Urban Issues in Canadian Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urban Issues in Canadian Cities - Essay Example Canada is a highly urbanized country, with the majority of its population being city centered in the world. The issues that Canadian cities face on an urban level are divided into three main categories social, economic and ecological. All these play a major role in the overall urban growth of the area. A good interlinked transport system is one of the most basic requirements of a good urban space. Since interaction is one of the most important factors to let the urban environment flourish, a nicely designed transportation system is the backbone of an urban environment. (Le Gates, 2009) There has been a greater increase in population in Canada after the year 1996. More people have started to move into the cities and hence the economic and social factors are changing too, there has been an increased demand. There are basic elements that define a good urban space, legibility, permeability, variety, robustness, richness and visual appropriation. Any urban space can be analyzed with respect to these elements. Keeping the Canadian Cities in the view, one can look into the urban space that is offered by these cities. First of all, let’s look into what these elements mean. Legibility is basically defined as the ease with which one can understand the layout of the space; this includes both the physical form and activity patterns. Permeability both visual and physical describes the level of penetration that an urban space offers. A good urban space usually has the higher level of legibility and permeability. Variety includes both the visual elements and the mixed land use that break the monotony of an urban space. Robustness is basically the quality of urban space that allows multiple uses of the same space, more or less appropriateness. Richness is the quality of build environment in the urban space, whereas the visual appropriateness means how the visual elements can add up to the other elements  of urban design. (Alto, 1993)

Final examination assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Final examination - Assignment Example During his time, there was the introduction of tea for drinking, invention of gunpowder and the introduction of money as means of exchange. All these innovations took place during the reign of the Song dynasty (Asia for Educators 1). Additionally, the Song dynasty was characterized by an enormous commercial growth, and most of the historians referred to this era as an era of pre-modern character. Because of industrialization, there was the production of non-agricultural good. Production of nonagricultural was of dominance. China has been distinguished as the only nation that had early developments. Furthermore, urbanization became abundant in the Chinese cities. Writers like Marco polo came from one of the most sophisticated cities in Europe during his time, but he was amazed on the organization of the Chinese cities, which he visited in the year 1200. There was also an enormous population growth that shifted its locus towards Southern China due to the rapid civilization of the Chinese in Song Dynasty. Moreover, during the Song dynasty Chinas population became more concentrated to the North of China where wheat was grown. After 1127, Song made Hangzhou the Capital in Southern China (Asia for Educators 1). This coincided with the concentration of population on the southern parts of China along River Yangtze. During Songs reign, Rice was the stable crop in Southern China and produced higher yields per acre (Asia for Educators 1). Additionally, the civilization of the Tang Dynasty became evident when Tang reestablished a unified government after the civil war of China. The influence of the Tang emperors then was extended to Vietnam, Korea, Southeast and Central Asia. There was the introduction of confusion scholars to run the government and Tang redistributed land peasants (Regents Prep 1). Additionally, the emperors established a law code that was used to govern the country. Tang also refurbished the channel system and

Urban Issues in Canadian Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urban Issues in Canadian Cities - Essay Example Canada is a highly urbanized country, with the majority of its population being city centered in the world. The issues that Canadian cities face on an urban level are divided into three main categories social, economic and ecological. All these play a major role in the overall urban growth of the area. A good interlinked transport system is one of the most basic requirements of a good urban space. Since interaction is one of the most important factors to let the urban environment flourish, a nicely designed transportation system is the backbone of an urban environment. (Le Gates, 2009) There has been a greater increase in population in Canada after the year 1996. More people have started to move into the cities and hence the economic and social factors are changing too, there has been an increased demand. There are basic elements that define a good urban space, legibility, permeability, variety, robustness, richness and visual appropriation. Any urban space can be analyzed with respect to these elements. Keeping the Canadian Cities in the view, one can look into the urban space that is offered by these cities. First of all, let’s look into what these elements mean. Legibility is basically defined as the ease with which one can understand the layout of the space; this includes both the physical form and activity patterns. Permeability both visual and physical describes the level of penetration that an urban space offers. A good urban space usually has the higher level of legibility and permeability. Variety includes both the visual elements and the mixed land use that break the monotony of an urban space. Robustness is basically the quality of urban space that allows multiple uses of the same space, more or less appropriateness. Richness is the quality of build environment in the urban space, whereas the visual appropriateness means how the visual elements can add up to the other elements  of urban design. (Alto, 1993)

