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There have been a large number of attempts to develop a theory or theories of Environmental Impact Assessment in order to justify its use in environmental decision-making. A review of academic articles demonstrates that these theories are largely drawn from planning theories. Planning theories are themselves a development of sociological theories of decision-making and from one particular strand of sociological theory. In this review of the theories of EIA it is argued that an understanding of wider sociological theory is necessary to fully understand both planning and EIA.

Cognitive robots have started to find their way into manufacturing halls. However, the full potential of these robots can only be exploited through an integration into the automation pyramid so that the system is able to communicate with the manufacturing execution system (MES). Integrating the robot with the MES allows the robot to get access to manufacturing environment and process data so that it can perform its task without human intervention. This paper describe the mobile robotic manipulator developed in the EU project STAMINA, its has been integrated with an existing MES and its application in a kitting task from the automotive industry.

The hospitality industry has subsequently been struck by a range of disasters. Either; globally or regionally, natural or man-made disasters. Reflecting the hospitality and tourism industry’s vulnerability to hazardous events in the internal and external environment, they have caused dramatic fluctuations in Tourist arrivals and revenue. The chapter investigates the impact of these disasters and crises on hospitality and tourism industry. Aims to review some attempts to investigate the impact of disasters, how emergency planning could mitigate these impacts, and how to recover from it. Furthermore, it reviews the theories and models which could be used as an effective strategies to cope with uncertainty, how to plan, manage, and recover from such events. Emergency plans used by industry players to overcome the effect of such events and quick return to normality. Emergency planning could mitigate the effect of such events and recover from such disasters. The finding also emphasizes the power of media in clearing the ambiguity, which helps marketing efforts towards tourists to change their attitudes and visit safe rather than visiting hazardous destinations. Effective planning and the urgent need for better cooperation, coordination and awareness efforts among the industry stakeholders, government agencies, and local communities could mitigate the negative impact of hazardous events, allowing organizations to learn from the past to prevent the same effects in the future.

We report on an experiment which enables us to infer how far people plan ahead when taking decisions in a dynamic risky context. Just over half of the subjects plan fully, while the rest do not plan ahead at all.

The revolutionary innovations in amusement parks, starting with the ‘Bakken’, north of Copenhagen, in 1583 and given modern form as themed entertainment attractions by Disney at Anaheim, California in 1955 have spread outwards through successive imitation and adaptation by the amusement industry. The chapter reviews some of the historical aspects of amusement parks, presents some key data and then goes on to discuss economic and development issues, including park planning and design. Concepts of creativity and issues of failure are examined in order to define the boundaries of what may be currently considered good practice to minimise the downside risks that can result in financial, if not project, collapse. Numerous examples are given so as to establish trends.

In an urban area, the rainwater runoff model differs greatly from the model before its urbanisation with a significant increase in surface runoff as a key phenomenon or performance due to many elements that influence the runoff model. Without a development plan taking into account of all these relevant elements and having the plan enforceable and implemented, urban rainwater mess with rainwater flood as the centre would appear in the relevant city particularly big ones. This paper analyses causes leading to the mess triggered by rainwater (including but not limited to stormwater) especially during the rainy season in China, where 62% of 351 sample cities had suffered from the mess during the period from 2008 to 2010. Lack of a long-term and stable urban development plan that considers all potential environmental impacts of rainwater in a holistic way and/or its unenforceability are the keys leading to the mess. There is a necessity to develop a plan for sustainably integrated urban rainwater management and have it legally binding for the area under urbanisation/re-urbanisation to prevent the mess and/or the urbanised area to eliminate the mess. For having it done, China has to learn lessons from developed countries.