable and extremely reactive to a number of materials. One of the examples of items that come into this category is the antifreeze that is poured into the ground or the batteries that are put in the trash can for this purpose. These kinds of materials are highly reactive in nature and are a potential bio-hazard. This may lead to a number of health complications for humans and other living beings that com into contact with this waste. The dumping of waste materials in open areas, unauthorized landfills, the dumping of the waste materials in the creek, pond and other open areas are also termed as potentially dangerous means of waste disposal. Other than this, not packing the waste properly, leaving the trash cans exposed to open air may lead to a number of diseases (Stuart and Steiner 97). Adequate care must be taken to ensure that all the waste is dumped in safe areas where the disposal becomes easier. There should be no leakages for the wastage to escape, and coming into contact with open air. These are some of the improper trash disposal practices that are seen commonly. If the trash is not disposed in a proper manner, it may lead to a number of complications in the surrounding neighbourhood. The complications may get more severe in the case of an earthquake or tornado, as it leads to a de-stabilization of the existing infrastructure of waste management (Rao 3). It may lead to unattended waste that shall attract flies, rats, lizards and other animals that may act as agents for spreading of a number of infectious diseases. These solid wastes may lead to a number of health complications for the human beings. The earthquakes or any kind of natural calamity shall lead to a number of complications for the human beings. In other situations, if the domestic waste is not handled in a proper manner, this may lead to chronic

Discuss the claim that, despite repeated reform, the Common Essay

Discuss the claim that, despite repeated reform, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) still retains its protectionist nature - Essay Example These regulations cover rural development, horizontal matters like financial support and controls, direct payments for farmers among others. Most critics view the Common Agricultural Policy as a form of protectionism meant to defend European producers from inexpensive products produced outside the European Union. This paper is going to discuss the claim that despite repeated reform, the Common Agricultural Policy retains its protectionist nature. Over the years, the European Union has been a model in regional integration and trade promotion trough out the world. This is evidenced by its move to cut many trade barriers through bilateral trade agreements, giving grants to poor countries, not forgetting that its creation has enhanced trade among the member states in a very significant way. Most importantly, it can be noted that the European Union is one of the trading blocs with lowest tariffs on imports from non-member states. Although this claim is true to some extent, the European Union protects Agriculture, which is one of its member states’ key industry sectors through the Common Agricultural Policy. The Common Agricultural Policy enacts trade barriers on agricultural produce from outside the European Union and at the same time subsidizing the domestic producers among its member states. Subsidies and artificially higher prices sometimes lead to overproduction, hence food surpluses in the European markets. The European Union in turn sells the excess supplies to the world market through subsidized exports, ensuring that domestic farmers enjoy higher income and job security. These subsidized export products are sold below the market prices, competing unfairly with products from developing economies. Some of the surpluses are stored to make the food mountains which are often destroyed when they cannot be sold. Consumers on the other hand are compelled to pay artificially higher prices for the food

Himan Rights Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Himan Rights Law - Coursework Example It is evident from the study that people in the United Kingdom have enjoyed a lot of individual freedoms and liberties which usually fall into conflict with so many other laws. Consequently, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was drafted in 1950,to integrate these liberties. However, it was not until the year 2000 that the convention rights were adopted in the United Kingdom through the Human Rights Act. In order to use the convention rights, one had to take a case to the European Courts on Human Rights in Strasbourg. This was extremely expensive to citizens and was also extremely time-consuming. The 1997 white paper â€Å"Rights Brought Home† rightly states that: It takes on average five years, to bring a case into the European Court of Human Rights once all domestic remedies have been exhausted; and it costs an average of  £30,000. Bringing these rights home will mean that the British people will be able to fight for their rights in the British courts – without this undue delay and expense. One of the most critical functions is to ensure that, at all times, there is compatibility with the laws as stipulated by the Convention Rights. The Act gives individuals a complete description and summary of the freedoms and liberties that they are supposed to enjoy as citizens. It ensures that everyone’s rights are respected also, just as ECHR does. The Act also goes ahead do state that rights come with responsibility too. This means that there are cases and situations when these rights may need to be limited, such cases being when crime and public health need to be addressed. Apart from protecting the rights of individuals, the Human Rights Act also requires courts of law to obey the laws that Parliament passes. Courts are only allowed to interpret the laws as is, without altering them in any way whatsoever. Nevertheless, the Act allows higher courts the power to determine that a given order cannot be put into use for the sole reason t hat the law contravenes the rights described in the Convention. When this happens, congress is required to amend the various section of that law before it is set to use again6. Since the Human Rights Act was enacted, courts are now obliged to look at The Convention Rights at all times when deciding how cases should go. This is a tremendouslylarge shift from the way things used to be before. Convention rights were looked at only when the UK laws were not clear. Part 2: How does the HRA work? The Act requires all courts and tribunals to interpret laws and effectively put them into use in ways that are compatible to the Convention rights. Rightly so, when this is impossible, a court may revoke or, subordinate legislation or, if it is a higher court, make a declaration of incompatibility. This allows for the amendment of the law to make it in line with

Discussion Forum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Discussion Forum - Essay Example Many models of church leadership have been explained by Tidball (2008) as they were written in the letters constituting the gospels. Wiersby (2007) strongly bases his book on the derivation of church leadership by the words of God as written in the gospels so that one is able to truly serve God and serve the real purpose. The culture is an important component when considering the functionality of church leadership and how models have operated during times of different cultural dominance. One thing to note is the idea of gospels setting the direction for the churches as they operate ministries and leadership endeavors. This idea is evident in Dever and Alexander (2005) who say that a deliberate move should be taken in order to ensure that the church is functioning in a healthy manner such that it benefits the people and above all, serves God. 2) Church ministries are greatly influenced by the cultures in which operate and this why many pastors employ a culture driven approach to ministries. The culturally driven approach focuses on the environmental norms and the prevailing set of attitudes. However, the most important thing is the centrality of church ministries around the gospel which guides the direction of leadership work and pastoral care. A few of my local church involved in pastoral care and leadership employs a culturally driven approach to dealing with pastoral leadership. It ultimately focuses on the prevailing culture and then sets the practices that would help them attain outreach among the people. Growth and acceptance among the population is triggered through worldly forms of restoration. Modern forms of amusement are also incorporated as they comprise today’s culture in a highly dynamic and liberal society. This is to say, modern forms of entertainment are mixed with spirituality in order to introdu ce a culturally driven approach to ministry that recognizes modernity’s impact on church working. However, this approach is very superficial as it

Commercial Litigation Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Commercial Litigation Assessment - Essay Example ended that the court had jurisdiction since Austria was the place of performance of the contract as evidenced by the Brussels Convention’s Article 5 (1). Further, in all the invoices raised by the Gasser to MISAT, Austrian court was mentioned as a ‘choice of court’ clause and MISAT had never raised any objection over it. Within the meaning of Articles 17 of the Brussels Convention and because of the trade usage and practice existed in the trade between Italy and Austria, the two parties had consented to accept the jurisdiction of the Austrian courts. Whether the court second seised may evaluate the authority of the court of the first seised if the second court has the sole deciding authority under Art 17 or must the second court prevent its proceedings as per Art 21 albeit the accord granting jurisdiction. (Sheppard 2007: 211). Though, there is no involvement of English parties in Gasser case, UK government still presented its written remarks on the question raised. It was submitted that in cases of unique jurisdiction, a derogation from Art 21 can be made by the court second seised and can declare its verdict without awaiting for the court first seised to decide that it had no legal standi on the issue. They counted on ECJ verdict in â€Å"Overseas Union Insurance â€Å", which dealt with Article Sixteen as opposed to Article Seventeen, which was in question this case. It was further contended that the court named in the agreement authorising jurisdiction will, in normal parlance, be in a better status to rule as to the impact of that agreement by applying an essential law of that Member Nation. (Sheppard 2007: 211). The European Court held that the objective of Art 21 is to bar corresponding actions occurring in courts of various Contracting States as to stop implementation of judgments. Hence, so as to give effect to this, Art 21 shall have to be given a wide elucidation. It was viewed that under the provision of Art 21, until the legal status of the court

Irrigation and Water Distribution Research Paper

Irrigation and Water Distribution - Research Paper Example Water conservation is a general reference to methods or procedures applied for the purpose of achieving a reduction in water usage or consumption. Around the world, there are a wide variety of methods associated with water conservation, for an equally wide variety of purposes. Regardless of diversity in technique, there is a primary objective common to all the methods- the use of less water while achieving irrigation's necessary end. Needless to say, the interplay between the reduction in water consumption and achievement of viable irrigation introduces the question of water use efficiency. In irrigation, water reuse and recycling become crucial considering the heavy use of the resource (water), and indeed its wastage. The FAO Corporate Document Repository states in a report that "40% or more of the water diverted for irrigation is wasted at the farm level through either deep percolation or surface runoff." Moreover, "water conservation has been found to be a cost-effective way to meet increased water demands. Conserving water by consuming less, wasting less or reusing more reduces cost and postpones or eliminates the need for expensive and environmentally damaging new dams or similar water supply projects." (Texas Water Matters). For centuries, water reuse and recycle have been an integral part of the techniques applied to the irrigation of land, for effective ecosystem management (Noah). Without doubt, it is not totally devoid of drawbacks, in an environmental context. However, as a result of its relatively natural mode of application, it has (and is) successfully been used in many places around the world to achieve environment-friendly irrigation. Rain Harvesting and Water Conservation- Usefulness And Applicability in Irrigation: The interconnected nature of the entire ecosystem and the hydrological cycle ensures that ensures that irrigation does not function in isolation. For this crucial reason, water conservation as applied to irrigation, assumes greater relevance regarding the availability of water for other uses. A vital approach is that the end-use of water needs to feature more prominently in the methodology considerations of irrigating land. For instance, gray water usage- an aspect of water conservation- basic as it may be, surprisingly encapsulates the is water-efficiency philosophy. One of water conservation's crudest forms, gray water use is generally believed to be unsuitable for irrigating certain types of ground or plants- on account of its high acidic or chemical content- and in certain places (such as California) is restricted by legislation as applicable only to non-edible plants (Alyce). However, the author notes, it finds reasonable applicability, being useful in the "subsurface irrigation of non-edible plants." Conservation, in such a case, has successfully helped avoid a situation of wastage or inefficiency through a proper recognition of end use, even in this most basic or crude mode of irrigation. Other aspects of water conservation also appear to be naturally inclined to efficiency, particularly with the end use of water properly defined.

