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In recent decades, research on renewable energy has been boosted by the emerging awareness of energy security and climate change and their consequences, such as the global cost of adapting to the climate impacts. Both onshore and offshore wind turbine farms have been considered as one of the main alternatives to fossil fuels. Their development currently involves seismic-prone areas, such as the Californian coastline and East Asia, where the risk of soil liquefaction is significant. Onshore wind turbines (OWTs) typically are founded on shallow rafts. Their operation can be affected strongly by the simultaneous presence of intense earthquakes and wind thrust, which may cause remarkable permanent tilting and loss of serviceability. In these conditions, accurate evaluation of the seismic performance of these structures requires the development of well-validated numerical tools capable of capturing the cyclic soil behavior and the build-up and contextual dissipation of seismic-induced pore-water pressures. In this paper, a numerical model developed in OpenSees, calibrated against the results of dynamic centrifuge tests, was used to evaluate the influence of some ground motion intensity Measures of the seismic behavior of OWTs included the amplitude, frequency content, strong-motion duration, and Arias intensity (energy content) of the earthquake, together with the effect of a coseismal wind thrust, which is not well explored in the literature. The seismic performance of an OWT was assessed in terms of peak and permanent settlement and tilting, the latter of which was compared with the threshold of 0.5° typically adopted in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noting that the demand for overseas emergency relief increased, the Korean government ambitiously launched disaster-management diplomacy in the 2000s. This paper argues that the Korean government promoted disaster-management diplomacy in connection with other policies: the official development assistance (ODA) policy and middle-power diplomacy. First, disaster-management diplomacy emerged in the broader context of changes in ODA policy in Korea. After acceding to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) in 2010, those in favor of grant aid stressed that the Korean government should actively embrace international norms to upgrade the ODA policy. Disaster management provided them with a rationale for embracing the international norms of humanitarian assistance. Second, disaster-management diplomacy was combined with middle-power diplomacy. Despite substantial signs of progress, East Asia as a whole still faces daunting challenges in solidifying the regional cooperation for disaster management. The Korean government identified disaster management as one of the promising areas for middle-power diplomacy, thinking that a rapid increase in demand for disaster management requires a more active role of middle powers, such as Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road transport networks that exist within Eastern Asia are experiencing ever-increasing levels of demand due to rapid population growth within the region. This is especially so for interregional travel because of a continuous dispersion of the population as it expands. Within Hong Kong, new transport infrastructure is required to cater to the demands emerging from growth and decentralization of the population distribution. Initiatives such as park-and-ride schemes can assist transport networks to operate more efficiently and are worthy of assessment as a demand management technique for inclusion in the future transit system. As a result of a comprehensive survey conducted on a trial park-and-ride facility in Hong Kong, lessons have been learned for the implementation of future schemes within Hong Kong and Eastern Asia. This paper provides a description of the data assembled as a result of the survey, and it identifies reasons and factors contributing to the success of the park-and-ride facility in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of the rapidly growing investment in infrastructure over the past 10 years, East Asia has developed into one of the most dynamic construction markets in the world. Despite progress in market-oriented reforms in some countries of this region, considerable obstacles in the form of varying technical standards and local preference policies still can lead to significant cost increases. Five categories of obstacles are identified in this paper: business environment risk, regulatory restrictions, contractual arrangements and differences in standards and in culture. The likelihood of occurrence of these obstacles as well as their impact on the profitability of cross-border construction are uncertain. The degree of their effect also varies across East Asian countries. Through an industry survey of top international construction firms based in Singapore, the significant obstacles or cost growth factors and their impact on cost growth in tendering, construction, and overheads are determined. In particular, the risk situations in China and Singapore are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of its high historical, cultural, and scientific value, wooden architectural heritage in East Asia requires comprehensive protection. The dou-gong (bracket set) is an essential member in ancient Chinese wooden architecture. The hysteresis behaviors of dou-gongs are critical to the abilities of structures to resist external dynamic loads, mainly including wind and earthquakes. It is crucial to develop an effective and convenient method to investigate the hysteresis performance of dou-gongs quantitatively. This study developed a simplified finite element model of dou-gongs using Euler beam and link elements. The types of Song-style dou-gongs and the experimental hysteresis characteristics were reviewed. Eight parameters of the skeleton and hysteresis curves were determined, and their suggested value ranges were proposed. The hysteresis behaviors, predicted using the proposed simplified simulation method, were compared with the experimental results, and the accuracy and rationality were validated. Finally, the applicability of the proposed simplified model was verified based on single and cooperative dou-gong performance. This study extends the simplified model of dou-gongs and provides useful guidelines to investigate their hysteresis performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]