This research seeks to identify building exterior characteristics that are best liked, most pleasing, rated beautiful and exciting by architects. A methodology based on mixed research methods was developed. The study sought architect’s preferences for twelve different public buildings. Analysis of 68 responses to the survey questionnaire identified several building’s exteriors characteristics that were consistently most preferred aesthetically. Four formal attributes. Complexity, Order, Ambiguity, and Potency, each of which was measured by three variables, and one variable added to the ambiguity, so a total of 13 formal (cognitive / perceptual) variables were included in the study. The effects of these attributes on affective responses, i.e., Arousal and Evaluation, each of which was measured by three variables, were examined. The analysis of the scatter chart identifies the level of association between two dependent variables, aesthetic response and formal features. A medium to a strong relationship has been recognized between aesthetic response with moderate complexity and moderate to high levels of order and organization also with near high levels of novelty and mystery. Though, a weak correlation between the remaining of the dependent variables indicates a thin relationship. The higher the level of ambiguity in the exterior, the more excited the receiver. The higher the classification of mystery and novelty, the higher the degrees of excitement by the respondent. There is also a strong correlation between higher levels of polysemy and ratings of arousal, exciting and stimulation. The aesthetic evaluation (beauty) of the building depends and is influenced mainly by the preference of pleasure and admiration, and these three variables are affected by other variables such as ambiguity, complexity, and order. The aesthetic response is a complex process where each variable is affected by another variable, which ultimately leads to a comprehensive aesthetic evaluation.

Walkability within urban design and planning context refers to urban environments that are friendly and supportive for the pedestrian. Walkable environments offer many economic, social, health, and environmental benefits and contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In public places, including city centers, walkability is a major asset for making them vibrant by attracting and maintaining pedestrians, including tourists. It is no coincidence that the top tourist destinations and livable cities as well as popular city centers and streets all share walkability character. Walkability quality in city center streets and any urban environment require planning. Good planning needs to be informed by measuring and assessing the state of walkability in existing streets and environments. While the literature presents systematic walkability assessment studies from different city centers of developed and developing countries, such studies are rare in the context of many other developing regions and countries like the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq. Since walkability character can be contextual and affected by different socio-economic and environmental factors and dynamics, systematic and comprehensive assessment of under-researched environments and city centers are essential. To address this gap in the literature, this study systematically assesses the state of walkability in the city center of Sulaimani, the cultural capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and a UNESCO creative city in literature. This paper report results from assessing and comparing the physical characters of the six major interconnecting streets (Mawlawy, Kawa, Sabunkaran, Peramerd, Goran, and Bekas streets) in the center of Sulaimani city. The assessment considers the five main walkability factors of function, safety, destination, aesthetic, and comfort identified from the literature.

Historic buildings are surviving links to our past. They materialize and provide evidence for societies' past lifestyle, traditions, and values that inform present and future transformations. In addition to their architectural, historic, cultural, and/or symbolic values, preserved historic buildings often create educational and socioeconomic opportunities. Despite wide popularity and attention to preservation in many parts of the world, historic building preservation and reuse projects in Mesopotamia, the cradle of human civilization, is very limited, in poor conditions, and under-researched. The restored historic Sarai building located in the city center of Sulaimani in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (as a representing case study for many others in the country) testifies to the poor condition (or even failure) of historic preservation and restoration attempts in Iraq. Since its expensive structural restoration to host a museum, the building has become a ghost house in the vibrant old city center. This paper examines historic preservation and restoration practices in challenging such as those of Iraq through a case study, Sarai building revitalization project. The project makes an important and representing case study because of the architectural, historic, cultural, and symbolic values of the building to a city that is recognized as the cultural capital of Kurdistan Region of Iraq and (most recently) a UNESCO creative city in literature. This paper contributes to the under-researched area of historic restoration practices and processes (planning and management) in the context of the Middle East (in particularly, Iraq).

This research paper presents a descriptive model to assess the quality of bus services by measuring passengers’ satisfaction in Sulaimani city. Transportation facilities are enlivening the economic activities of any country. Public transportation services are an important aspect of any urban transportation system, as they provide mobility for a number of passengers to different destinations in different directions at the same time via one transportation facility. Public transportation is considered a sustainable mode of transportation. This study intends to assess the services’ quality and identify the challenges to sustainable development in public transportation in order to achieve sustainable development for the current public transportation system. A passenger survey was conducted in order to assess the level of service quality including 300 participants. The study depends mainly on the passengers’ survey, as well as interviews and personal observations for data collection. SPSS software and GIS are used for Data analysis. The results show the outcomes of the assessment process of the current system based on passenger’s opinions. The results reveal the system’s aspect in detail which is further clarified in the conclusion. The paper recommends several steps to be adopted in order to improve the current public transportation system in Sulaimani and other cities, it also suggests future studies that can integrate with this study and contribute in achieving its goal

