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Modern on-demand mobility concepts have the potential to drive the mobility transition. Increasing attention is being paid to DRT (Demand Responsive Transportation) services that enable the bundling of trips with the help of dynamic routing algorithms. Many providers use a stop-based operating concept for this purpose. The transport between so-called virtual stops promises a higher fraction of shared trips and shorter vehicle detours. The aim of this paper is to investigate multiple stop network designs and their impacts on the efficiency of the operation. For this purpose, three stop network generation approaches were derived from literature and applied to the simulation environment MATSim. A scenario in the city center of Berlin is simulated, where all inner car trips are replaced by DRT. Comparing the stop network design against a door-to-door service, the results suggest a trade-off between a reduction of vehicle kilometers (up to 18%) and increased walking distances (up to 250 meters on average). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cyclists' reactions to weather. • During COVID-19, cyclists in transit-oriented cities reacted stronger to weather. • In student cities, the weather elasticity did not change during pandemic. • Results of 2.2 million hourly bicycle count observations from 69 counting stations. Cycling can only unfold its full potential for environmental sustainability, livable cities, and health if people cycle under most seasonal and weather conditions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people preferred cycling over public transit, in order to avoid infection. This change may also have affected the weather–cycling association: the pandemic mainly attracted new, fair-weather cyclists; and it may have encouraged cyclists to continue cycling, even under less favorable conditions. In this paper, we explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the association between weather and cycling. We analyze data from bicycle counting stations in Germany, combined with city- and hour-specific weather information and a continuous measure of pandemic intensity. The data set contains more than 2.2 million hourly bicycle count observations from 69 counting stations, covering the years 2017–2021. Results from the most transit-oriented cities in the sample, Berlin and Munich suggest that the cycling volume was more dependent on weather conditions at times of high pandemic intensity. This suggests that the pandemic put new people in the saddle, but these additional cyclists were largely fair-weather cyclists who only cycled when the weather was sufficiently nice. For policy, this could set two targets. First, encourage the new pandemic-cyclists to stay on the bike and, second, support them in transitioning into year-round cyclists eventually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As centres of consumption, knowledge and services under some political and administrative control, cities are acknowledged as strategic food governance transition nodes. Increasing stakeholder coordination and participation, however, means identifying pathways for transformative change and accelerating uptake of innovative and participatory modes of governance. We argue that modelling approaches, by helping to meet the three pre-conditions for participatory governance (relationship-building, shared understanding and experimentation) offer valuable input and can help establish ad hoc institutional space for redesigning food system governance. Based on a selective literature review, we define four key dimensions to consider when modelling for participatory food governance in city-regions: stakeholders' involvement, process phases, capacity for joint action and use of a multi-sectoral and multi-scale approach. The state-of-the-art review presented in this paper focuses on seven modelling approaches that can meaningfully support stakeholder participation in food system transitioning processes, considering the specific context, objectives and available resources. The strengths and limitations of combined modelling approaches are illustrated and critically reviewed, using a concrete example from the Berlin city-region. This highlights the relevant contribution that modelling can make to creating new spaces for participatory food governance. • Modelling can be used to support new spaces for redesigning food system governance. • Modelling can help build relationships and a shared view, and promote experiments. • Dimensions considered: involvement, phase, capacity and multi-scale/multi- sector. • A modelling approach is context-, objective- and resource-dependent. • Comprehensive guidelines for a system-perspective selection are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this position paper, we summarize history, current activities and future topics of IFAC Technical Committee (TC) 5.2 "Manufacturing Modelling for Management and Control". As a special focus, we discuss the results of the 9th IFAC Conference MIM 2019 that was recently organized by IFAC TC 5.2 in Berlin, Germany and attended by 740 participants. We analyse the current activities of the working groups within TC 5.2 and project some future research directions. Finally, we present an overview of papers from TC 5.2 in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grazing incidence fast atom diffraction (GIFAD or FAD) has become a technique to track the surface topology of crystal surface at the atomic scale. The paper retraces the events that led to the discovery of unexpected quantum behavior of keV atoms during the thesis of Patrick Rousseau in Orsay and Andreas Schueller in Berlin. In Orsay, it started by diffraction spots whereas in Berlin supernumerary rainbows were first identified at keV. Though the discovery was not anticipated, it did not take place by accident, everything was in place several years before, waiting only for an interest in neutral projectiles with a touch of curiosity. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the core reasons for urban traffic congestion is the mispricing of the traffic's main resource, the scarce road capacity. Recent proposals suggest a two-stage market for road capacity similar to other major utilities markets such as those for electricity. In such markets an Independent System Operator (ISO) provides road infrastructure which multiple Service Providers (SP) then resell to end consumers. The size of such markets in terms of the number of traded items, road segments per hour, is exceptional. A road network in a city consists of tens of thousands different road segments and it is unclear how a wholesale market for service providers should be designed to keep it tractable for buyers and sellers. Three problems arise in this context: First, how can a service provider express preferences for so many products. Second, the optimization problem is very large and it is far from obvious that problems of this size can be solved. Finally, the allocation problem is non-convex and finding competitive equilibrium prices on such markets is impossible in general. We suggest a parsimonious bid language based on origin–destination pairs and introduce a mixed-integer optimization problem to maximize welfare on such markets. Based on the MATSim traffic simulator, we show that one can solve realistic problems based on traffic data for the city of Berlin to optimality within 15 minutes. Importantly, we approximate competitive equilibrium prices which require only negligible side-payments as the allocation problem is "almost" convex. Overall, the paper provides a tangible proposal for wholesale markets for road capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel and simplified approach to simulate the effects of the vibro-pile installation on the deformation of deep excavation shoring walls at high ground water levels. Although commonly-used finite element simulations provide acceptable predictions of the wall displacements caused by underwater excavations, anchor installation, or pit dewatering processes, they could not explain the unexpected large wall movements measured in different excavations during the vibro-pile installation stage. Previous dynamic finite element simulations of the vibro-installation of a single pile showed that after few cycles the effective stress in the soil surrounding the pile reduces almost near to zero. The soil region affected was called "the liquefaction zone". Due to the waves emanating from the pile, the soil beyond the liquefaction zone is subjected to a (high-) cyclic loading, i.e. a large number of strain cycles with small amplitude. When the soil behavior is modeled with hypoplasticity or elastoplasticity, its response to these small strain amplitudes is nearly (hypo)elastic resulting in an erroneous accumulation of stress or strains, see Osinov (2017) [1]. Based on this observation, Osinov et al. (2015) [2,3] suggested that the accumulation effects caused by many cycles of small strain amplitude could explain the large wall displacements observed during the pile installation. Following this idea, in this paper we model the soil behavior with a combination of hypoplasticity (which can be applied to cycles of large strain amplitudes and monotonic paths) and the high cyclic accumulation (HCA) model, which is able to extrapolate the accumulation of stress/strain caused by a large number of cycles of small strain amplitude ( ϵ ampl < 10 − 3 ). The pile installation is not explicitly modeled, but its effects are incorporated in the numeric model by applying a field of cyclic strain amplitudes around each pile. Using this combined constitutive model and simulation technique, the behavior of the shoring of an excavation pit in Potsdamer Platz, in Berlin was simulated under quasi-static conditions in a finite element program. The obtained simulation results are in good agreement with the horizontal displacement of the diaphragm wall