Following WWII Japan again was put into a fundamental Reform and Research Paper

Following WWII Japan again was put into a fundamental Reform and Renovation mode - Research Paper Example The new Japanese government would be more similar to its occupying counterpart. Major reform of land ownership was instituted. About 6 million acres (almost 40% of Japans arable land) were purchased from the landlords and resold at low prices to the farmers. It dismantled a power structure that landlords had long dominated. This was one way of permanently changing economic disparities between classes. Despite instances of mass rape and the re-institutionalization of the Japanese Geisha system, women enjoyed relatively increased civil rights. They earned the right to vote and engage in roles that were traditionally male dominated. Furthermore, favoring Japanese beliefs and gradual modification and dissolution of the Japan-United States Mutual Security Assistance Pact, the Clean Government Party attracted many women. During Post-World War II, the victors implemented changes in the Japanese constitution, Japanese land, and Japanese women. The occupation and MacArthur Reforms profoundly changed public policy in many areas. These changes aimed at the roots of traditional Japanese power, and Japan had changed at a fundamental

Fiscal Policy Essay Example for Free

Fiscal Policy Essay The United States’ economy has gone through many different stages from deficits and surpluses to a large debt. These can affect people in many ways. This paper will cover the United States’ deficit, surplus, and debt and how it affects taxpayers, future Social Security and Medicare users, unemployed individuals, University of Phoenix students, the United States’ financial reputation on an international level, a domestic automotive manufacturing exporter, an Italian clothing company importer, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Tax Payers The United States’ deficit, surplus, and debt effect taxpayers greatly. The deficit affects taxpayers because when the country is running a deficit, it means that the supply of money is low. The taxpayers are then called upon to lessen the low supply of money that the government uses to run. A surplus affects taxpayers because even though the country may be running a surplus and taxes decrease, they are still there. The citizens of the country will still be required to pay taxes even if there is a surplus. The country’s debt affects taxpayers the most because it is the tax revenue that is used to pay off the debt that the country has gotten itself into. Future Social Security and Medicare Users The future Social Security and Medicare users will be impacted by the United States’ deficit, surplus, and debt. The United States’ surplus can be beneficial for the future of Social Security and Medicare because it provides additional funds into the funds that are already available. However, this is not the same with the deficit and the debt. As the deficit and the debt increases, more funds are borrowed from these trust funds, which are eliminating any surplus. Before long, funds for Social Security and Medicare will be exhausted, and the programs will no longer be able provide help to the disabled and elderly. Unemployed Individuals The United States deficit, surplus, and debt do have effects on the unemployed. During a deficit, the employees can find themselves unemployed and trying to find another job but with the government budget having to make cuts the unemployed employees are having issues with finding new jobs. Even the surplus budget can cause changes with the workforce. The problem is that with the government having a surplus of resources, it can cause the employee to overspend and things can change very quickly to where the government is back to a deficit, which in return causes employees to lose their jobs. University of Phoenix Student The United States deficit, surplus, and debt have an impact on the University of Phoenix students as well. Many of the students at the University of Phoenix depend on financial aid from the government to help pay for their schooling expenses. When the budget is lowered some of the students that attend the University of Phoenix will not be able to pay for classes on their own and will be forced to drop out of school. On the other hand if the United States had a surplus the government would be able to raise the budget for education and put more money towards schooling. The United States Financial Reputation on an International Level The United States financial reputation on an international level is becoming an issue that has been debated repeatedly; it sometimes becomes a fundamental and comprehensive issue that hinders the acknowledged