Overview of Accounting Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Overview of Accounting Analysis - Assignment Example 52). Hence, admission of SEC and FASB standards will help in reducing corporate managers from providing unrealistic information and transaction within and outside the firm. Therefore, elimination of FASB standards and SEC will only increase the chances of corporate managers to provide unrealistic information about the firms; hence, I disagree with Bill’s idea. 2- Many firms recognize revenues at the point of shipment. This provides an incentive to accelerate revenues by shipping goods at the end of the quarter. Consider two companies, one of which ships its product evenly throughout the quarter, and the second of which ships all its products in the last two weeks of the quarter. Each company’s customers pay thirty days after receiving shipment. Using accounting ratios, how can you distinguish these companies? It should be noted that these two companies have no difference in their income statements; hence, they are all considered to have the same expense and revenue amounts. Nonetheless, they have different balance sheets. However, assuming that all other factors are the same, the company with even sales of products will have higher cash and receivable balance accounts at the end of the quarter compared to company that ships all its products within the last two weeks. Nonetheless, below accounting ratios will be appropriate in differentiating the two companies (Palepu and Healy Pg. 167): This will increase the estimated depreciable life of assets. In this case, the corporate managers may decide to increase the depreciable estimated life of the assets especially when they realize that their assets are likely to last in the market than was predicted initially. It may lead to a decrease in uncollectible allowances with the gross receivable percentages. The changes in the customer focus to the firm may make the managers to reduce

Mathematics IB Internal Assessment Research Paper

Mathematics IB Internal Assessment - Research Paper Example The shipping services and product business takes place along the Qatar Bahrain Causeway which links Bahrain and Qatar. This is the longest marine causeway in the world. The country, Bahrain has a very basic economy. Only 1 percent of Bahrain is arable, hence, the country cannot produce sufficient food to sustain its ever increasing population. Therefore, the entire population majorly relies on imports. The major employers in this country are commerce, industry, and services. These fields take up 79 percent of workers, while 20 percent has been absorbed by the government. Farmers make up the remaining 1 percent of the population. The country has distinctive cost difference in shipping and products across the world due to its island nature and the existence of the Qatar Bahrain Causeway. However, it is important to note that most of these jobs are held by foreigners who make up 60 percent. This has made employment a continuous problem. The economy of Bahrain is largely based on the pro duction and processing of petroleum which makes up 60 percent of the exports. 30 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) also comes from the same. The well established and developed transport and communication is accountable for efficient shipping services and it being the center for finance and banking. Several multinational firms doing business in the area of Persian Gulf have their headquarters in Bahrain. The cost difference in shipping and products in Bahrain results from its fruitful commercial activities. Some of the country’s products shipped to other countries include vegetables and fruits, dairy products, poultry, fish, and shrimp which are sold along with handicrafts produced locally. On the other hand, Bahrain depends on tourism making up 9 percent of its gross domestic product and a great deal of international banking. The industries engaged in shipping services and products in Bahrain include the major industry, petroleum production, processing, and refining , offshore banking, aluminum smelting, tourism, and ship repairing. In addition, the products shipped to other countries include cement blocks, soft drinks, plastics, paper products, and asphalt. Although shipping and products across the world are somehow convenient to the major industries, shipping in Bahrain is efficient because of its location and availability of Qatar Bahrain Causeway which connects the island to the offshore main land such as Iran, Iraq among other countries. Some countries like China have made huge profits on their exports to other countries such as the United States. However, the imports and exports of Bahrain are approximately equal in value. Petroleum accounts for about 60 percent of the exports while aluminum makes around 7 percent. These exports are majorly shipped to Japan, South Korea, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. 40 percent of the country export is composed of crude oil processed within the country. However, Bahrain as well has im ports shipped into the country. The major imports of the country include transportation equipment, machinery, and food from Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The cost difference in shipping and products in Bahrain is also accounted for by the nature of division of labor. As mentioned earlier, 79 percent of the workforce is in industry, services, and

Literature review spontaneou pneumothorax Essay

Literature review spontaneou pneumothorax - Essay Example In order to attain this clinical ability, and add to knowledge and skills, this literature review focuses on addressing what is known about the condition, the signs and symptoms it presents, and the management of the chest drainage system which is the most common treatment for patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. Background and Definitions: Spontaneous pneumothorax is partial or complete lung collapse, either without any previous trauma, or with perceptible medical causes, and occurs as a result of the build-up of air in the pleural cavity. It is classified as primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (SSP). PSP may be present in patients in the absence of any fundamental lung disease, typically affecting, for example, a young, healthy, tall thin man. Also, a history of smoking may be associated with an increased risk of PSP. More than one third of patients with PSP relapse within a few years. On the other hand, SSP is found in patients with the complications of underlying lung disorder, which include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or infectious lung disorders. The risk of recurrence in patients with SSP is higher than with PSP, due to underlying pulmonary disease (Baumann, 2006; Baumann and Noppen, 2004; Guo, Xie, Rodriguez and Ligh t, 2005; Sheah and Peh, 2003; Roman et al, 2003; Ryan, 2005; Wakai, 2006). Symptoms Identified and Recorded in the Literature: There are two main symptoms presented by spontaneous pneumothorax, namely chest pain and dyspnoea. Chest pain is the most common symptom with regard to PSP. In Seremetis' study, (cited in Roman, 2003), 90% of patients with PSP presented with chest pain, which was commonly described as sharp and limited to the region of the pneumothorax, increasing with deep inhalation. Other symptoms include dyspnoea, tachycardia, decreased or absent chest movement and breath sounds in the affected area. However, patients with SSP commonly present more severe dyspnoea, making it potentially fatal. In particular, hypoxemia and hypotension can be severe in COPD patients with SSP. Symptoms of SSP can be difficult to detect, due to underlying pulmonary disease (Baumann, 2006; Baumann and Noppen, 2004; Roman et al, 2003; Ryan, 2005). Treatment: The most widely used treatment for spontaneous pneumothorax is the chest drainage system, the management of which is the nurse's responsibility. Therefore, it is very important that nurses know the functions of the chest drainage system and nursing interventions for managing patients. (Allibone, 2003; Lehwaldt and Timmins, 2005; Thorn, 2006). Chest drainage removes abnormal accumulations of air or fluid in the pleural cavities, while preventing air or fluid returning. It is necessary to ensure that chest drainage bottles are placed below chest level. The system includes three basic components: suction control, water seal, and collection chambers (Allibone, 2003; Roman et al, 2003; Thorn, 2006). The suction control chamber is used to advance the drainage rate and lung re-expansion. The British Thoracic Society guidelines (Lehwaldt and Timmins, 2005), recommend low pressure suction, approximately -10 to -29 mmHg; however, there is no consensus on the amount of suction that s hould be applied.

All forms of government welfare should be abolished Essay - 5

All forms of government welfare should be abolished - Essay Example In such a situation, the government has to make budgetary estimates on how they are going to finance the basic needs that will be supplied to the poor people. From a humanitarian point of view, this is a prudent decision by the government. It has to make sure that all people are comfortable by supplying the needy with food, healthcare, housing and other basic needs like education (Conn, 2012). Secondly, the government is mandated to ensure there is fair distribution and redistribution of wealth and resources to all the people. Some people in the society are endowed with resources, while others are languishing in abject poverty. This creates a situation where on one end; there is a surplus on resources, while on the other hand resources are scarce. To make a fair distribution, the rich and well-to-do with have to assist the others. This creates a fair scenario where all people are served on equal grounds in regard to supply of resources. In my opinion, government welfares should not be abolished. However, they should be controlled effectively. For instance, they should be vigilant in detecting people that genuinely need the program. This will reduce the number of people that are depending on the government welfare. With such control, it is possible that the government welfare expenditure will reduce, which will in return reduce the budget for government welfare. There are many forms of government welfare programs existing in the present world, with each having its function. These financial strategies are used to uplift the livelihood of some people in the society. Some of these people include disabled and poor people in the society. Government welfares have been criticized and risk been abolished citing that the rationale for giving the government welfare is not well structured. The opposition to the government welfare programs has cited various key points that should be considered.

Answer five questions that explore key concepts, theories, and ideas Assignment

Answer five questions that explore key concepts, theories, and ideas that have been explored in the lectures and in the required readings - Assignment Example Analysis with consideration of a particular point of view is expressed through lightings of the film, sets, colour and the costumes used. In the film All That Heaven Allows, the dependence is on artificial set up that reflects false reality in terms of using the technique of colours. Colours that are used in the film holds, meanings and different moods as brought out in the film. There are a number of possible pleasures that are offered in films as brought out by Laura Mulvey. One pleasure brought out is scopophilia that is practiced by the audience that are watching the film and the characters in the film. According to her, the film screen that is watched by the audience acts as a mirror through which the audience are able to see the fictional bodies of human reflected on the screen. Through this, scopophilic pleasure in Cinemas comes about from using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through the view and identification (Makkai, 2013). In the film; Vertigo, the pleasure is illustrated through the argument that ego of male is split in the case of Scottie who is feminized through the identification that he makes with Judy. In the film, there is no demonstration of active male spectatorship but the pictures of the male spectator and therefore it is revealed that fascination of femininity that throws masculine identity into question and also to crisis. Scottie’s character is brought out under deem lighting and behind objects when he is spying on Madeleine showing a weak male character in the film (Makkai, 2013). Through the theories, there are approaches that are given to theatre as an art and are brought out as self-conscious of its own performativity. The theory also brings theatre as art being a complete turnaround from theatre that is more realistic. He called his approach epic theatre contrary to dramatic theatre that he created (Martin & Bial, 2000). In epic theatre, a