measured during the entire construction stages, including the underwater excavation and the pile installation. • During pile vibration, the soil is subject to many cycles of small strain amplitude. • Pile installation effects captured by a combination of hypoplasticity and HCA-model. • Simplified FE-simulations reflect the influence of the pile installation sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the phenomenon of residential segregation in Berlin using a novel methodological approach. Generally, the different dimensions of residential segregation (i.e. driven by ethnic, age-group, gender, and socioeconomic dimension) are explored separately. In this context, we propose a methodological approach based on multivariate statistics to explore and visualize residential segregation in the residential areas of Berlin separately as well as jointly. For this purpose, we design a sequential mixed approach including the following analytical techniques: a) kernel density estimation to estimate the density of sub-populations; b) non-negative matrix factorization to cluster residential areas and provide an intuitive interpretation of the important variables defining the clusters. The results are first presented separately according to migration background, age group, gender, as well as socio-economic variables. Then all the dimensions are analyzed together to have a panoramic view of the phenomenon in the city of Berlin. The results are discussed and compared with contemporary literature related to the topic of residential segregation in Berlin. The advantages and limitations, and future research possibilities based on the proposed approach are also discussed. • This paper proposes a methodology to explore and visualize the multifaceted phenomenon of residential segregation in Berlin. • The method allows the visualization of clusters by migration background, age group, gender and socio-economic variables. • The method also allows exploring the importance of the variables in the definition of the clusters. • The migration background turns out to be an important aspect in the definition of the clusters. • The applications of this method are to monitor the many facets of residential segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to investigate how a blockchain-based platform for citizens' participation in urban planning should be developed adopting a Value Sensitive Design approach (VSD). VSD can be considered as an overarching methodological framework for new technologies development which takes into account moral and human values of all the direct and indirect stakeholders which might be impacted by the technology. By considering the perspectives of the different involved stakeholders, the paper specifically addresses the call for more research about blockchain-based services which adopts a human-centred approach instead of technocentric. The paper is based on the empirical analysis of a DApp called BBBlockchain which was specifically created with the purpose to improve citizens participation in urban planning decisions in two major residential development projects in Berlin, Germany. BBBlockchain is a proof of concept which is currently running on its own in-house test network but it can run on every EVM compatible blockchain. From the analysis of the information layer of participation, it can be argued that the most important values include transparency, inclusiveness and confidentiality. • Value Sensitive Design proved to be a good approach to develop a blockchain-based platform for citizens' participation in urban planning. • The most important values include transparency, inclusiveness and confidentiality. • Taking the perspective of the different involved stakeholders, the paper adopts a human-centred approach instead of technocentric. • Stakeholders' values should be incorporated into the design of the platform to enhance stakeholders' adoption. • Conflicts among stakeholders' values have emerged and they have been addressed through platform's design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban bicycling data collection with mobile digital devices has become ubiquitous in cities across the globe in the last decade. However, planners, developers, data and city scientists often struggle to process, avoid biases, clean datasets, and select relevant data points, when processing, analyzing and modelling vast troves of data, when engineering applications for urban mobility. This paper aims to shed light on these data sources and bases using a descriptive and comparative analysis of the social layers embodied into this data. These ultimately and inadvertently might result in algorithmic analysis and predictive simulations with inadequate sensitivity and specificity outputs for desired requirements. Actors and social groups have vested and specific interests in these bicycling databases, which in turn shape data bases biases or disclosure policies. Therefore, their data will reflect mostly the way they interact with bicycles, cyclists and cities. How pervasive, available for academic research, and which uses are currently made with bicycling bulk data collections in the case of Berlin? Sixteen social groups that operate or hold digital bicycling data systems in that city are investigated. Results show that a clear distinction between the data produced by public and private social groups, as different uses and disclosure polices for it are identified. These contrasts significantly reduce the range of models and applications that can derive from this data. In the development of diagnostic and prognostic systems, public owned are more suitable, whereas private is for commercial application. Digitization of urban bicycling data appeared to produce different data quality and quantity. The brief description and grouping of a specific sociotechnical ensemble dynamic, such as the one conducted here, is particularly useful for the early stages of research, data collection planning and modelling, and in the design of requirements for technology development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainwater harvesting has long been part of the standard repertoire of the aspiring sustainable city. The multiple benefits of on–site retention, infiltration and use of rainwater have been illustrated with a plethora of successful pilot projects in industrialized cities across the globe. The leap from niche to mainstream has, however, proved largely elusive. Recent research has provided important explanations for such impeded transitions in terms of unfavourable institutional contexts and obdurate sociotechnical regimes. Little attention has been paid, however, to the urban dimensions of rainwater harvesting. Despite many case studies of rainwater harvesting in cities, we know very little about how the 'urban' shapes, and is shaped by, rainwater management policies and practices. This paper draws on recent contributions to transitions research from human geography and urban studies in order to explicate the dynamic interactions between rainwater harvesting and the city. Taking the city of Berlin – an early pioneer of such technologies – as a case study, it conducts a long-term analysis of the policies and projects implemented to promote rainwater harvesting in the city. The paper's findings demonstrate huge variety regarding not only the instruments applied and schemes developed, but also the political motives and priorities over the past 30 years. This is interpreted spatially and temporally in terms of shifting contexts and contingent events in (and beyond) Berlin. The paper argues for a more nuanced understanding of how the 'urban' permeates sociotechnical transitions in general, and pathways to reconfigure rainwater management in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical beam diagnostics at the BESSY II light source in Berlin have been improved significantly over the last few years. In particular, the streak-camera system has been extended in precision and sensitivity to allow two-dimensional imaging in time and space for equilibrated and non-equilibrated bunch patterns. In this paper, we prove experimentally and theoretically that we have reached a sub-ps RMS total time resolution using filtered synchrotron light. Detailed simulations, including the different physical time-dispersion mechanisms, show the influence of various band-pass and edge wavelength filters on the resolution. The limits for unfiltered near-visible synchrotron radiation (white-light) and the band-pass filter to achieve optimal time resolution are derived as well, providing a basis for more advanced beam-dynamics studies in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are increasingly affected by migration which raises new questions for urban development and planning. In the paper at hand, this issue is addressed from two perspectives: First, we stress the high social, representative as well as economic potential of ethnic economies and the emerging neighborhoods, showing that they serve migrant communities as well as urban development. Second, we bring in perspectives from the ‘planning for diversity’ and ‘multicultural planning’ discourses into the German debate. This paper takes the planning conflict on the development of the Dong Xuan Center (DXC), Germany's largest Vietnamese-run trade center, into an Asiatown as empirical basis. It examines legal implications for the German context and therewith contributes to the ‘planning for diversity’ discourse from a non-multicultural setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German Federal Government put its first net zero office building in operation in 2013 anticipating EU requirements for all public administrations to solely built “nearly zero energy buildings” from 2019 onwards. The two-storey building is situated in Berlin and has been designed for having an overall annual energy demand lower than the in-situ conversion of renewable energies. The paper shows the results of the