strength of the U.S. as a â€Å"power-house† on an international level. The United States financial reputation on an international level is giv en its proper respect, the major problem that is seen in the stock market and the Nasdex are the budget deficit and the U.S. debt, which limits the resources to spend on production and investments. A domestic automotive manufacturing (exporter) The United States national debt could also affect exporters. When the United States deficit is high and the government owes money, interest rates are raised. The increased interest rates have an effect on domestic automotive manufacturing companies. Domestic automotive manufacturing companies would have to let go some of their employees or outsource to another country that has a competitive lead in labor and production costs, due to the company’s loss of income. However, when the government is operating under a surplus interest rates are lowered. Making it affordable for domestic automotive manufacturing companies to produce more and grow their company, which supports spending increasing the number of jobs and the export of goods. Italian Clothing Company The deficit, surplus, and debt of the United States affects an Italian Clothing Company because; when it comes down to the United States deficit, it would cause the market to be over-run by foreign products. The rate in which a country is exporting is not at the level with it’s’ exports, a surplus would lead to more importation by the Italian Clothing Company and debt, it would cause the imports to be reduced (because many business partner would be hesitant to do business with the importer. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a better way for the government to measure how the nation handles deficit. It also provides input on the nation’s capability of paying off debt. The GDP helps determine what size deficit and how much debt the nation can manage. If there is a surplus within the funds of the GDP it is removed from the national debt. If there is a deficit, it is added to the national debt. The debt can be reduced through inflation and real growth as the GDP grows. This can still leave large nominal budget deficits with small real deficits. With real growth, the nation can handle more debt so more debt can be incurred. This occurs when the nation becomes financially enriched. The economy of the country has a great effect on many aspects of the lives of its citizens. The U.S.’s deficit, surplus and debt greatly impact each aspect of our everyday lives. It’s something that we have to deal with together as a whole because everyone deals with the effec ts of it.

The Globalisation Issue In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

The Globalisation Issue In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay Globalisation is a key issue  for the  hospitality industry. Identify and critique up to three impacts of  globalisation on the hospitality industry and discuss strategies that hotel companies may implement to address globalisation. Abstract  Globalisation is becoming increasing important these years in international hotel industry. In this essay, a literature review has been conducted to identify 3 impacts of  globalisation on the hospitality industry. When hotels flag their properties in a new country, they must localise their products and services in order to adapt the culture traditions of that country. Thinking global and acting local (glocal) is vital strategy for no matter big or small hotel companies. Besides the glocal strategy, differentiation strategy is also useful for hotel companies to become competitive in the global environment. Hall (1997) indicates that globalization has become a key concept in business, economic and political activities since 1990s. The hospitality industry is often regarded as one of the most global in the service industry (Litteljohn, 1997). Nowadays, more and more people are traveling around the world, when they are far from their home they need a place to stay, a bed to sleep, food to eat. They might end up choosing hotels. This is where the hospitality industry comes into play (Frink, 2009); this is why hotels are everywhere. Due to the fast increase of tourism and business activities around the globe, in every corner of the world, there must be hotels such as Hilton, Marriot, and Westin. Go Pine (1995) state that the hospitality industry is a subsector of the travel and tourism sector, and one of the most rapidly expanding fields in the service sector. This article is going to identify and review 3 impacts of globalisation on the hospitality industry. And discuss strategies that ho tel companies may implement including standardisation and localisation strategies and differentiation strategies when they enter into the globalisation. Frink (2009) described globalisation as the process of companies developing their business or operations overseas. It has several impacts on the hospitality industry. First of all, it forces hotel companies to choose best locations all over the world to expand their properties. Location is essential to a hotel, no matter whose target market is business travelers or tourists. Johnson Vanetti (2005) state that the size and nature of the place in which the hotel is located are seen to be the most important factor for big or small chains. The famous tourism destinations and CBD of a city are the best choice for hotel groups to develop their properties. However, when