This dissertation project assesses the possibility of Colombia becoming an annex I country before 2020. This assessment assumes that the country will eventually have to define the year during which it will be required to start reducing its GHG emissions and by what amount. This project aims to answer the following questions; in which year Colombia should assume a GHG reductions cap? And how much GHG emissions should Colombia reduce? These two questions were answered by first projecting the growth of future emissions of the country based on economic parameters, population growth and energy consumption and secondly by calculating the cost of undertaking the GHG reductions to meet the target. Three separate analyses were performed in order to answer those questions; first a comparative analysis of the country’s conditions when the protocol was signed, second the concept of the Environmental Kunznets Curve was used and confronted with the available Colombian data and third it was necessary to project when Colombia will be responsible for percent of the world’s emission. The results showed that at least until the year 2020 Colombia will not be responsible for a share bigger than one percent of the world emissions; neither will it reach the peak of the EKC and lastly Colombia will not become a higher middle income country anytime before the year 2020. The main conclusion obtained in this dissertation is that Colombia should not undertake any GHG reduction targets under the continuation of the Kyoto protocol before the year 2020.

A feasibility study of one of the most complex and representative core products of Sebel Furniture (a well known furniture manufacturing company, based in Sydney, Australia) by comparing its current operations in a centralized model, to a future state in a de-centralized logistics model. The method for doing this was Value Stream Mapping, a Lean manufacturing methodology to identify non-value-added activities along the processes, and reduce Lead Time (LT) and costs by removing those wastes. It is important to mention that, although most of the information in this report corresponded to real data, some assumptions were made, given constraints such as time and the fact that, by the time this report was written, the company was yet working on some of the projections for the future business model. Through the development of the project, Value Stream Maps (VSM) for the family product Postura Plus Shell range were documented on its centralized and de- centralized logistics, main wastes and non-value-added activities were identified, as well as considerations for improvement were raised. This report also shows a basic simulation model of how the VSM would looks like in an improved state, and how each scenario differs from the others. Results showed risks of the future decentralized logistic model of the company regarding complexity of operations planning and inventory management, as well as it describes how successful could it be in terms of a shorter lead time, if an action plan were implemented.

The city of Al Buraimi, located in the northwest of the Sultanate of Oman, has experienced rapid urban growth characterized by patchy and unsustainable development over the last years. As a result of this process, the city is facing challenges in different dimensions of the urban structure. One of these problems is transportation, which is automobile dependent and road based. Additionally, Al Buraimi presents segregated land use patterns, low densities, reduced travel choices, considerable occupation of land for car facilities and high accidents rates, amongst other issues. Thus the increasing transportation needs may lead to social, environmental and economic problems. Additionally, the transportation planning process is characterized by a lack of coordination among institutions and shortage of vision. Car dependency can be attributed to different factors; firstly, the national transportation policy and legal framework are focused on roads development. Secondly, prices of cars and oil are relatively affordable in the Sultanate, and there is a car culture based on foreign automobile models. Furthermore, the current strong top down approach does not facilitate the instruments necessary to implement a sustainable mode of transportation. A more balanced transportation system, achieved via a more holistically coordinated and inclusive planning approach would provide many benefits to the city. This thesis has the aim of analyzing the current transportation system in Al Buraimi. Afterwards, this study intends to provide proposals which are based on criteria and concepts to adapt toward a more balanced/sustainable transportation system in Al Buraimi.

This thesis analyzes the possible influence of social capital on the levels of fear of crime perceived by residents of Bogotá. The thesis focuses on the potential role of social networks and the individual perception of collective efficacy of neighborhoods in the metropolitan area of the Colombian capital. According to current theoretical developments, people who belong to social networks and actively participate in them expect reciprocity from their peers in case of a criminal event. Thus, they will benefit from an inhibiting effect on their individual levels of fear of crime. Following the statistics, the security situation in the city of Bogotá has improved during the last years. For example, the homicide rates have ostensibly dropped in the last 20 years and other crimes, such as robberies and burglaries, have stabilized within normal occurrence rates compared to the historical average. Nevertheless, citizens of Bogotá feel more insecure and perceive higher risks of being a victim of crime than 10 years ago. This seemingly paradoxical situation suggests a gap between the subjective feelings of citizens and objective criminal rates registered by different authorities. As most of the theoretical and empirical research has focused on the study of facilitators of fear of crime, using quantitative methodologies, this thesis will focus on the study of inhibitors of fear. To understand levels of fear of crime in neighborhoods of Bogotá it adopts a qualitative methodology. In addition, it inquires for the most relevant factors that produce fear of crime and suggests policy recommendations to make people feel safer in the city. The results show that the role of social networks in inhibiting individual levels of fear of crime depends on the quantity and quality of pooled resources that a community has. Neighborhoods with more social, economic and institutional resources provide environments and milieus where people feel safer. This perception of collective efficacy to advance communal goals plays a pivotal role in the inhibition of fear of crime and is stronger in more cohesive and organized neighborhoods. Finally, high levels of fear of crime lead to less participation in neighborhoods where illegal armed groups exert de facto control of the territory, hampering the already low levels of social capital in these communities.

