Project Coordinator:
Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik – DIFU, Germany

Centre de la Documentacion de l’Urbanisme (Department of the Ministere de l’Equipement) – CDU, France

Centro de Information y Documentation Cientifica (Department of Consejo Superior de Investigationes Cientificas) – CINDOC, Spain

EUROGONE Technologies Avancées, France

Institut d’Amenagement et d’Urbanisme de la Region d’Ile-de-France - IAURIF, France

Instituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, Biblioteca Centrale – IUAV, Italy

Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik - DIFU, Germany

London Research Centre - LRC, United Kingdom

In 1995 five institutions, all located in European Countries, founded the URBANDATA Association.

URBANDATA aims to spread scientific, technical and cultural information on urban planning, transport, environment, architecture and building; to develop common products and facilities; to promote exchanges between national, European and international institutions and to develop other co-operative action on related matters.

URBANDATA members produce 10 bibliographic databases, distributed both online and on CD-ROM. The databases as a whole are distributed through the URBADISC CD-ROM, containing more than 625,000 bibliographical references to documents on urban and regional planning, environment, architecture and building. Such joint activity has emphasised the communication obstacles that arise because of language and culture differences - chiefly when dealing with a specialised subject context, as does URBANDATA. Members have worked at a national level to develop lexicons and thesauri for specific subjects. Within the framework of URBANDATA, members have prepared preliminary products such as bilingual dictionaries (English-French and French-Spanish and vice-versa) that have emphasised the need and the importance of such a global aid to international communication.

MULETA is a project to produce a multilingual and multimedia tool, based on a lexical database of urban planning, environment, architecture and building. The first five languages chosen are French, English, German, Italian and Spanish. Other European languages will be added to the project when new partners are found.

MULETA aims are to provide –

• an aid to fast and accurate translation (text area);
• a brief description of the meaning of each word or concept in each language (text area);
• an image (where appropriate) to better explain the meaning (image area);
• the proper pronunciation of words in the different languages (sound area).

MULETA's potential end users are all citizens involved in work, study and research activities in the relevant fields, such as building contractors and building sector firms, CAD & GIS software companies, professionals, university teachers, researchers and students, local authorities, research centres, boards, associations and industries involved with planning and building. Once marketed and sold to these users, MULETA will facilitate immediate translation of a specific word or concept into other languages, thus enabling a full understanding of its meaning (definitions and explanatory images) and the exact pronunciation.

MULETA can play an active role in promoting exchanges, cultural policies and study and research activities at the European level, in line with EU policies.

Principal actions to be undertaken are:

• analysis of potential market including likely users (civil engineers, architects, planners, local authorities, academics);
• study of existing lexical resources - choice of subject themes for the lexicon - choice of the key language - definition of database functions - creation of the database structure;
• evaluation and testing of functionality;
• development and implementation of the working database using WEB technologies;
• translation: selection of words or terms - translation into five languages - validation;
• preparation of data: editing of definitions - choice of possible quotations and sources - selection of images - sound recording - prototype of the definitive database;
• publishing, dissemination and sales: creation of a public WEB site to enhance the database - development of a CD-ROM - development of related products (such as publications) and appropriate distribution channels.

Problems arise from linguistic barriers both in the European information market and in the different employment sectors. The fields of town and country planning, environment, architecture and building are also affected: the dissemination of information produced by both institutions and small enterprises is subject to problems of comprehension particularly for "end users" of information. The same problem arises in cultural exchanges between universities and research institutions and the participation of small companies in competitions and calls for tender at an international level.

These subject fields particularly suffer because of the lack of specific multilingual lexicons. This has two main causes: firstly they fall between the humanities and sciences and neither humanities nor scientific dictionaries adequately specify this terminology, secondly each country has a specific terminology related to its own national administrative and planning system.

MULETA is a multilingual and multimedia tool, based upon a lexical database on town and country planning, environment, architecture and building. Initially the chosen languages are French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, but other European languages may be added as new partners are found.

The aims of MULETA are:

• to provide a tool for rapid and accurate translation (text area);
• to provide definitions of the meaning of terms as required (definition area);
• to provide an image (when possible) to better explain the meaning (image area);
• to provide the proper pronunciation of each word in the different languages (sound area).