The Integrative Nature of Psychology and Music Essay Example for Free

The Integrative Nature of Psychology and Music Essay Creativity, while it is recognized and valued by many, means different things to different people.   Artists, musicians, and poets are considered to be creative individuals because their products are creative.   Art works are valued for their novelty, beauty, uniqueness, and a host of other qualities that are considered to reflect creativity.   Scientists who discover a new medicine or cure are considered creative.   Young children who have created a finger painting or a poem are praised for their creativity.   Often proud parents will even excuse perverse behavior traits in their offspring by saying, â€Å"he is just being ‘creative’. †Ã‚   Creativity is a part of everyday life as much as eating is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, creativity is a concept that is difficult to define with specific measures and parameters.   For the purposes of this discussion, the author provides theories on creativity in terms of psychological concepts.   Freud’s (1952) psychoanalytic technique seems to be the prerogatives of art.   The creation of a meaning for a patient’s random acts resembles literary creation.   In both psychiatric interpretation and artistic creativity meaning does not emerge fully clothed out of the raw material of incident and language.   Rather, from a first experience significance is gradually inferred and elaborated by a process of free association.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What links psychoanalysis and creativity is the notion of symbolic function.   Ricouer (1970) speaks of the symbolic function as meaning something other than what is said and therefore he defines a symbol as â€Å"a double meaning linguistic expression that requires an interpretation† (p. 9).   An interpretation is seen as a work of understanding that aims at deciphering symbols. Psychoanalysis is first and foremost a form of interpretation, hermeneutic that arrives at an understanding of the facts of mental life by regarding both dreams and neurotic symptoms as symbols to be analyzed.   Freud’s interpretation of dreams reveals the dynamics of the mental processes, the â€Å"strategies of man’s deepest desires and instincts†, and provides the paradigm for the analysis of all men’s cultural activities (Ricoeur, 1970, p. 162).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For Freud the dream symbolism is not merely one device of the dreamwork; but rather provides the dreamwork with the material for condensation, displacement and dramatization.   These devices then, are all methods of disguise clothing the unconscious symbolic meaning.   This universal symbolism is not limited to dreams, but is to be found in fairy-tales, myths, legends, folklore, and also underlies all art, including music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Dalhaus (1978), absolute music is historically rooted in the idea of an unspeakable sublime, in the idea that â€Å"music expresses that words are not even capable of stammering† (p. 63).   As a performer, composing or listening to some Western music is an experience of the sublime.   As with Freud’s dream symbolism, every music symbolizes something that requires interpretation.   Music, through which some of feelings of the musicians are expresses, is essentially a system of symbols.   Each symbol is equivalent to an event or an object; when these symbols are put together they give us a kind of an interpretation of the world. According to Langer (1957), the world of sentiments and emotions could also be expressed in a symbolic manner.   Music is, therefore, an alternative means of symbolic expression.   Elements of music, just as with dreams, do not contain in themselves fixed references to things, but rather a flexible system of symbols capable of expressing various complex feelings.   Through music, a composer can express ambivalent and contradictory feelings simultaneously.   With dreams which, as Freud explains, are disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes or desires of the dreamer.   Since the instincts hide themselves in dreams, interpretation is necessary to reveal them.   The same thing is true with music.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To illustrate this, Kivy (1991) Bach’s Prelude in C Minor from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier.   In referring to this piece he gives an â€Å"autumnal† interpretation, â€Å"the rustling sixteenth-notes figure, in both the right and left hands, that pervades the entire piece, represents the rustling of the dry autumn leaves in the cold October wind† (p. 206-207).   What is relevant is the meaning of the listener fins departing from musical experience and musical analysis.   Or at least that is what the listener thinks he does.   Perhaps this is the point which Kivy describes when the listener who obtains pleasure from absolute music without needing free associations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the most basic level, the interpretation of art is analogous to the interpretation of dreams, for art is based on the same universal symbolism of the unconscious.   The first assumption of a Freudian aesthetic then is that it is possible to analyze a work of art in order to reveal its hidden motivations in the same way as we unlock the secrets of the dream.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Weiss has extended and placed more emphasis on Freud’s analysis of the condensation of psychic energy that gives a minimum of pleasure in wit, and discovered that the spectator gets pleasure, at least in regarding a painting, from two kinds of perceptual economies, one quantitative and one qualitative.   The pleasure of perceptual economy which form affords is the pleasure of overcoming repression of archaic visual modes by sharing in the artist’s childish and primitive visualization (Shapiro, 1966).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, this pleasure does have the more noteworthy effect of contributing, in the form of a bonus, to the erotic, aggressive and cynical tendencies of the mind.   That is, the technique of wit, the use of puns, strange and funny combinations and the like, seduces us to enjoy those sadistic or obscene tendencies whose expression would repel us if it were not combined with the skillful technical creation of the joke itself.   In the same way, all the aesthetic pleasure we gain from the work of the imaginative writer is of the same type as this ‘forepleasure’.   Therefore, the true enjoyment of art proceeds from the release of unconscious tensions in our minds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Freud (1958), †¦the capacity of certain art forms to express and elicit emotions directly, that is, without reference to representational or symbolic images of drive related objects.   This is expressed in the idea that art forms are isometric with the forms of feeling and mood. (p. 11) According to this view, significant content could include those art elements and forms capable of effecting instinctual discharge through the relatively immediate arousal of affective states.   This seems to be particularly true of music.   The question – whether is it the work or the emotions the work arouses in us that conveys the powerful meaning of music – by saying that our emotions by themselves are the result of our interaction with the music.   They are the byproduct of the musical experience.   Music seems to create similar emotions and furthermore a similar meaning for different people.   People can all have different ways to express our subjective feelings and meanings of the music but at the same time relate to an object that has its own characteristics. Another such psychological concept is the psychology of perception.   The most influential theory of perception in the first half of the twentieth century was developed by the gestalt psychologists Kohler and Koffka.   In a series of experiments, they were able to demonstrate that inherent in the process of seeing is a natural tendency to bisect the visual field into two distinct areas, a significant figure and an insignificant ground.   They also maintained that it is impossible to hold within a single sweep of vision figure and ground simultaneously, focusing on one automatically excludes the other.    Even when perceiving the famous Rubin profiles, a series of diagram whose meaning is ambiguous because figure and ground are equally significant, attention is forced to centre on either the figure, so that a certain diagram will appear as the outline of two vases, or on the ground, in which case the same diagram appears as two faces in profile.   The apparent ambiguity in these visual counterchanges arises from the fact that either the figure or ground represents a coherent object but attention cannot perceive both meaning at the same time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This mutually exclusive, ‘either-or’ structure of attention is found in aural phenomena as well, particularly in the perception of music in which a clear melodic line is distinguished from the harmonic matrix of chords in which it is situated.   Finally, the significant figures or forms spotlighted by attention tend to possess the properties of simplicity, wholeness, and coherence while at the same time eliminating any vague, incoherent or inarticulate structures from our perception (Ehrenzweig, 1965).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through the study of philosophers, theorists, and musicians, aesthetics is no longer simply a â€Å"theory of nice feelings† (as Hegel put it) but a complex philosophy of art: it involves interpretation, criticism and reflection upon works of art.   A work of art, such as a symphony, has an existence, a history and a place that constitute it as the object of the aesthetic experience.   Having said that, psychoanalysis presents a new way of looking at things – not only at music or art.   It is in this way the departure point for an aesthetic revolution, in the sense of a new treatment of what we hear (and see) in the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Musical works have represented an enormous value for each culture.   In psychoanalytic terms we can say that music generates a jouissance, which for many musicians and non-musicians alike becomes on occasion an experience of the sublime. References: Dalhaus, C. (1978). The idea of absolute music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Ehrenzweig, A. (1965). The psychoanalysis of artistic vision and hearing. London. Freud, S. (1952). A general introduction to psychoanalysis. New York. Freud, S. (1958). The Moses of Michelangelo. In S. Freud (Ed.), On creativity and the unconscious. New York. Kivy, P. P. (1991). Sound and semblance. Cornell University Press. Langer, S. (1957). Philosophy in a new key. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Ricoeur, P. (1970). Freud and philosophy. New Haven. Shapiro, M. (1966). Leonardo and Freud: An art historical study. Journal of the History of Ideas, 17(2).

