This thesis investigates the impact of smart urban lighting policy on open data availability and utilization in Eindhoven. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the study analyses smart urban...Show moreThis thesis investigates the impact of smart urban lighting policy on open data availability and utilization in Eindhoven. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach, the study analyses smart urban lighting policy documents, and users’ data from the Eindhoven Open Data portal collected between May 2021 and May 2023. The study aims to address the sub research questions: 1) What mechanisms do smart city initiatives employ to enhance open data utilization? 2) How does the adoption of smart urban lighting policy influence open data utilization? The results reveal a positive correlation between the implementation of smart urban lighting policy and increased availability and utilization of open data. The findings underscore the importance of integrating open data initiatives into smart city strategies to enhance citizen engagement, transparency, and urban development. The study provides valuable insights for researchers and urban governance practitioners seeking to optimize the impact of smart city policies through effective open data utilization.Show less
Over time, technological developments have become increasingly relevant. This thesis endeavoured to research a number of pioneering technological implementations in three different cities - all...Show moreOver time, technological developments have become increasingly relevant. This thesis endeavoured to research a number of pioneering technological implementations in three different cities - all pioneers in certain technological implementations. Developments are evolving quickly and everyone is now familiar with smart technologies, for example: Smart lighting, advanced waste management or decongestion of traffic junctions. The focus of this thesis is to investigate the process of these pioneering technical implementations. The question this thesis answered was: how were certain decisions made? Why were they made and what were their consequences? In order for this to be done in a structural way, the Social Construction Of Technology (SCOT) theory was used.. This is a theory that advocates a broad interpretation of technology and focuses primarily on cultural and sociological aspects. The implementations of technologies on CCTV in London, predictive policing software in Milan and the application of smart lighting in Eindhoven were all separately examined in this thesis. This involved examining the key drivers for the implementation of these technologies and their impact on visitors and residents of these three different cities. The results of this thesis display the idea that technologies are mainly implemented due to availability and political factors. However, the addition of safety-promoting technologies are not always beneficial to the visitors and residents of the respective cities, as the technologies are not always able to meet ethical standards when it comes to privacy and equality.Show less
As individuals living in a society, our activities, diet, and health are influenced by our socioeconomic position in said society. This amongst others means that our socioeconomic standings play a...Show moreAs individuals living in a society, our activities, diet, and health are influenced by our socioeconomic position in said society. This amongst others means that our socioeconomic standings play a large part in our social and bodily experience, therefore also in the level and kind of labour we are involved in. Labour is often highly routinised, as certain actions and movements are performed day in day out. Therefore, labour is an important aspect of ones ‘lived experience’. Osteoarthritis, a condition causing the degeneration of synovial joints and surrounding soft tissue, is the most prevalent disease in past and current societies. It is also the most frequently used marker for establishing and examining activity patterns within archaeological populations. The aim of this study is to figure out how differences in socioeconomic status and strenuous labour are embodied in a post medieval Dutch city. In order to answer this, this study analyses the severity and prevalence of osteoarthritis in two skeletal population samples of different socioeconomic status from the same city, Eindhoven. The individuals of high status were buried inside of the St. Catharinakerk, while the low status individuals were buried in the cemetery outside of this church. The high status sample consists of 13 adult individuals and the low status sample consists of 52 adult individuals. In total 40 skeletal elements have been analysed per studied individual, 20 on the left side and 20 on the right side, by using the method proposed by Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994). Following this, the scores resulting from the study of the skeletal remains were statistically analysed using ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance). This allows to control the sample population for a covariant, in this research age-at-death was controlled for. The statistical analysis showed that the low socioeconomic status individuals were significantly more affected by osteoarthritis in the acromial end of the left clavicle and right humeral head, while the high socioeconomic status individuals were significantly more affected in the distal radii and both left and right scaphoid. The most likely explanation for this is that the low and high socioeconomic status populations engaged in different types of activities. The low socioeconomic status individuals would have likely been subjected to repetitive and strenuous activities involving the shoulder such as lifting, pulling, holding, and carrying heavy objects. Yet, while the high socioeconomic status individuals of Eindhoven probably did not engage in the same repetitive and strenuous activities as the low socioeconomic status individuals, the prevalence and severity of osteoarthritis in the wrist does indicate that they too did experience strain on joints. This would have most likely been caused by the amount of writing the high socioeconomic status individuals had to withstand. Hence, this study concludes that osteoarthritis and thus strenuous labour is embodied differently among the high and low socioeconomic status populations of post-medieval Eindhoven.Show less
This study aims to use the presence and severity of dental disease as a mechanism to assess and infer upon any potential dietary differences between the socio-economic classes of Post-Medieval...Show moreThis study aims to use the presence and severity of dental disease as a mechanism to assess and infer upon any potential dietary differences between the socio-economic classes of Post-Medieval Eindhoven. The identification of socio-economic status was calculated from burial location, wherein those interred within church walls were deemed to be of high status, whereas those interred within the cemetery were supposed to be of a lower socio-economic status. In terms of the history of the city of Eindhoven and Sint-Catharinakerk, in particular, suffer from a lack of archival evidence through a series of fires and sacking meaning that life within Medieval and post-Medieval Eindhoven is largely unknown. For the completion of this study, 45 individuals were analysis for their presence and severity of carious lesions, dental calculus and periodontal disease. With any potential pathological differences between the burial classes, and subsequently the inferred socio-economic classes being