Therefore the expected result is an integrated tool supporting communication and exchange for all the activities concerning town and country planning, environment, architecture and building.

The final product will consist of a Web application to be used in international networks, to create, maintain and develop multilingual and multimedia lexicons. The application will support the ongoing work on the URBANDATA lexicon. The Web site will facilitate the participation of users in reporting gaps and proposing translation and definition amendments, thus contributing to lexicon maintenance, upgrading and ongoing validation.

Other deliverables may also be developed from the lexical database, such as:

• a CD-ROM lexicon
• a full lexicon publication (text and/or images)
• a pocket publication (only text)
• a software implementation for the URBADISC CD-ROM.

These products will provide:

• direct access to translation
• definition checking, including through images, in one’s own language and/or in the language into which it is to be translated
• the possibility of finding synonyms
• correct pronunciation of a specific term
• improved understanding through images and sounds.

The aim is to provide users with the means of achieving correct translation and pronunciation in other languages.

Information exchange between the different economic fields related to environment, building and planning are often impeded by language and cultural barriers. Although it is difficult to acquire a deep knowledge in the various languages of the specialist vocabulary, participation in exchanges can help.

Potential users’ needs are basically reciprocal comprehension and exchange, regardless of the level of action, e.g.:

• participation in common projects and actions in the environmental field;
• sharing of technological achievements;
• participation in call for tenders, both for building and planning;
• participation in European projects within research, both applied and academic;
• technical staff exchange;
• exchanges between local administrations and authorities;
• research staff exchange at a university level.

All these steps are promoted by European Union and must be supported by local government: to implement them tools such as the one suggested in this project are needed and the expected result is an aid supporting communication between planning, architectural and environmental disciplines.

This includes the development and the evaluation of a working methodology as well as specific software applications which may be then extended to other languages and/or other fields.

Finally, a multilingual and multimedia lexicon directly meets the requirements of the present users of the products realised and distributed by the project partners, as it allows a combined and integrated use of these products.

In 1995 five institutions, located in the same number of European countries, founded the URBANDATA Association.

The aims of URBANDATA are:

• to spread scientific, technical and cultural information in town and country planning, transport, environment, architecture and building
• to develop common products and facilities, particularly URBADISC CD-ROM;
• to promote relationships between national, European and international institutions to develop common programmes,
• to promote professional training among its members, particularly through staff exchange;
• to develop any other cooperative action on appropriate matters.

URBANDATA groups the producers of 10 European bibliographic databases: each member country produces one or more databases, distributed online, on CD-ROM and in print format. The databases together are distributed through the URBADISC CD-ROM, containing more than 625,000 bibliographical references to documents regarding architecture, town and country planning, environment and building and issued twice a year.

Some URBANDATA members have worked in their national context to develop lexicons and thesauri covering specific subjects - a few members have prepared preliminary products such as bilingual dictionaries (English-French and French-English, French-Spanish and Spanish-French) that have further emphasised the need and the importance of such a global tool for international communication.

Within the range of available information products in the field of urban planning, URBADISC plays a major role for researchers and practitioners in these fields. URBADISC CD-ROM is already available in Europe in more than 200 organisations (professional bodies, universities, local authorities and private sector), which are likely to be the initial market for the multilingual and multimedia lexicon.

Each producer is a reference point for a wider market comprising, for example, professional bodies, planning consultancies, local authorities, academic institutions, building contractors, building components producers, CAD & GIS software users.

Within these groups there are potential users of the proposed lexicon, even beyond the existing market for URBADISC.

Project partners belonging to the URBANDATA Association are actively involved in the production and dissemination of documentation and information. There exists a range of lexicons, developed by individual partners and expertise in the terminology of urban planning (for example controlled term lists and thesauri).

Formalisation of bilingual lexicons has been carried out only in two cases (French/English/French and French/Spanish/French) and lexicons have been agreed between the teams of the countries involved.