first year of the operation. The overall annual electric usage is near to the expected value. Nevertheless, intensive monitoring showed differences between the expected and the measured electric usage in the areas of heating and domestic hot water (+172%), ventilation (−36%), lighting (−33%), equipment and auxiliaries (−14% and −13%, respectively), yield of the PV-system (+32%). A numerical model was created to investigate these deviations as well as to evaluate the impact of possible actions aimed at further improving the energy demand of the building. The model was calibrated with measured data, data from surveys, occupancy schedules, and validated by means of different indexes, among which the mean bias error (MBE). The MBE between monitored and simulated energy performance is below ±2% for all stated areas of energy usage. Analogously, the energy needs for cooling, monitored and simulated, as well as the trends of the indoor air temperature in both heating and cooling seasons, are in a very good agreement. In detail, the monthly MBE for the indoor temperature, in specific summer and winter periods and in the considered rooms, is below the threshold of ±5%, with values slightly higher (anyway lower than ±6%) only at the ground floor. Finally, the paper shows that the reasons for the detected deviations in electric energy usage can mainly be related to the usage pattern of the building and to the occupants’ behavior. In order to ensure energy efficiency as high as planned, a suitable monitoring of the energy performance is fundamental. It enables the calibration and validation of tailored energy models to detect possible malfunctions as well as propose actions aimed at further reducing the energy usage of the building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A number of clinical guidelines recommend that all cardiac rehabilitation patients should be screened for potential sleep disorders with a validated screening instrument. There is currently no consensus on what specific tools should be used.Objective: To identify tools that are practical to use in the clinical environment and have high diagnostic accuracy.Methods: We systematically searched online databases to identify patient reported outcome instruments that have been used in published research studies to assess the likelihood of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in cardiac patients. In studies that provided diagnostic data, these data were extracted and verified via an evidence-based diagnostic calculator. Where sufficient numbers of studies were available, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine pooled estimates of specificity, sensitivity and diagnostic odds ratios. Selected papers were qualitatively assessed using the Standards for Reporting Diagnostic accuracy studies (STARD).Results: Of the 21 instruments identified, six detected likelihood of OSA, two assessed daytime sleepiness, five assessed insomnia and eight examined sleep quality. A meta-analysis of 14 studies that assessed diagnostic accuracy of moderate OSA, revealed moderate sensitivity for the Berlin Questionnaire, Sens = 0.49 (95% CI 0.45-0.52) and good sensitivity for the Stop-BANG, Sens = 0.93 (95% CI 0.87-0.96) but poor specificity at standard cut-off criteria.Conclusion: There are promising practical tools available to screen patients with OSA and other sleep disorders in cardiac rehabilitation settings, but specificity could be improved. Additional assessment of sleep quality may enhance prognostic ability with both OSA and insomnia screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase in solar power integration, the necessity for accurate solar power forecasting is of paramount importance for various energy markets, grid management system, power dispatching and so on. This paper analyses a new and efficient hybrid forecasting approach consisting of empirical wavelet transform (EWT) and Robust minimum variance Random Vector Functional Link Network (RRVFLN) with random weight vector for the enhancement nodes along with a functionally expanded direct link to the output node from input nodes. The RRVFLN contains dual activation functions in each hidden neuron of the network and its parameters are optimized by an efficient Sine Cosine and levy flight based particle swarm optimization (PSOLVSC). The proposed RRVFLN has some similarity with recently proposed broad learning system that can replace neural networks with deep architecture for handling big and time varying data bases. For examining the solar power prediction accuracy of the proposed EWT-RRVFLN model, the historical solar power data for different seasons of Alabama, Ikitelli, and Berlin are taken into consideration which are divided into three time horizon intervals of 5min, 15min, 30min and 60 min, respectively. • A new exponentially expanded RVFLN is presented for solar power prediction. • Functionally expanded intrinsic modes are used as input features for the RVFLN. • The direct link to output for RVFLN contains both linear and nonlinear features. • Sine-Cosine Levy Flight PSO Algorithm optimizes EWT hybridized RVFLN parameters. • The novel EWT technique eliminates the stochastic nature of the original solar data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As remote sensing (RS) data obtained from different sensors become available largely and openly, multimodal data processing and analysis techniques have been garnering increasing interest in the RS and geoscience community. However, due to the gap between different modalities in terms of imaging sensors, resolutions, and contents, embedding their complementary information into a consistent, compact, accurate, and discriminative representation, to a great extent, remains challenging. To this end, we propose a shared and specific feature learning (S2FL) model. S2FL is capable of decomposing multimodal RS data into modality-shared and modality-specific components, enabling the information blending of multi-modalities more effectively, particularly for heterogeneous data sources. Moreover, to better assess multimodal baselines and the newly-proposed S2FL model, three multimodal RS benchmark datasets, i.e., Houston2013 – hyperspectral and multispectral data, Berlin – hyperspectral and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, Augsburg – hyperspectral, SAR, and digital surface model (DSM) data, are released and used for land cover classification. Extensive experiments conducted on the three datasets demonstrate the superiority and advancement of our S2FL model in the task of land cover classification in comparison with previously-proposed state-of-the-art baselines. Furthermore, the baseline codes and datasets used in this paper will be made available freely at https://github.com/danfenghong/ISPRS_S2FL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes an agent-based transport simulation to analyze environmental equity issues for the example of road traffic noise in the greater Berlin metropolitan area. We investigate the distribution of noise exposure and causation linked to individual agents. In addition, spatial patterns at the community level are analyzed. Results confirm agent-based models' suitability for equity analyses as they can represent detailed exposure and causation levels. We find that the causation of noise is considerably more unequally distributed than the exposure thereof. In addition, suburban environments tend to cause significant shares of noise in the metropolitan cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing techniques of 3-D reconstruction of buildings from SAR images are mostly based on multibaseline SAR interferometry, such as PSI and SAR tomography (TomoSAR). However, these techniques require tens of images for a reliable reconstruction, which limits the application in various scenarios, such as emergency response. Therefore, alternatives that use a single SAR image and the building footprints from GIS data show their great potential in 3-D reconstruction. The combination of GIS data and SAR images requires a precise registration, which is challenging due to the unknown terrain height, and the difficulty in finding and extracting the correspondence. In this paper, we propose a framework to automatically register GIS building footprints to a SAR image by exploiting the features representing the intersection of ground and visible building facades, specifically the near-range boundaries in the building polygons, and the double bounce lines in the SAR image. Based on those features, the two data sets are registered progressively in multiple resolutions, allowing the algorithm to cope with variations in the local terrain. The proposed framework was tested in Berlin using one TerraSAR-X High Resolution SpotLight image and GIS building footprints of the area. Comparing to the ground truth, the proposed algorithm reduced the average distance error from 5.91 m before the registration to −0.08 m, and the standard deviation from 2.77 m to 1.12 m. Such accuracy, better than half of the typical urban floor height (3 m), is significant for precise building height reconstruction on a large scale. The proposed registration framework has great potential in assisting SAR image interpretation in typical urban areas and building model reconstruction from SAR images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Crowdfunding invoked in urban governance that valorizes social entrepreneurship. • Berlin shapes its distinctive and multiple crowdfunding ecologies. • Crowdfunding facilitates social entrepreneurship in Berlin. • Crowdfunding supports real-estate speculation in Berlin. • Crowdfunding enables solidarity economies in Berlin. Situated at the intersection of urban and economic geography, this paper develops and illustrates a three-step research agenda to further critical understanding of relations between crowdfunding and cities. First, we explore how crowdfunding is enrolled in shifting programmes of urban