Design Thinking for Technology Supporting Individuals With Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Developing Countries

This research is concerned with analysing the value of using participatory design, and in particular the design thinking methodology, as a basis for the participative development of interfacing technology for use by individuals with neuro-developmental disorders, with a particular focus on developing economies with restrictions in budget and know-how. It becomes crucial as our knowledge expands to ensure that tools developed to assist individuals with neurological disorders to live a full and independent life are designed in conjunction with the users concerned. Inclusive design, however, is not limited to the technology itself, but rather taking into account the individual as well as the wider community in the design. Design needs to also be based in social accessibility to counter stigmas and ableism views. This study found that design thinking has proven to be an effective framework for involving individuals with neuro-developmental disorders to come up with solutions that address their needs and should be used in future implementations in order to assess the results.

Employment information needs and information behaviour of North Korean refugees

Introduction. The employment-related information needs and behaviour of North Korean refugees during their settlement in South Korea were analysed, and provisions that public libraries should consider when providing employment-related information to North Korean refugees were suggested. Method. Semi-structured group interviews were conducted with twenty-one North Korean refugees who had job-seeking experience or who wanted to be employed. Also, five public and NGO workers that aid the employment seeking process for employment support services to North Korean refugees provided field data on the services provided and characteristics of North Korean refugees’ information behaviour. Analysis. The results were examined using content analysis according to the factors of Dervin’s sense-making theory—situation, gap, and use. We used NVIVO 12 to extract codes from interview parts according to the factors. Results. The employment situation of North Korean refugees in South Korea can largely be categorised into two types: employment-related and education-related. The frequent subjects of employment information needs were job posting, vocational education, and career. Participants suffered from a lack of intellectual, psychological, and social accessibility. North Korean refugees were most likely to get information from interpersonal sources, the Internet, and public institutions. Conclusion. We developed a model of North Korean refugees’ information behaviour based on the findings and provided guidance for public libraries on serving job-seeking North Korean refugees.

On the Integrated and Sustainable Development of the Territory of Russia

The topic of the article is relevant due to changes in urban planning legislation. The new legislation is explained by the tasks set by the authorities of the Russian Federation to improve the quality of life, to ensure favorable living conditions and health of citizens of the Russian Federation. The new requirements for the development of territories in the Russian Federation provide not only for changing the procedure, but also for providing transport, social and other types of infrastructure during the construction of the object. A new concept in urban planning legislation — the activity of integrated and sustainable development of territories-entails a whole range of measures necessary for adoption not only by the authorities, but also in the design of the activities of construction companies. First of all, urban planning changes will affect such a legal act as the Rules of Land Use and Development. They will not only have to be structurally updated, but also adopted in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Construction companies are forced to coordinate the construction of an object, especially residential buildings, with organizations that regulate transport and social accessibility. Additional requirements for construction, imposed by modern urban planning legislation, will also entail a change in the price policy in the field of housing. The authors try to anticipate the pos sible legal consequences of the new changes in the legislation regulating urban planning legal relations.

Implications of Autonomous Vehicles for Accessibility and Transport Equity: A Framework Based on Literature

Increasing accessibility and balancing its distribution across space and social groups are two fundamental goals to make transport more sustainable and equitable. In the next decades, autonomous vehicles (AVs) could significantly transform the transport system, influencing accessibility and transport equity. In particular, depending on the assumed features of AVs (e.g., private or collective) and the considered spatial, social, and regulative context (e.g., rural or urban areas), impacts may be very different. Nevertheless, research in this field is still limited, and the relationship between AV assumptions and accessibility impacts is still partially unclear. This paper aims to provide a framework of the key and emerging aspects related to the implications of AVs for accessibility and transport equity. To set this framework, we perform an analysis of the scientific literature based on a conceptual model describing the implications of AVs for the distribution of accessibility across space and social groups. We recognize four main expected impacts of AVs on accessibility: (1) accessibility polarization, (2) accessibility sprawl, (3) exacerbation of social accessibility inequities, and (4) alleviation of social accessibility inequities. These impacts are described and analyzed in relation to the main AV assumptions expected to trigger them through different mechanisms. Based on the results, some recommendations for future studies intending to focus on the relation between AVs, accessibility, and transport equity are provided.

Accessibility, Natural User Interfaces, and Interactions in Museums: The IntARSI Project

In a museum context, people have specific needs in terms of physical, cognitive, and social accessibility that cannot be ignored. Therefore, we need to find a way to make art and culture accessible to them through the aid of Universal Design principles, advanced technologies, and suitable interfaces and contents. Integration of such factors is a priority of the Museums General Direction of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, within the wider strategy of museum exploitation. In accordance with this issue, the IntARSi project, publicly funded, consists of a pre-evaluation and a report of technical specifications for a new concept of museology applied to the new Museum of Civilization in Rome (MuCIV). It relates to planning of multimedia, virtual, and mixed reality applications based on the concept of “augmented” and multisensory experience, innovative tangible user interfaces, and storytelling techniques. An inclusive approach is applied, taking into account the needs and attitudes of a wide audience with different ages, cultural interests, skills, and expectations, as well as cognitive and physical abilities.