those areas are not in their own country, or when they want to flag their hotels as many as possible, hotels have to globalise. There is a good example of how a good location can benefit a hotels business. Hyatt group has one hotel in shanghai which name is Grand Hyatt Shanghai, it is located in the centre of the Lujiazui bu siness district, and occupies 53rd to 87th floors of the Jin Mao Tower building (Hyatt, 2010). Jin Mao Tower building is a business building as famous in shanghai as the World Trade Center in New York. There are many 500 fortune companies in this building, when those big and wealthy companies have employees or clients come from other world to visit shanghai, Hyatt is the first hotel on their list. This is part of the reason why Grand Hyatt always has the highest RevPAR (revenue per available room) in Shanghai. Reversely, wrong location will lead hotels to failure. For example, The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas closed on  May 2, 2010 after several years struggle, this was the first time for the reputable Ritz-Carlton brand and this negative record will have inevitably impact on this brand in the future. Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas locates in the suburb of Las Vegas, though it was a luxurious and high-end resort hotel, people come to Vegas for a much more exciting and lively vacation (Hernandez, 2010). The next impact of globalisation is economics, which is also very important. There is only so much of the market share a hotel company can get by staying local or in their own country. Frink (2009) states that globalisation enables hotel companies to expand their business to other countries to gain additional market share. The more properties the hotel group has, the more customers it might have, thus the more opportunities for them to gain more profit. Frink also states that many hotel companies go global mainly because they desire to achieve a larger customer base. Ohmae (1989) claimed that big companies must become more global if they want to compete, they must view the whole world as one single borderless marketplace (as cited in Vignali, 2001). Most big hotel group such as Intercontinental, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt are surviving even when economic crises come because they have globalized. According to Hotels Giants Survey 2008, Intercontinental has hotel in 100 countries, whic h is the most, followed by Starwood, which has establishments in 95 countries and Accor has hotels in 90 countries. A great number of hotel companies are forced to globalize in order to remain competitive, otherwise they can not survive, and they should always expand their business to make progress and keep pace with the rivalry. Generally speaking, the more places of business that a hotel company has, the better chances for the hotel company to be successful in the hospitality industry (Frink, 2009). In terms of cost economies, quantity buying can always reduce purchasing cost, thats why many international hotel companies set up their central procurement department to sign global contracts with suppliers and do the centralized purchasing  for their respective establishments in the meantime maintain the same standard. The third impact of globalisation on the hospitality industry is culture. The world is a global village and difference places have different culture and traditions. Frink (2009) mentioned that globalisation makes hotel companies adapt different culture and alter their approaches when they enter a new country. Expansion to a country with totally different culture is a big risk to most hotel companies, they must consider the different cultures in the destination image of the places, what cuisine the locals or natives have and what types of foods are forbidden due to the religion or law when they are trying to sell their products. Frink (2009) also mentioned that hotel companies must understand the difference in currency and the difference in language. For example, Hilton Tokyo Bay Hotel located in Japan cannot have too many English speaking front office receptionists, who can not speak Japanese, in order to serve local Japanese guests. There must be someone there who knows how to speak Japanese to effectively serve the guests. And they will have local employees who understand the local culture and speak the native language to serve the native guests. Frink indicated that globalisation forces companies adapt different cultural perspectives; if a company refuses to adapt it might lose. Globalisation also brings culture diversity to the industry, which is always a positive thing and it also brings hotel companies more understanding of the perspectives of different cultures, which help them to do better. Besides those above three impacts, Frink (2009) also mentioned other impacts, for example, globalisation in hospitality industry has created more job opportunities help with the growth and stability of the hospitality industry. When hotel companies entered into globalisation, it actually becomes survival of the fittest. Strong businesses will survive and become stronger and the weak ones will be eliminated and fade away. Frink (2009) states that globalisation requires adjusting and evaluation of various factors. Harvey (2007) indicated that hotel companies need to keep the same standard in each and every establishment because customer loyalty will depend on whether a hotel can deliver the brand promise