Socrates Almanac

1

Authors: LAURA ILONIEMI

Marketing companies and publicists working for architects have certainly adapted to increasingly hard-nosed commercial trends. They have embraced, for example, the latest trade shows, no matter how brash, along with high-profile international property conferences and moneymaking awards events (with apparent relish), hoping to place their clients in front of new, and ever more commercial, audiences.

1

Authors: Mr. RUI AMORIM

The need for rappid and cheaper building, for rational use of materials and their recycling, and for rational use of energy and water, together with the expected decrease on imports and materials global circulation, due to auto-sufficiency and autonomy general principles, leads ECOPAINT ANGOLA to create a concept of cargo containers recycling in construction of buildings, with the name of OctoBuilding.

3

Authors: S.ERSHOVA, T.ORLOVSKAYIA

the article is devoted to issues of monitoring of spatial development of city for the purposes of its sustainable and safe development. As in the Russian Federation the urban development plan is the main document of spatial planning, monitoring of its realisation must be considered as a function of public control over the effective use of city land resources. Since in Russian practice urban development plan is drawn up on the basis of strategy and prognosis of social and economic development of the city, monitoring of urban development plan is a part of public strategy of social and economic development of metropolis. Understanding the importance of adequacy of perception of this subject matter by foreign experts, we consider that it is essential to elucidate that in Eastern Europe the synonym for the Russian term «strategy of social and economic development of metropolis» is the term «strategic economic planning of metropolis». The important result of the survey, conducted by the authors, is the exposure of the essence of urban planning in the Russian Federation. In contrast to Eastern European countries, at the current moment in Russian metropolises there is a problem of absence of the system of record keeping and control over the development of urbanisation processes. In Saint-Petersburg, largest Russian city, there is understanding amongst experts and specialists of the necessity of keeping a record of results of spatial planning processes. And in this context the urban planning element arises much interest – the dynamic of reproportioning of functional zones, of which the most comfortable for living (residential, mixed residential-commercial, and recreational) determine the strategic priority for city development in different time periods. In contrast to highly developed systems of real property inventory which exist in Eastern Europe and The United Kingdom, the Russian system of keeping a record of results of spatial planning processes is now in embryo. However, the system of monitoring of urban development plan which helps to provide the data support for urbanisation processes, is essential for effective city administration and making deliberate decisions in setting the courses of city development and investing plans.

3

Authors: VLADIMIR GRACHEV, RAFAEL ARUTYUNYAN

Typical background radiation in a contemporary city is 8-12 µR/hr (microroentgens per hour). Radionuclides are scattered in the environment and are present in any surroundings, no matter organic or inorganic. This radionuclides radiation together with cosmic radiation creates a natural radiation background. We are not surprised with the radiation level of 10- 14 µR/hr (0.10-0.14 µSv/hr (microsieverts per hour), and we know this is a norm for the most areas. We also know that the atmosphere is more permeable to cosmic rays at the height of 10 km (civil airplanes flight altitude) and therefore, the background therein is 200- 250 µR/hr (2,0-2,5 µSv/hr). However, we are unaware of the places on Earth, where the natural background is increased significantly, not causing any problems for the inhabitants.

5

Authors: Prof. V.A. Grachev, Prof. A. Ye. Rozen, Ye. V. Vorobyev

The issue of wastewater treatment is highly relevant especially for metropolises and cities with the developed industrial infrastructure. In particular, effluents of industrial enterprises, using hydrocarbon materials or being engaged in their thermal processing, contain cyclic and aromatic compounds that have a very negative impact on the ecological environment. The technology of wastewater treatment by supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) is believed to be very promising.