From a technical point of view, the project needs the development of a Web software based on a "database management system" (DBMS) (for management and retrieval) and on WINDOWS (for CD-ROM applications). The software has the following characteristics:

The total cost of the project is 538.741 ECU, and the EU funding requested is 189.990 ECU (35.28%). The average percentage arises because EUROGONE as a small enterprise can claim 50% funding, whereas for all other partners the rate is 33%. Included are travel costs; overhead costs vary according to the accounting procedures of the individual organisation.

For detailed analysis of costs see Form INF4 (Workpackages) and Form INF5 (Financial summary).

The Management Group will prepare the Detailed Program. Within the Management Group, Control Groups (Scientific and Technical) will be established to ensure quality standards.

These groups will be responsible for result evaluation and validation. They will monitor progress throughout the project, particularly verifying the validation steps.

Project timetable is shown in section 1. TIMETABLE, below. The project will last 18 months. Briefly, the stages of the project will be as follows:

Workpackage 1: Management (organisation, coordination, information processes)

1. Detailed program

2. Detailed market analysis
1. Lexicon analysis and methodologies

4. Application specifications
5. Software analysis
6. Choice of software engine
7. Application development
8. Test
9. Control

10. Translation and definition
11. Translation control and checking

12. Research, selection and integration of images and sound

13. Development of the Web application; development of proposals for other
    products

Intermediate and final project results will be summarised as follows:

The detailed program will generally establish quality standards to be adopted during the validation of the following steps that, as shown in the timetable, will be carried out during the two months following the completion of the relevant activity. Deliverables will be in the form of a brief report of the activity and/or product samples.

The complexity of the project requires appropriate organisation, providing for freedom of action for the working groups while at the same time ensuring effective coordination of all activities. Therefore coordination will be carried out at three integration levels:

• overall project management
• scientific activity
• technical activity.

Each level will be supervised by an activity group:

1. MANAGEMENT GROUP (MG), containing:

• SCIENTIFIC CONTROL GROUP (SCG)
• TECHNICAL CONTROL GROUP (TCG)

1. SPECIFIC WORKING GROUPS (WG)

It is formed by the coordinator, DIFU, and a representative for each partner. MG responsibilities are:

• to define the detailed program
• to take all decisions related to project aims and their modifications
• to establish product diffusion policies
• to follow and validate all working steps
• to maintain the relationship with the EU through the coordinator
• to assist the coordinator in the supervision of the individual activities, thus providing the information exchange between the partners and acting as a problem solver.

Moreover MG will:

• disseminate all information among participants
• provide intermediate results to the partners, even for those parts in which they are not participating.

The Project Coordinator:

• is responsible for the overall management (contracts, agreements, rules)
• is in charge of the relationship with the EU
• organises the relationships between the partners and supports them when general questions arise
• coordinates the implementation and progress of the working program.

The Scientific Control Group comprises a representative of each partner and is co-ordinated by IAURIF. It checks the translation work and validates the results at each stage.

The Technical Control Group comprises a representative of each partner and is co-ordinated by CETE. It checks and validates the technical Workpackages.

Each working group is responsible for the implementation of the Workpackage and its validation as set out in the timetable. The exact group composition, coordination and working methods will be better defined once the detailed program has been drafted, but roles can be generally listed as in the Work Package descriptions below.

It is important that the validation programme goes in step with the stages of the project. In addition to the internal validation, external validation will be sought from specialists ("scientific referees") and users.

Scientific referees should be experts in the field of urban planning, such as university professors and specialists in the subject in order to check and validate the lexicon and the accuracy of definitions.

Present users of URBANDATA services (researchers, professionals, university professors, students, technicians, executives) will be consulted in order test the prototype of the application.

It is envisaged that there will be five validation steps.

The first validation step (V1) will be based on the completed deliverables at the end of the second Workpackage (Market Analysis Report and Base Lexicon).

The second validation step (V2) will be carried out after Workpackage 3 and will be based on a review of the application and software development undertaken.

The third validation step (V3) will be carried out after the completion of Workpackage 4 on the basis of the first draft of the lexicon.

The fourth validation step (V4) will be carried out after the completion of Workpackage 5 and will examine the multimedia enhancements added to the lexicon by this stage.