governance that valorize entrepreneurship in North America and Europe in particular. When invoked in urban governance, crowdfunding is increasingly the 'go to' method for mobilizing the cash, capital and collective enthusiasm necessary for social entrepreneurship and civic renewal in cities. Second, we offer a situated, qualitative case study account of crowdfunding in Berlin. In contrast with existing research, we show how a specific urban context contributes to shaping the distinctive crowdfunding ecologies that emerge in a city. Third, we interrogate the multiplicity and diversity of crowdfunding-city relations, identifying and analyzing three distinctive ecologies that have emerged to date in Berlin. While crowdfunding is indeed enabling social entrepreneurship in particular ways in Berlin, it also contributes to capitalizing speculation in booming real-estate developments and facilitates the solidarity economies of community groups and charities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more diverse transport policies being proposed and the advent of novel transport services and technologies, the transport system is becoming more individualized in many aspects. Transport models, the most important tool to assess policies and schemes, need to be sufficiently expressive to address these developments. Agent-based transport models, where travelers with individual properties and the ability to act and decide autonomously are resolved individually, allow to appropriately model and analyze such policies. This paper describes the MATSim Open Berlin Scenario, a transport simulation scenario for the Berlin metropolitan area implemented in the agent-based transport simulation framework MATSim. The scenario is solely based on open data and the demand for transport is created based on a fully synthetic procedure. Contrary to most transport simulation scenarios, no information from a travel diary survey is required as input. As such, the scenario generation procedure described in this study is spatially transferable and facilitates the creation of agent-based transport simulation scenarios for arbitrary regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carsharing companies aim to customize their service to increase fleet usage and revenues with different pricing schemes and offer types. Dynamic pricing policies can be designed to adjust and balance temporally and spatially cars availability but may pose some question on customers' fairness. In this paper, we propose an explorative analysis of how an availability-based dynamic pricing scheme impacts the demand and the supply performance. The policy is simulated in MATSim and compared to a fixed pricing policy scheme. This simulation consists of analyzing the behavior of a synthetic population of car-sharing members for Berlin and the surrounding region in which is applied an availability-based dynamic pricing in which price depends on vehicle availability in booking stations. Results show that when the dynamic pricing is applied there is a light decrease in the number of bookings and people with low value of time tend to abandon the carsharing mode in favor of other modes of transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions regarding destination choice for subsistence activities, such as employment and education, are typically taken on a medium or long-term basis. In activity-based modeling for transport research those are traditionally modeled after the allocation of daily activity plans to the individuals, with a few exceptions. This paper presents a comparison of two proceedings, namely the modeling of the destination choice for subsistence activities in advance and its traditional late modeling. Firstly, different destination choice models for employment and education were developed for the agent-based demand model TAPAS. In order to perform the comparison two scenarios were simulated: a base scenario and a scenario with a fee-based parking zone in the city center of Berlin. The results show the validity of both proceedings and their different application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the simulation of unexpected disruptions in public transport in the agent-based transport simulation framework of MATSim. A replanning logic for public transport passengers is implemented so passengers can be informed about and react to a disruption and use an alternative route. An unexpected disruption of an underground line in Berlin is simulated to analyze how passengers are affected by the disruption and the information time. It is shown that transport companies can minimize the negative effects of unplanned disruptions by informing their passengers as soon as possible once the disruption has occurred because travel times increase drastically when passengers are informed late. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Urban greenspaces can be sites of respite and risk for asylum seekers and refugees. • Access to urban greenspace is often ignored in debates over refugee integration. • Outdoor activities can have positive wellbeing effects for new arrivals in a city. • Barriers of isolation, language and cultural competency inhibit urban greenspace use. • Facilitated interventions are key to fostering engagement with urban greenspaces. This paper examines how asylum seekers and refugees experience urban greenspaces. Whilst often overlooked in a focus on support services and integration, we argue that critically exploring the importance of urban greenspaces has wider implications for understanding how asylum seekers and refugees navigate experiences of displacement and resettlement. Drawing on empirical work foregrounding refugee experiences in Berlin, London, and Sheffield, we found that spending time outdoors in local recreational spaces such as parks, can have positive outcomes for wellbeing and inclusion, with the potential to support respite and the beginnings of belonging. However, though there were multiple positive accounts, especially of busier parks and of appreciating nature, many participants were uncertain or anxious about using parks. The interviews highlight the multiple barriers faced by asylum seekers and refugees, regarding information, legibility and in gaining the cultural capital and confidence needed venture out. The varied experiences reflect the diversity of greenspace typologies in Northern European cities, and also how individuals weight up public perceptions and, for some, the insecurity of their legal status. In unpacking the interaction between these barriers, we define and propose 'curated sociability' approaches as possible frameworks for supporting egalitarian participation and offering pathways to greater engagement. We conclude by highlighting a range of interventions that offer situated opportunities for asylum seekers and refugees to engage with urban greenspaces, and which provide insights into how the expectations and rules of urban greenspace are actively negotiated and may be rewritten. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal grids will play a key role in the development of local energy communities and the achievement of 100% renewable societies. Such systems allow excess heat produced by distributed producers through renewable energy sources (also referred to as "thermal prosumers") to be shared among other consumers characterized by high heat demand or who still depend on fossil fuels. However, to achieve more reliable results when performing energy analyses, it is of utmost importance to develop models of prosumers' substations, where technical details (e.g., type of connections, heat exchangers, valves, etc.) and controllers are accounted for. Starting from the layout of a bidirectional substation for a thermal energy network proposed in the literature, this paper proposes a dynamic model that replicates the experimental setup in the TRNSYS environment. Validation results show a good matching between simulation and experiments in terms of dynamic behavior and energy balance. To show the capabilities of the proposed model, a prosumer with heat available from 205 m2 solar thermal collectors is considered as a case study. The analysis is performed by assuming two locations characterized by different irradiation values, i.e., Palermo (Italy) and Berlin (Germany). The results show that exchanging the excess heat produced on-site with a heating network allows the solar collectors to reach peak heat production, which is 130 kW and 110 kW for Palermo and Berlin, respectively. The surplus heat sold to the network is equal to 66% and 29% of the total energy exchange within the substation for Palermo and Berlin, respectively. Conversely, the self-consumption of the produced heat accounts for 21.2% and 30.6%, respectively. The model prospectively represents a valuable tool to develop feasibility studies in Thermal Energy Communities and assess the potential of innovative energy- and cost-effective operation strategies. • A model of a thermal prosumer substation exchanging with a District Heating Network (DHN) was created in TRNSYS • The virtual model was validated through experimental data by showing a good matching between simulation and experiments • To show the capabilities of the model, a prosumer equipped with 205 m2 solar thermal collectors is considered as a case study • Results showed that the prosumer substation allowed for optimal exploitation of the heat produced by the solar collectors • The proposed model represents a viable tool to perform analyses applied to renewable energy systems in prosumers networks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Berlin Congress Hall was a gift of the United States of America to Germany for the Berlin World Exhibition in 1957. The elegantly double-curved roof was made from an advanced prestressed concrete construction. The construction followed the design by the American architect Hugh Stubbins with special structural modifications to comply with German