Tourism as a sphere of human socialization: essence and scientific approaches

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to analyze scientific approaches to the interpretation of tourism as a sphere of human socialization and substantiation of its essence from the standpoint of social economy and politics. Methodology of research. The following research methods are used to achieve such purpose: scientific literature analysis is used to study approaches to understanding the essence and structure of the concept of "tourism", its social nature; generalization and synthesis are used to substantiate the conceptual foundations of tourism research as a sphere of human socialization. Findings. Scientific approaches in both foreign and Ukrainian science to the definition of "tourism" in terms of social economy and politics are analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis, a conceptual model of "tourism" concept interpretation as a functional unity of economic, consumer, social and cultural approaches taking into account the social accessibility of tourist services to different categories of consumers is formulated. It is established that a characteristic feature of modern tourism is a clear social orientation, which positions tourism as a special social sphere of the economy. Active development of tourism is able to eliminate the disparities of social and economic development, contribute to increasing the productivity of traditional farming, preservation of cultural heritage and authenticity of the regions. Originality. Theoretical and methodological principles of tourism research from the standpoint of social economy have been improved. Scientific approaches to the definition of "tourism" have been further developed. Practical value. The results of the study can be used in the practice of public management of tourism development, strategic planning, and educational and scientific sphere, in particular, can be the basis for further research on the socialization of tourism. Key words: tourism, socialization of the economy, socialization of tourism, definition, scientific approaches, social accessibility.

Filtered in/filtered out: Locative media and social accessibility in urban spaces

Social accessibility involves the capacity of a person to be reached by other people, typically through established social networks. Locative media provide new complications to the issue of social accessibility in urban spaces. They do not connect people with their existing social networks, but rather with people – often strangers – immediately around them. Locative media apps provide users with the ability to manage these anonymous connections through filtering functionalities. This filtering out and filtering in functionality has profound implications for the social relations of strangers in urban spaces. At the heart of the matter is the question of who is made visible and who is made invisible. Many studies of locative media use demonstrate troubling directions in the ways in which they are developed and used. Often, locative media apps reinforce and reify existing racisms and other forms of prejudice, and a general tendency to try to simplify or eliminate differences.

Stages of industrial heritage socialization in Moscow

Introduction. The actual tendency of creation of public architectural and spatial environments using industrial objects as foundation, which in this article is defined by the term “socialization”, is considered. The purpose of this paper is to identify and characterize the stages of socialization of Moscow’s industrial heritage (the process began in the mid-1990s). The systematization of accumulated experience in this field allows for the formulation of perspective integration models for territories of historical industrial development into urban surroundings. Materials and methods. 14 typical examples of renovation of historical industrial territories in Moscow were selected to be analyzed. Materials on the history of transfiguration of these areas have been systematized. Socioeconomic analysis of separate investigated objects and graph-analytical analysis of manifesting clustering of public spaces in historical industrial areas were conducted. Results. Three stages of socialization were identified on the basis of 14 examples: initial stage, focused stage and systematic stage. The stages correspond to the key dates of appearance of public spaces on the foundation of industrial heritage territorial formations. Dynamics of appearance of the public environment on industrial territories, from natural social develop-ment to the focused stage in which the principles of openness and public availability are set by a project, is noted. The third, systematic stage, which is focused on the preservation of historical industrial territories as a complex and involving the creation of a system of public spaces on the basis of conserving the historical industrial developments, is a promising direction for the creation of a unique urban environment. Conclusions. The defining role of the creation of public spaces in the process of industrial heritage renovation has been identified. The regular patterns of the location of the converted historical industrial areas relative to the center of Moscow are given, and the development areas, as well as real estate value within the boundaries of the areas under consideration (office rent and housing purchase) and on the adjacent territories are compared. The conclusion about social accessibility of territories is made, and the prospects of development of public spaces on the foundation of industrial heritage are outlined.

Strategi Pengembangan Pasar Keramik Belawan Sebagai Daya Tarik Wisata Belanja di Kota Medan

This study aims to identify the strategic assumptions of Belawan Ceramics Market with a descriptive method approach. By compiling results from the perspective of customers and traders, this study analyzes strategic assumptions with the SWOT analysis tool. The results showed that consumers who came were consumers who had repeatedly visited the Ceramic Market, but the loyalty of visitors decreased for the fourth visit. Tourist considerations for visiting the Belawan Ceramics Market are diverse types of merchandise, traditional bargaining systems, interactions with direct traders, as well as structuring shopping space that is not rigid with social accessibility in the form of local community acceptance (especially traders) towards foreigners. From the SWOT analysis conducted, it was found that the strategies that could be carried out to develop the Belawan ceramics market were: opening stores early, adding collections of unique items, expanding promotions through social media, pentahelix synergy for more effective development, price competition considerations in accordance with the quality of the goods being marketed, complementing supporting tourism utilities such as lighting facilities and increasing the role of government and community self-help to increase the sense of security for visitors / tourists.