The fifth validation step (V5) will be carried out by the end of the 17th month with external validators (as previously defined), who will be asked to use the prototype and to report their observations. According to the results, refinements will be made to the application in last month of the project.

A major characteristic of MULETA is that it will create and develop a linguistic tool for a network of specialists and supply a multilingual and multimedia lexicon. This makes it of particular interest at the European level.

This is not merely a collection of translated specialised terms, but will provide definitions, images and sounds (whenever possible), so that the user will have more confidence that the word chosen corresponds to the concept or term that they seek.

Through URBANDATA the project will involve experts in the relevant subjects. They will be better able to relate to similar experts in other countries on the basis of a shared knowledge of the subject and a specific knowledge of its peculiarities in each country.

Dialogue and comprehension are fundamental to the development of any social, cultural, economic or scientific activities. MULETA aims to develop such cooperation through its interactive and multimedia features.

MULETA is not merely a translation mechanism but also demonstrates how to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, not by neglecting such differences but by respecting and integrating them in a common project. This is why, in our opinion, MULETA can be perfectly included in EU policies which aim to develop Europe wide collaborative working respectful of individual independence.

The aim of the project, whose promoters work within the European information and documentation sector, is to promote information exchange, overcoming the linguistic barriers of the different countries.

Expected results will contribute to:

• experience exchange and co-operation between enterprises and other bodies in the different European countries
• provision of a wider diffusion of European scientific literature not only inside Europe but also at an international level
• promotion of a wider commercial diffusion of proposers’ databases
• provision of an application with potential uses in other fields (statistical databases, GIS, training)
• understanding of material such as reports and studies
• better multilingual and multimedia information exchange between industrial and trading enterprises
• provision of a supporting tool for "small and medium sized enterprises" (SME) in the areas of urban planning, environment and architecture
• link European technical experts.

Further product development and dissemination will be carried out in different ways:

Marketing the MULETA software application will include the following promotional activities:

• articles in the international specialised press in the relevant subject fields (planning, environment, architecture, linguistics)
• special events organised by project partners
• presentations at national or international specialised exhibitions and meetings.

After the completion of the project, the URBANDATA members will place their lexicon on an Internet site, which will be a major site for continuous update and validation from interpreters, expert professionals and practitioners, university researchers, etc.

URBANDATA members also intend to add the lexicon text to the URBADISC CD-ROM. As to this, it is now being revised in its retrieval formats, so as to allow a direct and contemporary access to all databases from a single term in any language. Multimedia lexicon is a very useful tool for CD-ROM development.

Finally the URBANDATA members will consider a hardcopy edition of the lexicon in two versions: pocket and full (text, images).

1. DETAILED PROGRAM (due : 1^st month)

Workpackage 2: Market and lexicon analysis

2. MARKET ANALYSIS REPORT (due : 3rd month)
3. BASE LEXICON (due : 3rd month)

Workpackage 3: Application development

4. SOFTWARE APPLICATION (due : 8th month)

Workpackage 4: Translations and Definitions

5. LEXICON WITH DEFINITIONS - First version of the complete basic lexicon (due : 8th month)
6. LEXICON WITH DEFINITIONS - Final version of the complete basic lexicon (due : 15th month)

Workpackage 5: Multimedia

7. FIRST VERSION OF MULTIMEDIA PARTS OF LEXICON (due : 8th month)
8. FINAL VERSION OF MULTIMEDIA PARTS OF LEXICON (due : 15th month)

Workpackage 6: Product implementation

9. FIRST INTEGRATED PROTOTYPE (9^th month)
10. MULTIMEDIA LEXICAL DATABASE AVAILABLE ON THE WEB (due: 18th month).

1. Quarter: Report of the results of WG 2 and about initial work of WG 3

2. Quarter: Progress Report of WG 3 and about initial work of WG 4

3. Quarter: Progress Report of WG 3 and WG 4 and about initial work of WG 5

4. Quarter: Progress Report of WG 4 and WG 5

5. Quarter: Report on the results of WG 4 and WG 5 and about initial work of WG6

6. Quarter: Final Report on the results of the Project MULETA

1. month: Kick-off-meeting with the EC and the Project Partners