construction rules. No early indications for failure initiation were detected before a sudden partial collapse. On May 21st, 1980, the Southern external roof overhang collapsed. In December 1980, Jörg Schlaich and his co-authors published a summarizing expert opinion about structural causes of failure. The present paper mainly introduces results of cause analysis made at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), mandated by the Public Prosecutor at the Berlin District Court to specify the causes of the sudden failure. This paper refers to BAM-publications about analyses that were performed under this mandate and published - most of them in German language - within the first years after failure. The expert's opinions comprise structural considerations materials investigations, metallographic analyses and corrosion. Nowadays experts have learnt from the failure and built a slightly modified roof in the original shape at the 750th birthday of the city of Berlin and re-opened the former Berlin Congress Hall to the public on May 9th, 1987. The Hall is now serving as the House of the Cultures of the World, following the initial intention of the hall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores the topic of mental health/wellbeing with reference to exposure to urban green space (UGS). It builds on previous research, which has highlighted the potential for green space interaction for supporting positive emotional and mental wellbeing, particularly in times of stress and uncertainty. Using this basis, the paper explores whether UGS interaction also helped to mitigate the negative mental health impacts brought about by the first COVID-19 lockdown. The specific focus is on students and expatriates living in Berlin, Germany as this population groupbecame increasingly vulnerable during this time as a result of uncertainty and restrictions in their daily lives brought about the enforced lockdown measures. More specifically, this paper investigates how a change in their daily routines created opportunities to interact with and experience UGS differently and how their emotional response and perception towards these spaces changed. Semi-structured interviews allowed for stories, experiences and emotions to unfold, which revealed that the participants' gained an appreciation for the potential of UGS to support their wellbeing during a stressful and isolating time. UGS interaction also allowed them to form tangible memories of summer 2020 as it provided a safe arena for them to maintain social contact with friends outdoors, or to escape their home environment and experience respite and relaxation in a natural setting. The findings demonstrate that for this sub-group of the population UGS became a reliable constant and a valuable public health resource, which may also help to mitigate the long-term adverse mental health impacts of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In 2011, China announced that it has reached an urbanisation rate of 50%. If we take rapid urbanisation as a given and that it is already well underway, it is still widely unclear what research needs to be conducted and policy changes made to support municipalities of fast transforming cities and to avoid repeating the development mistakes that have occurred in industrialised nations, i.e. driving urban growth with high consumption patterns without fully considering the environmental and social needs and occupants’ behaviour and aspirations. The scale and pace of change requires a solid systems approach of urban development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the rapid urbanisation of Chinese cities with a focus on the plans for a new, on-going urban sub-centre in the north-west of Shanghai: Zhenru urban sub-centre. Information-rich urbanisation is a defining feature of the 21st century, reshaping cities and communities in China and in developing countries around the world. The paper compares two cases of urban development patterns for new sub-centres for polycentric city structures: it relates to new urban sub-centres in Berlin (Germany) and Shanghai (China), and the relationship of these sub-centres to ‘Network City’ theory. Network theory is useful in this context as the ‘network’ metaphor and concepts of decentralisation seem to have replaced the ‘machine’ metaphor which was based on efficiency based on the availability of cheap fossil fuels. The question to be addressed is how Chinese cities can be better steered towards more sustainable models of development. As cities aim to move towards more resilient urban ecosystems and polycentric systems, the case of Potsdamer Platz Berlin, compared to Zhenru sub-centre in Shanghai, is discussed. Both are transport-oriented developments promoting mixed-use density and less car-dependency. According to documentation of the Shanghai municipality, Zhenru urban centre, which is currently in its planning phase, is supposed to become a ‘new sustainable sub-centre for a growing metropolis’. Based on the Potsdamer Platz experience, where an isolated ‘City within the City’ was developed, a series of careful recommendations are formulated for the design and development of such centres, knowing that it is rather difficult to translate from one case to the other. The conclusion includes five lessons (recommendations) from Potsdamer Platz for the urban design of new sub-centres to ensure a delivery of economical, social and environmental sustainable outcomes. A core finding is that drawing lessons from the German case study for Chinese urbanisation seemed a useful tactic and gave a sense that there are underlying urban design strategies. However, the conversion of such strategies to another cultural and social context requires further research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As the global demand for potassium continues to increase, the potassium in natural resources is gradually insufficient. The potassium resources in the ocean are extremely rich. In this paper, a new battery deionization method (BDI) was developed to selectively recover potassium from seawater using a Fe[Fe(CN) 6 ] (BG) battery electrode. The BG-based electrode exhibited totally different insertion behavior to the most abundant cations in seawater, with the capacity order of K+>Na+>Li+>Ca2+>Mg2+. Using the battery cell assembled with BG and activated carbon electrode, the recovery capacity of K+ arrived at 177 μmoL/g under the discharge stage of battery from 0.8 to 0 V, and no significant variation was found even in the presence of 37 times higher concentration of Na+ than that of K+. In synthetic seawater, the BG battery electrode still kept the recovery of 69.6% for K+ with the separation factor α(K+/Na+) of 141.7. Moreover, energy consumption is calculated to be 15.4 kJ/mol, 10 times lower than that of the capacitive deionization method. Meanwhile, the BG battery electrode is very stable with the adsorption amount retaining 86% over 150 cycles. The three-cell stack test in synthetic seawater proves that the current BDI device is easy to be amplified for recovering potassium from seawater. Image 1 • K+ recovery by Berlin green battery deionization is demonstrated. • High separation factor α(K+/Na+) of 141.7 is achieved in synthetic seawater. • The recovery of K+ in synthetic seawater arrives at near 70%. • The energy consumption of the battery system is quite low. • The recovery can be improved by increasing battery stack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Larger forest patches in urban areas are highly valuable recreation sites that provide the urban population with various ecosystem services. Yet they are highly vulnerable to biological pests, especially in the light of climate change. The growing need to intervene against forest pests needs to be clearly but carefully communicated to the urban forest visitors in order to minimize conflicts. In this paper, a survey with 554 complete responses, conducted in the forest district of the "Teufelssee" in south-east Berlin, Germany, sheds first light on visitors' perceptions of biological pests and their management. Results of Chi square statistics and a series of Logit models indicate a clear predisposition against pesticide or biocide interventions, while at the same time, showing remarkable positive tendencies towards mechanical interventions or measures taken on the individual-tree level. There are positive correlations between the age and the knowledge about pests (Kendall-Tau-b τ B = 0.165) and between the age and the knowledge about pest regulation (τ B = 0.182). Positive correlations also exist between level of education and pest knowledge (τ B = 0.1) and knowledge about their regulation (τ B = 0.08), respectively. Elderly respondents tend to vote for faster interventions. Overall, a large majority of the respondents would be willing to participate in a volunteer mapping of pests while visiting the forest. The results of this study can be used to inform urban forest management to modify and optimize their communication and information policies concerning pests and substantiated interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A lack of fine-scaled socio-perceptual information hinders integrated UGI planning. • PPGIS can generate this information, complementing ecological and statistical data. • We reveal multiple ways multifunctionality planning may be enhanced. • PPGIS can support city-wide, district and site-level UGI planning across scales. Urban green infrastructure (UGI) planning is a new approach to planning that aims to develop multifunctional networks of green and blue spaces designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, and thereby, to improve quality-of-life in cities. However, moving current practice in urban green space planning towards the UGI planning approach will require higher quality information about a wider array of ecosystem services than currently measured and more spatially detailed social valuation methods. This