The topic of preservation of heritage is a priority and is of serious importance in the context of issues of concern to the countries of the world. It is a clear indication of the progress of civilizations, the one from which subsequent generations derive their culture and their architectural identity. The research considers terms related to philosophical, cultural, economic, educational and sustainability aspects. Though, the focus of the paper is not to explain the goal of conservation on prevention and maintenance only. Nevertheless, the aim is to clarify the mechanisms related to the concept of the conservation policy, the way of its development and ease of access, to achieve treatments in architectural conservation.In this paper, some samples have been discussed as case studies. The selected heritage buildings are very well-known representative samples of architectural heritage and identity. The projects will be analyzed to create a clear image to identify the main features of architectural conservation with the suggestion to achieve the best conservation policy. This is done through concluding appropriate and effective regulations and treatments to prevent further mishandling, distortion and deterioration of heritage buildings. Besides, the challenges and problems facing the development of conservation policy to be addressed.The objective of the paper is to study and evaluate the conservation policy used in the processes of restoration of various examples, which is followed by analytical method based on a historical survey, to contribute to the prevention of distortion and extinction of historical buildings and evaluate their endurance to preserve the identity and architectural sensation of the city. This is by using the best method of conservation policies with specific recommendations to conduct the conservation process in accordance with engineering and scientific methods so that the building achieves renewal, sustainability and the highest historical, architectural and social impact.

Urban planning is a science that is reflected in the methods of land uses especially housing use, which is one of the most important sector in the city. It is considered the most important human requirement after food and wearer. The master plan is considered as one of the most important urban frame. It contains all the structural plans to control the urban expansion of all service sectors for the land uses in the city. It is planned for present and future status for the cites. The city master plan guarantees the equal distribution of urban land expansion from all sides. It secures the provision and implementation of housing projects to all residents in the city, Because of the economic growth that the city of Sulaimani witnessed after 2003. The city was suffering from a lack of attention to the issue of preparing a master plan. It did not have a master plan except for old studies that were carried out by the federal government. The master plan studies began from 2006 to 2009, then in 2009 it was recognized. Therefore, this subject is very substantial and the problem is that the implementation and site projection of housing was done in unappropriate manner with the stages of the master plan and the absence of evidence to invest in a housing sector. The purpose of this study is to identify a clear vision of housing investment projects, and shed the light on the necessary policies to be considered. Geography information system has been used to indicate the locations of housing projects in the city of Sulaimani. There is conformity with allocated lands for housing in the master plan. Then questions were addressed to specialists and agencies who had worked in housing projects such as the Directorate of Housing, Directorate of Investment, and the municipality. The questionnaire was proven after seeking the assistance of 9 experts to know the extent of the credibility of the questions that were laid down. The research found there are non-planning factors that affect the implementation of housing projects. Absence of laws and administrative errors in the implementation of housing projects playing the main role of having no clear housing implementation vision.

A good path tracker is one of the keys for the successful development of a self-driving car. In the literature, there exists a wide variety of techniques, some complex and some simple and yet effective in particular scenarios. The choice of the path tracker influences the performance in terms of precision, stability and passenger comfort. This paper addresses the lateral control of a self-driving car in an urban environment, where speed is not high but variations in velocity and curvature are frequent. In choosing a lateral controller, simplicity, efficiency and robustness are considered as the main criteria. In this paper, three classical techniques used for controlling the lateral error are analyzed: pure pursuit, Stanley and a simplified kinematic steering control. Additionally, a novel kinematic controller based on the lateral speed is proposed. A home-made realistic simulation environment has been developed to allow rapid testing of the control laws. The relevance of this work has been demonstrated for all controllers through realistic simulations and experiments. The experimental site is the campus of Ecole Centrale de Nantes, where all control laws have been compared along the same path. A longer path, involving a portion of the ring road of Nantes (France) has been simulated. It involves speeds up to 90 km/h, allowing to extrapolate the comparison results to higher velocities.