Energy Union (En Un) is a program released by the European Commission intended to create a single energy market between the European Union in order to have secure, affordable and sustainable energy. This way the imports will be reduced and the final price should be lower (theoretically) increasing the energy security for all the countries. The first communication was in February 2015 and is a very new topic for all the energy stakeholders in the EU. This is why a dissertation for the implications of this policy in UK was developed as part of the Master in Energy, Environmental Technology & Technology from City University London. UK is currently catalogued as an Energy Island (less than 10% of cross-border interconnection), with 30% of the generation based in coal, 30% in gas and 20% renewable, a liberalised market that varies with changes in gas or wind availability and the third highest kWh price from the EU. More than 20 energy policies and Conservative government with a constraint view against renewables’ subsidies. The implication for the UK and the En Un are divided into three: Infrastructural, Political and Economical. In the middle a map of the new cross-border grids proposed by this policy some of the findings are. The Energy Union in the UK will happen even if there’s no political wiliness or if they decide to not be part of the EU, mainly because the new infrastructure is already being developed (UK-Belgium) additional to the four current cross-border interconnectors. The wholesale market in UK is already liberalized and some cross border trades are being done with clean and cheap electricity from France and Holland; the key development is UK-Ireland, because UK, instead of being a 100% exporter to Ireland, will flip the coin with an import-export relationship with 8 interconnectors, electricity generated in Euros and close distance. Now it will not really matter if you generate electricity from Fossil Fuels, Nuclear or Renewable; the country will purchase from where is cheapest and available, independently from the source. Shale Gas, Nuclear, Gas and coal with CCS will be the important investment in the next years, not only in PPP (private public partnership) schemes but with R&D. New Universities courses will be develop (energy traders / brokers, cross border trade supervisors, etc) and more women should get involved. The £/ kWh for domestic and small companies will not be significantly reduced (albeit the low cost of it), those companies more engaged with the market will have very good deals and low £/ kWh.

This paper looks at the impact of railroads on Bogota, Colombia, between 1880 and 1920. I use the journals of foreign travellers that visited the city at different moments during those 40 years to document the economic transformation that the city underwent, and to relate that transformation to the completion of a railroad network that linked the city to its hinterland and to the international markets. The main conclusion is that the railroads transformed the city economically and socially by allowing its residents to import large and heavy capital goods, thereby making modern industries possible. The railroads also had a role in the city’s physical expansion and in the development of its public transportation system.

Today we live in a globalized world. In this interconnected world, the competition for wealth among states has become a synonym for market share. To ensure access to international markets, governments have resorted to the corporate marketing tool of branding. Country branding, as it is called, creates a series of narratives using a country’s identity. Such narratives encompass a symbolic system which is molded for the unique purpose of creating and promoting a positive image of the country branded. However, to be successful, this tool requires nationals to behave as ambassadors and embody the narratives presented. Thus, the brand indirectly defines the features that a ‘true national’ must have. It is argued that by placing nationals in a position where their membership in the community of the nation is evaluated, country branding can become an alternative method for countering the rhetoric used by terrorist and insurgents for achieving support. The analysis is conducted using constructivism as theoretical background, and the Colombian brand ‘Colombia es Pasión’ as study case. The conclusion achieved is that there are some theoretical and empirical elements that suggest that country branding could be used for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, yet further research is encouraged.

This investigation explores the dynamic relation between transaction activity and price appreciation in an effort to determine if the UK property market displays a return chasing behaviour or a price pressure effect. Using quarterly data from 2001 to 2013, this article explores a topic that has limited coverage for the private property market and it’s considered a relatively unexplored field among researchers. The dynamic is tested at an aggregate level, by property type and by type of investor. Using a bivariate Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model, this investigation uses two measures of transaction activity (flows and purchases) to test for the relation between these and returns. Results show that at an aggregate UK level, there is evidence of return chasing behaviour. This implies that returns are predictive of future flows. The result is consistent for the industrial, retail, and office property types for at least one measure of transaction activity. By type of investor, results show that there is a price pressure effect for overseas investors, and a return chasing behaviour for institutional investors, quoted property companies, private property companies, and occupiers. No evidence of any interaction was found for private individuals and financial institutions. Moreover, lagged returns were found to be economic and statistically significant in explaining subsequent returns, reinforcing the appraisal bias property data has.

Risk aversion in the satellite industry has fostered long development cycles and low rates of innovation in the past. Emerging trends in propulsion technology development and spacecraft architecture design could lead to increased adoption of small satellites as well as more open, flexible and useful space systems. Two particular developments can be used to map the future of the industry. First, the development of MEMS thrusters for launch vehicles could enable dedicated launches for small satellites. This could substantially bring down the cost of satellite deployment. Second, the successful completion of the DARPA System F6 project could demonstrate the value of spacecraft fragmentation. This in turn could shift the focus of the industry from certain attributes that result in long development cycles, thereby opening the doors for open systems and greater innovation. Emerging trends in the satellite industry may result in paradigm shifts that would dramatically decrease satellite costs and increase innovation. This may ultimately result in a structural change in the satellite industry.

This thesis analyzes how trade secrets can be used as a means to protect knowledge developed through projects conducted in the telecommunications sector. At the same time, the study explores which mechanisms should be employed to regulate access and utilization of trade secrets when their disclosure is inevitable to accomplish project requirements. Telecommunications firms are large and globally distributed organizations whose business operations rely upon interoperability and close collaboration with different parties. This suggests that conducting virtual projects crossing national and cultural boundaries, and sharing information for future survival and development, are common practices within this industry. The purpose of the investigation is to contribute to a certain degree with new knowledge as a basis for future studies in the field given that research around intellectual property issues in the area of project management has been poorly developed. At the same time, studies have been conducted towards patenting as a means to protect technological knowledge in telecommunications whilst trade secrets have not been contemplated by the academia. The study follows a qualitative approach encompassing an extensive literature review and empirical data analysis gathered through interviews. The results from the literature analysis are synthesized in a proposed model covering factors influencing the protection of trade secrets before, during and after project execution. This model also examines the extent to which trade secrets can be used as instruments to secure technological knowledge developed in virtual project setting. The theoretical model is improved with the empirical data collected resulting in an enhanced model which is illustrated in the discussion chapter. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are addressed in the last section of this thesis,