Research

The Journey of Surface Transportation: Exploring Innovative Advances in Technology and its Transformative Impact on Global Mobility

Aadhikesavan K — 2025-01-03

The evolution of surface transportation systems has been pivotal in shaping urban and regional mobility, addressing the challenges of growing populations and increasing transit demands. This study evaluates the historical development of various surface transport modes, emphasizing the technological and infrastructural transformations that have supported their growth. Analyzing global case studies, it identifies successfully integrated termini designs that seamlessly combine multiple transportation modes to enhance connectivity and efficiency. Key innovations in termini infrastructure, such as spatial planning strategies and multimodal transit hubs, are examined to understand their role in addressing current challenges like congestion, accessibility, and sustainability. The study highlights how coordinated planning and integrating modes—such as rail, bus, cycling, and pedestrian networks—can optimize transit hub functionality and user experience. By synthesizing insights from global trends and innovations, this study proposes forward-looking design strategies and policy frameworks for future transit hubs to create adaptable, sustainable, and user-centred transportation networks. These findings offer actionable recommendations for urban planners, policymakers, and designers to develop transit systems that meet future mobility demands while enhancing spatial efficiency and fostering intermodal synergy.

An Evaluation of a Commercial Street's Livability to Improve its Vibrancy: a Case study of Chennai City

M Senthil (Corresponding Author) — 2025-01-03

Commercial Street vibrancy is ensured through different types of activities happening throughout the day which contributes to street livability. The overall vibrancy of the street contributes to environmental quality, aesthetic appeal, safety and urban development. This paper investigates key parameters that influence livability, focusing on T Nagar in Chennai, India as a case study. It examines how physical, design, social, safety, natural, and wellness components collectively influence the livability of urban commercial streets. Through extensive literature reviews, the study systematically identifies and analyses various parameters under each component to assess their impact on street vibrancy. An on-site physical and social survey was conducted, targeting active street users across various nodes of the study area, thereby providing valuable insights into everyday use. The findings provide a checklist to evaluate livability performance in commercial streets. This paper offers guidance for urban planners, designers and policymakers in identifying strengths to improve commercial street livability.

Working Women and Their Symbolic Denigration in Pakistani Media across Two Eras: A Feminist Analysis of Dhoop Kinare and Zindagi Gulzar Hai

Munaza Akhter — 2025-01-19

Television dramas play a significant role in shaping gender identities of masses by portraying male and female characters in specific ways. By portraying women in socially acceptable manner many TV serials have symbolically annihilated women. This study aims to expose symbolic annihilation of Pakistani working women in Pakistani TV serials. The concept of symbolic annihilation was proposed by Gaye Tuchman; she claimed that women are trivialized, omitted, condemned and eventually annihilated by exhibiting them in a patriarchally acceptable manner in terms of their appearance, roles, aims, professions, self-perceptions etc. The current study has taken the most popular Pakistani drama from the 1980s, Dhoop Kinare, and one of the top-rated dramas from 2010 onwards, Zindagy Gulzar Hae, and has analyzed working women characters, through feminist textual analysis, in the light of Gaye Tuchman’s symbolic annihilation concept. The study concludes that both in the 80s and later in 2010s working women are symbolically annihilated, especially through trivialization. Working women are reflected as subordinates, people pleasers, unsure of their abilities, lacking strong perception of themselves. A slight variation that has happened from 80s to current times is in occupational choice. Now women are portrayed in previously male-dominated professions like in administrative jobs and females can also be seen in top positions. Though female portrayal, in the top positions, is also from their domestic life perspective, in terms of how working females are managing their families with their jobs.