Bilingual Education Essay Example for Free

Bilingual Education Essay Bilingual Education isn’t an issue that’s been short lived. The programs have existed as far back as the late eighteenth century; Immigrant students were then instructed in their first language. Ohio became the first state to adopt an actual bilingual education state legislation in 1839. Other states soon followed, although the variation in language was somewhat broader (Lipka n.p). Controversy has been constant over what methods are actually effective, and what methods need to be retired. Since we are a nation that doesn’t have a national language and requires every child to obtain an education, the responsibility to provide one, becomes ours. With more and more immigrants coming from Mexico, the need for a successful bilingual education method is exploding. Educating any student in a language foreign to their own seems ridiculously absurd. One that doesn’t understand the language well can’t obtain anything taught in the foreign language. Although many approaches of bilingual education are used throughout the United States, they all vary in theory and in teaching style. The students have to be thoroughly taught English before joining an English speaking classroom making Immersion the most successful method. During the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s, bilingual education became an issue, making legislation necessary to help resolve the problem that had been affecting students and families so harshly (Lipka n.p). â€Å"In January 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Bilingual Education Act, which incorporated native-language instruction into the curriculum (Lipka).† Although the Bilingual Education Act was signed, the discrimination didn’t stop. A few years it was found in the court case Lau vs. San Francisco School District that the Bilingual Education Act wasn’t being carried out in their school. The law suit represented 1,800 other students; eight-year-old Kenny Lau sued the San Francisco School District over English-only instruction in a school where most students spoke only Chinese. These students couldn’t learn in the English, because none of the students understood English. â€Å"The Supreme Court ruled that schools without special provisions to education language-minority students are not providing equal education and violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Federal government publishes new materials in nearly seventy languages and allocates sixty-eight million dollars for bilingual education† (PBS n.p). After the Supreme Court hearing things still weren’t better for minority speaking students. Help was needed then, and remains the same today. There are many different methods that educators choose to use in their classrooms, although some are controversial. â€Å"The bilingual programs of today are mostly a product of the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII) passed in 1968† (ECS n.p). Some states have mandated laws that enforce a strict bilingual program that is taught in all public schools in their state, while others aren’t as strict. Some states need the programs more than others. According to ProEnglish, â€Å"15 states account for 94% of students who speak languages other than English in their home.† Therefore, we know that in these fifteen states we must teach English efficiently. These students all speak a native language in their homes, so on the contrary to some beliefs, these students are not easily going to pick up on a native language. Today we know more about educating students of a minority language then we did in the past, but we are still struggling with it today. Some people even believe we should completely throw bilingual education out. If that happens, there wouldn’t be opportunity for those native speaking students. We would have much larger number of non-English speaking Americans, and a lot more citizens that couldn’t find jobs. Lastly, it would be breaking the Civil Rights Laws. There are countless misconceptions about bilingual education. Some even believe that it’s simply a lost cause, but statistics show other wise. â€Å"In 1990, only three percent of U.S. residents reported speaking English less than well or very well. Only eight-tenths of one percent spoke no English at all (Crawford n.p)†. There are many effective methods to teaching these students. Some argue that if taught the native language, it can’t be transferred to the one learned, while this may be difficult for some, it is possible (Crawford n.p). Students would have an easier time transferring their knowledge from their native language opposed to being taught in a language that isn’t understandable at all. Critics complain about the tax dollars we spend to teach these non-English speaking students, but they also complain about all the minorities that have to live on welfare. Maybe if they were better educated it wouldn’t be quite the case. Critics also believe that bilingual education programs aren’t promoting English, but merely teaching students only in their native language. Most every program in the United States promotes the teaching of English in one form or another. Although, they are not trying to remove ones culture and linguistic heritages, they are just preparing them for success in the public school systems and in the English speaking nation we live in. â€Å"According to one study, school districts reported that 28% of limited English proficiency (LEP) elementary school students receive no native-language instruction. Among those who do, about a third receive more than 75% of their instruction in English; a third receive from 40 to 75% in English; and one third of these receive less than 40% in English (Crawford n.p). Hispanic dropouts continue to remain high. There is multiple factors associated with these statistics, such as; family poverty, English proficiency, some simply never even enrolls in school (NCES n.p). â€Å"In 2005, more than one-fifth (22.4 percent) of Hispanics 16 through 24 years of age were dropouts, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES n.p)†. The Hispanic dropout rate can be lowered with good bilingual education plans for teaching those who can’t speak English. The rate is especially high in Mexican immigrants. â€Å"In fact, the status dropout rate of 44.2 percent for Hispanic 16- through 24-year-olds born outside the 50 states and/or the District of Columbia was more than double the rate of 16.1 percent for Hispanic youths born in the United States (NCES n.p)†. These individuals don’t have the education that is necessary to succeed in the United States, which is not fair according to Civil Rights laws. There are multiple causes for the high dropout rate, but their understanding of the language is a leading cause. So, to be equal to all students, we must provide the same opportunity to native-speaking students. Methods are plentiful to educating students whom don’t speak the dominant language, but most generally only a few methods are currently used in public schools in the United States. First, the submersion method, in a submersion program the native speaking student is placed in the classroom right along with the English speaking students (Queen n.p). Students are expected to learn what the other students are being taught even though they may not fully understand the language. You could basically consider this method a â€Å"sink or swim† type of education. It sounds absurd for one to expect another to learn something in a language they cannot even decipher. This method may not be considered Bilingual Education to some because only one language is being used. Even if this is the case, students are still being educated in a language unfamiliar to them. Students cannot understand something they aren’t familiar with. If they seem they are picking up on the language conversationally, they still may not register thoughts in English to actually learn material that is being taught in the classrooms. This method will not work for most students; native speaking students will continue to fall behind. Eventually students won’t be able to catch up with other students their age. Submersion is therefore, no one way for a student to learn anything. Students that fall behind could potentially add to the high statistics in the high dropout rates. Many schools today have English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, such as the Scott County School district uses today. This is when a non-English speaking student is placed in English speaking classrooms for part of their classes, while for others they go to an ESL classroom. When in the ESL classroom they concentrate on learning English to succeed in their English speaking classes. This method can be very effective if the student’s participate, but if they fall behind there is going to be many hardships catching up. Some students will never catch up to their age group in school and won’t finish their education (Queen n.p). Students in ESL programs aren’t given enough time to learn the language well enough to succeed; therefore the time they spend in English speaking classrooms could be considered useless to some. If they’re not understanding of the language, this seems like a waste of the student’s time. It can also be an imposition to the English speaking students in the classroom. Special time and attention would have to be given to these native-speaking students. That time would then take away from the English-speaking student’s education. Students aren’t actually taking in anything they’re learning, other than picking up on a few English words, then this is a waste of time to not only the teachers that aren’t qualified to teach them, but to the English speaking students in the classroom as well. Minority students must receive intensive instruction, since the drop out rate of non-English speaking students in the public system is so high, measures must be drastic. â€Å"The General Accounting Office reported in February 2001 that out of 70 studies reviewed; only three focused specifically on how long it took students to attain English proficiency. General estimates ranged from four to eight years (ECS n.p).† Therefore we know that learning a foreign language enough to learn isn’t easily done and it isn’t necessarily a speedy process. We have to give intensive instruction, and we must not give up on these students. This method isn’t effective enough though, it takes years to learn English in ESL programs as researchers have found. Being as this method takes so long, there is not time for students to keep up with their classes. Many students will not succeed, and will never accomplish what is required to graduate high school. One of the biggest controversies schools and state legislators are facing is the argument with immersion versus Bilingual Education. The ESL method is used a frequently in the U.S, but many ESL supporters are starting to follow the new immersion trend, because it doesn’t take students as much time to learn English. Immersion method of teaching students are intensively taught English for a period of time, for example one school year. After they have learned English well enough to understand, and to actually have the chance to learn English. They are placed back again in English speaking classes and that’s where they will continue their education. Immersion can stop students from dropping-out and falling behind. Critics argue this is just a loss of time, but with ESL they are in the long run loosing even more time. â€Å"At a leadership meeting a participant decided to speak up, she was an ESL teacher. She said, Research shows that it takes five to seven years for a student to master English well enough to succeed in a mainstream classroom, she said, adding that this finding was only for children who were already proficient in their first language. For kids without good language skills of any kind, it takes 10 years, said the teacher† (Triangle Business Journal N.P). Students that don’t speak well enough English get thrown into English speaking classrooms that they are not ready to be. Upon this happening students continue to fall behind and could be accounted for such high dropout rates in native speaking students, especially in the Hispanic students. Native-speaking students will have a hard time understanding material in English when you present it before they truly understand enough but, if you make sure they understand the English first, teaching them in English is going to be much more effective and that should be a given. Bilingual Education will be effective in different ways for all different students. Any language students learn differently, some like more visual aide, while others like lots of verbal explanation. That being said, there is no difference in teaching students of another language. Every student has similar basic needs, therefore there should be a basic method used everywhere. We can’t expect these students to sink or swim; a good method must be used. Since most of these students don’t have any sort of an English background at home, then educators can’t expect them to receive any help from the home. So, all the English has to come from the school. Since every student is going to learn at their own pace, we must teach them extensively, without doing so understanding English will not come quick enough. Teaching them English isn’t taking them away from any of their native culture; it’s preparing them for success in the United States. Preparing students for success in English educators will be abiding the civil rights law, and offering each student the same education. If parents don’t want their child speaking two languages or learning English, they should take their child to a private school that will only teach their child in their native language. Although, most native-speaking parents want their children to be fluent in English as well as the language they speak at home. There are also so many advantages to being bilingual today. When traveling foreign countries one could commute with others. It also leads to exposure to both cultures, and one will become more culturally diverse. If one wanted to move to another for another country for any different reason they would have an easier time adjusting. The United States today there are many different language being spoke all over, all the time. Employers look for multi-lingual speaking employees so that they can meet everyone’s needs. Places such as the hospital, multi-language speaking employees are essential, because not only do English speaking patients come in, as well a lot of other native-speaking patients. Scott City and surrounding areas there are a lot of Spanish speaking people, whom need the same things English speaking people do. Therefore, offering one who is bilingual on the job is going to help tremendously. Since the United States has no official language, I suppose we can’t expect everyone to speak English. According to ProEnglish, over 30 states have adopted English as their official language. Some federal legislation implicitly standardizes English (Wikipedia n.p). Knowing English could almost be considered essential to survive and succeed in this English speaking country. â€Å"According to the 2000 census, the United states has 215 million that are speaking English. While only 28 million speak Spanish, and next a Chinese language who has about two million speaking in the United States (Wikipedia n.p). This should be enough proof to any educator or legislator that knowing English is essential. If one is bilingual in English and Spanish, then even better. English is most essential to be successful in the United States. There are endless reasons that knowing English in the United States that would be essential to anyone. The United States is the â€Å"land of the free†, so there is not law stating one must speak the most commonly spoken language: English. To be exact about ninety-six percent of Americans speak English (Wikipedia n.p). To be successful, one will want to understand the language. Most colleges in the United States are all taught in English, although you could go to a school speaking your language, the majority will be teaching in English. Students that want to succeed and go to state colleges they’re going to need to understand English. The opportunity is available for all students, but some might have it harder with the different method that’s used in schools across the United States. All methods can work in teaching students; some are just more successful than others. We must educate these native-speaking students so that they have the equal opportunity that English-speaking students do. The need for bilingual education is astronomical; it’s simply what’s right. Students need to learn English to have the same opportunity for success as others. Some might even have more opportunity once they are fluent in more than one language. The point is we need a good program that works efficiently to educate every native-speaking student in the United States. All the methods have their perks, but we need the most effective and efficient program to teach these minority students. The submersion method doesn’t help any student that is struggling with English, they simply sink or swim. The method might be cheaper, but it will not help any student with the need for Bilingual Education. The only advantage some consider is budgeting. The English as a Second Language program defiantly is a step-up from the Submersion program, but it shows many weaknesses as well. The program wastes time with students in English-speaking classrooms, that don’t even understand the language. Although they are being taught English, and have an instructor also teaching in their native language, the teaching of English, simply isn’t intense enough. That’s why Immersion is the best way to educate these minority students that cannot speak English, although they may loose a year of education, they are not going to fall behind anymore than that. When they finish the program, they will be able to understand and speak English. When they are put into English-speaking classrooms they will understand everything being taught. This is what we need for these native students to keep up with the English speaking students. This will minimize minorities’ falling behind; dropout rates, and maximizes English understanding. Immersion is the best way to teach these students, and will in turn help these students succeed to fullest of their potential. Immersion makes Bilingual Education is faster and more successful. When structured English immersion plans were used in California, â€Å"after two years of instruction, students made significant gains in reading and writing in English as well as math, relative to students’ nationwide taking the Stanford 9, most of whom are native English speakers (NCPA n.p)†. This seems proof enough, that immersion is the way to teach our minority students English successfully. Citations: 1. National Center for Educational Statistics. Student Effort and Educational Process.n.d. 2006. 10 April 2009 . 2. Education Commision of the States. n.d. 11 April 2009 . 3. Queen, Robin. Bilingual Education. 2005. 12 April 2009 . 4. Jones, Madison and Renee Bou-Waked. School Choice and Hispanic Dropouts. 12 November 2007. 8 April 2009 . 5. Crawford, James. Ten Common Fallacies about Bilingual Education. November 1998. 7 April 2009 . 6. Hood, John. Immersion vs. bilingual education.†Triangle Business Journal (1997): n.p. 7. Lipka, Sara. The Battle Over Bilingual Education. The Atlantic Online (2002): n.p. 8. PBS. Master Time Line. n.d. 10 April 2009 . 9. ProEnglish. The status of bilingual education in America. n.d. 8 April 2009 . 10. Wikipedia. Languages of the United States. n.d. 9 April 2009. .

Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions

Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions This study will emphasise on the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The case study will be held in Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. This study will be using the quantitative methods to further study the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. Background In the search for lower cost housing, working families often locate far from their place of work and this will resulting in the increasing of their transportation costs and commute times. However, for many such families, the transportation costs exceed their housing costs. According to Bernstein (2001), affordability has never been just about housing cost, it is actually the interaction between housing and transportation cost that provide more meaningful measure of affordability. Hence, choosing a location-efficient neighbourhood near transit, services and jobs, families can reduce monthly household expenses. This study will emphasise on the model of land use and prices formulated by Von Thunen in 1826, a German economist. The theory concentrates on difference in relative transport costs in different types of agricultural production. According to J. Harvey (1997), he made assumptions that a boundless flat and featureless plain over which natural resources and climate are distributed uniformly and there is a central market for the area. Furthermore, he also assumed that the farmer used uniform horse and cart transport facilities to this central market, and different foods can be grown, but since these differ in bulk, the cost of transporting them to the market also differs. For each type of product, transport cost varies directly and proportionately with distance from the central market. However, the receipts from cultivation of one hectare of land are the same for all types of product. Given by these assumptions, it pictures the rent-paying capacity as a function of transport cost and the distance from the market. As distance from the market increases the total costs are raised by the increased cost of transport of the cultivation product. However, this study will relates this theory with the decision of housing location of the case study in Bandar Saujana. It will examine whether the theory match the pattern of the housing location in regards with the transport cost. Bandar Saujana Putra is a new self-contained township located in Sepang Selangor. The township launched the first phase of the development in 2004, has an easy access to the town centre using ELITE Highway. Its easy access to the town made Bandar Saujana Putra an ideal for the case study as the resident able to travel to the respective location of their needs. Statement of Problems: The township of Bandar Saujana Putra is located approximately 20km from the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the residents enjoy an easy access via ELITE Highway. However, how the transportation cost is plays a role in determining the decision to reside in Bandar Saujana Putra? Furthermore, does the Von Thunen theory explain the pattern of location theory in the case of Bandar Saujana Putra? Objectives of Study: The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The second objective of the study is to examine whether Von Thunen theory match the pattern of location theory in Bandar Saujana Putra. Scope of Study: The study is confined to the areas of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor since it is located approximately 20 km away from city centre and easily accessible. The respondent of the questionnaire are limited to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra and analysis as well as findings from the rental and property price will be used to accomplish the objectives mentioned above. The difficulty and limitation for the study arise when distributing the sample questionnaire and to get the feedback from the respondents. There will be situation where the respondents that have been approached will not or hesitate to give cooperation to the sample questionnaire. Research Methodology: The study would be done in an analytic manner. The information that is needed to examine the issue will be obtained from primary and secondary data. Primary Data: Primary data refers to the first-hand data, which required data collection. For this study, it will mainly involve in the distribution of questionnaire to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra. The analysis will also be done according to the study areas in order to examine the transport cost of the residents. The question will be in objective manner administered to arrive to the objectives of the study. Secondary Data: The second method is secondary data which will mostly comprise of data collection through references of such as relevant books, journal, conference paper, newspaper and magazine articles and also online references. The data will also obtain from the economic text book which further explained the theory related to the study. Significant of Study: It is hoped that the anticipated outcome of this study can benefit the government especially the Town Planners in determining the structure of local city plan. While planning for housing development and also commercial hub, the developer and town planners have to consider the factors of distance and transportation as these two related closely to the affordability factor of a household. Secondly, this study will also benefit the house buyer in determining the location of the house as the distance and transportation cost is concern. The study will enlighten as how the location factors of property affects the daily budget of a household. The study also points to the importance of infill development that expands the supply of affordable housing in inner city and older suburban neighbourhoods that have good access to traditional job centres; the development of more affordable housing near transportation hubs and suburban employment centres. Lastly, the study intends to benefit the students as it will open up more discussion regarding the issue. Further research can be done to improve the findings of this study and hopefully it will beneficial towards the knowledge of the students. Organisation of Study: This study will consist of five chapters where the first chapter provides a brief concept and overview of Von Thunen theory that will be discussed further in the Literature Review. The first chapter consist of the introduction of the study and also statement problem that initiates the study. The first chapter also explained on the limitation faced on doing the study and the significance of this study. Meanwhile, the second chapter will discuss on literature review related to the study. It will mainly focus on the concept of the dynamic of Von Thunen theory in relation of the property market. The next part of the chapter will look further on the theory of urban economic and the formulation of the theory towards the locational decision. It will further strengthen the understanding of the theory based on the literature reviewed. Chapter three will discuss further on the methodology used in obtaining the information for the study. The quantitative methods of distributing questionnaire will be discussed further as well as the qualitative research methods used in the study. The qualitative research of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is by observing the current market trend. This chapter will further emphasise on the case study chosen which is Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. The fourth chapter of the study will shows the analysis of the data collected previously. Information and data that is obtained from the survey of the market rental will be further detailed in this chapter using the appropriate graphs and diagrams. The analysis of the findings is further discussed in relation to the patterns of economic rent in the market. The last chapter will conclude the analysis of the findings and draws the recommendation of the further study to compliment this research. It will also determine the confirmation of the objectives of this study as well as the holistic achievement of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction: This chapter will explain further on the previous literature and writing in regards of the urban land use in general and Von Thunen theory of locational decision. Other than that, this chapter will also discuss on the limitation of the theory as well as the formulation of the theory. Background: Urban land use comprises two elements; the nature of land use which relates to which activities are taking place, and the level of spatial accumulation which indicates their intensity and concentration. Central areas compared to peripheral area have a high level of spatial accumulation and corresponding land uses such as retail while peripheral areas, on the other hand have lower levels of accumulation. In addition most economic as suggested by Gordon (2005), social or cultural activities imply a multitude of functions, such as production, consumption and distribution. These functions take place only at specific locations and are part of an activity system. Therefore activities have a spatial imprint whereby some are routine activities as they occur regularly and are thus predictable, such as commuting and shopping. Others are institutional activities that tend to be irregular, and are shaped by lifestyle for example sports and leisure, by special needs for example healthcare. Still others are production activities that are related to manufacturing and distribution, whose linkages may be local, regional or global. In short, the behavioural patterns of individuals, institutions and firms have an imprint on land use and the representation of this imprint requires a typology of land use, which can be formal or functional: Formal land use: The representations are concerned with qualitative attributes of space such as its form, pattern and aspect and are descriptive in nature. Functional land use: The representations are concerned with the economic nature of activities such as production, consumption, residence, and transport, and are mainly a socioeconomic description of space. Residential accommodation: The stock of residential accommodation varies from multi-storey flat near the city centre, through back-to-back terrace houses and then semi-detached, to detached houses often standing in spacious ground. This stock of residential accommodation reflects decisions taken at some time in the past because of the building costs rule out the choice of new construction for a substantial part of the population. If the residence is to compete land away from other uses then sites would have to be developed to higher densities in or near the position of greatest accessibility than elsewhere, because sites in that area provide optimum location for higher order uses such as offices and retailing. According to Smith (1997), there is a relationship between a persons income, his place of residence and his place of work, although the correlation is not fixed, for individuals differ in the proportion of their incomes they choose to spend on accommodation. An individual, according to Cunningham (1999), seeking to maximise utility, must weigh his desire for access to his place of work against various possible combinations of commuting costs and accommodation prices and his other desires for urban contacts and amenities. Incomes will determine how far a households residence preference can be indulged. With differing preference consumers in the same group of income may demand different type of accommodation. On the other hand, those desiring contacts furnished by near central locations have the advantage of lower transport cost but frequently have to sacrifice certain site amenities. Where persons of unlike incomes lives at distances where they incur the same commuting costs then the person with the highest income will occupy the best accommodation, and so on. Urban Land Use: Commercial land use according to Faraday (1997) and supported by Lean (2001) involves relationships with its supplier and customers as it support the claim that land use in both formal and functional representations implies a set of relationships with other land uses. A level of accessibility to both systems of circulation must be present because relationships with suppliers will dominantly be related with movements of freight; relationships with customers would include movements of people. Since each type of land use has its own specific mobility requirements, transportation is one of the factors of activity location and is therefore associated intimately with land use. Within the urban system each activity occupies a suitable, but not necessarily optimal location, from which it derives rent. Transportation and land use interactions mostly consider the retroactive relationships between activities, which are land use related, and accessibility, which is transportation related. These relationships often have been described as a chicken-and-egg problem since it is difficult to identify the triggering cause of change; do transportation changes precede land use changes or vice-versa? Urban transportation aims at supporting transport demands generated by the diversity of urban activities in a diversity of urban contexts. A key for understanding urban entities thus lies in the analysis of patterns and processes of the transport / land use system. This system is highly complex and involves several relationships between the transport system, spatial interactions and land use: Transport system: It will consider the set of transport infrastructures and modes that are supporting urban movements of passengers and freight. It generally expresses the level of accessibility. Spatial interactions: It will consider the nature, extent, origins and destinations of the urban movements of passengers and freight. They take into consideration the attributes of the transport system as well as the land use factors that are generating and attracting movements. Land use: It will consider the level of spatial accumulation of activities and their associated levels of mobility requirements. Land use is commonly linked with demographic and economic attributes. Accessibility: Accessibility evaluates the net economic costs of moving persons and goods between one place and another place. It is, therefore, not only concerned with the distance to be travelled between two places but, more important, with the time taken to travel that distance, i.e., with all the factor costs in any journey (Lean , 2001). However, accessibility does not affect solely the real costs incurred by movement but also the real benefits derived. The residential demand for urban land also depends upon accessibility but the capital sum a residential user pays to obtain a site represents a money evaluation of the satisfaction to be derived from that site. According to Goddall (2001) residential demand depends upon utility or satisfaction and the residential user seeks that the site which allows him to maximise his utility. Thus, for the residential user travelling, whether to work, to shops, or for pleasure, represent a disutility and each person wishes to minimise