A Transit Oriented Development Proposal for the Fourth and King Caltrain Station in San Francisco

The South of Market and Mission Bay neighborhoods have seen an explosion in growth over the last decade because of the high cluster of technology company opportunities in the area and the Bay Area’s high housing cost. These two neighborhoods are home to a public transportation hub with two San Francisco Muni metro and bus lines, Caltrain service, and Amtrak intercity bus service to Oakland and other parts of California. The existing Caltrain Fourth and King Station and railyards have massive potential for prime real estate development. San Francisco has seen a 10% increase in population over the last ten years. With the median cost of rent in San Francisco being between $2,000 to$3,000 in 2020 depending on the number of bedrooms, new homes are needed to lower the cost of rent (McLean, 2020), Furthermore, Caltrain’s ridership has been on the rise since 2010 with San Francisco being the most used station in the network with 15,000 riders in 2019 (Caltrain, 2019). A new station is necessary as the original 1970s station building approaches 50 years of service. With the high cost of living in the Bay Area, Caltrain ridership at its highest levels, and the need to build more housing and a new station, the Fourth and King Station can be a viable place for new development. This project addresses how a new Caltrain terminus station could be built while also accounting for Caltrain expansion, high-speed rail connectivity, new market-rate and affordable housing, and urban design of the South of Market and Mission Bay Neighborhoods

A review of the triple nexus approach in discourse and practice:with a focus on Islamic Relief’s triple nexus programme

Three years after the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), in February 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) issued recommendations in response to “the call for strengthened policy and commitments across key global frameworks including Agenda 2030, the Sustaining Peace resolutions and Agenda for Humanity, among others”. These recommendations specifically address the need to strengthen coherence between humanitarian, development and peace (HDP) operations, with the “aim of effectively reducing people’s needs, risks and vulnerabilities, supporting prevention efforts and thus, shifting from delivering humanitarian assistance to ending need”. The concept of the triple, or HDP, nexus reinvigorates the push for stronger collaboration and coordination among actors.This review of the triple nexus takes stock of current policy, practice and academic discourse; reviews lessons learnt from organisations implementing programmes that use triple nexus approaches; and assesses Islamic Relief’s (IR) triple nexus programming. The review consisted of a literature review, IR programme document review and interviews with 55 individuals. <br/

What we don’t talk about when we talk about using sanctions to end the war in Ukraine

The sanctions package against Russia is expanding every day as the main strategy to end the invasion of Ukraine. While it is inevitable that ordinary Russians will suffer from these sanctions (as will people in the countries applying these sanctions), we must do everything in our ability to protect all civilians affected by this war, including people in Russia, from the impact of sanctions. This is not an easy task at all. On one hand, the sanctions might bring suffering to people in Russia (primarily for the most vulnerable ones), but on the other hand, they might lead to the end of the war, and, thereby, save many lives and reduce the extreme suffering of millions in Ukraine

A review of the triple nexus approach in discourse and practice:with a focus on Islamic Relief’s triple nexus programme

Three years after the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), in February 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) issued recommendations in response to “the call for strengthened policy and commitments across key global frameworks including Agenda 2030, the Sustaining Peace resolutions and Agenda for Humanity, among others”. These recommendations specifically address the need to strengthen coherence between humanitarian, development and peace (HDP) operations, with the “aim of effectively reducing people’s needs, risks and vulnerabilities, supporting prevention efforts and thus, shifting from delivering humanitarian assistance to ending need”. The concept of the triple, or HDP, nexus reinvigorates the push for stronger collaboration and coordination among actors.This review of the triple nexus takes stock of current policy, practice and academic discourse; reviews lessons learnt from organisations implementing programmes that use triple nexus approaches; and assesses Islamic Relief’s (IR) triple nexus programming. The review consisted of a literature review, IR programme document review and interviews with 55 individuals. <br/