consistently throughout their hotel experience. In the mean time, the companies need to think appropriate ways to present their products to different cultures, which means they really must use and balance the standardisation and localisation strategies. Rutihinda Elimimian (2002) indicated that standardisation requires operations with resolute constancy, providing same things in the same way everywhere, while localisation needs adjusting of products and practices in every single place. It is not so easy to b alance the two exactly opposite strategies. However, both of them are equally important. In another word, hotel companies must think global and act local. This concept is becoming increasingly vital for hotel companies no matter big or small, to remain competitive. The term glocalisation used by Salazar (2005) perfectly expresses the concept think global and act local, it helps one to take hold of the many interconnections between the standardisation and the localisation strategies. Peters and Frehse (2005) stated that already in the 1970s international hotel companies tried to use standardisation strategy in their services with an appropriate consistency in terms of quality. Whitla et al. (2007) state that standardisation makes a hotel brand recognizable and that is what people are looking for, the consistency and the predictability especially for business travelers. However, Whitla et al. (2007) also mentioned that hotel chains need to balance the provision of a standardized level of service and amenities with customers tastes or preferences in some degree of local adaptation. Frink (2009) found hotel companies, when they decide to globalise into foreign countries, are faced with many barriers to overcome, such as language, funding, competition, and cultural differences Sometimes it is very hard for a hotel company to enter a new country, especially when the new county has a totally different culture and tradition. For example, alcohol is forbidden in muslin s ocieties, Indians dont eat beef, gambling is illegal in many countries. Whitla et al. (2007) believe that adaptation is required for many reasons including consumer interests, laws, culture and traditions. For instance, hotels in western countries often rely on accommodation revenues to make profit, whereas hotels in Asia count on food charges. Asian hotels therefore need to focus more on offer more and larger restaurant outlets, targeting local diners as well as overnight foreign guests. Rutihinda Elimimian (2002) mentioned that many hotel companies who localised their marketing strategies and products have been successful. However, some others fail due to their applications of wrong implementation strategies and insensitivity to the consumer culture of the country. Czinkota Ronnenken (1995) emphasized that glocalisation in the marketing plans is essential and vital to suit local tastes, to meet special needs and consumers non-identical requirements (as cited in Vignali, 2001). B esides, some customers, especially tourists are looking for local flavor in hotels (Armstrong et al., 1997), which means hotels design could reflect the destination image (Hawkins, 2007). In term of this, the famous 7-star hotel Burj al Arab has got great success, the hotel were designed in the shape of a billowing Arabian dhow sail, it represents a significant tribute to the nations seafaring heritage (Jumeirah, nd). It has already become the icon of Dubai, the destination image of Dubai, and the hotel itself became the tourist attraction of the country. Besides hotel design, Heide et al. (2007) believes hotel ambience is also very important part of the glocalisation, because ambience is a key success factor that is directly linked to financial consequences. It is worth mentioning that Human resource management (HRM) also needs to use glocalisation strategy in the hospitality industry. HRM departments are the spine of every organization; they must learn and understand the employee rights and laws for not only their home companies, but for all of their establishments around the world. Different countries have different employee rights and labor laws. Frink (2009) states the hospitality industry Human resource managers must be very careful of these employee rights and labor laws or it could cost those hotels millions in fines and penalties. Nowadays many hotels are localised in term of staffing. Local staff members know their own culture very well and they can speak local language to serve local guests while having multilingual staff is better to serve the guests from all over the world. Harvey (2007) mentioned it is always good to have staff from different counties which brings diversity, but they have different beliefs, background, custo ms and traditions. How to think global and act local when dealing culture differences is a challenge that HR managers need to conquer. Sometimes hotels glocalisation strategies are still not enough, especially for the purpose to attract leisure guests. Ghemawat (1991) stated that when tourists travel to another place to spend a vacation, they want to experience difference and try something new. Otherwise they lose fun when they stay at the hotel. Nowadays the global competitions between hotels are getting fiercer; some hotel companies are using differentiation strategies in order to succeed. Rutihinda Elimimian (2002) stated that differentiation strategy is based on the ability to provide guests with distinct products