these disutilities such as the time and money costs of travelling. Disutilities would be minimised if a residential user located himself on a site with a high degree of accessibility, so residential use would compete with business uses for accessible site. However, for a residential there are certain amenities considerations involved in the choice of site which confer satisfaction/utility upon the user. The amenity value of a site depends upon factors not readily assessable in financial terms such as space, quiet, fresh air, etc. According to Wardour (1997) the choice of a residential site is, in many cases, a compromise because the desire to minimise travelling disutilities demands a relatively accessible, therefore central site, whereas the quest for amenity leads towards less accessible sites some way from the city centre. Greater amenity can usually be achieved by accepting additional travelling disutility. Urban Land Use Model: Von Thunen Ring Model: The relationships between transportation and land use are rich in theoretical representations that have contributed much too geographical sciences. Several descriptive and analytical models of urban land use have been developed over time, with increased levels of complexity where all of them involve some consideration of transport in the explanations of urban land use structures according to Carter (1995). However, this study will emphasise on the oldest land use theory by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen. According to Rodrigue (2000) modern location economics began with Von Thunen (1826). Being the first to develop a basic analytical model of the relationships between markets, production, and distance he too looked upon the agricultural landscape as the purpose in this study. The relative costs of transporting different agricultural commodities to the central market determined the agricultural land use around a city. The most productive activities will thus compete for the closest land to the market and less productive activities will be located further away. The model has a set of basic assumptions which reflects agricultural conditions around a city in the early 19th century: Isolation: There is one isolated market in an isolated state having no interactions (trade) with the outside. Ubiquitous land characteristics: The land surrounding the market is entirely flat and its fertility uniform. Transportation: It is assumed there are no transport infrastructures such as roads or rivers and that farmers are transporting their production to the market using horses and carts. Transportation costs are dependent of the type of commodity being transported to the market as well as the distance involved. Comparison of the relationships between production cost, the market price and the transport cost of an agricultural commodity is explained thoroughly as follows: R = Y(p-c) Yfm R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carter (1995) further explained that all agricultural land uses are maximizing their productivity (rent) whereby in this case it is dependent upon their location from the market (Central City). Discourse community of farmer play significant role as they are to maximize his profit which is simply the market price minus the transport and production costs. The most productive activities such as gardening or milk production or activities which cost higher in transportation (firewood) are located near to the market. The above figure provides an overview of Von Thunens agricultural land use model with the basic assumptions being applied such as isolation, ubiquity, and transportation. It can be divided into two parts: The pure isolated state over an isotropic plain (left). In this case, the model takes a shape of perfect concentric circles. The potential impacts of modified transport costs (a navigable river) and the presence of a competing center (right). The relationships between agricultural land use and market distance are very difficult to establish in the contemporary context. Von Thunen primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and type of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimising) economic behaviour, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in village far away from the city centre, and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation cost according to Griffin (1968) and later supported by Rodrigue (2001). Sinclair (1966) however noted that Von Thunen primary concern was to discover and examine the laws which governed the pattern of agricultural land use existing in his time and within his experience. His dominant recognition was the land use pattern depended upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of particular piece of land. The controlling factor in this competition was Economic Rent as defined here the return of investment in the land. Later it is sopported briefly by Rodrigue (2001) that form of land providing the greatest Economic Rent would make the highest bid for the land and displaced all others. The facts that transport cost increased with distance and they imparted a spatial variation to Economic Rent become an eye opener to Von Thunen whom later comes to realise that transportation costs were a primary factors determining Economic Rent. Hence, Economic Rent from any one land use can be expressed as a function of a distance from the market. Limitation of the Theory: In constructing the model complicating factors were assumed away, providing a laboratory in which the interplay between a small number of essential causal influences and their relations with certain effect could be studied. In particular this model provided a mechanism in which changing technical and economic inputs could be linked with evolving geographical patterns of production according to Samuelson (1983) and Linehan (2003). The attraction was thus, that the theory simplified the world by concentrating on the effects of one primary variable, transportation costs, on the location of agricultural production. Von Thunen himself accomplished this by creating the idea of the economic margin. In his view, land use areas were bounded by margins where one use became more cost-effective than another. Given von Thunens thesis, Peet, (1987) could attempt to explain how these factors may have changed historically and explain changes in the location of production. The uses of Von Thunen model, or derivatives of it, continue to this day among quantitative geographers for example, Wang and Guldmann (1997); Hill and Smith (1994); Linehan (2003). Even in 1966, however, the limitations of the model were accepted. Gaston (1997) followed by Linehan (2003) for instance admits Von Thunens analysis is basically descriptive rather than normative and does not explain changes over time or the possible effects of economies of scale. Despite this, Smith (2000) promotes the model because it made marginal economics geographical. In the years since these limitations in particular the fact that Von Thunen ignored changes over time have often been mentioned, but the model survives in importance in the minds of geographers and is a main subject of beginning economic geography courses. The most likely reason for this is that Von Thunen rings actually appear to exist in many cases. For instance, cities are often surrounded by a dairy ring. Von Thunen rings are one of the few very easily understandable models in geography that truly appear to explain a pattern in the world, even if the model is primarily descriptive and does not give much idea a bout how exactly this pattern came to be or what might happen to it in the future. Harvey made this argument in Social Justice and the City (1997), arguing that social scientists are attracted to models such as the Isolated State because they appear to be empirically relevant. Barnes (1998), following Haraway (1997). Latour (1987) and Linehan (2003), comments on the manner in which von Thunens model, in particular the concentric zone diagram showing agricultural land use rings of decreasing intensity with distance from the city, has been fetishized within economic geography. Barnes (1998) argues, based on the work of Barnbrock (1997) and Harvey (1997) that Von Thunens concept of the frontier wage, the just reward for work done that, if paid, would ensure worker harmony, leads to a more complete understanding of Von Thunens work. This sense of harmony was also Von Thunens vision of the isolated state in general, constructed not just an isolated state, but an ideal one. The rings were less a description of how the world is, but how it should be once social harmony was realized. The idea that the isolated state was not just descriptive but also prescriptive is emphasized by Barnbrock (1997), who writes that for von Thunen the Isolated State is the true representation of the final end mankind should strive for. He further quotes von Thunen, who states in the Isolated State we have in mind only the final goal. Harvey points out, however, that this was an essentially conservative goal. Through the imposition of the frontier wage and a more harmonious land use pattern, class conflict and social polarization would be minimized within German society. The lesson learned by neo-classical economists, Harvey argues, was that economic science could seek and spell out principles of social harmony without appeal to the political economy of the spatial fix. The use of Von Thunens ideas within geography highlights the conflicts within a discipline that strives both to find regularity in the world and to explain the patterns seen in specific places. The Isolated State theory is attractive because it one of the few easily understood location theories for which empirical examples can be easily drawn. Of course, these examples are never absolutely correct and often seem overly simplistic. Barnes (1998) analysis of Von Thunen and the social construction of Von Thunens theory within economic geography particularly help understand the use of Von Thunen within agricultural economics supported by Watson (2005). The idea that Von Thunens theories were not just descriptive but also prescriptive more closely parallels the attitudes of the agricultural economists, who were searching not just to describe land use but often also to restrict it in order to build a more harmonious dairy economy. Formulation of the Theory towards Locational Decision: In an attempt to test the hypothesis that market forces largely allocate the supply of sites among the alternatives uses within the urban area, Von Thunens agriculture land use model is adapted. The rising transportation costs explain the differentials rent among homogenous site as stated in the theory explained by Moss (2001). Understood the accessibility within an urban market will be at maximum at the city centre; the assumptions of a competitive market and a homogenous site will be given. As far as transport and commuting cost is concern the accessibility tend to decrease when distance from the market centre increases. Moss (2001) concluded that firms and households have no intentions to change location and ceteris paribus because profits and other objectives are maximised. Next output is optimal and the maximum efficiency of the city as a productive unit is realised. In fact, the resulting structure of land uses reflect institutional arrangement such as zoning ordinance, transportation system and policies of financial institutional as well as the competitive ranking of the city, i.e. its economic base. The location of firms and households within this structure depends heavily upon competitive bidding for specific sites since rent differentials result market forces require from each site that rent resulting from maximum utilisation or highest and best use. Maximum economic rent occurs at the market centre because the supply of sites and average transportation and commuting costs for the local market are least according to Seyfried (1963).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seyfried (1963), followed by Linehan (2003) also suggested that the wages and interest are among production costs and they are assumed to be independent of location, but transportation costs rise as distance increases which later cause the rent, the surplus of gross revenue over production costs, decline proportionately. The supply of sites, i.e., more and larger land unit, increases with the distance from centre. Therefore competing user of sites will locate relative to their economic rent potential so that a structure of site values relative to location results from market forces. This structure of urban land market can be visualised as a rent or value surface; the market centre is the apex which is the point or area of highest site value. In the other word, rent decline with distance so do the value and land uses too change. If sites of equal value are related, the iso-value lines or contours are a function of site rent o r value. Thus the spatial structure of land uses or the urban land market at a moment of time can be shown by the rent or value function or gradient. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chapter on literature has discussed the concept of urban land use, the linkage between urban land use and the Von Thune theory, limitation on the theory as well as formulation of Von Thunen theory. The following chapter will discuss on the methodology of the study used in gathering all the information needed. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction: This chapter discusses in details the research methodology, which ensured that the objectives of the study can be achieved in a proper way. An appropriate research methodology application may avoid deviation against the objectives and gives clearer understanding on how the study is to be carried out. Validity of the research data and reliability of measurement will affect the practical research and accuracy of the result. Thus, the research methodology is directly connected to objective and problem statement of research. The second part of this chapter will go into details of the case study of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer how and why questions; you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context. Research Design: Research design can be classified into exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research design is mostly in qualitative nature while conclusive research design is in quantitative nature. It is more focus on the collecting data from primary or secondary data. It also involves in many qualitative data collection techniques such as focus groups and depth interview (Shukla, 2008). Qualitative data collection will provide a lot of information, however it also hard to interpret from the data collection. Meanwhile, qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions Impact of Transport Costs on Housing Decisions This study will emphasise on the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The case study will be held in Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. This study will be using the quantitative methods to further study the effect of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. Background In the search for lower cost housing, working families often locate far from their place of work and this will resulting in the increasing of their transportation costs and commute times. However, for many such families, the transportation costs exceed their housing costs. According to Bernstein (2001), affordability has never been just about housing cost, it is actually the interaction between housing and transportation cost that provide more meaningful measure of affordability. Hence, choosing a location-efficient neighbourhood near transit, services and jobs, families can reduce monthly household expenses. This study will emphasise on the model of land use and prices formulated by Von Thunen in 1826, a German economist. The theory concentrates on difference in relative transport costs in different types of agricultural production. According to J. Harvey (1997), he made assumptions that a boundless flat and featureless plain over which natural resources and climate are distributed uniformly and there is a central market for the area. Furthermore, he also assumed that the farmer used uniform horse and cart transport facilities to this central market, and different foods can be grown, but since these differ in bulk, the cost of transporting them to the market also differs. For each type of product, transport cost varies directly and proportionately with distance from the central market. However, the receipts from cultivation of one hectare of land are the same for all types of product. Given by these assumptions, it pictures the rent-paying capacity as a function of transport cost and the distance from the market. As distance from the market increases the total costs are raised by the increased cost of transport of the cultivation product. However, this study will relates this theory with the decision of housing location of the case study in Bandar Saujana. It will examine whether the theory match the pattern of the housing location in regards with the transport cost. Bandar Saujana Putra is a new self-contained township located in Sepang Selangor. The township launched the first phase of the development in 2004, has an easy access to the town centre using ELITE Highway. Its easy access to the town made Bandar Saujana Putra an ideal for the case study as the resident able to travel to the respective location of their needs. Statement of Problems: The township of Bandar Saujana Putra is located approximately 20km from the centre of Kuala Lumpur and the residents enjoy an easy access via ELITE Highway. However, how the transportation cost is plays a role in determining the decision to reside in Bandar Saujana Putra? Furthermore, does the Von Thunen theory explain the pattern of location theory in the case of Bandar Saujana Putra? Objectives of Study: The main objective of the study is to examine the effects of transportation cost towards the decision of housing location. The second objective of the study is to examine whether Von Thunen theory match the pattern of location theory in Bandar Saujana Putra. Scope of Study: The study is confined to the areas of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor since it is located approximately 20 km away from city centre and easily accessible. The respondent of the questionnaire are limited to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra and analysis as well as findings from the rental and property price will be used to accomplish the objectives mentioned above. The difficulty and limitation for the study arise when distributing the sample questionnaire and to get the feedback from the respondents. There will be situation where the respondents that have been approached will not or hesitate to give cooperation to the sample questionnaire. Research Methodology: The study would be done in an analytic manner. The information that is needed to examine the issue will be obtained from primary and secondary data. Primary Data: Primary data refers to the first-hand data, which required data collection. For this study, it will mainly involve in the distribution of questionnaire to the residents of Bandar Saujana Putra. The analysis will also be done according to the study areas in order to examine the transport cost of the residents. The question will be in objective manner administered to arrive to the objectives of the study. Secondary Data: The second method is secondary data which will mostly comprise of data collection through references of such as relevant books, journal, conference paper, newspaper and magazine articles and also online references. The data will also obtain from the economic text book which further explained the theory related to the study. Significant of Study: It is hoped that the anticipated outcome of this study can benefit the government especially the Town Planners in determining the structure of local city plan. While planning for housing development and also commercial hub, the developer and town planners have to consider the factors of distance and transportation as these two related closely to the affordability factor of a household. Secondly, this study will also benefit the house buyer in determining the location of the house as the distance and transportation cost is concern. The study will enlighten as how the location factors of property affects the daily budget of a household. The study also points to the importance of infill development that expands the supply of affordable housing in inner city and older suburban neighbourhoods that have good access to traditional job centres; the development of more affordable housing near transportation hubs and suburban employment centres. Lastly, the study intends to benefit the students as it will open up more discussion regarding the issue. Further research can be done to improve the findings of this study and hopefully it will beneficial towards the knowledge of the students. Organisation of Study: This study will consist of five chapters where the first chapter provides a brief concept and overview of Von Thunen theory that will be discussed further in the Literature Review. The first chapter consist of the introduction of the study and also statement problem that initiates the study. The first chapter also explained on the limitation faced on doing the study and the significance of this study. Meanwhile, the second chapter will discuss on literature review related to the study. It will mainly focus on the concept of the dynamic of Von Thunen theory in relation of the property market. The next part of the chapter will look further on the theory of urban economic and the formulation of the theory towards the locational decision. It will further strengthen the understanding of the theory based on the literature reviewed. Chapter three will discuss further on the methodology used in obtaining the information for the study. The quantitative methods of distributing questionnaire will be discussed further as well as the qualitative research methods used in the study. The qualitative research of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data is by observing the current market trend. This chapter will further emphasise on the case study chosen which is Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. The fourth chapter of the study will shows the analysis of the data collected previously. Information and data that is obtained from the survey of the market rental will be further detailed in this chapter using the appropriate graphs and diagrams. The analysis of the findings is further discussed in relation to the patterns of economic rent in the market. The last chapter will conclude the analysis of the findings and draws the recommendation of the further study to compliment this research. It will also determine the confirmation of the objectives of this study as well as the holistic achievement of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction: This chapter will explain further on the previous literature and writing in regards of the urban land use in general and Von Thunen theory of locational decision. Other than that, this chapter will also discuss on the limitation of the theory as well as the formulation of the theory. Background: Urban land use comprises two elements; the nature of land use which relates to which activities are taking place, and the level of spatial accumulation which indicates their intensity and concentration. Central areas compared to peripheral area have a high level of spatial accumulation and corresponding land uses such as retail while peripheral areas, on the other hand have lower levels of accumulation. In addition most economic as suggested by Gordon (2005), social or cultural activities imply a multitude of functions, such as production, consumption and distribution. These functions take place only at specific locations and are part of an activity system. Therefore activities have a spatial imprint whereby some are routine activities as they occur regularly and are thus predictable, such as commuting and shopping. Others are institutional activities that tend to be irregular, and are shaped by lifestyle for example sports and leisure, by special needs for example healthcare. Still others are production activities that are related to manufacturing and distribution, whose linkages may be local, regional or global. In short, the behavioural patterns of individuals, institutions and firms have an imprint on land use and the representation of this imprint requires a typology of land use, which can be formal or functional: Formal land use: The representations are concerned with qualitative attributes of space such as its form, pattern and aspect and are descriptive in nature. Functional land use: The representations are concerned with the economic nature of activities such as production, consumption, residence, and transport, and are mainly a socioeconomic description of space. Residential accommodation: The stock of residential accommodation varies from multi-storey flat near the city centre, through back-to-back terrace houses and then semi-detached, to detached houses often standing in spacious ground. This stock of residential accommodation reflects decisions taken at some time in the past because of the building costs rule out the choice of new construction for a substantial part of the population. If the residence is to compete land away from other uses then sites would have to be developed to higher densities in or near the position of greatest accessibility than elsewhere, because sites in that area provide optimum location for higher order uses such as offices and retailing. According to Smith (1997), there is a relationship between a persons income, his place of residence and his place of work, although the correlation is not fixed, for individuals differ in the proportion of their incomes they choose to spend on accommodation. An individual, according to Cunningham (1999), seeking to maximise utility, must weigh his desire for access to his place of work against various possible combinations of commuting costs and accommodation prices and his other desires for urban contacts and amenities. Incomes will determine how far a households residence preference can be indulged. With differing preference consumers in the same group of income may demand different type of accommodation. On the other hand, those desiring contacts furnished by near central locations have the advantage of lower transport cost but frequently have to sacrifice certain site amenities. Where persons of unlike incomes lives at distances where they incur the same commuting costs then the person with the highest income will occupy the best accommodation, and so on. Urban Land Use: Commercial land use according to Faraday (1997) and supported by Lean (2001) involves relationships with its supplier and customers as it support the claim that land use in both formal and functional representations implies a set of relationships with other land uses. A level of accessibility to both systems of circulation must be present because relationships with suppliers will dominantly be related with movements of freight; relationships with customers would include movements of people. Since each type of land use has its own specific mobility requirements, transportation is one of the factors of activity location and is therefore associated intimately with land use. Within the urban system each activity occupies a suitable, but not necessarily optimal location, from which it derives rent. Transportation and land use interactions mostly consider the retroactive relationships between activities, which are land use related, and accessibility, which is transportation related. These relationships often have been described as a chicken-and-egg problem since it is difficult to identify the triggering cause of change; do transportation changes precede land use changes or vice-versa? Urban transportation aims at supporting transport demands generated by the diversity of urban activities in a diversity of urban contexts. A key for understanding urban entities thus lies in the analysis of patterns and processes of the transport / land use system. This system is highly complex and involves several relationships between the transport system, spatial interactions and land use: Transport system: It will consider the set of transport infrastructures and modes that are supporting urban movements of passengers and freight. It generally expresses the level of accessibility. Spatial interactions: It will consider the nature, extent, origins and destinations of the urban movements of passengers and freight. They take into consideration the attributes of the transport system as well as the land use factors that are generating and attracting movements. Land use: It will consider the level of spatial accumulation of activities and their associated levels of mobility requirements. Land use is commonly linked with demographic and economic attributes. Accessibility: Accessibility evaluates the net economic costs of moving persons and goods between one place and another place. It is, therefore, not only concerned with the distance to be travelled between two places but, more important, with the time taken to travel that distance, i.e., with all the factor costs in any journey (Lean , 2001). However, accessibility does not affect solely the real costs incurred by movement but also the real benefits derived. The residential demand for urban land also depends upon accessibility but the capital sum a residential user pays to obtain a site represents a money evaluation of the satisfaction to be derived from that site. According to Goddall (2001) residential demand depends upon utility or satisfaction and the residential user seeks that the site which allows him to maximise his utility. Thus, for the residential user travelling, whether to work, to shops, or for pleasure, represent a disutility and each person wishes to minimise these disutilities such as the time and money costs of travelling. Disutilities would be minimised if a residential user located himself on a site with a high degree of accessibility, so residential use would compete with business uses for accessible site. However, for a residential there are certain amenities considerations involved in the choice of site which confer satisfaction/utility upon the user. The amenity value of a site depends upon factors not readily assessable in financial terms