Department:

Urban and Landscape Design

Course Leaders:

lect.dr.arh Andrei Mitrea

asist.dr.urb Corina Pop (Chirilă)

Learning outcomes:

Placed among informative disciplines, the course and studio do not aim to train specialist in their curriculum, but instead to familiarize students with the core concepts and methods used in statistical and environmental analysis, including computer-assisted techniques, focusing on their application to urban ecosystems. The assignments and essays will allow for a presentation of the application of methods and use information specific to statistics and environmental analysis in urban, spatial and landscape planning, accenting the interpretation of final results and their relevance for an urban or landscape planner.

Content:

Introduction to statistics. Definition and purpose of statistics. Populations and samples; statistical inference; scientific and statistical hypotheses; significant vs. insignificant differences. The concept of probability; objective and subjective probability. Types of scales. Classification of variables and series.
Descriptive statistics. Statistical tables. Univariate graphical synthesis: bar and pie charts and histograms.
Univariate graphical synthesis: frequency polygons and curves and population pyramid. Uni–, bi– and multimodal distributions.
Univariate numeric synthesis: central tendency indicators and their relationships: average, median and mode.
Univariate numeric synthesis: scattering indicators: variance, standard deviation, range.
Univariate numeric synthesis: extreme values. Normal and standard Normal distribution.
Recapitulation of statistical concepts. Clarification of problems.
Recapitulation of ecology concepts. Structure of ecological systems. Functions of ecological systems. Natural, social, economic and human capital; natural and cultural heritage. Ecology and environmentalism. Isomorphic and homomorphous models.
Types of protected areas and their management.
Concepts of ecological engineering: restoration, mitigation, creation, enhancement, rehabilitation, amelioration/ regeneration and bio-manipulation.
Analysis and diagnosis of environmental problems and alternative solutions. Fishbone diagram. SWOT analysis. Cost-benefice analysis. The problem of assigning a market value to environmental goods and services.
Techniques for the analysis and assessment of environmental impact. Need for environmental impact assessment. Direct and indirect impacts. Impact summing: cumulative and synergetic impacts.
Use of GIS in environmental analysis and impact assessment.
Recapitulation of environmental analysis concepts. Clarification of problems.

Teaching Method:

Lectures, PowerPoint presentations, computer demonstration (ArcView, Excel), discussions.

Assessment:

4 p. attendance and activity + 3 p. assignment + 3 p. essay/presentation
Details will be offered during the first class.

Bibliography:

Please note: titles 1 – mandatory, 2-4 – highly recommended, 5-6 – recommended, 7-10 – optional
1) PowerPoint presentations of the course and studio, freely provided by the instructor in electronic format
2) Petrișor A.-I. (2007), Elemente de statistică urbană cu aplicații rezolvate în Excel (Elements of Urban Statistics with Applications Resolved Using Excel) [in Romanian], Editura Universitară „Ion Mincu”, Bucharest
3) Petrișor A.-I. (2007), Analiză de mediu cu aplicații în urbanism și peisagistică (Environmental analysis with applications in urban and landscape planning) [in Romanian], Editura Universitară „Ion Mincu”, Bucharest
4) Petrișor A.-I. (2010), Mediul urban: o abordare ecologică (Urban environment: an ecological approach) [in Romanian], Urbanistique, http://www.urbanistique.ro/mediul-urban-o-abordare-ecologica-dr-alexandru-ionut-petrisor/#more-127
5) Petrișor A.-I. (2008), Ecologie urbană, dezvoltare spațială durabilă și legislație (Urban Ecology, Sustainable Spatial Development and Legislation) [in Romanian], Editura Fundației România de mâine, Bucharest
6) Petrișor A.-I. (2011), Systemic theory applied to ecology, geography and spatial planning, Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany
7) Botnariuc N., Vădineanu A. (1982), Ecologie (Ecology) [in Romanian], Editura Didactică și Pedagogică, Bucharest
8) Dragomirescu L. (1998), Biostatistică pentru începători (Biostatistics for Dummies) [in Romanian], Editura Constelații, Bucharest, and next editions
9) Vădineanu A. (1998), Dezvoltarea durabilă (Sustainable Development), Vol. I. Bazele teoretice ale dezvoltării durabile (Theoretical Foundations of Sustainable Development) [in Romanian], Editura Universității din București, Bucharest
10) Vădineanu A., Negrei C., Lisievici P. (coordinators) (1999), Dezvoltarea durabilă (Sustainable Development), Vol. al II-lea. Mecanisme și instrumente (Mechanisms and instruments) [in Romanian], Editura Universității din București, Bucharest