Finding solutions to traffic congestion is an active area of research. Many ideas have been proposed to reduce this problem, among of this ideas is moving in platoon. The constant time headway policy (CTH) is a very important platoon control policy, but it is too conservative and induces large inter-vehicle distances. Recently, we have proposed a modification of CTH [1], [2]. This modification reduces inter-vehicle distances and makes CTH very practical. This paper focuses on the control of platoons in urban areas. To control the vehicles, we assume that the longitudinal and the lateral dynamics are decoupled. We take into account a simplified engine model. We linearize the two dynamics using exact linearisation technique. Then, we use the modified CTH control law, adapted to urban platoons, for the longitudinal control and the robust sliding mode control for lateral control. The stability and the safety of the platoon are also studied. The conditions of stability of homogeneous and nonhomogeneous platoons are established. The conditions to verify the safety of the platoon for the longitudinal control (assuming stable and accurate lateral control) are exhibited. The weaknesses (large inter-vehicle distance, weak stability near low frequencies) of the CTH are solved. The improved performance and the safety of the platoon are verified by simulation using TORCS (The Open Racing Car Simulator). A platoon consisting of ten vehicles is created and tested on a curved track, keeping a small desired intervehicle distance. The stability and safety of the longitudinal and lateral controls are tested in many scenarios. These scenarios include platoon creation, changing the speed and emergency stop on straight and curved tracks. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Optimizing the inter-distances between vehicles is very important to reduce traffic congestion on highways. Variable spacing and constant spacing are the two policies for the longitudinal control of platoons. Variable spacing doesn't require a lot of data (position, speed...) from other vehicles, and string stability can be obtained using on-board information only. However, inter-vehicle distances are very large, and hence traffic density is low. Constant spacing offers string stability with high traffic density, but it requires data communication between the vehicles, at least from the leader. In this paper, a new platoon model and a modification of the variable spacing policy are proposed. This modification is effective to decrease the distances between the cars, making them nearly equal to the constant spacing policy. It also enables increasing string stability. This new approach doesn't require heavy communication between the vehicles. The new model is based on an unidirectional spring-damper model between vehicles, with the vehicles loaded on a virtual flatbed tow truck. From this configuration, conditions of stability and safety of a homogeneous platoon are derived. Based on this new model, a control has been derived and evaluated by simulation with a perfect system model using Matlab, and with a more realistic vehicle model using TORCS (The Open Racing Car Simulator). The simulation consists of a platoon of ten vehicles, moving on highways, with a desired inter-vehicle distance equal to 1 meter. The stability and the safety of the platoon are tested during platoon creation, changing the speed and emergency stop. The good results demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approach.

Many ideas have been proposed to reduce traffic congestion. Driving a platoon of vehicles with constant spacing seems to be a promising idea as it increases traffic density. But keeping constant inter-vehicle spacing requires very reliable communication. Another control policy is to drive the platoon with a time headway between vehicles. It is a robust and well known policy but large inter-vehicle distances in addition to weak stability (unity error gain) near low frequencies make it less practical. We have proposed in [1], [2] a modification of the Constant Time Headway policy (CTH). This modification largely reduces the inter-vehicle distances using only one information shared between all vehicles.In this work, we propose an additional modification of our control law. This modification makes our control law similar, in form, to the classical constant spacing policy, but it requires to share only one information between the vehicles. This modification improves the stability of the platoon and removes the weak stability of the CTH near low frequencies. We prove the robustness of the control law in the presence of actuating lags, sensing and communication delays. This proof can also be used to prove the stability of the classical constant spacing policy in the presence of all previous delays, which makes our result more general than those established in the literature. Safety is also discussed and the maximum acceptable communication delay without losing safety is determined. Simulations have been done in many critical scenarios.

Optimizing inter-vehicle distances is very important to reduce traffic congestion on highways. A modification of the constant time headway policy (CTH) has been proposed in [1]. This modification significantly reduces inter-vehicle distances, but this reduction in the inter-distance may increase the risks of collisions. In this paper, the safety of the modified CTH applied to a homogeneous platoon is addressed. Many critical scenarios are discussed, including hard braking of the leader and followers in the event of communication loss. Safety conditions are presented. In addition, a method to find the maximum allowed delay to inform all the vehicles about communication loss, is also presented. Simulations have been run with 10 vehicles to check safety in the proposed scenarios.

Recently in [1], a modification of classical constant time headway policy (CTH) was proposed in order to make CTH very practical and easy to use in real applications. This modification was tested and its benefits were shown only for highways application. In this paper, this modification is generalized in order to make it applicable in urban environment. Dynamic and kinematic models of the vehicle are mixted without accounting wheel slip. By using exact linearization technique, lateral and longitudinal dynamics become decoupled. Stability and accuracy of the global system are checked. Using TORCS [8] in simulation, effectiveness of the proposed modification and its potential effect on traffic density are reported.

Heavy traffic on highways requires the optimization of inter-distances between vehicles in order to reach time performance and to provide safety solution in transport. Variable spacing and constant spacing are the two policies for the longitudinal control of platoon. Variable spacing doesn't require a lot of data (position, speed...) from other vehicles, and string stability using only on-board information is obtained. However, inter-vehicle distances are very large, and hence traffic density is low. Constant spacing can offer string stability with high traffic density, but it requires at least data from the leader. In this paper, a novel expression of the variable spacing policy has been proposed. It is effective to decrease the distance between the cars, to become nearly equal to the constant spacing policy. It also enables increasing the string stability and the robustness of the control regarding to unmodeled lags, and it can avoid control torque saturation. This novel approach doesn't require heavy communication between the cars. The new control law has been evaluated by simulation with perfect system using Matlab, and with imperfect system using TORCS. The good results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the novel approach.

The Measurement of High School of Science Relative Efficiency at 2002 by Using Data Envelopment Analysis Efficiency and productivity, because resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, are important and going on in most area. First of all using of the sources efficiently and effectively is educational problem. In this study, the effectiveness of scientific high school in Turkey will be measure relatively.