such as space, quiet, fresh air, etc. According to Wardour (1997) the choice of a residential site is, in many cases, a compromise because the desire to minimise travelling disutilities demands a relatively accessible, therefore central site, whereas the quest for amenity leads towards less accessible sites some way from the city centre. Greater amenity can usually be achieved by accepting additional travelling disutility. Urban Land Use Model: Von Thunen Ring Model: The relationships between transportation and land use are rich in theoretical representations that have contributed much too geographical sciences. Several descriptive and analytical models of urban land use have been developed over time, with increased levels of complexity where all of them involve some consideration of transport in the explanations of urban land use structures according to Carter (1995). However, this study will emphasise on the oldest land use theory by Johann Heinrich Von Thunen. According to Rodrigue (2000) modern location economics began with Von Thunen (1826). Being the first to develop a basic analytical model of the relationships between markets, production, and distance he too looked upon the agricultural landscape as the purpose in this study. The relative costs of transporting different agricultural commodities to the central market determined the agricultural land use around a city. The most productive activities will thus compete for the closest land to the market and less productive activities will be located further away. The model has a set of basic assumptions which reflects agricultural conditions around a city in the early 19th century: Isolation: There is one isolated market in an isolated state having no interactions (trade) with the outside. Ubiquitous land characteristics: The land surrounding the market is entirely flat and its fertility uniform. Transportation: It is assumed there are no transport infrastructures such as roads or rivers and that farmers are transporting their production to the market using horses and carts. Transportation costs are dependent of the type of commodity being transported to the market as well as the distance involved. Comparison of the relationships between production cost, the market price and the transport cost of an agricultural commodity is explained thoroughly as follows: R = Y(p-c) Yfm R = Rent per unit of land. Y = Yield per unit of land. p = market price per unit of yield. c = Average production costs per unit of yield. m = Distance from market (in kilometers or miles). f = Freight rate per unit of yield and unit of distance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carter (1995) further explained that all agricultural land uses are maximizing their productivity (rent) whereby in this case it is dependent upon their location from the market (Central City). Discourse community of farmer play significant role as they are to maximize his profit which is simply the market price minus the transport and production costs. The most productive activities such as gardening or milk production or activities which cost higher in transportation (firewood) are located near to the market. The above figure provides an overview of Von Thunens agricultural land use model with the basic assumptions being applied such as isolation, ubiquity, and transportation. It can be divided into two parts: The pure isolated state over an isotropic plain (left). In this case, the model takes a shape of perfect concentric circles. The potential impacts of modified transport costs (a navigable river) and the presence of a competing center (right). The relationships between agricultural land use and market distance are very difficult to establish in the contemporary context. Von Thunen primary objective was to determine the relationship between the intensities and type of agricultural production and the available markets. The physical and cultural complexities however, led him to disregard the variations in a large number of environmental and social conditions. Instead, he made seven basic assumptions, which formed the core of the theory. The ideal site consisted of completely rational (optimising) economic behaviour, an isolated state, a single central city, settlement in village far away from the city centre, and a racially homogeneous population, uniform topography, uniform climate and soil fertility, and a relatively uniform and primitive transportation cost according to Griffin (1968) and later supported by Rodrigue (2001). Sinclair (1966) however noted that Von Thunen primary concern was to discover and examine the laws which governed the pattern of agricultural land use existing in his time and within his experience. His dominant recognition was the land use pattern depended upon competition between various types of agriculture for the use of particular piece of land. The controlling factor in this competition was Economic Rent as defined here the return of investment in the land. Later it is sopported briefly by Rodrigue (2001) that form of land providing the greatest Economic Rent would make the highest bid for the land and displaced all others. The facts that transport cost increased with distance and they imparted a spatial variation to Economic Rent become an eye opener to Von Thunen whom later comes to realise that transportation costs were a primary factors determining Economic Rent. Hence, Economic Rent from any one land use can be expressed as a function of a distance from the market. Limitation of the Theory: In constructing the model complicating factors were assumed away, providing a laboratory in which the interplay between a small number of essential causal influences and their relations with certain effect could be studied. In particular this model provided a mechanism in which changing technical and economic inputs could be linked with evolving geographical patterns of production according to Samuelson (1983) and Linehan (2003). The attraction was thus, that the theory simplified the world by concentrating on the effects of one primary variable, transportation costs, on the location of agricultural production. Von Thunen himself accomplished this by creating the idea of the economic margin. In his view, land use areas were bounded by margins where one use became more cost-effective than another. Given von Thunens thesis, Peet, (1987) could attempt to explain how these factors may have changed historically and explain changes in the location of production. The uses of Von Thunen model, or derivatives of it, continue to this day among quantitative geographers for example, Wang and Guldmann (1997); Hill and Smith (1994); Linehan (2003). Even in 1966, however, the limitations of the model were accepted. Gaston (1997) followed by Linehan (2003) for instance admits Von Thunens analysis is basically descriptive rather than normative and does not explain changes over time or the possible effects of economies of scale. Despite this, Smith (2000) promotes the model because it made marginal economics geographical. In the years since these limitations in particular the fact that Von Thunen ignored changes over time have often been mentioned, but the model survives in importance in the minds of geographers and is a main subject of beginning economic geography courses. The most likely reason for this is that Von Thunen rings actually appear to exist in many cases. For instance, cities are often surrounded by a dairy ring. Von Thunen rings are one of the few very easily understandable models in geography that truly appear to explain a pattern in the world, even if the model is primarily descriptive and does not give much idea a bout how exactly this pattern came to be or what might happen to it in the future. Harvey made this argument in Social Justice and the City (1997), arguing that social scientists are attracted to models such as the Isolated State because they appear to be empirically relevant. Barnes (1998), following Haraway (1997). Latour (1987) and Linehan (2003), comments on the manner in which von Thunens model, in particular the concentric zone diagram showing agricultural land use rings of decreasing intensity with distance from the city, has been fetishized within economic geography. Barnes (1998) argues, based on the work of Barnbrock (1997) and Harvey (1997) that Von Thunens concept of the frontier wage, the just reward for work done that, if paid, would ensure worker harmony, leads to a more complete understanding of Von Thunens work. This sense of harmony was also Von Thunens vision of the isolated state in general, constructed not just an isolated state, but an ideal one. The rings were less a description of how the world is, but how it should be once social harmony was realized. The idea that the isolated state was not just descriptive but also prescriptive is emphasized by Barnbrock (1997), who writes that for von Thunen the Isolated State is the true representation of the final end mankind should strive for. He further quotes von Thunen, who states in the Isolated State we have in mind only the final goal. Harvey points out, however, that this was an essentially conservative goal. Through the imposition of the frontier wage and a more harmonious land use pattern, class conflict and social polarization would be minimized within German society. The lesson learned by neo-classical economists, Harvey argues, was that economic science could seek and spell out principles of social harmony without appeal to the political economy of the spatial fix. The use of Von Thunens ideas within geography highlights the conflicts within a discipline that strives both to find regularity in the world and to explain the patterns seen in specific places. The Isolated State theory is attractive because it one of the few easily understood location theories for which empirical examples can be easily drawn. Of course, these examples are never absolutely correct and often seem overly simplistic. Barnes (1998) analysis of Von Thunen and the social construction of Von Thunens theory within economic geography particularly help understand the use of Von Thunen within agricultural economics supported by Watson (2005). The idea that Von Thunens theories were not just descriptive but also prescriptive more closely parallels the attitudes of the agricultural economists, who were searching not just to describe land use but often also to restrict it in order to build a more harmonious dairy economy. Formulation of the Theory towards Locational Decision: In an attempt to test the hypothesis that market forces largely allocate the supply of sites among the alternatives uses within the urban area, Von Thunens agriculture land use model is adapted. The rising transportation costs explain the differentials rent among homogenous site as stated in the theory explained by Moss (2001). Understood the accessibility within an urban market will be at maximum at the city centre; the assumptions of a competitive market and a homogenous site will be given. As far as transport and commuting cost is concern the accessibility tend to decrease when distance from the market centre increases. Moss (2001) concluded that firms and households have no intentions to change location and ceteris paribus because profits and other objectives are maximised. Next output is optimal and the maximum efficiency of the city as a productive unit is realised. In fact, the resulting structure of land uses reflect institutional arrangement such as zoning ordinance, transportation system and policies of financial institutional as well as the competitive ranking of the city, i.e. its economic base. The location of firms and households within this structure depends heavily upon competitive bidding for specific sites since rent differentials result market forces require from each site that rent resulting from maximum utilisation or highest and best use. Maximum economic rent occurs at the market centre because the supply of sites and average transportation and commuting costs for the local market are least according to Seyfried (1963).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seyfried (1963), followed by Linehan (2003) also suggested that the wages and interest are among production costs and they are assumed to be independent of location, but transportation costs rise as distance increases which later cause the rent, the surplus of gross revenue over production costs, decline proportionately. The supply of sites, i.e., more and larger land unit, increases with the distance from centre. Therefore competing user of sites will locate relative to their economic rent potential so that a structure of site values relative to location results from market forces. This structure of urban land market can be visualised as a rent or value surface; the market centre is the apex which is the point or area of highest site value. In the other word, rent decline with distance so do the value and land uses too change. If sites of equal value are related, the iso-value lines or contours are a function of site rent o r value. Thus the spatial structure of land uses or the urban land market at a moment of time can be shown by the rent or value function or gradient. Conclusion:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The chapter on literature has discussed the concept of urban land use, the linkage between urban land use and the Von Thune theory, limitation on the theory as well as formulation of Von Thunen theory. The following chapter will discuss on the methodology of the study used in gathering all the information needed. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Introduction: This chapter discusses in details the research methodology, which ensured that the objectives of the study can be achieved in a proper way. An appropriate research methodology application may avoid deviation against the objectives and gives clearer understanding on how the study is to be carried out. Validity of the research data and reliability of measurement will affect the practical research and accuracy of the result. Thus, the research methodology is directly connected to objective and problem statement of research. The second part of this chapter will go into details of the case study of Bandar Saujana Putra, Selangor. According to Yin (2003) a case study design should be considered when: the focus of the study is to answer how and why questions; you cannot manipulate the behaviour of those involved in the study; you want to cover contextual conditions because you believe they are relevant to the phenomenon under study; or the boundaries are not clear between the phenomenon and context. Research Design: Research design can be classified into exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research design is mostly in qualitative nature while conclusive research design is in quantitative nature. It is more focus on the collecting data from primary or secondary data. It also involves in many qualitative data collection techniques such as focus groups and depth interview (Shukla, 2008). Qualitative data collection will provide a lot of information, however it also hard to interpret from the data collection. Meanwhile, qualitative case study is an approach to research that facilitates exploration of a phenomenon within its context using a variety of