paper explores the added value of public participation GIS (PPGIS), a relatively new type of survey for obtaining social values, as a tool for UGI planning. We do this by surveying real-life assessment tools for CES used in the case study city of Berlin and comparing the results of these with those of a PPGIS survey conducted in the city. The discussion centers on application of PPGIS results for UGI planning, focusing on their potential for enhancing multifunctionality at different spatial scales. At the site-level, the tool can help target conflict and less valued areas for redesign and management, as well as identifying particularly loved park features for protection. At the district- and city-level, we found potential for improving representativeness and accuracy of expert-based assessments, identifying coldspots and difficult-to-map functions, correcting deficits and increasing understanding of functional synergies. Outside of enhancing multifunctionality assessment, PPGIS may also support implementation of other defining principles of UGI planning, such as connectivity of green spaces, integrating urban green infrastructure with other infrastructure and ensuring collaborative, socially-inclusive planning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With more diverse transport policies being proposed and the advent of novel transport services and technologies, the transport system is becoming more individualized in many aspects. Transport models, the most important tool to assess policies and schemes, need to be sufficiently expressive to address these developments. Agent-based transport models, where travelers with individual properties and the ability to act and decide autonomously are resolved individually, allow to appropriately model and analyze such policies. This paper describes the MATSim Open Berlin Scenario, a transport simulation scenario for the Berlin metropolitan area implemented in the agent-based transport simulation framework MATSim. The scenario is solely based on open data and the demand for transport is created based on a fully synthetic procedure. Contrary to most transport simulation scenarios, no information from a travel diary survey is required as input. As such, the scenario generation procedure described in this study is spatially transferable and facilitates the creation of agent-based transport simulation scenarios for arbitrary regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carsharing companies aim to customize their service to increase fleet usage and revenues with different pricing schemes and offer types. Dynamic pricing policies can be designed to adjust and balance temporally and spatially cars availability but may pose some question on customers' fairness. In this paper, we propose an explorative analysis of how an availability-based dynamic pricing scheme impacts the demand and the supply performance. The policy is simulated in MATSim and compared to a fixed pricing policy scheme. This simulation consists of analyzing the behavior of a synthetic population of car-sharing members for Berlin and the surrounding region in which is applied an availability-based dynamic pricing in which price depends on vehicle availability in booking stations. Results show that when the dynamic pricing is applied there is a light decrease in the number of bookings and people with low value of time tend to abandon the carsharing mode in favor of other modes of transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent urban development policies have put much emphasis on the establishment of creative cities. The creative city promises to be a new city, a transformative shift from the existing and conventional ways of urbanization to one that includes creativity and livability for all. Yet, this goal is often not achieved nor is it even necessarily pursued. The dominant creative city policies are not different from the current system of urban entrepreneurialism and growth-driven urban development. The paper presents the development of Kolonie Wedding in Berlin as an example of the promise and limitations of creative city initiatives. Here, guided art walks were introduced to revitalize the local economy and property market and re-imagine the neighborhood as creative and lively. However, the initiative reinforces social and ethnical boundaries, enhances exclusion and advocates for gentrification instead of challenging these practices. The paper calls for an overhaul and revision of the creative city model in which equality, and not growth and centrality, stand at its center. Such an approach includes the enactment of creativity not as an urban development strategy but as a human right. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Diversity strategies in the cultural industries frequently have reproductive consequences even if they are meant to initiate institutional and social change. • Diversity work risks being outsourced to minoritised producers while being harnessed by elite actors. • Diversity can be commodified into a 'race'-making and elite-making endeavour which keeps institutional whiteness in place. • These debates carry a particular weight in the classical music sector and in Germany's contemporary politics. This paper explores to what extent diversity initiatives in the Western classical music sector can be associated with progressive institutional change, or the reproduction of elite formations and processes of 'race'-making. Drawing from interview and ethnographic data, I examine a self-described 'intercultural' children's choir project, which has been developed by an established classical music institution in Berlin. Set against the project's institutional setting and its political context, where the legacies of German imperialism and racialised guestworker policies continue to manifest, I interrogate how diversity is negotiated in the organisational and social workings of the choir. My analysis documents the ambivalent ways in which diversity becomes commodified into a strategic approach to cultural recognition, social mobility and the remaking of white elitism, leading to the continuous construction of racialised others whose (symbolic) labour is extracted for the reproduction of classed and raced hierarchies. The paper therefore shows how diversity initiatives in the Western highbrow sector, even when pushed for with genuine intentions of institutional change and social justice, operate on a hierarchical terrain and risk being turned into an elite-making and 'race'-making endeavour which secures privileged positions of middle-class whiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban Heat Island (UHI) and Urban Pollution Island (UPI) are two major problems of the urban environment and have become more serious with rapid urbanization. Since UHI and UPI can interact with each other, these two issues should be studied concurrently for a better urban environment. This study investigated the interaction between the UHI and UPI in Berlin, through a combined analysis of in-situ and remote sensing observations of aerosols and meteorological variables in June, July, and August from 2010 to 2017. The atmospheric UHI (AUHI), surface UHI (SUHI), atmospheric UPI (AUPI), and near-surface UPI (NSUPI) were analyzed. The SUHI and AUPI are represented by the remote sensing land surface temperature (LST) and aerosol optical depth (AOD), and the AUHI and NSUPI are represented by the in-situ air temperature and Particulate Matter (PM10) concentrations. The study area shows spatial consistency between SUHI and AUPI, with higher LST and AOD in the urban areas. UHI strengthens the turbulent dispersion of particles in the urban areas, decreasing the NSUPI. The NSUPI intensity shows a negative relationship with the AUHI intensity, especially at night with a correlation coefficient of −0.31. The increased aerosols in urban atmosphere reduce the incoming solar radiation and increase the atmospheric longwave radiation in the urban areas. The response of the surface to the change of absorbed radiation is strong at night and weak during the day. This study estimates that the SUHI intensity is enhanced by around 12% at clear night by the increased absorbed radiation in the urban areas using an attribution method. The goal of this paper is to strengthen the understanding of the interactive influence between UHI and UPI and provide a basis for designing mitigation strategies of UHI and UPI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently there is an attention in research and practise on entrepreneurial ecosystems, and how these, often using incubators, could support sustainable development through new firm start-ups. Despite the popularity of incubators in the literature and practise, few studies have focused on sustainable incubators in general or, more specifically, on processes that ensure a steady flow of tenants. Thus, this paper investigates how sustainable incubators ensures their inflow of tenants, how they organize their activities and whether the incubator environment affect tenant recruitment. A case study approach analysing the sustainability oriented incubator Green Garage Berlin have been used to generate an understanding of selection and recruitment processes as well the influence of external environments. The results show that regional and inter-regional co-operation, together with a well-planned, structured pre-incubation process, are requirements for securing an inflow of tenants to sustainable incubators. Incubator reputation and sufficient long term funding is also a key to success. A good practice case as Green Garage cannot simply be replicated, but require openness to continue the learning process and adapting the knowledge to be transferred to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dearth of socio-perceptual information on urban green spaces is not only limiting for ecosystem service research, but also for effective planning and management of these spaces. Previous studies