statistically analysed using both z and Somers’d tests. These results demonstrated that significant differences were found within the severity of dental calculus, with the higher status population possessing a higher presence and severity than the lower status population. Whereas, the presence and severity of periodontal disease and carious lesions presented no significant differences. The results and associated differences, place suspicion onto many of the conclusions collected from the historical record, particularly within the assumptions of meat and sugar consumption across the higher and lower status communities. Whereas as a whole, this study does suggest that the diet of the elites reflected a more mixed hybridised diet, which was contrasted by the lower status diet which is likely to have been dominated by traditional agrarian foods such as grains and cereals. This trend is likely to have been exaggerated within periods strife with the wealth and connections of higher status population offering greater resistance, when compared to the lower status population. But ultimately, this is a story of balancing multiple factors, with external factors such as oral hygiene, possessing profound limiting and causing impacts on the examined pathological conditions. Thusly outlining that it is vital that the effects of these on a past population must be considered and better understood, if further research must be undertaken.Show less
This study examines a subadult skeletal sample from the period of AD 1500-1850, excavated from the St. Catherine’s church cemetery in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The study’s main research question...Show moreThis study examines a subadult skeletal sample from the period of AD 1500-1850, excavated from the St. Catherine’s church cemetery in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The study’s main research question is whether signs of physiological stress are visible in the subadult remains in Eindhoven, and what these signs may tell us about the health of the population during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. The following nonspecific stress markers are examined: dental enamel hypoplasia, Harris lines, cribra orbitalia, porotic hyperostosis, and the cortical index of the humerus and tibia. It is assessed whether and how stress factors relate to each other, as well as whether a difference exists between the two time periods examined (1600-1650 AD, and 1650-1850 AD). For all stress markers, it is also examined whether or not a difference in prevalence per age or per sex (based on ancient DNA results) is present. None of the stress marker prevalences differed significantly between the sexes. There were also no significant differences between the two examined periods, which suggests sociocultural changes between these periods did not affect stress patterns. Infants are mostly unaffected by stress markers. For the Eindhoven population, the age within childhood at which signs of stress first seem to occur is around three to four years. However, it is possible that stress is best visible in this age group, and not necessarily that this age group is more susceptible to stress than others. Overall, most stress markers show a moderate to high prevalence in Eindhoven. Only the prevalence of porotic hyperostosis is quite low. The fact that many individuals showed signs of cribra orbitalia but not of porotic hyperostosis, implies that they either have a different etiology, or that porotic hyperostosis develops in later stages than cribra orbitalia. The correlation between stress markers was different than expected; if all reflect physiological stress then one might expect the stress markers to be strongly correlated. However, only the presence of dental enamel hypoplasia and Harris lines were correlated, yet the lines themselves do not correlate, making it unlikely that they are indicative of the same stress event. The reason that stress markers are not correlated could be due to their different etiologies or different age-related propensities to form, or because one, or several, of the stress markers do not in fact reflect physiological stress. The cortical index pattern of individuals with Harris lines may imply that Harris line formation is in fact a normal part of bone growth. The high prevalence of most stress markers suggests that the population suffered from stress caused by malnourishment or disease, and the presence of these stress markers also indicates survivorship. More research is needed to better understand the health of the population of Eindhoven. Additionally, this research has show that much is still unknown about the relationships between the different stress markers.Show less
This research examines fracture risks in post-Medieval the Netherlands. The challenges of daily life as well as interpersonal violence means humans are always at risk of fractures to the skeleton....Show moreThis research examines fracture risks in post-Medieval the Netherlands. The challenges of daily life as well as interpersonal violence means humans are always at risk of fractures to the skeleton. Given the occurrence of fractures across societies archaeologists have the opportunity to compare the fracture risk between populations and investigate the effects of social and economic standing. Research into long bone fractures in the Netherlands has been done for medieval sites, but not for post medieval sites. This research addresses this gap in fracture research. The main question of this research is: What can the analysis of long bone fractures tell us about life in various places in post-medieval the Netherlands. The first sub question tests the hypothesis that the position, and pattern of fractures was influenced by the socioeconomic status and lifestyle of the inhabitants of Middenbeemster. The second and third sub questions compare the frequency and distribution of long bone fractures (clavicle, humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula) from four post-medieval the Netherlands sites (Eindhoven, Gouda, Middenbeemster and Roosendaal) from different socioeconomic backgrounds (e.g. low and high status) and living environments (e.g. urban and rural). The data from the Middenbeemster sample was collected by the author the other data was drawn from reports and books. There were three main findings in this research. First, it found that the assemblage from Middenbeemster has fractures that are consistent with traditional farming injuries, but differed from those described in other bioarchaeological studies, suggesting that farming in post-medieval the Netherlands might have been different or posted different dangers from those in other places. Second it found that the urban site of Eindhoven had significantly more long bone fractures compared to the rural site of Middenbeemster. There was also a difference in the distribution of fractures between the sites. This suggests that in post-medieval the Netherlands urban living had more risks of long bone fractures than rural living. Third, there was no difference in the long bone fracture rate between the high status site of Gouda and the low status site of Roosendaal. This shows that socioeconomic status did not have a significant effect on fracture risk. This thesis has broadened our understanding of fracture risk in post-medieval the Netherlands by providing some preliminary conclusions about the relationship between environmental and socioeconomic factors and fracture risk. This research, however, still requires more comparative data sets to confirm these preliminary conclusions, and test new hypotheses.Show less