or services. Ghemawat (1991) stated that these special and distinctive attributes make them unique in the eyes of their guests (as cited in Rutihinda Elimimian, 2002). For example, there is a hotel in America called Dog Bark Park Inn, the hotel looks like a giant beagle. Guests sleep and have breakfast in the body of the beagle. For another example, in German there is a hotel which name is Alcatraz H otel, it used to be a prison, the owner kept the original spirit of the building, so every guestroom is like a cell, and the toilet is just next to the bed. Guests also get striped pajamas instead of a normal bath robe which makes them look like prisoners, the only difference between this hotel and a real prison is seem like guests can leave it whenever they want. The more special one is a hotel made of real ice, it sounds unbelievable but it is true, its called the Ice Hotel in Canada, this hotel has become world- famous for winter experience. The architecture of the hotel including artwork and furniture carved form ice blocks. Most guests believe this hotel is amazing and beautiful and the experience is special and enjoyable. These successful stories have told us, the hoteliers must not only think and act glocal, but also think difference. In conclusion, Globalisation has become a key issue  for the  hospitality industry. It is the process of hotel companies expanding their business or operations to foreign markets, and taking their business to new heights. This literature review addressed three impacts of  globalisation on the hospitality industry including location, economics and culture. Globalisation enables hotel companies to choose locations all over the world to expand their business. If businesses expand, the hospitality industry will expand with it. Globalisation helps hotel companies to gain other market share and thus gain more profit and reduce purchasing cost through quantity buying or centralised purchasing. Besides globalisation also causes hotel companies to consider different cultures and traditions when they enter a new country and bring culture diversity into the industry which is always a positive thing. When hotel enter into globalisation, they should use standardisation and localisation stra tegies which means they should keep the same standard in terms of service and quality while altering their service and product to adapt to the different culture and traditions. The concept Thinking global and acting local (or thinking glocal) is essential for hotel companies development. Besides, using differentiation strategies is also a good way to become competitive. Differentiation strategy is about providing guests with distinct products or services. These unique and distinctive attributes make them attractive in the eyes of their guests.

Anne Sexton: Poetry as Therapy Essay -- Anne Sexton Poet Poem Poetry E

Anne Sexton: Poetry as Therapy Many great literary and artistic geniuses have been troubled with deep depression and mental illness. Anne Sexton is an example of a poet with such problems who used her personal despair to inspire her poetic works. Not all of Sexton's work is based solely on her mental health; but a good portion of her work is influenced by her constant bouts with depression. As she struggled to deal with her own marital infidelity and the problems associated with being a female poet in a male dominated genre, she combined the theme of depression with one based on the roles of women in society. In turn, she gained a wider audience and received recognition for her work. But all the fame and fortune were not enough to compete with her lack of mental stability. Anne Sexton was born Anne Gray Harvey on November 9, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of three daughters to Ralph and Mary Gray Staples Harvey. Life in the Harvey household was difficult for Anne. Her parents, especially her father, were very concerned with appearances and she failed them in these standards most of the time. As the Harvey children grew older, the household became much more tense. Anne's father was an alcoholic and her mother drank nearly as much as he did. Her mother's failed aspirations to become a famous writer increased the tension among the family members as Anne's mother began to resent her husband and children (Middlebrook 4-16). The ingredients for future depression were already in the works for Anne. There was a history of mental illness in the family with both Anne's great aunt and grandfather. As Anne grew older, she was pretty and popular with the boys. However, her performance in school was lacking in m... ...tudied today but the inspiration for her poetry, her constant depression, forced Sexton to take her own life. In her work, she expressed the inner torture she endured and explored the depths of her mind and society. Works Cited Kumin, Maxine. Foreword. The Complete Poems by Anne Sexton. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. xix. Middlebrook, Diane Wood. Anne Sexton: A Biography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. Parini, Jay. Editor. The Columbia Anthology of American Poetry. New York: Columba University Press, 1995. Sexton, Anne. "Her Kind." Kennedy, X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2002. 770. Wagner-Martin, Linda. "Sexton, Anne Gray Harvey." 13 November 2001. <http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-01490-print.html> Anne Sexton Reads Her Poetry. Audiocassette. Caedmon, 1999.