have assessed perceived CES at single urban parks or across wider spans in rural areas but citywide coverage is missing. This paper explores perceptions of cultural ecosystem services (CES) and various uses of urban green spaces in the case study city of Berlin in relation to the values people place on these CES. Results indicate spatial differentiation of CES across an urban-rural gradient whereby: (1) the density of CES perceived decreased from the inner to the outer edges of the city and (2) recreational, social and cultural heritage and identity services were concentrated more heavily in the inner-city, while perceived biodiversity and spiritual, inspirational, and nature experience and educational services exhibited a more scattered pattern. We also uncovered two distinct clusters of CES-one that is more recreation and social-based and one that is more immaterial and nature-based. CES and their associated uses demonstrated complex relationships that should be explored in further research, though the study indicates that recreation as an indicator is too coarse for assessments at this level. Further research could more pointedly elaborate the potential of such mapping for planning, design and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term portfolio optimization is commonly used to find the most cost-effective design and operation of a district heating system, subject to technical, financial, and environmental restrictions. Optimizing a district heating system is not trivial and demands high accuracy and high computational speed. However, existing methods addressing this problem offer one or the other but not both at the same time. The state-of-the-art method for portfolio optimization is mixed integer linear programming (MILP), which is extensively used in industry and academia but can be computing and resource-intensive for large portfolio models. This limitation has motivated the development of various options to reduce the computation time while maintaining the accuracy to a large extent. An alternative method to MILP is the merit order (MO) method, which has been used especially for power generation applications due to its simplicity and faster computation but somewhat reduced accuracy. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential advantages and disadvantages of MO models compared to MILP models in the context of optimizing the portfolio of assets supplying a district heating network. As a study case, we analyze a large portion of the district heating network in Berlin. Four MO model variants with different levels of complexity are proposed and compared to a reference MILP model. Results suggest that MO models variants including heat storage and describing CHP plants with significant detail have the potential to reduce calculation time by nearly three orders of magnitude compared to the reference MILP model, without significantly sacrificing accuracy. In fact, differences in heat generation and net present value (NPV) between the most accurate MO model and the reference MILP model account for ±4% and −6%, respectively. Moreover, results show that combining MO and MILP models is advantageous and offers high computational speed and at the same time high accuracy, especially when a large number of runs might be necessary. MO models could thus be used prior to MILP models to perform a pre-evaluation, an exploration of sensitivities, or for downsizing the initial optimization problem. Combining MO and MILP models could result in faster and more robust decision-making, which could otherwise not be attained with any of the two options individually. • Two methods are compared for portfolio optimization • MO & MILP methods are used to optimize a portion of the district heating in Berlin • Best MO model can reduce calculation time and maintain accuracy vs reference MILP • Combining MO and MILP models could result in faster and more robust decision-making [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a hybrid system consisting of three stages of feature extraction, dimensionality reduction, and feature classification is proposed for speech emotion recognition (SER). At feature extraction stage, an informationally-rich spectral-prosodic hybrid feature vector comprised of perceptual-spectral features; that is, mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC), perceptual linear prediction coefficient (PLPC), and perceptual minimum variance distortionless response (PMVDR) coefficient along with the prosodic feature of pitch (i.e. F0) are extracted for each frame. This feature vector is extracted from both speech signal and its glottal-waveform. The first and the second-order derivatives are then added to the above-mentioned vector to form a high-dimensional hybrid feature vector characterized by a large number of dimensions. At the next stage, i.e. dimensionality reduction, the dimensionality of this feature vector is reduced using a new proposed quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO)-based approach. In this paper, a new QPSO algorithm (so-called, pQPSO) is presented that makes use of a truncated Laplace distribution (TLD) to generate new particles and thus to produce solutions (i.e. particles) that are all within a valid range of a problem (contrary to the standard QPSO). The contraction-expansion (CE) factor of the proposed pQPSO is also selected adaptively. Using the proposed QPSO algorithm, an optimal discriminative dimensionality reduction matrix (i.e. projection matrix) is estimated with emotion classification accuracy as a class-discriminative criterion. At the subsequent stage, vectors with reduced feature dimensionality are fed into a Gaussian elliptical basis function (GEBF)-type neural network classifier to detect their speech emotion. To accelerate the training phase of the GEBF classifier, a fast-scaled conjugate gradient (SCG) algorithm is correspondingly employed that does not need to adjust the learning rate. Finally, the proposed method is evaluated on three standard emotional speech databases of Berlin Database of Emotional Speech (EMODB), Surrey Audio-Visual Expressed Emotion (SAVEE), and Interactive Emotional Dyadic Motion Capture (IEMOCAP). The experimental results showed that the proposed method was more accurate than state-of-the-art ones in terms of detecting speech emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the influence of social movements as actors in urban energy politics. Presenting two case studies of remunicipalisation processes in the German cities Hamburg and Berlin, a framework is developed to discuss policy contexts, the agency of these movements, as well as the policy outcome in each city. A short comparison shows that agency is based on context features such as legal frameworks and social movement and policy traditions, while policy outcomes are considered the result of agency. Contextual circumstances must be considered if utility and urban energy policies are to be successfully transferred to other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study investigates natural colonization and woodland establishment over twenty years after beginning on bare ground on a sandy landfill site at Berlin–Malchow. The landfill, 6 ha in extent, was capped with an N-poor, but Ca-rich, mineral soil from a construction site nearby. This deposited soil originated from deep horizons and therefore contained no seed bank. The focus of the paper concentrates on woody species, due to their dominant role during succession. A total of 35 tree species colonized the landfill within twenty years which represent more than 60% of the native and introduced naturalized tree flora of the region. The first colonizers and the dominant tree species were willows and poplars, especially Salix x rubens Schrank. Most tree species arrived within the first 6 years and built a tree layer >5 m in height within the first decade. After 20 years of succession, mean species density from three 10 m × 20 m sample plots was 58 ± 10.6 species/200 m 2 . Nearly half of the species were woody species (20 ± 3.6 tree species and 6 ± 1.0 shrub species). Mean total cover of the tree layer was 78.3 ± 2.9%, and mean height was 13.3 ± 1.5 m. Mean basal area of trees >7 cm DBH (in total 2500 ± 391 stems/ha) was 28.25 ± 3.9 m 2 /ha. The herb layer was dominated by perennial grasses, especially Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth. The processes of colonization and succession on the landfill site show that effects of contingency, such as surrounding vegetation, year effects and priority effects act as drivers of vegetation dynamics. The N-poor substrate and the lack of a soil seed bank were no obstacles to the establishment of a woody vegetation cover in a relatively short time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenges for a sustainable urban development are increasingly important in cities because urbanization and related land take come up with negative challenges for the environment and for city residents. Searching for successful solutions to environmental problems requires combined efforts of different scientific disciplines and an active dialogue between stakeholders from policy and society. In this paper, we present a comparative assessment of the way policy-science dialogues have achieved knowledge co-production about strategic urban environmental governance action using the cities of Berlin in Germany and Rotterdam in the Netherlands as case studies. The ecosystem services framework is applied as a lens for policy–science interaction and a ‘knowledge co-production operating space’ is introduced. We show how policy officers, urban planners, practitioners and scientists learned from each other, and highlight the impact of this knowledge co-production for governance practice. We found that the concerted collaboration and co-creation between researchers and policy officers have led to mutual learning and establishment of relationships and trust in both cities. Not only the policy-relevance of research and its policy uptake were achieved but also new insights for research blind spots were created. In our conclusions we reflect on co-production processes with two types of conditions that we introduced to be most influential in the way knowledge can be co-created. These are conditions that relate to the way knowledge co-production processes are set-up and, conditions that relate to the expected value or benefit that the co-produced knowledge will bring across society, policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autonomous taxi (AT) fleets have the potential to take over a significant amount of traffic handled nowadays by conventionally driven vehicles (CDV). In this paper, we simulate a city-wide replacement of private cars with AT fleets of various sizes. The simulation model comprises microscopic demand for all private car trips in Berlin (including incoming and outgoing traffic), out of which the internal ones are exclusively served by ATs. The proposed real-time AT dispatching algorithm was optimized to handle hundreds of thousands of vehicles and millions of requests at low computing times. Simulation results suggest, that a fleet of 100 000 vehicles will be enough to replace the car fleet in Berlin at a high service quality for customers. Based on this, one AT could replace the demand served by ten CDVs in Berlin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• By putting emphasis on multilingual women aged 16–23 who speak German and Turkish, we show how young women who are constructed as 'with migration background' are confronted with expectations regarding their use of 'good German' and how they respond to these perceived social norms along a continuum moving from collusion to contestation (Martin-Jones & Heller, 1996). • While previous research on the German context has repeatedly emphasized this fact (e.g. Wiese et al., 2015), our paper presents novel interview data and places emphasis on the students affected by standard language ideologies. • Our findings invite for a shift from the speakers to the addressees. In doing so, we argue that while giving students 'with migration background' the tools to navigate heteroglossic repertoires is still necessary, these speakers remain subjected to judgements on their ways of speaking, no matter how competent they are in standard German. Standard language ideologies, as a construct characterizing presumably unmarked and stable ways of speaking or writing, pervade all aspects of social life, and schools make no exception. The classroom realities in Berlin, our field of investigation, remain fixed on idealized notions of (White) monolingual standard German. On the basis of eight interviews with multilingual women aged 16–23 who speak German and Turkish, we show how young women who are constructed as having a 'migration background' partially align with, but also challenge, teachers' expectations regarding their use of German. Specifically, we show that because of their perceived ethnicity, the interviewees are viewed as 'having an accent' or 'using non-standard German' across contexts. Based on these findings, we argue for a renewed focus on addressivity. Following Flores and Rosa (2015), we propose that in order to value heteroglossic repertoires, a shift from the speakers to the addressees needs to take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A dynamic model of a low-temperature district heating is investigated. • A district heating and cooling network concept is investigated for three cold localities. • Photovoltaic thermal collectors are cooled by the district heating network to reduce heat extraction from the ground. • Detailed simulations at substations, district heating network, and ground source heat pump levels are presented. • The energy district reaches a self-use ratio of 71% in the coldest locality. Towards the development of highly integrated and energy efficient heating and cooling systems, with an energy community perspective, the present paper proposes a novel technical solution for the provision of air-conditioning, domestic hot water and electricity to a small residential district in heating-dominant regions. Three reference climates have been considered: Helsinki, Berlin and Strasbourg. Detailed dynamic models have been created using TRNSYS and NeMo, and long term operations of the energy system, including a new-generation ultra-low temperature district heating and cooling network have been performed. The core of the energy system is the network supplied by a high-efficiency ground source heat pump and used as the source and sink by booster heat pumps installed in the substations. Rooftop photovoltaic thermal panels partially meet the electrical demand of the district, as well as the thermal load for domestic hot water production. Moreover, the panels are cooled by the network, obtaining a reduction in the thermal unbalance to the ground and enhancing their electrical efficiency. This solution allows obtaining high coefficient of performance for the heat pumps in the substations and supply stations, reaching values of 5.4 and 4.0, respectively, for heating provision in the coldest locality. The proposed multi-energy district reaches an electrical self-consumption of 71% in the coldest locality and efficiently combines different renewable energy sources at district level in cold climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Flexible organization of contemporary dance artists challenges measuring methods. • A symbolic economy with a social production system and bohemian work ethic. • The outlook of self-realization through artistic work leads to self-precarization. • Managing economic risk is at the cost of true artistic risk taking or true autonomy. • An autonomous heteronomy within the agency-structure debate. Empirical studies generally report that aspiring a career in the performing arts is risky business. Within the contemporary European context of neoliberal capitalism, the particular workforce is inclined to occupy a precarious socio-economic position. We aim to contribute to this body of research by discussing how risk and precarity in the artworld are macro- and meso-governed by existing structures and micro-managed by agents. Our data stem from empirical research conducted among members of the contemporary dance population in Brussels and Berlin. We focus for the most part on qualitative findings from longitudinal ethnographic fieldwork to discuss how the informants live up to a bohemian work ethic that is framed by a more general symbolic economy. In this paper, we argue that within the longstanding sociological agency-structure debate, the outlined bohemian work ethic ties in with the concept of an autonomous heteronomy. Furthermore, despite the relatively different socio-economic macro structures in both locales, we come to conclude that the very similar symbolic economy seems to have a much greater impact on artistic and economic risk taking than the specific social security policy and welfare approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the crisis caused by COVID-19 has drastically reduced tourism in many renowned destinations, the hopes of a return to normality are also associated with subdued fears of large crowds invading touristic spots once tourism resumes. The primary concern expressed by destination managers is that overcrowding during the recovery may deteriorate tourists' experience. The present paper aims to develop an innovative measure of destinations' carrying capacity based on sentiment analysis through Tripadvisor online reviews. The analysis pertains to the city of Berlin and covers the period from 2013 to 2019. This study develops an emotional index regressed on the tourism intensity registered in the destination during the period examined. Two measures of carrying capacity, based on positive and negative emotion indices, are derived. Carrying capacity based on a negative index is lower than the one based on a positive index. Findings prove that destination managers can use the emotional index for measuring the carrying capacity of the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So-called ‘soft’ policy instruments that respond to the psychological aspects of travel are regularly acknowledged as necessary complements to ‘hard’ infrastructure investments to effectively promote sustainable travel in cities. While studies investigating subjective orientations among travellers have proliferated, open questions remain including the role of recent technological advances, the expansion of alternative mobility services, locally specific mobility cultures and residential selection. This paper presents the methods, results and policy implications of a comparative study aiming to understand mobility attitudes and behaviours in the wider metropolitan regions of Berlin and London. We specifically considered information and communication technology (ICT), new types of mobility services such as car sharing, electric cars and residential preferences. In each region, we identified six comparable segments with distinct attitudinal profiles, socio-demographic properties and behavioural patterns. Geocoding of the home address of respondents further revealed varying contextual opportunities and constraints that are likely to influence travel attitudes. We find that there is significant potential for uptake of sustainable travel practices in both metropolitan regions, if policy interventions are designed and targeted in accordance with group-specific needs and preferences and respond to local conditions of mobility culture. We identify such interventions for each segment and region and conclude that comparative assessment of attitudinal, alongside geographical, characteristics of metropolitan travellers can provide better strategic input for realistic scenario-building and ex-ante assessment of sustainable transport policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]